He-Man Season 1 Volume 1 DEFECTIVE! (1 Viewer)

[JoSAN]

Just a heads up regarding the new Season 1 Volume 1 set of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

All 6 discs of the set are severely scratched due to poorly designed disc-holders! People over on the He-Man.org site are naturally incensed over such a stupid design flaw. I am as well. I've always had it up to here with stupid hub designs but this, folks, takes the cake. The entire bakery!

You see, the flat depression where the underside of the disc rests against has a small circle of rough plastic sticking out of it. So when the discs were slapped on and turned through shipping, deep scratches resulted. To whomever designed this new type of hub tray: You're an IDIOT! Trays haven't had things like this on them since CD technology began and with damn good reason. Only a moron doesn't understand that sharp things and discs DON'T GO TOGETHER!

And someone really f**ked up at BCI to let something like this pass through (a lack of) quality control. This will most likely lead to a recall of all the sets. We're not just talking about sending out replacement discs here -- which would be a mammoth task in itself since probably EVERY set was affected. If you put good discs into these trays they will just end up scratched too. A total store level recall is necessary in this case and it will be at such a loss to the company that future sets may not happen.

I bought it hoping that I'd luck out and get a good set but sure enough 4 out of the 6 discs were horribly scratched! I will be getting a refund on the set where I bought it tomorrow. There are people even finding discs that are cracked and half-melted!

So take heed DVD buyer: Don't buy this set until the defective sets are recalled and new ones are released (with proper labelling to indicate they are safe to buy). If you've bought it already, take it back to the store for a full refund. I wouldn't waste your time dealing with BCI over this. This is such a widespread problem only a full recall and reissue will solve it.

Sorry it this post comes across so venomously. My wife was really looking forward to this series on DVD and she was upset at not being able to watch it now and over the stupidest reason. This problem was completely avoidable. Distributers need to look at EVERY aspect of design. A perfectly made disc means nothing if you stick it into a hub-tray that's crap. Would you park your Ferrari in a tool shed?

http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...2&page=1&pp=25

 

[mark alan]

Is anybody else freaked out by the fact that there is a He Man forum?

I guess the internet really does allow you find fellow fans, no matter what your interest is.

 

[Random Hero]

Ugh! This is a lose-lose situation. Best Buy has the DVD set for $24.99 this week, and if the situation is this bad, no one should buy the set. And when proper copies are distributed, the price will be a lot higher.

Weren't there going to be two packaging styles? A triple-thick plastic box, and then a digipak package? Were there two styles, and are both affected?

Thanks for that link. I will read more there.

 

[James T]

I just checked out all of my discs. Discs one and two are in perfect condition, while the other discs have very, very minor scratches. It's thinner than a hairline and if you take all the scratches and line them up, you'll probably have an inch per disc. It's not as bad as JoSan mentioned or those in the posts. My DVD player has read 3-year old kids rental DVDs from the video store with no problem, so I'm pretty sure I'll be just fine. I guess I got lucky?

 

[Dane Marvin]

I had one very minor scratch on one disc. I generally tend to get lucky with DVDs I buy being in good condition. I feel bad for others and I feel bad for BCI if they are going to lose their asses over this. I hope it doesn't become a major setback because they have a good thing going. The content itself is quite impressive.

 

[Random Hero]

I think that I will wait until the end of the week and see if a recall or such is issued. If there is no recall, I might bite and buy the set.

 

[Andrew Radke]

I am SO glad I logged on here before heading out today. I was literally on my way to the mall to pick this set up. I just finished reading the thread at the aforementioned site. I'm truly amazed that something like this could slip through quality control. I was all psyched to spend this coming weekend watching He-Man episodes, but that's obviously not going to happen.

And then we have the BCI rep on the message board telling everyone NOT to call their customer service #, but to e-mail their complaints instead. Furthermore, he expects everyone to pinpoint EXACTLY where the errors take place on the discs. In other words, we are to watch 33 episodes with a fine tooth comb in a short period of time and report back (again via e-mail) where the errors occur.

It's obviously not an issue with the discs themselves. It's the packaging. Even if they sent out replacement discs, it doesn't excuse the fact that people are left with that particular packaging which caused the scratches in the first place.

No one should have to settle for this. When I buy a brand new box set, I expect that set to be in mint condition, with nary a blemish. I've bought previously viewed box sets at pawn shops which were in immaculate shape.

Some people place blame on BCI. Others place it on whoever manufactured the case. But the fact remains, a lot of people are getting screwed out of their $$$ by purchasing a defective product which has obviously become widespread.

If BCI's only solution is, "inspect the discs and report the errors", then that just doesn't work for me. The only way I will buy this set now is if they change the packaging to prevent scratches. Furthermore, I want some indication on the package saying that it is indeed a re-packaged version, similar to "Back To The Future" and the V2 printed on the disc.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pissed. Most of my childhood memories revolve around this show, and I was ecstatic to finally get these season sets underway. But it looks as though my "Best Of" discs will have to suffice until a proper solution becomes available.

