Customer Reviews

Sky King Official Box Set All 72 Episodes w/ Book

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've been a big fan of SKY KING since I was a child. I became aware of the Box Set about 2-3 years ago, but the price was prohibitive. I kept waiting for the price to come down or for another company to release it in stores (this seems to be a mail order only item). Last summer Ebay ran a 15% off promotion so I was able to get the box set for about $215.00 postpaid - still way too expensive , but more on that later.
Despite the advertising by the producer of the set about this being a REAL BOX SET its actually somewhat small - not much larger than a CD jewel box in size (5.5 inches by 4 inches, by 4.5 inches) . The box is sturdy though. The discs are housed in soft flexible cases similar to CD cases, but made out of a softer material that seem to protect the discs well. . The good thing about this size is that no discs became dislodged during shipping. There are 18 discs and a small book. There are no inserts or artwork in the individual cases. The book itself is okay. It's small at 4 inches by 5 inches so the photos are small. (A larger box set could have accomodated a larger book). There's a basic episode guide, and profiles of the stars, and the aforementioned photos , around 25 of them. My set came with the book sitting under the cases, but I reversed it so the book sits on top. Now on to quality. The discs are DVD-R's, something I wasn't pleased about. They do have the Sky King logo and the episode names printed on them. The transfers are good , about 8-9 on a scale of 1 to 10. Sound is good basic mono - good enough that you can hear the dialog over the airplane engine and propeller noises. The episodes run in roughly the order they played on television in the 50's. The episodes appear to be complete at around 26 minutes and include the Nabisco bumpers but no commercials. All 72 episodes are included, so this is the complete series. The set comes with a bonus disc which contains 2 Amos And Andy episodes.
If you are reading this , you probably remember the show, but for the uninitiated, it's a cowboy show set in the "new west" of the 1950's. The big differance is that Sky King ( Kirby Grant) chases the outlaws with his Cessna T-50 airplane , accompanied by Penny ( Gloria Winters) and Clipper ( Ron Haggerty). The 30 minute plots are typical fun, enjoyable, Saturday Morning family type fare. The acting is fine as are the effects and sets. The show originally ran from 1951 to 1959 in various network time spots and then for years in syndication, so it became a big favorite with many baby boomers .
So the big question becomes is the set worth 200 plus dollars? Probably not, especially for DVD-R's. But if you loved the Sky King show like I did you may want to buy it. The company that released it doesn't seem to have any plans to sell it in the mass market at a lower price, so this may be the only way to get it.

Next to Clint Eastwood, Sky King (played by Kirby Grant) was my favorite Western star. Chasing bad guys in an airplane was his "schtick" and it certainly appeals to me now, as much as it did in my youth.

The early episodes were rendered in black-and-white, the later ones in color, to the best of my recollection. From Wikipedia:

"The television version (there was originally a radio version) starred Kirby Grant as Sky King and Gloria Winters as his teen-aged niece Penny. Other regular characters included his nephew Clipper, played by Ron Hagerthy, and Mitch the sheriff, played by Ewing Mitchell. Unlike many "lawman-acquaintance" characters on other shows, Mitch was competent, intelligent and skilled. He was always coming to Sky for help, due to friendship and recognizing the utility of Sky's flying skills. Other recurring characters included Jim Bell, the ranch foreman, played by Chubby Johnson as well as Sheriff Hollister played by Monte Blue and Bob Carey played by Norman Ollestad.

Many of the storylines would parallel those used in such dramatic potboilers as Adventures of Superman with the supporting cast repeatedly finding themselves in near death situations and the hero rescuing them with seconds to spare. Penny was particularly adroit at falling into the hands of spies, bank robbers (the best place to hide stolen loot was apparently in the Arizona desert) and other n'er-do-wells. After taunting the doomed Penny and mocking her uncle, they would invariably leave her tied up at the bottom of an abandoned mine with (take your pick) a ticking timebomb, rapidly rising water, collapsing ceilings, or crackling flames licking at her chair. Inexplicably, the bad guys would leave Penny in easy reach of a radio transmitter that would not only be turned on but switched to the frequency used by Uncle Sky who at that very moment would be circling above in the Songbird with an anxious Clipper at his side. Working the device with her shoulders and tongue, Penny would shout out "Help, Uncle Sky, Help Help!" Sky would shoot a quizzical look to Clipper and proclaim, "That's Penny!! And it sounds like she's in trouble!" Uncle Sky would make a steep bank and fly over the bad guys who would be instantly thrown into a state of complete confusion. All looking upward in complete anguish and fear, they would fire up at the Songbird in vain before losing control of their escape vehicle and plowing into a culvert where, through another set of incredible circumstances, Sheriff Mitch would be waiting for them after being alerted by Uncle Sky. The action would then cut back to the ranch where the happy throng is reunited without any explanation about how they found Penny and got down the mine without all of them getting killed. It was never explained why anyone would have an FAA spec radio transmitter at the bottom of an abandoned mine or how it would work 300 feet underground but such was the glory of imagination in the mid fifties!

