Quite a good price IMO - you can probably get it cheaper on eBay though.... If I'm correct - the Japanse cd's were much better - both in packaging and in sound-quality. Don't have time to compare them now :)
118.99 GBP = €174.66. So Amazon.uk's more expensive...
In what kind of package come the new Japanese remasters? The crown jewels box comes in a velvet jewelry box.
Another question: Do you know where to buy the Ultimate Collection?
Good heavens NO!!!!!! Don't pay that much! Disney, the parent company to Hollywood Records is selling this directly for $35 U.S. as a closeout with plenty available on Ebay.
The only problem is that they only ship in the U.S. and maybe Canada... but considering the difference in price... I'd say it's worth finding someone in the U.S. to order it and send it to you..
I bought one back in December. Shipping was a very reasonable $5.95 and it arrived in less than a week. They are brand new and sealed, just the UPC code has been blacked out with a marker. People on Ebay are now reselling these exact boxes they got from Disney and people are falling for it and paying too much.. it amazes me.. except the one advantage to that might be international shipping.
As to the quality of the discs.. they are 24 bit remastered, probably the best sound available in 1998. They sound great to me.. granted, I haven't compared them directly with the 2001 remasters (which come in the 2004 card sleeves.. all very confusing I know) since I don't have the 2001s of these first 8 yet.
I can tell you that based on the three 2004 card sleeves I have, Crown Jewels versions don't come close to being as nice in terms of the jackets/sleeves. They are still neat, but the printing isn't as good and News of the World has a green border around it for some reason, and The Game uses a fuzzy replacement pic instead of the original.
Also, the inner sleeves are not printed. Instead, lyrics and extra artwork are all combined in a single booklet.. but that has its advantages too..
It's basically a choice of whether you can afford the new 2004 card sleeves or not... getting Crown Jewels for the price of just one of them is tempting.
If it's a matter of paying a price such as what you mentioned, it's not worth it. Get the new ones instead :) There's no presentation box like Crown Jewels, but they are much nicer looks-wise and most likely a little better sound-wise too.
I also noticed these new card sleeves are slightly larger than the '98 versions. I tried to put one in the Crown Jewels box and it wouldn't fit (I had this idea of getting another Crown Jewels box eventually just to have a case for all of them, silly I know)
The 2004 card sleeves come in resealable clear protector sleeves, are exact miniature duplicates of albums.. both outer jacket & inner sleeve.. right down to saying 'side one/side two' and not listing the bonus tracks on AKOM & Miracle but they are included. Inside there is not only the miniature record sleeve, but a clear plastic sleeve with the disc (so you can use either) plus a giant foldout lyric sheet with both Japanese & English text. And of course they come with the trademark Japanese Obi strips.