 

[James T]

That's a pretty crappy solution. But it's a business. They probably don't care about the scratches, as long as it plays. You've already bought it, so it's too late. I doubt there'll be a recall unless enough people complaint with a defective disc. Maybe everyone should call customer service and just report problems with the case. If anything, the frequent calls will annoy the rep who'll pass the information to their superiors.

 

[JoSAN]

Not true. When I picked this set up at the store I told the person in charge that there have been potential manufacturing issues flying around the net. He assured me that if I discovered any problems, defects or scratches, within 21 days I would get a full refund. Not just an exchange because that would be a waste of everyone's time if all the sets are like that. Money back. All decent retailers offer this protection. If everyone who bought a bad set -- and they all have the bad trays, some discs are just less severely scratched than others, that's all (and that could change over time) -- returned them to the stores, they in turn will return them to the vendor as defective. So with all these stores sending back product, BCI makes little or no profit and therefore HAS to do something to remedy the situation -- for this set and ensure that all future sets will be problem free.

I'm returning the set today. I've got better things to do with my time than sort through various sets at the store looking to put together a set with the least amount of damage. This mess is completely unacceptable. Fix it, BCI. Do the right thing. If reputation means anything to you at all, you'll issue a manufacturer's recall.

 

[James T]

If you find a retailer that will allow refunds like that with no hassle, then you should keep exchanging He-man copies(knowing you won't find a perfect set) until either the manager tells you don't do it anymore or they run out. All those return sets will hit BCI pretty hard

 

[Will_C]

I picked up the set at Best Buy on Tuesday. Haven't had the chance to watch any eps yet, but all discs were on their hubs and a cursory visual inspection didn't show any scratches or blemishes. Sorry to hear that others have had such bad luck with scratched floaters.

 

[Carlo S]

Oh yes, I actually cancelled my order with Amazon. JUst as well I did.

The thing is all these reported problems, it really turns you off.

It may cost more but with any luck the R4 release will actually be good.

 

[Random Hero]

Well, the set is going to be $29.99 at Best Buy after this week. Still not a bad price...

I bit the bullet and bought the set. It sounds like there were no loose/spinning discs in the package, so maybe I got lucky. I've heard that a lot of folks who bought their set at Best Buy have gotten good, scratch-free sets.

If I see any scratches, I'll probably do a double-test: skim through the discs on my DVD player looking for errors, and then I will rip the discs to my hard drive. If the discs fully rip, then all should be OK.

 

[BrandonJF]

Are there two different hub casings out there? I picked mine up at Best Buy and I can't see anything resembling what the original poster described. I totally believe there's a problem out there since he's not alone, but when I inspected my discs, the hub design is such that the discs don't even seem to be touching the plastic underneath. They snap in place on the hub without having to push them down all the way against the plastic. I guess if someone shoved them down as hard as they could, there could be a problem, but my discs were still tight enough where they wouldn't move. I didn't notice any "rough" plastic underneath them, either.

Suffice it to say, there wasn't one scratch on any of my discs.

 

[JoSAN]

I returned the set for a refund. They opened a few sets in an attempt to offer an exchange and were quite upset to see that they were all ruined in one degree or another by the packaging defect. I think they'll be returning their whole stock of copies after this. Damn stupid shame for BCI to let a thing like this happen. Other DVD companies should learn a lesson from this: Quality control means inspecting trays & hubs as well as discs.

 

[florence franks]

Minus the obvious threadcrap, thanks for all information. I will wait this out as well. Its quite a shame because that 24.99 BB deal sounded great but its too much of a risk even those with low noticable marks report skipping and lock ups.

 

[Chris Ze]

My set arrived today a minor scratch on the first disc and the last.

 

[Scott Ruhl]

I picked my set up at Best Buy on Tuesday. A few very minor scratches on on the 2nd and 3rd discs but so far everything plays fine.

And I'm glad too 'cuz it's incredibly awesome! I wish every cartoon series got this type of treatment. I agree with BrandonJF, my discs don't seem to rest on the plastic tray either. They snap onto the hub very firmly in place resting just slightly above the plastic tray. It's a shame people are indeed having playback problems tho'. I wish BCI the best and am afraid some people are going to overreact and spoil the hard work that went into this production. Like people cancelling orders or retuning unopened sets because of something they heard on the inner-net without giving the release the benefit of the doubt.

 

[JoSAN]

Press release from BCI:

While it's nice that BCI has issued this statement as quick as they did (thanks, of course, to all the complaints from fans), their statement of "playability continues to be at 99%+" is hardly an accurate one. Too many people have reported unplayable discs. The fact is that nearly all of the discs have been scratched and only because some fans know the show as well as they do are they able to recognize that the laser skips over seconds, even minutes of unreadable material. Unless you know exactly what you are looking for, you will not know the extent of the damage.

Needless to say, we will be among those waiting until the new sets with the "Best of" trays are released. It may take a while before all the bad sets that are already out there are either bought or returned, but it is better to wait and get the quality consumers deserved in the first place.

 

[TravisR]

It's nice to see that BCI cares about their product. They've heard about the problems and are corecting them for the people that are having problems. If I was hesitant about buying the set, their quick response (and promise of a replacement IF I had a problem) would convince me to purchase it.

This has to be one of the fastest responses to a problem with a DVD that I know of. Good job, BCI!