Damaged Steelbooks. What do you put up with?

[FlawlessVictory]

Alright guys, simple question. What damage will you put up with on your Steelbooks and what warrants a return?

[guidofistpimp]

Originally Posted by FlawlessVictory

Okay I received a dented copy of Gladiator from Futureshop a few weeks or so back and sent that back and ordered a replacement. Now earlier today I just noticed I had a nice ding on the edge of my The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Steelbook that I also bought from them online that I hadn't previously noticed when I unwrapped it. I'm sending that back as well and already ordered a replacement.

My question is this: What are you guys willing or not willing to put up with in terms of imperfections/damage to a Steelbook?

I personally will accept a very mild ding that looks more like a slight impression than anything else. Also a faint scratch or the odd slashed spine. I understand these things happen. But in terms of moderate to severe dings etc that are very easily noticable I just will not accept that. I think I am fairly tolerant of mild imperfections, but anything past minor I will not take.

100% mint or nothing

[snooloui]

Originally Posted by guidofistpimp

100% mint or nothing

I guess you don't own many Steelbooks then.

[guidofistpimp]

Originally Posted by snooloui

I guess you don't own many Steelbooks then.

I own a whole wall full maybe I am lucky

[Psychoscot]

Absolutely OCD 100% mint perfection is all I will tolerate!

[extrafuzzyllama]

I am OCD as well no dings unless they were dirt cheap and old steels you can't find anywhere else like the resident evil ones I got from Walmart few years ago when I first started buying steelbooks

[OI8T12]

Perfection, to a point.

[inglourious]

Originally Posted by snooloui

I guess you don't own many Steelbooks then.

Lol my thoughts exactly.

I'll tolerate anything as long as it's not a dent, a large scratch, or a spine slash.

Originally Posted by Psychoscot

Absolutely OCD 100% mint perfection is all I will tolerate!

Willing to bet I'll find a defect in most of your "100% mint" steels.

[Psychoscot]

Originally Posted by inglourious

Willing to bet I'll find a defect in most of your "100% mint" steels.

Doubt it, I take OCD to new heights! I don't even handle them without silk gloves on. Amazon sent me one with a faint line in the paint that 99% of people wouldn't even spot, they ended up sending me 5 till I was happy.

[Brian81]

I tolerate:

-spine slashes
-minor chips on the edges/corners
-the least minor of dents (the type that you can barely tell is there)
-minor paint errors

I won't tolerate (but sometimes have had to, due to not being able to replaced (sold out/OOP):

-major scratches
-chips that aren't on the edges of the steelbook
-dents that are wobbly (pop in/out).

[guidofistpimp]

Originally Posted by inglourious

Lol my thoughts exactly.

I'll tolerate anything as long as it's not a dent, a large scratch, or a spine slash.



Willing to bet I'll find a defect in most of your "100% mint" steels.

I bet you couldn't
I keep mine sealed , bagged and locked in a plastic security case.

[Psychoscot]

Originally Posted by guidofistpimp

I bet you couldn't
I keep mine sealed , bagged and locked in a plastic security case.

Sealed doesn't always = mint. My copy of Enders Game looked perfect till I removed the shrink wrap and on the back under the J card was scrapes. It went straight back to HMV where I stood and watch him open several just the same till I got one shiny and scrape free.

Several steels are known to have imperfections hidden that you won't see till opened. Kick Ass 2 German version being one of the most recent where many weren't perfect.

[tupperware]

Originally Posted by guidofistpimp

I bet you couldn't
I keep mine sealed , bagged and locked in a plastic security case.

You must be fun at parties

[inglourious]

Originally Posted by Psychoscot

Doubt it, I take OCD to new heights! I don't even handle them without silk gloves on. Amazon sent me one with a faint line in the paint that 99% of people wouldn't even spot, they ended up sending me 5 till I was happy.

How about glossy steels from Kimchi or Blufans? Have yet to see any without small scratches or blemishes. And do you open them? Most steels look great with the shrinkwrap + jcard still on.

Originally Posted by guidofistpimp

I bet you couldn't
I keep mine sealed , bagged and locked in a plastic security case.

But if they're sealed, you can't see what's hidden underneath the j-card Or even smaller scratches/chips that are impossible to see with the shrinkwrap still on. So throwing a plastic security case on something that might have a scratch on it won't really do much.



It just might be extremely bad luck, but out of a few hundred, I'd say 10% can be deemed as perfect (probably less). I don't use silk gloves, but I do inspect them right after receiving them and then throw them in a shell.

