Show Us Your Scratches, A Thread of Damaged Discs

[MrGarmonbozia]

I'd been posting in various threads regarding damaged discs but thought (and apologies if there already is one), not wanting to keep hijacking those threads, one where forum members can share their scratched/damaged discs would be beneficial.

With the growing number of scratched discs (especially from Shout and Criterion) coming in, it'd be interesting to see if other members are getting the same discs/sets damaged, what they are doing about it, etc.

Photos of said disc damage (and if they played or glitched) would be most welcome.

[MrGarmonbozia]

For me, of recent, my damaged discs have been:

CRITERION:
Lost Highway (a few small scratches. I kept it and it played)
Mullholland Drive (multiple scratches on edge of disc. Disc glitched. I replaced it)
Barry Lyndon (big scratch from center and fingerprints / replaced by Criterion)
Doctor Strange Love (many smaller scratches / replaced)
Once Upon a Time in China set (5 discs scratched / replaced / contacted Criterion to replace)

SHOUT:
Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 1 (5 scratched discs)
Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 2 (5 scratched discs)
Sonny Chiba Collection (all four discs scratched / smudged / finger prints)

*All of these I contacted SHOUT about. Their reply: "We do request customers do their best to only reach out with damage complaints for significant, irreversible damage that often impacts disc playability. Per our Shipping Policy, we can provide replacement parts in very select instances."
-I have told them I will go through the discs and if they play, scratches or not, I will keep them but if there are issues with freezing, etc. I will photograph those particular discs and get back to them.

[MrGarmonbozia]

One of the Once Upon a Time in China discs (which is pretty well most of them).

My email to Criterion:

"It has become an unfortunate reality for many of us collectors of recent to dread opening up a brand spanking new Criterion disc where once that was a joyful experience. These days, it has become a looming worry before the wrapping is even peeled away: will this be more scratched discs?

Over the last two years purchasing your product has lead to increasingly more scratched discs which, lets face it, is damage. Sure, some such scratches may not effect playback but with an ever growing number of scratched discs out there it takes away from the enjoyment of holding onto physical media while some say it is going by the wayside.

My last few purchases of Criterion titles have all had varying degrees of scratches. In some instances I've returned and played a form of Russian Roulette with where I bought it from in hopes the next batch comes out clean. Sometimes, in the case of smaller scratches, I've just popped it into the player and hoped for the best.

However, today I received an order for your wonderful Once Upon a Time in China 6 disc set. Wonderful, if not for the fact that 5 of the discs are scratched with the bulk being worse than I have seen in the now dealing with Criterion scratched discs for the last year and a half.

Please see attached picture.

I, personally, pictured Freddy Kruger possibly handling that disc. Others in the set fair no better.

While I could play the role of the dice return and return process here, I thought, in this instance, it was time to go right to the source and see if Criterion would issue replacement discs in this case. As mentioned, my recent purchases of Inland Empire, Mulholland Drive, Double Indemnity and others had this issue and I opted to not contact you about it for one reason or another.

However, considering how this Once Upon a Time in China set looks, I'd much rather deal with you directly on possible replacements as only the first disc in this set is unmarred by the damage seen in the attached image.

As an aside, I do hope Criterion finds a more reliable outlet for the manufacturing of your very coveted discs in the not too distant future as this issue is becoming more abundant. It certainly has me leery or purchasing multidisc sets I am interested in like your Bergman and Fellini boxes, for example.

Any help in this matter from you would be greatly appreciated."

[MrGarmonbozia]

My reply to SHOUT regarding their need for the damage to be "significant".

"To make matters easier for both of us, I will take some time to go over the sets in the coming months and, scratches or not, should the discs play I will be fine with it. However, should they freeze, skip etc. I will photograph those particular ones and get back to you.

That said, it is somewhat disheartening to read that you are asking us collectors, enthusiasts and long time supporters of your product to only reach out when the damage is "significant". I am sure you can understand, this is rather subjective. More so, when one purchases something NEW they expect the product to look new without, say, damaged cases or scratched discs whether they effect playback or not.

People like myself still trying to hold onto physical media when many are saying it is going by the wayside really don't want their experience and enjoyment lessened worrying if their scratched discs are going to play. I mean, while scratches on a new car don't hinder the drive, I doubt many would want a spanking new vehicle with such markings on them.

