Universal Studios & Warner Brothers Reissued DVD Sets (2 Viewers)

jcroy · May 6, 2014

On the topic of flipper discs in the present day, it seems like hardly anybody regularly uses them anymore for new releases. The only exceptions I can think of offhand, is some stuff from Mill Creek and HBO.

For Mill Creek, I've picked up a few of those multidisc monstrosities with 10+ discs, where one set had tons of dvd-10 flippers. (It would be an absolute nightmare if Mill Creek regularly used dvd-14 or dvd-18 type flipper discs).

In the case of HBO, they have used flippers in their bluray combo packs where the dvd copy is in the form of flipper discs. The quality control on these combo set dvd flipper copies, seems to be decent. (IIRC, Warner handles HBO's stuff these days). I suspect the rationale for HBO doing this, is that many bluray buyers aren't going to care as much about the dvd copies which come in the combo packs.

For the case of Fox, it doesn't appear they're using flipper discs anymore for new releases. For older Fox season set releases which were originally done as flipper discs back in the mid-2000's, it's hard to tell whether the repackaged re-releases of flipper season sets are newly pressed flipper discs or old stock from a decade ago.

UniversalPhan · May 18, 2014

I just ordered Six Million Dollar Man Season 4 for $12.49 from Amazon. Ordered Northern Exposure Season 4 for $12.98. Tomorrow I'm hoping to head into Best Buy and order Northerhn Exposure Season 5-6 for $12.98 each, the two seasons are currently $15+ change. By tomorrow morning, they'll be around $12.98. Previous seasons of SMDM are $10 each at Amazon and Northern Exposure sets are all priced between $10-15 each.

Get them quick as they just dropped in rpice and Amazon has been playing YoYo with the prices on these season sets. These are some awesome deals.

UniversalPhan · May 18, 2014

UniversalPhan · May 19, 2014

Just ordered Northern Exposure Seasons 5-6, which completes my run of DVD shows. Now, it's Miami Vice and Magnum. :p

oldtvshowbuff · May 21, 2014

Now concerning ER, I received the S1 set for Xmas a couple of years ago and it was reissued by WB, meaning that the discs were single-sided, but the menus onscreen said that there were episodes on the other sides from when they were originally released on those flippers. Funny, I bought a S2 set recently, an older version with what else, Warner flippers, you know, double-sided discs, but they should play just fine.

jcroy · May 21, 2014

oldtvshowbuff said:
Now concerning ER, I received the S1 set for Xmas a couple of years ago and it was reissued by WB, meaning that the discs were single-sided, but the menus onscreen said that there were episodes on the other sides from when they were originally released on those flippers

This was also the case with the single-sided discs re-release of Dukes of Hazzard season 1, Wonder Woman season 1, and Gilligan's Island seasons 1, 2 and 3.

It may very well also be the case that Warner is lazy and doesn't want to spend any more $$$$ on reauthoring the menus on the single-sided discs re-releases of ER season 1 and 2.

oldtvshowbuff said:
Funny, I bought a S2 set recently, an older version with what else, Warner flippers, you know, double-sided discs, but they should play just fine.

In my experience, Warner seemed to have better quality control on their double-sided flipper discs than Universal and Fox.

But in the end, I would rather have the single-sided discs versions than the flippers.

jcroy · May 21, 2014

UniversalPhan said:
The Bourne Trilogy was released as a trilogy boxed set that only contained the Blu-ray version of the movie. The boxed set was re-issued at a lower retail price and that the single sided Blu-rays were only made available through the trilogy boxed set. Trust me on this, I have the set. I was the same and I avoide the Bourne trilogy Blu-rays because of those flipper disks. You should be able to find a copy at Walmart, from time to tiem, for around $30.

(This may be going slightly offtopic).

