Right, I'm new to Blu-ray and am very much enjoying the format. However, could somebody please explain to me the point of steelbooks. I know I'm generalising but they seem a vastly over-priced way of fleecing the "collector". What am I missing here?

Different artwork of the cover on a steel case, some of which are only limited editions. But other than that you've got it spot on, same features and films (same disc) as regular cover versions.

They're only expensive if you buy them for new films. There's a bunch of back-catalogue titles at Best Buy right now for $9.99-14.99.

I have a bunch of them but I think the only time I spent more than usual for one was The Dark Knight Rises ($34.99 IIRC). I was just that excited to see it.

I don't buy loads of new Blu-Rays, so I don't feel so bad when I pay up to £25 for a steelbook lol. Most of them seem to be fair priced, ie; I got The Dark Knight Rises for £15 which was the same price as the standard edition.

It' just more luxury, that's all.

I don't get them all that often, sometimes JB HiFi has certain releases only available at first in Steelbook form, in those cases the Steelbook will usually be the same price as the regular edition. I did get their Steelbook version of Sucker Punch because it was the only one with the Directors Cut. Plus they usually come with art cards or something like that. I must admit the Steelbooks of the theatrical versions of the first two Hobbit films are extremely nice, in fact if they didn't come in that format I probably wouldn't even have bought them.

I don't really like Steel books because they usually have the disk hub of death lol.

The trick is to press your thumb down on the hub and lift the edge of the disc, it should just pop right off.

My steelbook of Sucker Punch is the edited version.

There are some really incredible steelbook cases out there. Much more impressive and visually appealing than their basic blu ray counterparts. One of the main reasons I started collecting them was their superior artwork to what the standard is for many US blu rays. The foreign releases are often much more stunning, creative and more representative of the film itself.

Some of my favorites include ones for:

Mars Attacks
Beetlejuice
Scream
Purge Anarchy
The Frighteners
Grindhouse

Just to name a few...