Like most TV cowboy heroes of the time, Sky never killed the bad guys, even though one episode had him shooting a machinegun into his own stolen plane."

"The show was filmed and shown during three periods as sponsors changed: 1951-52 (Derby Foods), 1955-56 and 1957-62 (Nabisco, though the copyright notices continued to name Derby Foods). It continued in syndication for years afterward, and was a staple on Saturday morning television into the mid-1960s."

"Though set in Arizona, the series was filmed in the high desert of California. The ranch house used for exterior shots of the Flying Crown Ranch is an actual home in Apple Valley, California. Other locations were shot in and around Apple Valley and the nearby San Bernardino Mountains, George Air Force Base and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. Interior filming was done at the General Service studio."

"The series Sky King ended production in February of 1959. There were no additional episodes filmed after that date. There has long been a rumor that a vault fire destroyed the only prints of 64 other episodes. This is incorrect, though. There were only 72 episodes produced in total."

Now, the price of this package has caused me to put off my buying these fine episodes. You CAN buy "Voulme One" (in black-and-white) for about five bucks if you'd like to see what the series was all about:

Sky King:Vol 1 TV Series

My hope is that, someday soon, the entire series will be issued in similar releases but on that we'll just have to wait and see. In any case, this is a great old Saturday Morning Western for which I personally harbor a huge nostalgic reverence!

Can't says as I blame the small time outfit that owns the rights to all 72 episodes. Might be the only thing they have of real marketable value, and they are looking to make some decent retirement money off of the popularity of the show. I attempted to negotiate with the fella I believe was in charge of marketing. Nice fella. He wasn't inflexible or insensitive to my plight (too much money for a poor guy like me). He offered me a full set on VHS for quite a bit less, but that didn't interest me. He even offered to sell me a DVD set on a two-installment payment plan -- acquiring one-half of the set at a time. At least I believe that's what the terms were. Much appreciated for sure, but it was still more than I could afford on a fixed income, retired, paying horrendous amounts on a monthly basis for mediorce health benefits. Eats up over 60% of what we have for the entire month, which includes a hefty mortgage thanks to having to borrow against it to survive. But you're not reading this to hear me whine, so I quickly digress. I DID appreciate his efforts to work with me. Of course, what I was really hoping for, if the truth be known, was for him to offer me a reduced price beings that I was a boomer who grew up with the show and loved it dearly! No go, and that was perfectly his right. I do NOT begrudge him that stance. Who can blame him for wanting to make some decent money on what might amount to his only significant offering? I can't. Now when you stop and do the math, it averages out to only about $3.50 an episode. It doesn't seem so over-priced when you look at it like that. Had there been only 30 or 40 total episodes, we probably wouldn't be squawking as much. Still, if you can't afford it, you can't afford it. And that describes me and a whole lot of other people based upon what I have been reading here in these comments. Here's hoping that the price does come down some day, and that the owner of all the episodes can still manage to make a good haul, but based more on volume sales rather than individual ones.

I'm a huge fan of Sky King and have been since I was a kid in the fifties. Any product at all on Sky King is great to have, so I've given this set 3 stars without having seen it. However, it looks like I won't see it, for I feel that this price is way way, WAY out of line. It's too much. Maybe $150, how does that sound? That would work for me. It is, after all, a lot of episodes, so I could see paying 150. At 150, I will bet that you generate some sales, which probably isn't happening at the asking price.
Thank you!

The Kingfish
c/o The Mystic Knights Of The Sea Lodge Hall

$250.00 dollars for DVD-R's..are they kidding??