I do hope Shout/Scream considers more quality control of your product in the future though, I am sure, much of this is out of your hands and more in the lap of the manufacturing plant."

[scififan73]

Originally Posted by MrGarmonbozia

One of the Once Upon a Time in China discs (which is pretty well most of them).

My email to Criterion:

"It has become an unfortunate reality for many of us collectors of recent to dread opening up a brand spanking new Criterion disc where once that was a joyful experience. These days, it has become a looming worry before the wrapping is even peeled away: will this be more scratched discs?

Over the last two years purchasing your product has lead to increasingly more scratched discs which, lets face it, is damage. Sure, some such scratches may not effect playback but with an ever growing number of scratched discs out there it takes away from the enjoyment of holding onto physical media while some say it is going by the wayside.

My last few purchases of Criterion titles have all had varying degrees of scratches. In some instances I've returned and played a form of Russian Roulette with where I bought it from in hopes the next batch comes out clean. Sometimes, in the case of smaller scratches, I've just popped it into the player and hoped for the best.

However, today I received an order for your wonderful Once Upon a Time in China 6 disc set. Wonderful, if not for the fact that 5 of the discs are scratched with the bulk being worse than I have seen in the now dealing with Criterion scratched discs for the last year and a half.

Please see attached picture.

I, personally, pictured Freddy Kruger possibly handling that disc. Others in the set fair no better.

While I could play the role of the dice return and return process here, I thought, in this instance, it was time to go right to the source and see if Criterion would issue replacement discs in this case. As mentioned, my recent purchases of Inland Empire, Mulholland Drive, Double Indemnity and others had this issue and I opted to not contact you about it for one reason or another.

However, considering how this Once Upon a Time in China set looks, I'd much rather deal with you directly on possible replacements as only the first disc in this set is unmarred by the damage seen in the attached image.

As an aside, I do hope Criterion finds a more reliable outlet for the manufacturing of your very coveted discs in the not too distant future as this issue is becoming more abundant. It certainly has me leery or purchasing multidisc sets I am interested in like your Bergman and Fellini boxes, for example.

Any help in this matter from you would be greatly appreciated."

I must say, for something that IS scratch resistant there’s been a hell of a lot of abrasion somewhere along the line to do that!

[MrGarmonbozia]

Originally Posted by scififan73

I must say, for something that IS scratch resistant there’s been a hell of a lot of abrasion somewhere along the line to do that!

As I mentioned, it's either Freddy Kruger working a temp job while awaiting the Elm Street franchise to be rebooted or Mexico is suffering from a frisbee shortage and Criterion/Shout disc fill the void on lunch breaks.

[Warm Gun]

Originally Posted by MrGarmonbozia

As I mentioned, it's either Freddy Kruger working a temp job while awaiting the Elm Street franchise to be rebooted or Mexico is suffering from a frisbee shortage and Criterion/Shout disc fill the void on lunch breaks.

It is just poor working conditions in Mexico. PlayStation games are made in America, and I have never seen a gamer complain about a scratched or smudged disc.

[formula_nebula]

I've been lucky! I have none

[skinjob69]

I picture the discs being dumped onto a table and low paid workers scrambling to get the discs into cases as fast as possible.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by MrGarmonbozia

My reply to SHOUT regarding their need for the damage to be "significant".

"To make matters easier for both of us, I will take some time to go over the sets in the coming months and, scratches or not, should the discs play I will be fine with it. However, should they freeze, skip etc. I will photograph those particular ones and get back to you.

That said, it is somewhat disheartening to read that you are asking us collectors, enthusiasts and long time supporters of your product to only reach out when the damage is "significant". I am sure you can understand, this is rather subjective. More so, when one purchases something NEW they expect the product to look new without, say, damaged cases or scratched discs whether they effect playback or not.

People like myself still trying to hold onto physical media when many are saying it is going by the wayside really don't want their experience and enjoyment lessened worrying if their scratched discs are going to play. I mean, while scratches on a new car don't hinder the drive, I doubt many would want a spanking new vehicle with such markings on them.

I do hope Shout/Scream considers more quality control of your product in the future though, I am sure, much of this is out of your hands and more in the lap of the manufacturing plant."

And yet Shout/Scream has nothing to do with this QC, so I guess blame the company because it's their product, but they aren't physically responsible for the damage being caused.

Weird, though, as I don't have 1 disc with scratches, and every only had 1 4K disc skip or whatnot.

