The six Charlie Chan adventures that are contained in the "Chanthology" collection were those that were available to MGM Home Entertainment, who holds the rights to "same." The remaining 11 Monogram Chan films belong to Warner Brothers, and, as you mention, what seems to be holding back the release of these movies is the difficulty of locating suitable prints for a number of the pictures.
Steve O. would probably have more information to add regarding this, as he has done fine research along these lines, and, much of what I related above was from what he has related in the past.
By the way, any guess as to which of the 11 Monogram films are causing the problems? The quality of Monogram prints are just generally somewhat worse than films from the major studios, but are there particular ones that seem especially sub-par in your opinion, from what you have seen?
Douglas, I doubt MGM will rerelease their 6 Film Chanthology in more definative version (Extras like Audio Commentaries, Featurettes, etc. like the Fox Box Sets). However I highly recommend you upgrading your VHS copies with the MGM Box Set.
I bought this box set the first day it came out. You know what? Actually, as far as them being low-budget, I really didn't notice. These six are actually pretty decent with the right amount of '40s cheese to have some pretty darn good movies in there.