Awhile ago I read that the steel book versions of the Bourne movies might be single-sided bluray discs, but I wasn't 100% sure. (The amazon listings stated there were two discs per steel book set, but didn't describe the nature of the two discs).

http://www.amazon.com/Identity-Steelbook-Blu-ray-DIGITAL-UltraViolet/dp/B00IIJ9F38
http://www.amazon.com/Supremacy-Steelbook-Blu-ray-DIGITAL-UltraViolet/dp/B00IIJ9F7E
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimatum-Steelbook-Blu-ray-DIGITAL-UltraViolet/dp/B00IIJ9F10

(These Bourne steel books were released a few weeks ago on May 6).

I passed by Costo during lunch today, and purchased the steel book versions of the Bourne trilogy movies for around $11 a pop as an "impulse buy".

I figured for a bluray steel book at $11 a pop, it was relatively low risk. (The older Bourne flipper disc bluray versions are typically around $8 or $9 a pop locally whenever there's a sale at Walmart or BestBuy).

When I got home and opened up these Bourne steel books, they were indeed all single-sided bluray discs! :rock:

UniversalPhan · May 31, 2014

I've been carefully monitoring the price changes for the new reissued Miami Vice season sets and the upcoming Magnum P.I. reissued season sets. Some have started to drop in price, but nowhere under the $20 mark yet. They're gravitating around the $25 mark and the Six Million Dollar Man Season 5 set has been dropping toward the $25 mark as well. ONce they drop below the $20 mark, I'll send up a flare. :p

jcroy · Jun 2, 2014

Lately I binge-watched through the dvd sets of the revived Dallas, and followed the first half of the season 3 first-run episodes. (I didn't really watch the original series back in the day).

So now I wanted to watch the original Dallas series.

Against my better judgement, I recently picked up the first several flipper season sets of the original Dallas.

I didn't really want to wait for possible future single-side discs re-releases of this show. (Only season 14 and the tv movies dvd sets were originally released as single-side discs. All of seasons 1 to 13 were originally released as flipper discs).

It turned out the copy of the original Dallas season 1+2 dvd set I picked up, had one flipper disk which completely had the wrong episodes. Episodes 7,8, and 9 were missing. My copy of disc 2 side A turned out to be a duplicate of disc 1 side B. (Disc 2 side B had the correct episodes). Essentially there were two copies of episodes 4, 5 and 6. So I ended up returning this set.

It turns out I wasn't the only one who had this exact same season 1+2 dvd set problem. There's three or four other complaints about this from earlier this year 2014, on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R216HD4CWH0O15/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B006I0E6UQ
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2ZFNPBGKD8WCT/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00028G7LG
http://www.amazon.ca/product-reviews/B00028G7LG/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_2?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addTwoStar&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

From looking at the packaging and discs from this season 1+2 dvd set, it was hard to tell whether this was old inventory from many years ago that has not been recalled yet, or if it was recent newly manufactured discs. The packaging is an old style fold out digipak with an individual tray for each individual disk.

If these were recent newly manufactured flipper discs, then Warner completely dropped the ball on this one.

If this was just old inventory from many years ago, it should have been recalled a long time ago.

In either case, Warner has dropped the ball.

With all this being said, wonder what Warner will do about these defective season 1+2 dvd sets still in the supply chain at amazon (and possibly other retailers), which are generating the exact same complaints over the last 6 months or so.

One possibility is Warner recalling all these defective copies, and re-releasing this original Dallas season 1+2 season set as a 10 single-sided discs set. (The original had 5 flipper discs).

jcroy · Jun 2, 2014

(Going slightly offtopic).

So I started watching the original Dallas with the season 3 dvd set, which is the season that ended with the infamous "Who shot JR?" cliffhanger. It's very much what I would think of a highly serialized prime time soap opera from the 1980's.

I guess I'll be waiting for awhile until corrected dvd copies of season 1+2 start showing up in the supply chain. From what I've read, season 1 was a 5-episode miniseries, while the season 2 episodes were mostly non-serial "episodic" type stuff where "everything is wrapped up by the end of an episode". The season 1 and 2 episode descriptions sound mostly like character backstory stuff, of which I'm not really familiar with at this point.

