All-Time Worst DVD Packaging (1 Viewer)

[pitchman]

I'll second The Munsters - season 2. It is next to impossible to get that thing open and closed without tearing poor Herman's head.

Also, Mad Men - season 1 in the Zippo lighter case is no walk in the park. It is very easy to slip a disc into the wrong slot and have it brush against another disc and get scuffed or scratched.

 

[Pete Battista]

In my collection the worst would still have to be Sliders: The Complete 1st and Second Seasons... I absolutely despise that "floating Discs" idea... and to this date the only set I changed into keep cases based solely on the packaging it came in. Next worse in my collection would have to be The Brady Bunch: The Complete Series. The shag carpet casing I can get used to... but that flower shaped accordion style cardboard envelope all this discs are in is terrible!

 

[Regulus]

I picked up Seasom 11 of The Simpsons from Targhee for about 15 Bucks and when how I saw how they were packaged all I could say was BLECCH! Needless to say I removed the Disks from the sleeves and placed them in some Thinpack Sleeves that I place my Camcorder DVDs in and put away the "Crustyland" POS Packaging. (The Thinpacks hold the four DVDs in the Outer Package NICELY. No need to worry about Damaged Disks!

 

[bmasters9]

"Star Trek: Voyager" is another clear packaging misdeed. Not only are the releases expensive as heck, but the discs of each release are packaged in a book that is itself packaged in a clear two-piece plastic case that you have to remove to get to the book. Apparently, the discs also have very opaque and tiny writing on them, and this would lead us to misrepresent them as being doubles, although they're actually singles.

Don't get me wrong-- I do like the series (at least from what I've seen of it), but because of the steep price tag of the releases, and the poor packaging of those releases, I'd just as soon rent it from Netflix.

Here is a page with pictures of what the "Voyager" releases look like and how they are packaged:
http://voy.trekcore.com/gallery/thum....php?album=239

It's 73 images on 5 pages, showing you what the "Voyager" releases look like inside and out.

I'd like you to take a look at these pictures and see if you don't agree that Paramount dropped the ball on the packaging of "Voyager."

 

[JasonJason]

Here's one that I don't believe has been mentioned:

Masters Of Horror, Season 2 -
I love the show, and I can even get behind the concept of the packaging (a horror show in a skull shaped box - it almost creates itself). But, when you open it up, the discs are just standing upright, loose, with notches dividing them. No cardboard sleeve or anything - just loose. And, when you open it the first time, there's not a single chance that all of the discs will be in their space. Mine were all over the place in there. Everytime you take a disc out or put it back in, you run the risk of damaging it. This is double bad when you consider that the way that they are lined up pretty much requires that you lift and drop each disc until you find the one that you are looking for - you can't see which disc is which without it. Also, add the fact that, for some reason, they've made a couple of the discs flippers, so those are twice as vulnerable...

On another note - does anyone know if the reason that the car collectible packaging for the Complete Speed Racer has been pulled due to complaints on the packaging? I've noticed on the shelves that it seems to have been replaced by more traditional packaging.

 

[Pete Battista]

When I saw the skull packaging on the websites I was considering double dipping for that skull alone. Now I am glad I got the single episode releases! Thanks for the info!

 

[JasonJason]

No prob! Yeah, the skull looks really cool on your shelf (especially next to the mausoleum of the first season), but I had to return it twice in order to get a set without damaged discs. And, I pretty much never return anything!

 

[William Miller]

M Squad

 

[Tim Tucker]

M Squad's packaging isn't bad; it's just awkward.

Seems like we're not the only ones complaining about such things:

Hell is plastic: 18 calamitous music and movie packaging gimmicks | Music | A.V. Club

 

[smithb]

While I have to agree with Star Trek TOS and season 1 of Wanted Dead or Alive, one I haven't seen mentioned is the new 24 season steel box. It is another example of sliding disks in and out of tight cardboard sleeves. I like to keep my disks in their contaiiners so these quickly got put in standard protective sleeves and put back into the case.

