Pictures of DVD unboxing: do they help? (1 Viewer)

Lately, I have been sharing links to EBay entries that involve pictures of the unboxing of several full-series releases, namely those of CBS releases (Mork and Mindy, Gomer Pyle, etc.) and at least one Shout! release (Sgt. Bilko). Something I'd like to know: on the whole, in your opinion, does an EBay listing for a television disc release with pictures of the unboxing of the same make it easier to make a decision on whether or not to purchase the releases that are shown?

I like to see pictures of the actual product. Often the stock shots of the cover don't always give you

an accurate idea of what the product really looks like, or what type of case it comes in .

Such pictures are sometimes useful to see whether the packaging is completely atrocious or not.


For example, whether the packaging is warping and/or scratching the discs. (Some notorious cases of this are some mid-late 2010 tv on bluray releases by Universal, which used lousy packaging that warped and scrached the discs. Also in 2010, Alliance (re-)released a ton of 1990's -> early-2000's era sci-fi/fantasy tv shows in really atrocious packaging which warped the discs. But eventually Alliance/Eone re-released these "damaged" season sets in regular viva dvd multdisc cases which didn't warp/scratch the discs).


I also read the 1-star reviews on amazon, to see whether there's complaints about the packaging damaging the discs.

jcroy said:

Such pictures are sometimes useful to see whether the packaging is completely atrocious or not.


For example, whether the packaging is warping and/or scratching the discs. (Some notorious cases of this are some mid-late 2010 tv on bluray releases by Universal, which used lousy packaging that warped and scrached the discs. Also in 2010, Alliance (re-)released a ton of 1990's -> early-2000's era sci-fi/fantasy tv shows in really atrocious packaging which warped the discs. But eventually Alliance/Eone re-released these "damaged" season sets in regular viva dvd multdisc cases which didn't warp/scratch the discs).


I also read the 1-star reviews on amazon, to see whether there's complaints about the packaging damaging the discs.

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That's the best answer right there! Unboxing, the way I read what you said, allows us to inspect a DVD release on-the-spot, so that we don't pay good money for something that's cheaply made and does not hold up, like the full-series M*A*S*H release that, IIRC, not only was uber-tough to manipulate (the folders containing each season's discs being quite fragile), but did not protect the discs very well (many of the complaints being about how the sleeves scratched the discs to kingdom come).

Over the years I've turned down some dvd sets, when I read the 1-star reviews about and/or seen pictures of the atrocious packaging which damaged the discs.


For example after reading reviews about the packaging scratching the discs, I turned down stuff like:


- Desperate Housewives complete series

- The West Wing complete series

- Stargate SG-1 complete series

- etc ....


In the end, I ended up buying the individual season sets of Desperate Housewives and Stargate SG-1 which also turned out in total to be less expensive than buying the "complete series" sets. (I have yet to pick up The West Wing).


Less atrocious but still bad were those recent Sony complete series dvd sets which stacked 15-20+ discs in spindle trays in flimsy packaging. I picked up the Charlie's Angels and Damages complete series sets, but I ended up taking out all the discs and putting them all into surplus 2-disc dvd cases I had in storage. No point in using the flimsy crappy Sony packaging.


Also annoying were various Paramount complete series sets from 4-5+ years ago, which had really flimsy paper disc holders. Awhile ago I picked up the Wild Wild West complete series set where I also took all the discs out, and put them all into surplus dvd cases I had. (In contrast, the recently released Paramount "complete series" sets look a lot better in durability than the older sets).

jcroy said:

Such pictures are sometimes useful to see whether the packaging is completely atrocious or not.


For example, whether the packaging is warping and/or scratching the discs. (Some notorious cases of this are some mid-late 2010 tv on bluray releases by Universal, which used lousy packaging that warped and scrached the discs. Also in 2010, Alliance (re-)released a ton of 1990's -> early-2000's era sci-fi/fantasy tv shows in really atrocious packaging which warped the discs. But eventually Alliance/Eone re-released these "damaged" season sets in regular viva dvd multdisc cases which didn't warp/scratch the discs).

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*** long rant in depth ****


If I had known how aggravating the atrocious packaging of these 2010 Alliance sci-fi/fantasy tv season set releases were, I would have never purchased them at the time back in 2011.


