The
Notebook – Romance Gift Set
Newline
Cinema exclusive (USA)
written by Juice / photos by Juice
A Newline Cinema exclusive? I had to find out what exactly this set had to offer. Heading to the Newline Online Shop, I dug through a slew of merchandise to find the "The Notebook Romance Gift Set". It certainly seemed to come with a good deal of stuff; the DVD, an 160 page hardcover journal, a bookmark, a "bookplate", and the 214 page novel that the movie was based off of. I added it to my cart, ordered it, and waited for the box to arrive in the mail!
The box has arrived!
I come into my house, and an happy to feel some weight to it. This
might be a good edition! I tear open the box, and look inside to
see... No case? No container?
Just the 3 elements (dvd, book, notebook) sitting loose inside the
shipping box? Wait a minute...how is this even a set if it doesn't
fit together? I calm down and think of other sets that have components
that don't go with the case, such as the R1 Appleseed, and...uhm...
|
|
Getting over my initial confusion, I pulled out the goods in the box. Laying them out, I was presented with three things. The hard bound "journal", which was shrink wrapped to include the bookmark and bookplate (you can purchase this seperately on the Newline site), the hardcover novel itself (you can also purchase this seperately on the Newline site), and the DVD of the movie (again, you can also purchase this seperately on the Newline site). Basically, Newline simply decided to sell 3 items in a "set" and bundle them together. For the first time, I began to wonder if I should even review this. Is it really a "dvd" set? Or is it just seperate items put together simply as a marketing tool to make you purchase three seperate items together for a discounted price? Probably the latter, but hey, since I have it, I might as well review what I've got! |
|
 |
|
The dvd case is just a standard dvd case. Nothing to review here, since it's no different than the standard DVD edition of "The Notebook" available. The novel is just the novel. Again, nothing to review here. It's the standard hardcover edition of the book, available in almost all book stores worldwide. The "journal" is a tad larger than the novel. Hardcover blue/purple with gold trim and orange/brown tips, you immediately see that it has it's own price. Can it be? I checked online, and yes, this is also available for purchase on it's own for whopping $9.99 US. The "bookplate" that comes with it is really just a flat peice of heavy stock paper. It has "The Story of Our Lives" written on it, with two spaces divided by an & symbol. I'm assuming you and your loved ones write your name here and then place it in the book. The bookmark is a standard bookmark. A gold tassle is at the end, which hangs out of your journal to help you locate your place. There is a vertical band of paperthat is on the front of the book, loose, but within the shrink wrap. It states what is within the shrink wrap, a journal and a free bookmark and booklet. |
|
 |
And that's that. This isn't much of a collectors set, since it doesn't
come in any sort of box to keep it together. You can't place it for display
very well on your shelf, and the extras aren't really extras, rather,
they're seperate peices of merchandise put together to sell the product
as a whole.
- Juice's Verdict -
- Build
Quality: 5 -
A generic dvd case, a hard cover book, hard cover journal, bookmark,
and bookplate. They are all perfectly acceptable.
- Content
and Extras: 5 -
Are
these extra items...extras? I think I just answered that in that statment.
I'll give this a 5 because you do get the book for some good reading,
the journal, and other items.
- Overall
Rating: 5 -
Since this is more of a gift set than a collectors set. as in, the purpose for this set is more for the individual who loves everything about "The Notebook" and wants it, the value is really the question. This set cost roughly $45 including tax and shipping.
Let's break it down to purchasing these items seperately.
Hardcover
novel - $13.60 on Amazon ($19.95 on the Newline site)
Harcover journal/bookmark/bookplate - $9.99
DVD - $19.95
Total - $49.89
So, if you'd like to save around $5, I guess it's a deal.
I can't rate this set poorly, since there really isn't anything wrong with it.
All rights reserved.