Hehe, while I will applaud the Estate for even celebrating HIStory 25, let alone acknowledging it, I just hope that when I order a shirt or something, it isn’t on backorder and will be ready to ship to me when “restocked,” because a similar situation occurred when I ordered a Dangerous 25 shirt back in 2016 and ended up not getting it under suspicious circumstances of it being on backorder and not being shipped to me, even if it was restocked or not. I don’t recall of I got my money back or not, but if I didn’t, some real shady shit.
But nevertheless, there could be more potential to this, besides just merchandise. Given the circumstances of the world right now, and relating it to the context of the songs on the HIStory album, the album is as relevant as ever, thus a re-release is necessary. However, to add with the re-release, can be other content like a HIStory Tour concert and unreleased HIStory sessions, as with Bad 25. Now I know that “HISToRY tOuR iS nOt BeSt FoR oFfIcIaL rElEaSe” because of obvious reasons, such as show quality (barely live, but I still like the HIStory Tour, hehe) and reputation in the media (about playback). But the concert does not need to be Seoul or Munich, since I would hold a huge grudge against the Estate if those were the concerts of choice. Include one good 1996 concert (with full setlist for bonus), like Prague (first concert of tour, immense audience, and energy), Sydney 11/14 (Beat It fully live), or Brunei (New Year’s Eve one, not Royal one), and one good 1997 concert (with full setlist for bonus), like Bremen (first concert of second leg and BOTDF with red jacket), Amsterdam (either 6/8 or 6/10 is fine, but they both look energetic), or Basel (underrated HIStory show in my opinion), along with some rehearsal footage (documentary is fine, but there already is one, so raw rehearsal footage is preferred) and some unreleased HIStory sessions that were not finished or could not be on the album. Maybe HappyLee can even restore the footage better than the NASA crew did with Wembley. Although, raw footage released is acceptable, and people can just make their own enhancements soon enough, if required. Boom! I just laid out the template for the Estate to follow. All they gotta do now is just figure out a way to market it and put it out. All this HIStory goodness can be compiled into a DVD or Blu-Ray boxset, which can be promoted on their socials and be ordered online (from retailers though), or in alignment with the digital age, the concerts and rehearsal footage can be uploaded on the Michael Jackson YouTube channel (remember they uploaded Wembley and Bucharest last year?), along with those unreleased sessions (can be uploaded in the same manner as other music, duh) one by one. The only issue with the latter is they won’t profit from it if they upload the content online for free, which may discourage them. Even so, not only will the public be pleased with a re-release of the HIStory album due to its context being pertinent with the times, but fans can also enjoy new concerts and music in quarantine. On top of that, the Estate can earn themselves the load of money they deserve (for this), if they choose to put it out at a cost. It’s a triple win here folks. I am not opposed to the merchandise, though a bit dubious of it, as shirts with “They Don’t Care About Us” or “History” can be worn with pride right now, albeit the Estate would be doing more people, including themselves, a huge favor if they consider to expand the HIStory 25 celebration with new content. Come on Estate, I know you can accomplish this within a week, so just do it!