The Perfect Condition (or Buying the Perfect Blu-ray)

[martydmc12]

I'm kind of a nut.

When I go out and purchase my Blu-ray's, I'm someone who makes sure that the printing of the packaging is as near perfect as possible. I look for things such as if the lettering is centered correctly on the spine, and if the whole thing is cut squarely.

I make sure that the corners aren't dented or smashed in (especially on cardboard cases or slipcovers). And being in Canada, I don't buy that many discs here because of the bilingual packaging (see thread https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=203151).

But no matter what I do, I seem to always manage with something wrong with whatever I buy.

For example, today I finally was able to locate a copy of the LAWRENCE OF ARABIA: 50th ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION Box Set. They were at Costco, and they had a about two dozen copies. I spent probably a good 10-15 minutes going through them all, making sure there were no dents or chips on the one I choose. And believe me, there were some with some shattered plastic. Some even with cuts across the top from what looks like a box cutter. I finally get the best copy I could, got it home, opened it up, and the the disc cover art inside was most obviously inserted on a angle, as it is all creased up and bent. Sigh.

My CITIZEN KANE: 75th ANNIVERSARY Box Set, the hardcover book inside was printed upside down and backwards.

My AVENGERS STEELBOOK, damaged on the inside with dents and broken plastic.

Sigh.

It amazes me how much care I take into buying the perfect disc or boxed set, and how I treat my discs at home as well with the utmost care, yet I still manage to get broken or beat up stuff. Anybody else have these issues like me?

And believe me, I realize that these are trivial "first world" problems.

[Sinthetic]

It happens all the time here too. The fussier you are, the more it seems to happen (or is it all in the mind?).

Either way, I'm happy to say that the extreme pickiness has lead to me having a collection that is around 95% fantastic condition.

Just gotta roll with the punches.

[martydmc12]

Originally Posted by Sinthetic

It happens all the time here too. The fussier you are, the more it seems to happen (or is it all in the mind?).

Ain't that the truth.

I've actually contacted some of the studios about replacing stuff in the past. I remember back in the good ol' VHS days (before I was evening collecting Laserdisc), I had MGM send me brand new VHS boxes from PLATOON and RAIN MAN, because mine became damaged. And they sent me new cases without any hesitation. With all the pirating that exists today, I can't imagine it would be that easy to do anymore. Although I did send Sony an email about my Lawrence. I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I'll say one thing though, having damaged packaging vs. a damaged disc is something else. Back at the beginning of DVD (early 2000's), I picked up the DIE HARD TRILOGY six disc set. My DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE was corrupt, trashed, or just plain didn't work. It didn't work to the point that it actually crashed my DVD player and my friends who's I also tried it on. I contacted FOX, and they told me to mail them the broken disc and they'd mail me back a replacement. So I mailed it, and waited, and waited. After about two months I wrote them back again asking what the deal was, and they told me that they'd received my disc, but that I now needed to send my entire box set to them, and they'd send me a replacement. Uh, sorry, no. So till today I have a DIE HARD TRILOGY minus WITH A VENGEANCE.

[Ducard]

I wouldn't consider myself hugely fussy when I buy stuff but sometimes there'd be one little thing that irritates me to no end. For example when I bought my collectors edition of Blade Runner in HMV they didn't have a steel tin for it and they said they'd call me to let me know when they got more in stock. A month later I rang and asked what was happening. I was rudely told that I either had to buy the set again or stick with what I had. Then they hung up

Needless to say I was frustrated.

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

I'm kind of a nut.

When I go out and purchase my Blu-ray's, I'm someone who makes sure that the printing of the packaging is as near perfect as possible. I look for things such as if the lettering is centered correctly on the spine, and if the whole thing is cut squarely.

I make sure that the corners aren't dented or smashed in (especially on cardboard cases or slipcovers). And being in Canada, I don't buy that many discs here because of the bilingual packaging (see thread https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=203151).

But no matter what I do, I seem to always manage with something wrong with whatever I buy.

For example, today I finally was able to locate a copy of the LAWRENCE OF ARABIA: 50th ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION Box Set. They were at Costco, and they had a about two dozen copies. I spent probably a good 10-15 minutes going through them all, making sure there were no dents or chips on the one I choose. And believe me, there were some with some shattered plastic. Some even with cuts across the top from what looks like a box cutter. I finally get the best copy I could, got it home, opened it up, and the the disc cover art inside was most obviously inserted on a angle, as it is all creased up and bent. Sigh.

My CITIZEN KANE: 75th ANNIVERSARY Box Set, the hardcover book inside was printed upside down and backwards.

My AVENGERS STEELBOOK, damaged on the inside with dents and broken plastic.

Sigh.

It amazes me how much care I take into buying the perfect disc or boxed set, and how I treat my discs at home as well with the utmost care, yet I still manage to get broken or beat up stuff. Anybody else have these issues like me?

And believe me, I realize that these are trivial "first world" problems.

That's why I tend to avoid Steelbooks and DigiBooks if I can help it.

Your Citizen Kane fiasco sound disastrous, though. No one at the factory noticed that it was backwards and upside down???

[GreenGaijin]

Recently since I've been thinking about always getting the best of physical condition, everything I've been wanting to get (and I do mean everything) has either gotten a dent or scratch. It's only the titles I don't really care about that I've been getting are flawless. Why can't it be the other way?

[brian9229]

This might be the right thread for this, anyway, i definitely check out cases, slips, printing, etc. before buying a movie and recently i picked up Alien, and Aliens at bestbuy. Both had slipcovers and i was checking them both over when i noticed that the bluray specs (including year of release) on the slipcover of Alien were the specs for Aliens. They totally matched the Aliens slipcover but not the specs on the back of the Alien case. I thought this was kinda funny as there was obviously a big printing error. Anyhow, i thought it was interesting.

[OrbitalDropPodTroop]

I do the same thing...I'm completely anal about EVERYTHING I buy be it movie packaging, figure collectible cards-whatever, but no matter what along the way(either at checkout or the ride home) SOMETHING manages to ding/bend/crease/scratch/snag it, no matter what...EVEN if I make it home, eventually one day it slips from my hands and falls on the floor and BAMM! Ruined...I'm so used to it, I just give in and call it "falling into the laws of entropy"

[TheHumanTornado]

I struggle with wanting to buy something in the store so I can check out everything before I make my selection and paying the lesser price online and having no control over it.
I usually go with the cheaper price and have had decent results. I love digibooks but hate how they can tend to be abused when they are shipped.
I did find the Raging Bull two disc edition blu at Best Buy this weekend for 8.99. It was 23 or so on Amazon and I was able to find one in store with a pristine slip cover. Yea, that was a good day.