DVD Review: Wild Grinders Video 1 “Adventures of Captain Grindstar”

 

As far as episode collections go, I expect the production company to give a little bit extra when compiling the DVD. Home Plate Entertainment seems to have gone the Cartoon Network route when it comes to home releases, because this release is barren. The sad part here is that Adventure Time gives you 16 episodes to watch. Wild Grinders gives you a measly six, and the extras are all laughable.

The namesake episodes are why you would buy the DVD. But would you buy it from a cost standpoint? You can grab this for $9.99 on Amazon. Or, you can buy the episodes separately, but forced to get an episode with it that you don’t want for $2.99? If I wanted some episodes of Wild Grinders, I would buy it on that principal alone. The episodes are aired separately on NickToons, so they should be purchased separately. But that’s an argument for another time. Again, just like Cartoon Network and their recent Adventure Time release, we got three extra episodes that don’t have anything really to do with Captain Grindstar.

And now, we get to talk about the “special” features. The bonus music video, “Rollin like Captain Grindstar,” reminds me of why I dislike any musical episode of Rob Dyrdek’s MTV show that won’t go away, Fantasy Factory. I’m trying to not go super hard on Dyrdek here, but when it comes to music, he should probably stick to skateboarding and hosting Ridiculousness.  In fact, the trailer for the second DVD was longer than the music video, but that was filled with technical issues, like fluctuating audio, and the announcer being at a lower volume than when the clips have audio. That may not seem like a lot to the common person, but when you have that one kid who is big on audio (like I was when I was a kid), it’s a bit of a problem.

The best part of this release wasn’t even on the DVD. There was a comic inserted with the DVD, that pitted Lil Rob against Captain Grindstar in a race around the world. In a stroke of marketing genius, the comic is going to be broken up between this release, and at least the next DVD, “Game Over.” I’m hoping the next releases are going to be more fruitful, because this was barren. But, at a cost standpoint, this is more cost effective than buying the episodes online. So, it’s a double edged sword.