Validity of this Criterion SotL? (1 Viewer)

[JJR512]

I recently purchased via eBay a sealed copy of the Criterion edition of Silence of the Lambs. It arrived today, and before I even open it, I'd like be as certain as possible that it is the genuine article, and not a bootleg or whatever.. To that end, I've scanned the front and back, spine, and top, which, if you know what they should look like, you can hopefully look at and compare to your own copy and tell me if there are any discrepencies or not. I scanned the top so you could examine the security seal. I've seen in another recent thread a scan of the front and back, and mine looks like a perfect match, but I'd like a second opinion. I have no overt suspcicions; I'd just like to make sure. The only thing I feel a little funny about is the plastic shrinkwrap, and the weight. I had it shipped to where I work, Taco Bell, and weighed it on a digital food scale, and it weighs 4.0 ounces. I don't suppose most of you would be able to make that kind of comparison, but to me, it just feels a tad light. As far as the plastic shrinkwrap, well, it's a bit hard to describe...I guess it just seems a bit lower-quality than what I expected. I don't remember the last Criterion I bought, though. This one has a fused seal around the top, bottom, and the opening side (the side opposite the seal).
Here are links to the pictures. The front and back are around 500kB each; they are large to show detail. Please let me know what you think. Thanks.
http://www.jjr512.com/images/personal/SotL_cover_fr.jpg
http://www.jjr512.com/images/personal/SotL_cover_bk.jpg
http://www.jjr512.com/images/persona...cover_side.jpg
http://www.jjr512.com/images/persona..._cover_top.jpg
BTW, the eBay seller was "the-entertainment-vault", and he has 861 postive comments (plus one neutral and three negatives). The seller seems to be trustworthy. It's just that this is the first thing I've received from an eBay auction...(I should have a few more things coming over the next week)...and I guess I'm a little nervous, is all.

 

[Damin J Toell]

That silver "Special Edition" sticker pretty much confirms that it's genuine to me. I'm not much of an expert on SOTL bootlegs, but I bought that disc new when it was still available, and the sticker was present. I've never seen a bootleg since that replicated that sticker. The top seal also makes it a virtual certainty that it's real. You'll probably want to wait to hear other voices on the subject, but if I were you, I'd tear right into that disc.
DJ

 

[Paul-Gunther]

Looks like the real deal to me.

 

[Veli-Matti Reitti]

I am pretty sure it's the genuine thing after looking at the images. The only SoTL bootlegs i've seen are those with the "alternate, very rare" Anthony Hopkins sitting in the cell cover. Which looks completely different. Also i think the bootleg in question has a DTS option unlike the original Criterion Collection. I won this bootleg at ebay some time ago but never purchased it after a discussion with Jon Mulvaney at Criterion regarding bootlegs versions of SoTL. And he was absolutely 100% positive it was a bootleg. It looked like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1563375783
This is the most common bootleg out there but i am not saying there couldn't be others as well.

 

[Veli-Matti Reitti]

The image didn't seem to work...
Try this link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1563375783

 

[JJR512]

Thanks to all who have replied. After reading, I felt safe enough to open it up and see what was on the inside. There is an insert with an image of Jodie Foster, similar to the one on the front cover, which is the left half of her face filling the left half of the front of the insert, and a chapter guide filling the right half. The inside of the insert is an article discussing the movie, the book, the making of the movie, etc., and the back has the cast, a description of how the Criterion version was made, etc. The disc itself is, of course, present. I have uploaded two new pictures, scans of the center of the disc (top and bottom), so you can see the alphanumeric and barcode-like stuff that is present just inside the actual data area. The insert, disc, and inside of the case itself all appeared 100% perfect, as in no dirt, no fingerprints, no sign that any such had been cleaned/removed, etc. (whatever dirt/smudges/etc. you see in the scans are either on the scanner glass itself, or are too small to see with the naked eye in real life without looking extremely closely; a scanner tends to magnify things like this that you can't really see in real, normal life). The only thing I could see was on the disc itself: A very, very small line, thinner than a hair, that started at the hole and extended approximately a quarter-inch into the data area. I tried to feel it but could not, either because it was too small, or was inside the disc itself. It is only visible if you hold it to the light just right. For example, it is completely invisible in the scans (in real life, it appears on the bottom, non-label side, about half-way between the backwards "@" and the frontwards "CMCA L810"). I don't know what it is; could it be a small fracture of some kind? I've never examined a DVD as closely as I've examined this one, so for all I know, minor defects like this are not uncommon, but don't actually affect anything, at least not right away...
http://www.jjr512.com/images/personal/SotL_disc_top.jpg
http://www.jjr512.com/images/persona...isc_bottom.jpg

 

[Greg_Y]

Looks like the real deal all the way around. Enjoy it! It's a terrific disc and one I'm glad to keep, even though it's non-anamorphic.

 

[Craig]

The seal on top with the barcode looks genuine, I compared it to a unopened Criterion Seven Samurai DVD that I have.

There are some bootlegs available with the same cover as the genuine Criterion. I just visted an Asian website that has them available for $15. The DTS version has the alternate cover like the one in the Ebay link posted above, and it's obviously fake. I've seen some very good bootlegs however and aside from something like the barcode seal it's really difficult to tell them from the genuine article.

 

[Jeff]

Damin is correct about the sticker on the front. If yours has it, which it does in the photo, than it's the real thing.



Jeff

 

[JJR512]

I've heard that about the sticker, but I never understood it. If a bootlegger can reproduce a DVD and print a cover, why can't he also produce a simple sticker? Is the sticker really that much harder to make than a DVD or the cover?
In any event, my nervousness has been put to rest. Coming soon to an HTF thread near you: RoboCop Criterion: Same question!

 

[Damin J Toell]

I've heard that about the sticker, but I never understood it. If a bootlegger can reproduce a DVD and print a cover, why can't he also produce a simple sticker?

It's easy to make a color print-out of a DVD cover. It's much more difficult and expensive to make a silver ink circular sticker.

DJ