Packaging Overkill: Or when the package is so nifty you can't get to the discs. (1 Viewer)

[Katherine_K]

So I was given Star Trek Enterprise season one today, and I sat down to watch it and was amused and annoyed at the same time with the shear amount of things that must be opened, sifted through, and kept track of in this set.

For those of you who have not seen this unpacked... the outerbox is a high grade (to paramont's credit sturdy) plastic case that pulls appart (with no small amount of force applied to both ends) to reveal a loose slip case set of discs in a tray-book. Both outercase and inner case are shrink wrapped. When you slide the slipcase off, the booklet and paperwork falls off the back. To add insult to injury, the hubs hold onto the discs like a vice grip. I thought I'd break one disc in half getting it out.

The case when put togeather is taller and wider across the front than a standard set. But it's star trek and you have to justify the SRP. Anyway...

I know a lot of people have been upset with the flimsy plastic used in the Simpsons Season Six head so I thought I'd like to see a discussion about why studeos use complicated packaging, does it really enhance sales, which sets are the most unweildy, and how do you handle storage if the case is unworkable.

 

[Ric Easton]

I do this...



If you are interested, you can download them here.

 

[Will_B]

The Scrubs season one set is both the most beautiful and most fragile-to-the-point-of-terrible cover I've come across.

 

[JohnAP]

Unfortunately, when people try to make the package look cooler, it often ends up making it harder to get to the dvds. While I'm glad we don't see the fold-out packages like on buffy or the alien quadrilogy too much anymore, we still end up seeing a lot of experimentation with packaging that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Designers' should stop trying too hard to make things look cool and concentrate their efforts on making the dvds as easy as possible to get to.

 

[AnthonyC]

Well, I won't even get into the Homer head but I'll point out one general example and one other specific one.

The cases with overlapping discs are awful. Not even can they scratch more easily, but you have to take out the top disc, take out the second, put the second in the player, and then put the top disc back where the second one was. Use slimcases if you want to save shelf space!

Specifically, The Apprentice: The Complete First Season has terrible gimmick packaging. First, there's a sound chip that makes it take up more space. But worse, if you pick it up off the shelf without getting a firm grasp, the actual digipack will fall out, as there is no bottom slip (or top one for that matter).

 

[Edward Schatz]

Sliders anyone?

 

[Chris Lockwood]

For boxed sets, I wish more studios would use the thin plastic cases in an outer cardboard box.

I hate the ones that fold out, like the Trek TNG. You know those are going to wear out eventually.

 

[Brad P]

Three words: Curb Your Enthusiasm.

 

[GarySchrock]

As someone that's using Ric's graphics for the star trek sets, I can't say enough. Heck, I even used his old ones that took up more space. While I'll give credit to Paramount for trying to be creative with it's packaging, ultimately it just ends up as a hodge-podge of things that don't fit on the shelf, and don't really look good together. Ric's looks good on the shelf, provides a consistant size on the shelf. In fact, my only real complaint with them is that it turns out my shelves are only 24 inches across, and his set takes something like 30, 32 inches .

The ones that really annoy me are things like the Sledgehammer sets, where there's really no positive closure method to the set. Schindler's list is the same way. There's really no excuse for there not to be some sort of snap to close a set.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Gilmore Girls (you in the back there, stop laughing!) Annoying outer slip case with no initially obvious way to remove it, inside over-lapping discs. A two-fer of bad design.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Katherine_K]

Thank you Ric, I did download your covers and intend to use them. I almost wish you had Stargate covers as those take up a lot of room too, but I bet you'd want to wait till the show is off the air so that you could get a good spine design.

 

[BrandonJF]

Unless I'm misunderstanding or this is for the upcoming Season 4 set, none of my Gilmore Girls sets are as described. The slipcase is just a normal slipcase and there are no overlapping discs.

 

[MattHR]

Maybe he meant "Golden Girls" and not "Gilmore Girls" ?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Never mind, I'm an idiot. It must have been another set that arrived on the same day as the Gilmore Girls 3-pack - not sure which one and don't have time to check. I must have been having a senior moment when I wrote that.



Er, "No!" I'll cop to collecting Gilmore Girls. It is very well-written and Lauren Graham is a fox. Bea Arthur, on the other hand, really doesn't do it for me. (But, hey, your mileage may vary. )

Regards,

Joe

 

[BrandonJF]

Maybe "Scrubs"?



I don't know if I would've ever laughed at a guy for watching Gilmore Girls (ok, I would've), but I am borderline obsessed with it now. If I have to turn in my man card, I'll turn it in, but I started watching season 1 and if I have to go a day without watching at least one episode, I'm not happy.

The friggin' theme song is even stuck in my head along with Lauren Graham doing that little dance as her name comes up in the opening credits. There. I said it.

 

[MattHR]

Joe, if you're experiencing "senior moments", I'd think Bea Arthur would be just the ticket.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I agree the Star Trek Sets especially TNG have all been Problamatic. Ric's Covers with the multi disk case is the way to go. But I'm slowly getting so much TV On DVD that I'm out of room and my disks are beginning to get scattered about, and I have no more room for racks. I might be forced into buying CD cases with Prosleeves before long I'm simple out of space.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

You say that like it's a bad thing. Believe me, there are worse things to have stuck in your head than Lauren doing her little dance.

Joe

 

[Mike Frezon]

What? No love for Estelle Getty?

But, back on topic...I don't have too many TVonDVD sets...but I never liked the packaging for CSI. I get nervous whenever my teenage son reaches for those yellow "caution tape" slips and then starts folding back all those layers of plastic.

Put 'em in slim cases like Survivor!

 

[Brian Himes]

I have to casta vote for the Star Trek DVD sets as being rather problematic. At first I loved the TNG sets, but there are a couple that I have a heck of time getting out. After that, I think Paramount got rather cheap with DS9 and really cheap with Voyager. I actually like TOS sets. The cases are distinctive and look really cool on the shelf. I haven't gotten Enterprise yet, but they look cool also.

The biggest set is my Battlestar Galactica set. That oversized box is rather cumbersome. Looks cool, but way too big.