UniversalPhan · Jun 2, 2014

Miami Vice season set prices have been slowly decreasing in cost. I expect it to go another 6 weeks before they drop below $15.

kingfish · Jun 2, 2014

i am still waiting for the individual release of magnum p.i. season 3.

exposed · Jun 3, 2014

I posted some time ago that Universal Studios contacted me about their lapse on re-issuing the third season. After sending them an email, I was sent the following reply on March 31st:

You are correct: Season Three of "Magnum, P.I." has not been released on single-sided discs. No date has been announced for the release of this season.For product information and a list of upcoming releases, please check our website periodically at:http://universalstudiosentertainment.com. You might also wish to subscribe to our online newsletter for product announcements at:http://signup.universalstudois.com/form/39We appreciate your patronage and hope that you will continue to enjoy Universal products.Sincerely,Consumer RelationsUNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Universal Studios is aware of the oversight and will undoubtedly release the third season on single sided DVDs when scheduling permits.

jcroy · Jun 5, 2014

jcroy said:
(Going slightly offtopic).

So I started watching the original Dallas with the season 3 dvd set, which is the season that ended with the infamous "Who shot JR?" cliffhanger. It's very much what I would think of a highly serialized prime time soap opera from the 1980's.

(Going further offtopic).

I'm almost finished watching the season 3 dvd set of the original Dallas. I was basically watching as many as six or seven episodes per evening, and wanting to watch more if I didn't have to get up early the next morning.

Previously I was accustomed to "binge watching" tv season dvd/bluray sets which had around 10 to 13 episodes. (Shows like Homeland, Netflix's "House of Cards", various HBO shows, Dexter, etc ...). In contrast, I found it harder to binge watch through episodic and/or procedural shows like CSI, Law & Order, Magnum PI, Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-0 (both original and revived), House MD, Dukes of Hazzard, X-Files, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, The A-Team, etc ...

It seems like the original Dallas got the formula right, when it comes to keeping people's attention and wanting to come back for more in a "quasi addictive" manner. (Soon I may very well end up picking up further flipper disc season sets of the original Dallas). This may very well have been reflected in the original Dallas being #1 or #2 in the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive years (seasons 4 to 8).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings#Top-rated_programs

In a more general sense, I can see why some daytime soap operas with daily "serialized" episodes were very popular and addictive since the dawn of television.

jcroy · Jun 11, 2014

I've been asked privately about the single-sided discs re-release of Wonder Woman season 1. A public response would be appropriate for this particular thread.

The packaging is similar to the seasons 1 to 3 Gilligan's Island single-sided discs re-releases. (ie. It is NOT an old style fold out digipak case).

It has an isbn number of 9781624044168.

I ordered it from the canada amazon. Initially I didn't know the discs were single-sided, until I opened up the package.

http://www.amazon.ca/Wonder-Woman-Season-1/dp/B00C205BKU

According to amazon.ca the release date of this single-sided discs set re-release is May 21, 2013.

(There doesn't appear to be a listing for this single-sided discs re-release on amazon.com).

BobO'Link · Jun 11, 2014

^Thanks for the info... That's about $24 shipped to the US. It's a shame US Prime doesn't work on Canadian orders...

BUT that's *still* lower than the DS US release when purchased from Amazon.

FWIW the UPC (according to camelcamelcamel) on that particular release is 883929285679 which returns that product on the Amazon.ca site. There is no product with that UPC on the US site.

jcroy · Jun 12, 2014

Should also mention about ordering any dvds or blurays from a Canada based retailer.

Most Canada based dvd/bluray retailers will only make refunds if the dvd or bluray package is not opened at all, and returned within a limited time.

In general once a dvd or bluray package is opened, it is generally not returnable for a refund at most Canada based retailers. So you can't return a dvd or bluray to the retailer, just because you think the movie or tv show was crap.

In practice such Canada based retailers will only really do exchanges due to manufacturing defects, recalls, etc ... They'll do refunds if they are out-of-stock of a particular item after one asks for an exchange. Occasionally they'll do refunds on dvds and blurays which have manufacturing defects.

So if you order that Wonder Woman season 1 set from that amazon.ca link above, and they mistakenly send you the older flipper disc version (with a digipak cardboard slipcase), you should return it immediately without opening the dvd package and exchange it for the proper single-sided disc version. (ie. Wrong item was sent).