Personally, I wish everything just came in the standard thin packs. They are usually a softer plastic, hubs don't break as easy, and typically hold the disk in place jut fine. The hard plastic hubs are either too loose allowing disks to float around easily or too tight making it difficult to remove them without feeling like you could be making micro-fractures in the disk each time they are removed.

 

[Yee-Ming]

And I'd add, in due course the plastic folds will break, so you'll have to repair it with some clear tape.

I'd second the Wire as well, recessed spaces in cardboard? What were they thinking? And to add insult to injury, each 'folder' is bigger than it really needs to be, making the package longer than necessary. It gets to the stage where *ahem* pirated versions aren't necessarily any worse, they simply shoved the discs into lined plastic sleeves like those you'd get in a wallet, and place the booklet of sleeves into a nice box.

 

[Ockeghem]

Yeah, those are quite bad IMO. I bought the first season, then sold it. Then over a couple of years I purchased the entire United Kingdom edition of VOY. The U.K. packaging (that is to say, the burgundy torpedo edition--I don't own any of the Slimline) is far superior to the North American, and the British DVDs have more special features in some cases. These are quite pricey, but as a Trekker for over forty years, they are worth it to me.

 

[vnisanian2001]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned ALF. It's bad enough that the sets were plagued with edited episodes, and Lion's Gate got away with lying about the unedited episodes being in terrible condition, but the packaging on all 4 seasons, is among some of the worst I've ever seen.

 

[bmasters9]

Originally Posted by Joe Tor1

To start, any package where the discs COVER UP episode information! The INVADERS Season One and PERRY MASON Season Three Volume One are ones!

You should never have to remove a disc to read episode liner notes!

Several of mine are like that, especially the keepcases of "Hotel," "Family Ties," and "Matlock."

 

[Regulus]

I SECOND YOU, Ben!

Season 6 of Walker, Texas Ranger has this type of case as well.

 

[Ethan Riley]

In the world of "Complete Series" packaging, it seems the more clever they tried to be, the more stupid the end result. Case in point: the Brady Bunch and Battlestar Galactica 1978. But those came out years ago, and just last week I got the Ally McBeal set. It's a simple oblong box; you open it and there's six uniform, standard dvd cases in there; they are slim, perfect, space-saving and the dvds inside are not easily damaged by stupid clever packaging snafus (ala What's Happening). The outer box itself is attractive and non-stupid. Maybe times are changing.

 

[Regulus]

I REPACKAGED my 1978 BSG DVDs in another "Shelf-Friendly" DVD Case, along with the 1980 "Mini-Series". I saved the origional Cylon Head case, which now resides in my Attic. Sure made some space on my DVD Racks!

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Originally Posted by Ethan Riley

There's sets that just plain bug me, but aren't technically bad. One of my least favorites is the U.K.'s Are You Being Served? complete series set. It consists of 14 discs; each of them has its own standard dvd case. The problem is that 14 discs takes up a LOT of room on a shelf. They could have produced a box that was about 1/3 the size for those 14 discs. I finally got fed up with all the room it was taking up; I took out all 14 discs and stuck them in a disc binder.

Your post is slightly misleading. It's a UK television show, but what you're talking about is the U.S. Region 1 packaging, since the whole thing hasn't been release in the UK yet (although their releases are in full-size amarays, they are doing one full series/season per release, so the 10 series will only take up 10 cases instead of the 14 we got here where the US market released them in volumes). Also, it wouldn't be surprising if, when they finish the UK run, that they might put out one or two "complete series" digipacks over in R2 land (like they did for such shows as Steptoe and Fry & Laurie.

 

[BobO'Link]

This is easy.

Anything *NOT* in a thinpak, double thinpak, or the 4-6 disc case that's the size of a regular keepcase.

Whoever invented the "digipak" (both CD and DVD) should be hung by their thumbs for a few dozen hours.

 

[smithb]

Originally Posted by BobO'Link

This is easy.

Anything *NOT* in a thinpak, double thinpak, or the 4-6 disc case that's the size of a regular keepcase.

Whoever invented the "digipak" (both CD and DVD) should be hung by their thumbs for a few dozen hours.

As bad as "digipak's" may be I will take them over cardboard foldouts with disks jammed into the cardboard slots before the glue is even dry.