Not Music Related But…

I am concerned that some film studios are ending their releases on hard copy.

I was waiting for a new 4K release of the Wallace and Gromit series that would include their latest full length film, “Vengeance Most Foul“. But noticed that a pre-order for everything but the latest film was available on Amazon Canada.

This Shout Studios release is also listed on Amazon U.S.A but isn’t available as a pre-order for July 15th yet and appears to be short the “Curse of the Were-Rabbit” blu-ray that was released by Dreamworks Animation in July 2019. And it looks like the blu-ray of that film has been pulled from Canadian shelves.

The Collector’s Edition Boxed Set released last December does include that film but “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” is on Netflix and they only released two seasons out of four of “Stranger Things” on blu-ray.

Are they holding out hoping more will join their streaming service or are blu-ray and 4k hard copies no longer on their table?

“The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” is available to stream and purchase on Prime Video so I can hold off on buying a hard copy until early July if I don’t find that film in Canada beforehand. But it would be great to be able to buy everything in one package.

Now that would be “Cracking”.

(P.S More details on the new Shout Factory release is available by clicking here)

May 1st, 2025 Comments Off on Not Music Related But… Consumer Information Rob McIntyre

Two Events in Barrie & More

Barrie will have two events this weekend, a comicon on Saturday, the 3rd of May 2025, and a record convention the following day, on the 4th. And events will also be occurring in Prince George, Dorchester and Saskatoon, as soon as on Friday, the 2nd of May.

The Barrie Comicon will be hosted by the Barrie Curling Club on Saturday, May 3rd, 2025 from 10am to 3pm.

Admission will be $5 or free for kids 12 and under. And the venue is serviced by Routes 8A and 8B on Barrie Transit from bus stop numbers 289 and 873.

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The Barrie Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show will be held from 10am to 3pm on Sunday, May 4th, 2025 from 10am to 3pm at the Allandale Recreation Centre and admission will be $5.

This venue’s bus stops numbers are 94 and 95, which are serviced by Routes 12A and 12B on Barrie Transit.

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The Northern Fancon will be a weekend long event in Prince George CN Centre and nearby Kin 1 Arena from Friday the 2nd to Sunday the 4th of May.

Admission information can be found by clicking here and both venues are serviced by Routes 5 and 55 on Prince George Transit via multiple bus stops, primarily 105160 and 105334.

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Another multiple day event will be Saskatoon’s Pop Con YXE, which will be at Prairieland Park on Saturday the 3rd of May (from 10am to 6pm) and Sunday the 4th of May (from 10am to 6pm).

Click here for admission prices. And Saskatoon Transit‘s Route 1 stops at Bus Stop 3630, which is a few feet north of the venue.

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The last event of the weekend will be the Dorchester Record & CD Sale on Sunday, the 4th of May, 2025 from 10am to 3pm at Dorchester Legion.

Admission will be a donation to the legion and unfortunately the venue is not serviced by public transit.

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Please note that cash may be preferred at these events so I suggest that you map out the nearest ATMs to the above venues. And note that 7500 Bonus PC Optimum Points Offer on $50 Google Play Gift Cards sold at participating Atlantic Superstore and Real Canadian Superstore locations ends tonight.

By the way, Amazon Prime Day will be in July at Amazon Canada.

April 30th, 2025 Comments Off on Two Events in Barrie & More Consumer Information, Events Rob McIntyre

Lots of Major Record Conventions

There will be several major record conventions this weekend in Montreal, Toronto, Bowmanville, Brantford and Calgary, as well as comic book conventions in Calgary, Sudbury, Chatham and Cornwall.

The first record convention, the Montreal Plateau Record Show, will be held on Saturday, the 26th of April, 2025, from 10am to 4pm at the Église Saint Denis.

Admission is $5 or $15 for early entry at 9pm. And the entrance of the venue is at 5075 Rivard Street, near the north entrance of the Laurier Metro Station (on the Orange Line).

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The next four record conventions will be held on Sunday, April 27th, 2025, the first being the Toronto Downtown Record Show at The Tranzac from noon to 4pm.

Admission will be $7 or $12 for early entry at 10am. And the venue is a six minute walk away from either the Bathurst or Spadina Metro Stations. It’s in-between the two TTC stations.

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The next record convention this Sunday will be the Bowmanville CD and Record Show, which will be hosted by the Memorial Park Clubhouse from 10am to 4pm.

This is a free event and the venue is a nine minute walk from the nearest bus stop, #1499, which is serviced by Route 902 on Durham Regional Transit.

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The Brantford Record Show will also be held on Sunday, this time at the Dunsdon Legion, from 10am to 3pm. And admission will be a $2 donation to the legion.

The nearest bus stops to the venue are 450 and 483, which is serviced by Routes 4A and 4C on Brantford Transit.

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And last but not least, the Calgary Record Collectors Show will be held on Sunday at the Acadia Recreation Complex from 11am to 4pm.

Admission to this event is $5 or $10 for early entry at 9:30am. And the nearest bus stops to the venue, 6414 and 6447, are serviced by Route 99 on Calgary Transit.

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The Calgary Expo will also be held this weekend, from the 24th to the 27th at Stampede Park.

Admission information can be found by clicking here. And the venue is serviced by Victoria Park / Stampede Station on Calgary Transit.

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The Sudbury Comicon will be held for one day, on Saturday the 26th of April, 2025, at the George Armstrong Community Centre and Arena from 10am to 3pm, and admission will be $5 or free for kids 12 and under.