The proper Wonder Woman season 1 re-released single-sided discs version is a fat black plastic dvd case, similar to the Gilligan's Island single-sided discs re-releases.

jcroy · Jun 12, 2014

Heh. Just noticed this on B&N's web site.

All ten seasons of Friends are being re-released on September 2, 2014. This must be the second or third time these particular season sets were re-released and repackaged.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?csrfToken=n1ISNJvGgBBpXRBFiuIUd61az7JJ3nrr&sort=DD&size=30&keyword=friends&store=dvd

No info on what changes will be made on the discs and packaging.

jcroy · Jun 21, 2014

(This is only really relevant if you're into less popular Canadian produced sci-fi/fantasy/action tv shows from the late-1990's and early-2000's, that were released on dvd by Alliance back in 2010 in Canada).Back in 2010, Alliance/E-one released a bunch of sci-fi/fantasy/action tv show season sets in really atrocious packaging which frequently warped the discs such that they were not playable or had major playback problems. (This really crappy dvd packaging was similar in style to cases Universal used for some mid-late 2010 bluray releases like: Heroes season 4, House season 6, The Office season 6, etc ... and the Sanctuary seasons 1 and 2 bluray sets, which all frequently warped the discs)The tv shows of interest released in such atrociously bad dvd packaging back in 2010 are:Earth: Final Conflict - seasons 1 to 5the revived Outer Limits - seasons 1 to 7Andromeda - seasons 1 to 5Lexx - seasons 1 to 4Psi Factor - seasons 1 to 4Beastmaster - seasons 1 to 3F/X the series - seasons 1 and 2Relic Hunter - seasons 1 to 3Robocop - complete seriesAdventures of Sinbad
Mutant X

(Some of these were re-releases of stuff that went out-of-print many years ago).

Over the last few years, I have largely held back on buying many of these dvd season sets due to the crappy packaging warping the discs. (Alliance/E-one tv season set releases after 2010 don't use this really atrocious nasty packaging anymore).

Recently I noticed on amazon.ca that for many of these season sets, there were updated ASIN numbers different than the original 2010 releases. So I took a risk and recently ordered many of these titles with the updated ASIN numbers, where I ordered the the revived Outer Limits, Earth: Final Conflict, Lexx, and Relic Hunter. When the package arrived in the mail, all these tv season sets turned out to be repackaged re-releases in generic viva style dvd cases that everybody else uses these days for 6-disc tv season sets.

(Awhile ago I picked up the repackaged re-releases of Andromeda, Beastmaster, and F/X that were in generic viva dvd 6-disc cases).

In terms of shows which might not have been re-released yet in generic viva 6-disc dvd cases, so far I have not seen (either at a retail store or evidence of updated ASIN numbers on amazon.ca):

Adventures of Sinbad - season 2
Robocop - complete series
Mutant X - season 3
The Hunger - season 2

jcroy · Jun 22, 2014

(For completeness).

Here's a list of the new (and old) ASIN numbers of these Alliance/E-one 2010 tv season set releases in Canada. If anybody orders any of these Alliance/E-one released dvd season sets, one should order the version with the new ASIN, and not the old ASIN. (I'll list the old ASIN numbers in parentheses for reference as to what to avoid).

These ones I can confirm directly that the new ASIN numbers are indeed the repackaged re-releases (from my recent amazon.ca orders).

Earth: Final Conflict

- season 2
new ASIN - B006DVB4JQ
(old ASIN - B003H9LIZ2 )

- season 3
new ASIN - B004WBZUSU
(old ASIN - B003V924BK )

- season 4
new ASIN - B006DVB428
(old ASIN - B003VPX5XA )

Lexx

- season 1
new ASIN - B0087CNBAO
(old ASIN - B003FLLPZK )

Relic Hunter

- season 1
new ASIN - B0087CNBGI
(old ASIN - B00386OWVG )

- season 2
new ASIN - B005OA71VW
(old ASIN - B003BNO9HI )

the revived Outer Limits

- season 3
new ASIN - B0076QS2OM
(old ASIN - B003EV5NDQ )

