I’m new to this idea, so I was wondering if anyone has any advice about sites (like mst3k.org and castleforrester.com) that sell dvd-r’s of unreleased mst3k episodes. I think it could be cool, better than vhs (which I couldn’t do anything with anyway.) Any insight? Is it legit?

Go to http://www.dapcentral.org

Also, episodes are always being posted in the newsgroups.

If you have access to newsgroups and have a newsreader then you can go to alt.binaries.multimedia.mst3k

I’ve been a DAP member for years.  They have made divx version of all the non-Rhino releases, and more recently DVD versions of many episodes, complete with nice menus and extra info on seasons 8 through 10.  The quality is not 100% perfect, but it’s probably 95%.  I recently replaced my old DAP DVD copy of Godzilla vs Megalon (212) with a Rhino DVD, and while the quality was better, I think on a regular TV you’d have a hell of a time noticing the difference.

They are very conscientious about copyright, so if Rhino announces a new volume, all those episodes dissappear right away.  They also have a nice tool in your profile to help you track what episodes you have in which format, including Rhino.

I’ll check it out. Thanks!

so, does DAP only offer downloads for people to burn themselves? It’s just I don’t have a dvd burner, and it would be a little impractical for me to have a whole movie sitting on my hard drive.

Lemon Curry, drop me an e-mail and we’ll see what we can do.  Anybody with an icon that looks like Bob Dobbs is aces in my book.

…um, unless that’s strictly forbidden due to forum regulations or something.  If so, just leave a note under the mailbox on the corner of Carter and 4th.  You will be contacted. 

I got some dvds from mst3k.org. Season 7 and the movie. Great copies, actually; you can hardly tell they are not Rhino releases. (You can tell if you look close enough, but about 99.9% of the time you won’t ever notice.) Doesn’t even have any Comedy Central/Sci-Fi Channel logos. They are definitely a lot better than most home made recordings. If you want non-Rhino releases, this is definitely the way to go. Doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Looks so, Mr. Shemp, until the admins make registration here legit.. Thanks in advance though. I’ve been watching episodes on youtube, and it’s no so much that I mind that, (I think it’d be weird to see mst3k in high-def,) but sometimes the stuff is truly unwatchable. And by the way, my current note-leaving address is behind the hot water pipes, third washroom along Victoria station…

<naked terry gilliam playing an organ>

DUH duh duh DUH NAH DUH DUUUUH! 

</naked terry gilliam playing an organ> 

lemon curry? said:

so, does DAP only offer downloads for people to burn themselves? It’s just I don’t have a dvd burner, and it would be a little impractical for me to have a whole movie sitting on my hard drive.

Do you have a CD burner?  All the non-commercially released episodes (including KTMA) are available in good quality MS-MPEG4v2 or Xvid files that are specifically designed to be small enough to fit on a CD.  They haven’t converted all the episodes to DVD yet.  They have 80 at the moment.

sounds like I’ll give it a try. Just need to set it all up (I’m kind of a stranger to p2p but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.) Thanks for the tip.

Yes, don’t support people who sell MST episodes.  As one of the fathers of the DAP’s DVD project, our goal was to put these tukeys out of business. Visit www.dapcentral.org and get started downloading today.

I used to watch many an divx episode from the DAP.  Now I stick to DAP DVDs (until I run out of them).  The big surprise for me is when I do watch a divx episode, perhaps because I want to see a certain episode, like one in a series.  The DVDs are excellent - no doubt about it - but even after watching the DVDs, the divx episodes from the DAP are very watchable.  Unless they tell a joke related to a tiny detail (which they essentially don’t) you’ll get the full experience.

Oh, consider buying a DVD burner.  They cost less than $30 and are a good investment for stashing data.  I’d have a lousy time of it backing up my photos and documents on CD.  DVD gets it done in one shot.  If you have a laptop you can get surprisingly good external USB DVD burners.  I have one and it serves me well.  I realize that this may not be an option for you - if not, the DAP Divx episodes are a mere 600-700MB and are totally watchable.

And thanks, tarantulas - you DAP guys have kept me a happy MSTIE for many years. 

tarantulas said:

Yes, don’t support people who sell MST episodes.  As one of the fathers of the DAP’s DVD project, our goal was to put these tukeys out of business. Visit www.dapcentral.org and get started downloading today.

But why, Santa…why is the bit with the "light" versions of Mike and the Bots missing from the opening of Revenge of the Creature?  Or did I just get an old copy?

And why is it easier to get a KTMA or a Sci-Fi episode than something from the first few Joel years?  Particularly a Sandy Frank!

Come on, you guys online….help a sister out! 

Wow, I didn’t know DAP had divx versions available now. I’ve been converting all my old copies.

killeroo said:

Wow, I didn’t know DAP had divx versions available now. I’ve been converting all my old copies.

They don’t.  The episodes are either encoded in MS MPEG-4 or Xvid.  Now, the Xvid files will usually work in Divx-enabled machines, but they are *not* actual Divx files.  (Thank the maker.)

tarantulas said:

Yes, don’t support people who sell MST episodes.  As one of the fathers of the DAP’s DVD project, our goal was to put these tukeys out of business. Visit www.dapcentral.org and get started downloading today.

I have looked at DAP in the past, but I have never been able to get edonkey to work for me.  Can anyone point me to some helpful info?  I’m running on a Mac by the way, if that makes a difference.  Thanks in advance.

It makes a big difference, or so the DAP forum chatter has led me to believe.  Those forums are a little barren these days.  I’d try their IRC channel if I were you.

I’ve actually tried using DAP.  While downloading and turning on the E-Donkey (which I did not know what it was except that it was required to turn on DAP) I got a stern message from my DSL provider saying my IP was logged and that use of E-Donkey was disabled.  It was detailed with the history of file-sharing and such and the laws against it, and I’m actually really in agreement with it.  I was only planning on downloading unavailable episodes of MST3K of course, and nothing commercially released.  But this person to person file-sharing software stuff is too shady and too big a risk for my conscience.  I’m only downloading things direct from the source, such as RiffTrax and things.

I’m still with you guys on collecting MST3K though.  I’ve recently purchased the KTMA episodes from Skyroniter, someone I’ve researched to be a very reputable and honest dealer.  The quality of the discs (I mean, for KTMA I guess) and the turnaround time were very impressive.  The only thing is he doesn’t make any fancy menus, but I care more about the video and audio. 

http://www.mst3kvideos.com/

That wasn’t your ISP, that’s the message everyone gets since the courts forced Edonkey to do that with their servers. It’s just a scare tactic and easy enough to disable.