Great series that I grew up with that was a joy to watch back in the day but at the price they want there's noooo way I'm going to spend that kind of money on this.

I can afford it but it's just the principle..I don't care how small the company is or what their problems are, $250.00 is gouging the public.

Hopefully "Sky King Productions" chokes on it!

Roy

There are 72 Sky King episodes, 4 of which are in the public domain. If you are not familiar with Sky King, take a look at some of the other reviews, which will do a much better job of explaining the series than can I. If you want to sample a few episodes, buy the Sky King: Vol 1 TV Series disc offered elsewhere on Amazon for less than $10.

If you are a Sky King fan already, as I am from my youth, you already know that 4 episodes will not be enough. So the question is, can you spend or justify spending about $250 for the complete set. Know that you will not find the complete series any cheaper from another source, as there is no other source. Flying Crown Enterprises owns the rights to the series and sells it for the same price on Amazon and on their official Sky King website.

I watched the 4 public domain episodes a few times, held out for a few months, then could not wait any longer, finally ordering the complete series. The production is first rate, the packaging for shipping is excellent. I am poorer, but much happier, thank you very much.

I have read all the above reviews and I concur with most of what is said. Good, clean, fun show. A bit dated(or is it WE who are the dated ones?!). I searched the internet and found a complete set that, when it arrived, came with Chinese postage and lettering. The quality was pretty good(an 8-9 out of 10, so it could be a Chinese copy of this very set!) and it was about $100. I know, foolish to use these fly-by-night(pun intended)boot-leggers... but if no commercial outfit is going to release them, what's a fella going to do???

At 60 I still get a thrill from watching those Cessnas fly(there were two). If you can afford it, buy it. If not, search the web and take your chances. Now, how about good copies of 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, Hawaiian Eye and Adventures in Paradise? (Am I dating myself???)

It is a pleasure to watch, I must admit. Sure miss Kirby Grant and Gloria Winters. Say, Kirby Grant Hoon was an interesting and talented fellow. Check him out on the net! Winters got married and retired after the series ended. Aah... those surely were the days.

Lucky to have what we do....Scott O' the North
PS Penny(Gloria Winters) was married to an acquaintance of mine. A CBS soundman whom I met on the LOU GRANT set(another good show not on DVD). He was a great guy named Dean Vernon. RIP both now.

I, too, would love to enjoy this series again. The show, for me like many others, led me to become a pilot and now flight instructor. I was about to put this set on my Christmas list but choked at the price. For $100 a copy would be mine, but not at this price. Note that the EAA also sells the series on DVD, at about the same price. I had bought some 4-show VHS tapes for about $15 each (again from EAA), a far better buy. And since the original quality was rather low, VHS is just fine.

As a boy, Sky King was the highlight of my Saturday morning. And the show wasn't just for kids -- my father would sometimes watch it with me, as he liked the plane scenes. Also, Sky King would explain the use of apparatus such as radar trackers, which were state of the art at the time, and in one episode described how to spot counterfeit money.

The plot lines weren't as corny as some would believe, and Penny, for all that she could be whiny and pouty,proved herself brave and resourceful in tough situations. She was also a competent pilot, thus upholding gender equality before it was the fashion.

Overall, a terrifc set.

I would LOVE to own this DVD collection, it looks great .... however, there is NO mention of the transfer qualities for any of the episodes or information regarding any technical specs! I guess that's because no one in his right mind could have ever possibly AFFORDED to purchase this set! Don't get me wrong .... this collection looks and sounds wonderful (and it rightly may be so), but absolutely no one is gonna shell out that kind of hard-earned cash, especially with the current state of our economy! I was a huge fan of SKY KING, but face the facts .... the market for this program today is almost non-existent. It was a great show for it's time, but even many '"baby boomers" have never heard of it, so it is indeed special only to a very select minority of those who remember. GEEEEZ ... I purchased the "MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." BOX Set (Complete 4 year series/special "Atache Case" collectible Box/loaded with EXTRAS/plus 2 extra supplemental Discs/professionally restored & remastered/with Interviews & etc by the original cast & crew) for 1/3 the price of this SKY KING set!!!!!!!! I doubt there will ANY takers for this "SKY-Jacked KING" collection for even quite some time. Sad, because it really does deserve to be seen and enjoyed ....