Most steels have at least a few of these (the rest is just dust). Really noticeable in the bad photo I took, but in person, not really at a first glance:

Also noticed the tops near the openings almost usually have a chip. If there's no chips or scratches, then there's probably a slight discolouration on the paintjob somewhere on the steel. I've received/purchased at least a few dozen steels from on here, eBay, and on HDN (including staff members) that all claimed mint and shipped the steels in a few layers of bubblewrap and there were defects on all of them. It is subjective though, so what might be mint to you, may not be mint to me. I'm still skeptical about anyone claiming all of their steels (or most of them) in a collection of hundreds are all truly mint... but I guess most people use that term a little loosely or just don't inspect their steels close enough or open them to find out

And some pics of discolourations (heavily prevalent/noticeable with MoC steels!):

[Psychoscot]

Originally Posted by inglourious

How about glossy steels from Kimchi or Blufans? Have yet to see any without small scratches or blemishes. And do you open them? Most steels look great with the shrinkwrap + jcard still on.

I seem to have been amazingly lucky with the blufans and Kimchi releases I have bought, as they are all flawless and very heavily inspected. I have seen friends copies with flaws and they are gobsmacked when they look at mine. I have had someone like you check the ones on my shelf that they know "might" have flaws and watched their reaction when they cannot find even one.

Yes I open them all, clean them immediately with a silk camera lens cloth and place them into steel shells which have also been cleaned and polished. J cards go in a box unless they are nice ones from Asia.

I guess I am extremely lucky when it comes to steels. Not so lucky on limited digipack cd's and vinyl mind you

[inglourious]

Originally Posted by Psychoscot

I seem to have been amazingly lucky with the blufans and Kimchi releases I have bought, as they are all flawless and very heavily inspected. I have seen friends copies with flaws and they are gobsmacked when they look at mine. I have had someone like you check the ones on my shelf that they know "might" have flaws and watched their reaction when they cannot find even one.

Yes I open them all, clean them immediately with a silk camera lens cloth and place them into steel shells which have also been cleaned and polished. J cards go in a box unless they are nice ones from Asia.

I guess I am extremely lucky when it comes to steels. Not so lucky on limited digipack cd's and vinyl mind you

Definitely.

[Billz]

Has to be mint with mine aswell.
But unlike alot of you apparently, all of mine are unsealed.

So yeah, mint. And to keep them mint, they are now all housed within protective plastic slipcovers.

If I get a damaged one in the post, it goes straight back to where it came from.

I wasn't always like that though.
For example:
The Futureshop "Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen" steelbook that I received from a member on here, has a big dent on the blue banner. It was under the sealed cellophane, so it wasn't me that dented it. But I never sent it back, as I couldn't care less at the time.

Now though, I'll be picking up the Zavvi release when I get paid, and I'll just take the 2 disc insert from the Futureshop version, and put it into the Zavvi version, so that I can have a 2 disc embossed steelbook, with the same artwork, and no printed blue banner.

The Futureshop plates will then just be thrown away.

[guidofistpimp]

Originally Posted by Psychoscot

Sealed doesn't always = mint. My copy of Enders Game looked perfect till I removed the shrink wrap and on the back under the J card was scrapes. It went straight back to HMV where I stood and watch him open several just the same till I got one shiny and scrape free.

Several steels are known to have imperfections hidden that you won't see till opened. Kick Ass 2 German version being one of the most recent where many weren't perfect.

I have a small x-ray machine

Originally Posted by tupperware

You must be fun at parties

fun is overrated

[Show spoiler]that's why i wear two condoms during sex

[inglourious]

Originally Posted by FlawlessVictory

I don't think I could do the 100% mint or nothing approach. There would be too much returning stuff and looking like a borderline crazy person. I like to take the approach that in the REAL world these steelbooks are not made to the most exacting standards of an Aston Martin car or a finely cut diamond. There has to be a couple of percent allowance for the most minor of flaws to sneak through that should be allowable. I also understand that a lot of people on these boards take their demand for perfection to new levels with these Steelbooks. I'm not saying they are wrong, but if I had to go to a store or return 3,4 or 5+ Steels to get one that was in my mind "perfect" I'd quit buying them altogether. That's why the "100% mint" doesn't quite fly with me. I allow what at least in my mind would be 2-3% imperfection/flaw to be passable pretty much as 100%. A major or moderate ding of some kind would knock it down past that "2 or 3%" flaw allowance.

Had to laugh at that one, because when I wanted to get a return for MoS at Future Shop, the guy working returns definitely had that thought. I looked through at least 40 copies by the way, and every single one had at least one chip on it. That's pretty much when I decided I either stopped collecting altogether, or just raise my tolerance. Much happier not really caring and obsessing over something $30 now. I'm pretty OCD by nature, but I think I'd be out a few thousand dollars trying to achieve perfection. Not to mention, the stress that came with it, especially ordering steels overseas.

[jrsl76]

I was going to say I don't put up with any, but when I see people post about tiny discoloration dots, perhaps I do put up with very minor things.

That said, If I receive a steel with spine slashes, dings, pings, scratches through paint or very noticeable light scratches, then I will contact the company to get another copy.

I recently turned down the offer to purchase a steelbook that I have wanted very much when I found out it had a spine slash. The seller very generously offered to discount the item and I did feel bad about deciding against the purchase, but I know myself enough to know I wouldn't be happy with the spine slash.