This venue is serviced by Route 102 on GOVA and the nearest bus stops to the venue are unfortunately not numbered ; The southbound stop is the closest to the venue, followed by the northbound stop.

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Chatham Kent Expo will be a two day event at John D. Bradley Convention Centre on the 26th and 27th of April, 2025.

Admission information can be found by clicking here. And the casino next door has its own bus stop, 5231, which is serviced by Route 5 on Ride CK.

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And finally, the Cornwall Pop Event (a.k.a CAPE) will be held at the Benson Center, also on north the 26th and 27th of April.

Click here for ticket information. And although the venue is serviced by Route 3 via its own bus stop on Saturdays, you might need to contact Cornwall Transit for information on access on Sunday. Their offices are next to the venue.

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Please note that cash may be preferred at these events so you might want to look for the nearest ATMs to the venue. And FYI, the Real Canadian Superstore offer on $50 Apple Gift Card purchases will end tonight so hurry to get your 5000 Optimum Point Bonus.

April 23rd, 2025 Comments Off on Lots of Major Record Conventions Consumer Information, Events Rob McIntyre

Easter Weekend

It’s Easter weekend so no record conventions or comicons are taking place this weekend. But stay tune for several events occurring next weekend.

April 16th, 2025 Comments Off on Easter Weekend Consumer Information, Events Rob McIntyre

Busy Saturday In Ottawa & More

Not only is Record Store Day on this Saturday, the 12th of April, 2025, but The Ottawa Record Fair will be on from 11am to 4pm at the Carleton-Dominion Chalmers Centre.

Admission to the fair is $5 or $10 for early entry at 10am. And the nearest bus stops, #1902 and #2487, are regularly serviced by several major routes on OC Transpo.

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Also occurring in Ontario that day are three comicons, the first being in nearby Kingston for one day, at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10am to 3pm.

Admission at the Kingston Comicon will be $5 or free for kids 12 and under. And this venue is serviced by Route 1 on Kingston Transit via its own bus stop and another bus stop across the street. Non-perishable food items will also be collected at this event.

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The next event of that Day in Ontario will be the Halton Hills Fanfest in Georgetown, from 10am to 4pm at the Halton Hill Public Library.

I believe the event may be free but you might want to contact the library for details. And the nearest bus stops, 102803 and 102804, are serviced Routes 31 and 33 on Go Transit.

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The last event in Ontario that day will also occur on both the 12th and 13th in Timmins at the McIntyre Community Centre.

Admission to Timminscon is $15 for adults, $10 for kids and free form kids under 2. And the venue is serviced by multiple routes on Timmins Transit, which differs depending on the day you will attend the event, although Route 16 appears to operate on both days.

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The Atlantic Entertainment Expo will also be occurring this weekend, on the 12th and 13th of April 2025 in Fredericton, New Brunswick at the Fredericton Convention Center.

Click here for this event’s admission information. The venue has its own bus stop, which is serviced by multiple routes on Fredericton Transit.

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The Toronto/Mississuaga Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show will be held from 10am to 3pm at the Etobicoke Olympium on Sunday, the 13th of April, 2025.

Admission is $5 and the venue is serviced by Route 48 via bus stop numbers 1477 and 1493 on the TTC.

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And finally, the Edmonton Record Fair will be hosted by the Northgate Lion Recreation Center from 11am to 3:30pm on Sunday, April 13th, 2025.

Admission will be $5 or $10 for early admission at 9:30am. And the nearest bus stops to the venue are 77342 and 77350, which is serviced by Route 54 on Edmonton Transit.

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Please note that cash may be preferred at these events. And that a free three month offer from Amazon Music Unlimited is available and includes Audible audio books, one of which will be free to listen to every month.

April 9th, 2025 Comments Off on Busy Saturday In Ottawa & More Consumer Information, Events Rob McIntyre

Pain In The Tariff!

So, I was eying “Dexter’s Laboratory – The Complete Collection” at several retailers and had never considered that the tariffs would have a secondary effect on goods that are not tariffed so I didn’t expect sticker shock a few days back – The price of this DVD collection just skyrocketed, by $30 at some of these retailers.

Like CDs and vinyl, DVDs and Blu-rays are not currently included in the list of goods that are being subjected to tariffs. But I suspect their prices will go up in the states, well above the $20 postal importation exemption, which is rather annoying. And I presume any shipment from the states would be delayed going through customs because they’ll have more forms to fill out, unless Canadians just stop importing from the states via mail.

I did just order the collection from a Canadian seller on eBay for the amount I had encountered before the hike, preferring to avoid the American and Chinese sellers. And if need be I could always try the U.k and Europe for other releases as well.

I personally like Amazon u.k, Amazon France and FNAC for CDs and Region Free DVDs from Europe, and I do have a region free DVD player for some French films that never made their way to DVD in North America. But sometimes deals can be had for under $20 Canadian, not including shipping, and sometimes the shipping rates are acceptable.

I have emailed my local MP and several electoral candidates suggesting a $60 exemption for postal importations from Europe, the U.k and several more of our stable trade partners so I’m hoping we’ll be able to order more from those countries after the election is done.

If you want to support a $60 exemption for postal imports, which is long overdue, you can contact your local Member of Parliament via this form, after the election of course.

Hopefully we’ll be done with this tariff nonsense soon…

April 4th, 2025 Comments Off on Pain In The Tariff! Canadian Law, Consumer Information, Events Rob McIntyre