Fox has been bringing out their Foxes in boxed sets, starting with the ones with Warner Oland. Unfortunately, they've been taking their time (I'm having to wait until August to get my favorite--CC's Secret!).
The good news is that they're bound to start bringing out the Tolers at some point after that.
There is another option you can take: How do you feel about grey marketers? There are several reputable ones who sell those old films that aren't avaiable otherwise if you're interested . . . ?
In all liklihood the Toler Fox films will be released in the not too distant future. I would feel comfortable speculating that the first batch of Tolers will be out before the end of this year. Fox will have released all 12 Olands plus two early non Oland Chans in about a 14 month time period which is pretty quick in the grand scheme of things.
In my opinion, I would definitely not buy these from the grey/black market. Doing so will only remove the incentive from Fox to release the legal ones. Also, the Fox versions will be of infinitely better quality and have special features, etc. With the Fox DVDs selling for as little as $7.50 per disc (even new), the pricing is actually cheaper than the bootlegs.
Humble self does prefer Mr. Oland by a slim margin, but some of Mr. Toler's films are among my favorites (DEAD MEN TELL, WAX MUSEUM, and RENO in particular). In fact I would venture as far as to say while I may prefer Mr. Oland's characterization, Mr. Toler's films are better in terms of scripts, production values, etc.
Toler's my favorite Chan too. I like that he's less polite than Oland's Chan. Sometimes his "thank you so much" comes off sounding like an insult. His best Chan movies, in my opinion, were Reno, and especially Treasure Island.
I agree. I also like Sidney Toler best. Of course since Warner Oland came first I give him special homage. I actually saw Mr. Toler's films first, then Warner Oland's. You could say I am sticking with my first impression, but as I saw more and more Warner Oland films it became a close race. I only wish later Chans Roland Winters and J. Carrol Naish had half the charasima of the former two. Charlie Chan might've continued in films for a few more years and been a longer lived TV show. Today we might have several dozen Chan films to view rather then a few.
