Steelbook headaches. I think I'm done.
Short rant.
I love steelbooks. I don't get them for every movie, but when one stands out I try and snatch it up. But after the debacle of trying to get all of the MCU ones, I think I'm calling it quits. Have them shipped? Damaged. In-store pickup? Damaged. I'm not even talking abotu the small knicks and shelf wear either. I get that. It's normal, even adds some character. But the major stuff, the spine slash, the dents, the scratches... it's just ridiculous. Unless you are at the store when they open on release day, securing a quality steelbook is a stress-filled, time consuming chore.
I went to pick up my ISUs for today's Marvel's. I could tell right away that Far From Home had a loose disc. No problem. Swap it out, all good. I inspect the others, all seems good. Is the spine on Doctor Strange just not quite 100% centered? Yea, but I'm not even talking that level of perfection here.
Get home, open them up, Guardians has a major dent and front scratch on the fron that you couldn't see until the packaging was off. Ant-Man has a bad spine slash that was "hidden" with the shrink-wrap. With last months bacth Iron Man 2 has a moderate scratch on the front (couldn't tell with the shrink-wrap and the "weathered" look), Thor had a dent on the lower spine. When I had the Captain America steelbooks delivered, severely bent. IW and Endgame, spine-slash. Non-Marvel, the Pet Sematary mondo had spine-slash under the slipcover. UNDER THE SLIPCOVER! And it goes on and on.
So after work today I have to go back to Best Buy and try for an exchange on two opened steelbooks. More gas, more time, more stress. For a movie. I truly love collecting physical media, but it's traditional packaging for me going forward. I always have a supply of fresh non-eco cases, and cover art itself is rarely ever damaged. I'll still (reluctantly) buy the MCU steelbooks to keep everything uniform, but that's it. And even then it'll no doubt cause my anxiety to rise.
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