At the time in mid-2011, I picked up the following Alliance released tv season sets which had really atrocious packaging that warped the discs:


the revived Outer Limits - season 1

Psi Factor - seasons 1, 2, and 4

Earth: Final Conflict - season 5

F/X - season 2


These discs were difficult to take out of the packaging, and frequently the discs were warped. Here's some pictures of what the atrocious crappy packaging actually looks like:


http://www.amazon.ca/gp/customer-media/permalink/mo2CEH5HIBY1YG1/B003BNO9GO

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/customer-media/permalink/mo2RK6YX39SBUBT/B003BNO9GO


But fortunately, these "damaged" discs played somewhat fine on the computer. Though some discs didn't play properly on my standalone dvd players.


I finally got fed up when I picked up the Robocop complete tv series dvd set, and the discs were warped beyond repair. Even after doing two exchanges from the store, the subsequent set of discs were still warped beyond repair. (I ended up getting a refund, since they had no more copies of the set). I threw up my hands and said no more of this crap !!! At the time, I didn't bother buying any further Alliance sci-fi/fantasy dvd season sets in this atrocious crappy packaging which warped the discs.


Awhile later, I found all five seasons of the Alliance re-released Andromeda season sets in generic viva multidisc dvd cases which didn't warp and scratch the discs. So I figured, Alliance knows about the fallout with the atrocious packaging and decided to re-release all these sci-fi/fantasy tv season sets in generic viva dvd cases that everybody else uses. (Most of the older versions with the atrocious packaging eventually disappeared from the local bargain bins). Alliance ended up taking their sweet time over 2011 to 2014, to eventually re-release all these "damaged" season sets in generic viva muldisc dvd cases which didn't warp and scratch the discs.


About year or so later in 2014, I noticed there were updated amazon ASIN numbers for many of these "damaged" Alliance/Eone sci-fi/fantasy tv season sets, different from the orginal 2010 versions. So I ended up ordering many of these re-released versions, which all came in generic viva multidisc dvd cases. I documented this as it was going on during mid-2014, in another thread on this message board (scroll down starting at post #219)


http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/322475-universal-studios-warner-brothers-reissued-dvd-sets/page-11

^Interesting photos you link to at Amazon. That packaging is identical to what Shanachie used for the Car 54 Where Are You? packages. It makes a regular digipak look almost good by comparison.

I do appreciate these pics. I like to get an idea of what the product will look like before it gets to me.

BobO'Link said:

^Interesting photos you link to at Amazon. That packaging is identical to what Shanachie used for the Car 54 Where Are You? packages. It makes a regular digipak look almost good by comparison.

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We should make a list of titles with this style of atrocious packaging that easily warps and scratches the discs.


For starters:



bluray


House MD - season 6

The Office - season 6

Heroes - season 4

Sanctuary - seasons 1 and 2



dvd


Car 54 Where Are You - seasons 1 and 2 ?



(mostly Alliance released tv seasons sets from 2010)


the revived Outer Limits - seasons 1 to 7

Earth: Final Conflict - seasons 1 to 5

Andromeda - seasons 1 to 5

Mutant X - seasons 1 to 3

Adventures of Sinbad - season 1 (and 2 ?)

F/X the series - seasons 1 and 2

Beastmaster - seasons 1 to 3

Robocop - complete series

Lexx - seasons 1 to 4

The Hunger - seasons 1 and 2

Psi Factor - seasons 1 to 4

Relic Hunter - seasons 1 to 3

The Black Stallion - seasons 1 and 2 (and 3 ?)



Any other titles?

BobO'Link said:

^Interesting photos you link to at Amazon. That packaging is identical to what Shanachie used for the Car 54 Where Are You? packages. It makes a regular digipak look almost good by comparison.

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I just picked up these sets, one season new and one used. The discs look fine, but I don't know how I ever got them out without cracking them. They are now in notebooks and will never see the original packaging again. What we were they thinking?

TCM Vault boxsets use that type of packaging as well. It's so easy for the discs to float around in them and get scratched.

jcroy said:

We should make a list of titles with this style of atrocious packaging that easily warps and scratches the discs.


For starters:



bluray


House MD - season 6

The Office - season 6

Heroes - season 4

Sanctuary - seasons 1 and 2



dvd


Car 54 Where Are You - seasons 1 and 2 ?



(mostly Alliance released tv seasons sets from 2010)


the revived Outer Limits - seasons 1 to 7

Earth: Final Conflict - seasons 1 to 5

Andromeda - seasons 1 to 5

Mutant X - seasons 1 to 3

Adventures of Sinbad - season 1 (and 2 ?)

F/X the series - seasons 1 and 2

Beastmaster - seasons 1 to 3

Robocop - complete series

Lexx - seasons 1 to 4

The Hunger - seasons 1 and 2

Psi Factor - seasons 1 to 4

Relic Hunter - seasons 1 to 3

The Black Stallion - seasons 1 and 2 (and 3 ?)



Any other titles?

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I think the packaging of Sliders was widely derided as not being that great either, especially with that third release being doubles.

bmasters9 said:

I think the packaging of Sliders was widely derided as not being that great either, especially with that third release being doubles.

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I ended up taking all the discs out and putting them into surplus dvd cases.


The foam was doing weird things to the discs. (My copy looked like it was old and sitting in a warehouse for ages).

classicmovieguy said:

TCM Vault boxsets use that type of packaging as well. It's so easy for the discs to float around in them and get scratched.

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I'm not familiar at all with tcm.


(From googling and going through amazon, it looks like a lots of the hits are to the turner classic website).


How widespread was this type of atrocious packaging for tcm releases?

jcroy said:

I ended up taking all the discs out and putting them into surplus dvd cases.


The foam was doing weird things to the discs. (My copy looked like it was old and sitting in a warehouse for ages).

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That was the best thing you could have done! I never got why Universal used foam for the Sliders releases (and by "third release," I should clarify, I meant that of the third season).

Professor Echo said:

I just picked up these sets, one season new and one used. The discs look fine, but I don't know how I ever got them out without cracking them. They are now in notebooks and will never see the original packaging again. What we were they thinking?

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I have one too many dvd season sets which ended up like this too. (Though I use surplus dvd cases, which probably take up a lot more shelf space than notebooks).


The absolute worst were double-sided flipper discs which were difficult to take out of the cases. There's a certain type of nasty digipack disc tray design, where it's very difficult to take the discs out. The flipper seasons sets I have which were like this are:


Law & Order - season 2

Law & Order - season 4

Law & Order - season 14

Law & Order: Criminal Intent - season 3

Law & Order: Special Vicitms Unit - season 5

Dukes of Hazzard - season 2

Miami Vice - season 2


Similarly, single-sided discs which were difficult to take out of the nasty digipack trays, were season sets like:


CSI - season 3

CSI - season 4

Boomtown - season 1

Grey's Anatomy - season 6

Nip Tuck - season 2

Rockford Files - season 2

Mad Men - seasons 1 to 4



(All these original cases were never again used for holding any discs).

jcroy said:

I have one too many dvd season sets which ended up like this too. (Though I use surplus dvd cases, which probably take up a lot more shelf space than notebooks).


The absolute worst were double-sided flipper discs which were difficult to take out of the cases. There's a certain type of nasty digipack disc tray design, where it's very difficult to take the discs out. The flipper seasons sets I have which were like this are:


Law & Order - season 2

Law & Order - season 4

Law & Order - season 14

Law & Order: Criminal Intent - season 3

Law & Order: Special Vicitms Unit - season 5

Dukes of Hazzard - season 2

Miami Vice - season 2

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I think also that the third- and fourth-season Dallas releases, and the second-season Waltons release, were like this.

jcroy said:

I have one too many dvd season sets which ended up like this too. (Though I use surplus dvd cases, which probably take up a lot more shelf space than notebooks).


The absolute worst were double-sided flipper discs which were difficult to take out of the cases. There's a certain type of nasty digipack disc tray design, where it's very difficult to take the discs out. The flipper seasons sets I have which were like this are:

Click to expand...

I don't own any of those you mention but if they are the type where the edge of the bottom disc slides partially into the hold-down for the top disc you can add the *newly* released Batman '66 to that list. You have to press the release, partially pull up the disc, and then carefully slide it out from under the top hold-down. It's a royal pain!

BobO'Link said:

I don't own any of those you mention but if they are the type where the edge of the bottom disc slides partially into the hold-down for the top disc you can add the *newly* released Batman '66 to that list. You have to press the release, partially pull up the disc, and then carefully slide it out from under the top hold-down. It's a royal pain!

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I don't have the Batman set. But this description sounds very similar to the annoying digipak disc trays in my copies of Grey's Anatomy season 6 and Rockford Files season 2.

jcroy said:

I don't have the Batman set. But this description sounds very similar to the annoying digipak disc trays in my copies of Grey's Anatomy season 6 and Rockford Files season 2.

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It's even worse when the discs involved are double-sided, as in the Dallas and Waltons releases I mentioned before.