- season 4
new ASIN - B0051T51VS
(old ASIN - B003H9LIPM )

- season 5
new ASIN - B0076QS2ZQ
(old ASIN - B003P3DZGU )

- season 7
new ASIN - B0076QS3O6
(old ASIN - B003Y8YAZQ )

These ones I can't confirm directly, but they do have updated ASIN numbers on amazon.ca and/or I have seen (or purchased) the repackaged re-releases in local retail bricks-and-mortar stores. (I have the repackaged re-releases of Andromeda, Beastmaster, season 1 of F/X, and season 2 of the revived Outer Limits, which I purchased around a year ago at some local bricks-and-mortar stores).

Earth: Final Conflict

- season 1
new ASIN - B0076QS0S0
(old ASIN - B003JBI770 )

- season 5
new ASIN - B006DVB5XQ
(old ASIN - B003Z9K5XU )

Relic Hunter

- season 3
new ASIN - B007VB8UZI
(old ASIN - B003FLLPXM )

Lexx

- season 2
new ASIN - B0087CNB86
(old ASIN - B003H9LIX4 )

- season 3
new ASIN - B0087CNB7M
(old ASIN - B003TNVZY0 )

- season 4
new ASIN - B0057GUDUY
(old ASIN - B003VPX5US )

the revived Outer Limits

- season 1
new ASIN - B006Z4LOM8
(old ASIN - B003BNO9GE )

- season 2
new ASIN - B0051T51RM
(old ASIN - B003BNO9GO )

- season 6
new ASIN - B0076QS3A0
(old ASIN - B003UYUQZC )

Andromeda

- season 1
new ASIN - B0076QRYF0
(old ASIN - B003H9LIRK )

- season 2
new ASIN - B0076QRYVE
(old ASIN - B003SXHZHM )

- season 3
new ASIN - B0051T51WW
(old ASIN - B003VD2Q8C )

- season 4
new ASIN - B004WBZUSA
(old ASIN - B003Z9K5VM )

- season 5
new ASIN - B0076QRZ7C
(old ASIN - B0049EVR3M )

Beastmaster

- season 1
new ASIN - B006DVB3CE
(old ASIN - B003H9LIRU )

- season 2
new ASIN - B006DVB48M
(old ASIN - B003TNVZXQ )

- season 3
new ASIN - B006DVB70W
(old ASIN - B003VPX5UI )

F/X the series

- season 1
new ASIN - B006DVB51S
(old ASIN - B003VPX5XK )

- season 2
new ASIN - B006DVB3J2
(old ASIN - B003Z9K5YE )

Psi Factor

- season 1
new ASIN - B006DVB3MY
(old ASIN - B003H9LIT8 )

- season 2
new ASIN - B006DVB5QI
(old ASIN - B003SXHZHW )

- season 3
new ASIN - B006DVB68A
(old ASIN - B003VD2QBO )

- season 4
new ASIN - B006DVB5LS
(old ASIN - B003Z9K5VW )

The Hunger

- season 1
new ASIN - B005OA71BC
(old ASIN - B003FLLPYG )

Adventures of Sinbad

- season 1
new ASIN - B004WBZUPI
(old ASIN - B003ZXNCFO )

Mutant X

- season 1
new ASIN - B007VB8UKS
(old ASIN - B003UTTUV8 )

- season 2
new ASIN - B005A7HVPK
(old ASIN - B003VPX5YO )

The following don't appear to have any updated ASIN numbers.

The Hunger

- season 2
(ASIN - B003FLLPYQ )

Robocop

- complete series
(ASIN - B003H9LIZW )

Adventures of Sinbad

- season 2
(ASIN - B0049EVR1E )

Mutant X

- season 3
(ASIN - B003Z9K5YY )

Of these four titles, so far I have only seen Robocop and season 2 of The Hunger in the old crappy atrocious packaging. I have not seen the other two titles yet in local retail bricks-and-mortar stores. So I cannot confirm whether they are still in the old crappy packaging, or if the packaging was generic viva 6-disc dvd cases all along.

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