[stvn1974]

I just ordered Halloween II thought the Halloween UHD box set from Shout and now I have chewed my fingernails down to where they are bleeding in anticipation of receiving my order.

I have only received one disc that is scratched and that is the UHD of Shiver Of The Vampire. I am not sure it if affect playback as the film bored the hell out of me and I didn't finish it.

[meremortal]

Probably have had like a dozen discs that would skip entire chapters from the tiniest marks.

[MrGarmonbozia]

Just had an order arrive. It contained 1 Criterion (Police Story 1 & 2), 1 Shout (The Street Fighter Collection) and 1 Warner (Crouching Tiger / Hidden Dragon).

The Criterion discs:




One of the Shout discs:


This was after cleaning off the prints and smudges.

The Warner one was 100% scratch free.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by formula_nebula

I've been lucky! I have none

Absolutely not possible based on the hundreds of discs I've seen. Scratches are extremely common these days, especially from the plant in Mexico. Simply not possible. You're either not looking or you're not looking correctly (under a light, moving the disc side to side until the light reflects off the scratches).

I buy lots of discs and scratches are common sadly. Some discs are worse than others. Shout Factory are some of the worst in the past couple years, but no label is immune. UHD players are particularly sensitive and more likely to run into playback issues. Even if your current player handles a scratched disc fine, there's no guarantee your next player will handle them as well.

I let light scratches go these days on blu-ray, but not UHD. I do replace blu-rays when I get a dozen scratches on a single disc like Shout Factory, or if they look deep. Also, even light scratches can cause issues. Sometimes they can be worse than deeper ones ironically. Radial (circular) scratches are the most problematic.

[MrGarmonbozia]

I just fastforwarded through the scratched up Street Fighter disc and it didn't freeze or appear to skip ahead so there's at least that but, as the poster above said, doesn't mean it won't or on other players.

The problem with returning these multi-discovers for replacement is, in this instance, ONE disc out of three has the damage. I send this back to WOWHD and it takes 10 days in transit and replacements 10 days back to find more discs scratched, different discs scratched which seems more likely these days than the miracle of NO discs scratched.

At least with Amazon you generally have enough time before having to send a set back to see what the replacement set holds first.

Anyway, I have 2 more SHOUTS left coming my way (Tiger Cage Trilogy [3 discs] and a single disc release). After that I am holding off on Criterions and Shouts for awhile.

[MrGarmonbozia]

Oh wait, there's that 11 disc Shaw Classics set from Shout coming too.

lol...that oughta' be an adventure :P

[HorrorBlu]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Absolutely not possible based on the hundreds of discs I've seen. Scratches are extremely common these days, especially from the plant in Mexico. Simply not possible. You're either not looking or you're not looking correctly (under a light, moving the disc side to side until the light reflects off the scratches).

It is possible if they've also bought none as well.

[Jobla]

Do we really believe that certain labels, such as Shout and Criterion, are getting more scratches than discs from other labels? I believe that there's only one replicator in the Americas, the one in Mexico. I have a hard time believing that certain labels are being targeted.

[MrGarmonbozia]

Originally Posted by Jobla

Do we really believe that certain labels, such as Shout and Criterion, are getting more scratches than discs from other labels? I believe that there's only one replicator in the Americas, the one in Mexico. I have a hard time believing that certain labels are being targeted.

All I gotta' say is I've purchased a lot of discs in the last year from various labels (Arrow being the most but also 88, Kino, Disney, Warner, etc.). Shout and Criterion are the only two where I'd say 90% of what I have received over the last year and a half have had scratches.

Just the last year...

Scratched Criterions:
Doctor Strangelove
Barry Lyndon
Lost Highway
Mulholland Drive x 2
Once Upon a Time in China
Police Story 1 & 2
Double Indemnity
Night of the Hunter
Citizen Kane
The Elephant Man
The Killing
Night of the Living Dead

Unscratched: Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, David Lynch Art Life

Scratched Shout:
Jackie Chan Collection 1
Jackie Chan Collection 2
Sonny Chiba Collection
Streetfighter Trilogy
Tiger Cage Trilogy
Wild at Heart

Unscratched Shouts: Brave Archer set

Outside of purchasing used stuff on Ebay, not a single disc from outside of these two had scratched discs.

[MrGarmonbozia]

A couple of pics before sending back for replacement discs.







Barry Lyndon: