[quote name='detectiveconan16']Region 2 boxsets? Man those are frickin' expensive. I've heard they're like $500+ just for a season boxset.[/quote]
If you're looking for first print R2 Toei Japanese sets with bonuses, then they're extremely expensive since most volumes are long out of print. First prints for each series are as follows:
1st Series: Stickers, Box with Vol.7/8 Set
R: Notebooks, Box with Vol. 8
S: 3D-Hologram Trading Cards, Box with Vol. 7
SuperS: Cellphone cleaner pad, Box with Vol. 7
Sailor Stars: Jigsaw Puzzles, Box with Vol. 6
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/sailormoon.html
Also, there was a limited edition movie set (the first Sailormoon anime on DVD in Japan) with some goodies, like mini replicas of the movie program books and a bonus disc. Otherwise, the discs themselves are identical to the regular pressings (even to the awful quality silk-screens on the discs).
HMV Japan is having a Buy 4, save 25% sale right now on all DVDs. Without tax, each volume is approx. 2,849 yen each, plus shipping (about $5 per volume?). Makes it around $37 per volume due to the awful yen rate right now. So for around $225, you can get the official Sailorstars set.
http://www.hmv.co.jp/search/index.a...word=%83Z%81%5B%83%89%81%5B%83%80%81%5B%83%93
I bought all the US discs (ADV boxes and Pioneer singles) when Toei stopped the Japanese release after the first series back around 2002. After I finished collecting the US sets, they started releasing the Japanese discs in 2004 again, so now I have both.
In comparison of the discs, the Japanese one definitely has the upper hand. Not perfect video quality (lots of dirt and grain), but the colors definitely are much brighter. Some early episodes (like the very first episode) are oversaturated, but most are pretty good.
Also, the aspect ratio is off on the Pioneer sets. The screen on early S episodes are cropped on all sides, so part of the picture is missing. If you can read Japanese, some of the text on the screen gets cut off because of this. By mid-season, this is corrected though. Also, the video on all the episodes is slightly enlongated. It's not distracting, but faces lose their roundness. I'm not sure if the aspect ratio on the Japanese R2 sets are 100% correct either as the "non-text" ending for the last Sailor Stars episode seems to show more on all sides.
The Pioneer movie releases are a mixed bag. They present the movies without the widescreen bars, so you actually see more of the picture. Unfortunately, bad video quality does bring it down a notch.