I've had it with Millcreek

[joonskeezle]

Originally Posted by RillIris

You can’t point to any fact to disprove anything I’ve said because you know I’m right, you just want the last word I feel like. I do know a good amount about the manufacturing process on disc since I have a couple friends in the gaming industry. My collection is currently at about 4000 titles, and though the worst examples have definitely been worse in both select SteelBook releases and stacker cases, I’ve found mild concentric scratches quite common on all disc due to the nature of how they are shipped from moment of pressing to packaging. I’ve backed up this whole thing with facts, and you just keep wanting to say I’m wrong. I’m literally saying no you’re partially right, just also adding further context and correction because they are common on all disc even if more mild in other cases.

You're trying to support your argument based on shit that MIGHT happen during manufacturing or shipping.

I'm supporting my argument with my goddamn eyes.

You're like the opposite of that guy who said he's never bought a new movie that had scratches. You're the one saying scratches are way more common than they actually are. Why can't anyone be honest about insignificant shit?

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by RillIris

You can’t point to any fact to disprove anything I’ve said because you know I’m right

Nearly 4000 discs here too and have had the same experiences as joonskeezle. Your point is long gone. Movin’ on.

[RillIris]

Hopefully attached picture correctly. This one does not affect playback at all, but only took me opening a handful of releases to find one with concentric scratches on it. Wasn’t easy getting them to show in a picture as they are extremely surface level, but still you can see these with your eyes and this isn’t a stacked case. Explain to me how this happened since it’s only in a regular single disc case?!

[RillIris]

Originally Posted by jkoffman

Nearly 4000 discs here too and have had the same experiences as joonskeezle. Your point is long gone. Movin’ on.

If you’ve had the same luck as him you must be one of the luckiest disc collectors out there. I did make a comment with a picture included as it only took opening a handful for me to find one with some very light concentric scratches. Doesn’t affect playback, and they are so surface level it’s hard to see under most lights, and even harder to get a picture of, but they are still there. Used to notice them a ton at a place I used to live as the lighting somehow accentuated them to an extreme for part of the day, every place I’ve lived since concentric scratches unless severe look nearly invisible unless you get it under just the right light. Throw this very disc into a stacked case and ship it across the country thru the mail, will look notably worse and could probably see the scratches under any light at that point, but fact that it’s scratched already makes it far easier to scratch worse. This still proves the point that stacker cases aren’t good, but throw in truly flawless disc and you’re less likely to have scratch issues, manufacturing of the releases we cherish is handled fast and cheap and leads to bigger issues in certain types of cases due to that. Disc manufacturing could and should be better.

[joonskeezle]

Originally Posted by RillIris

Hopefully attached picture correctly. This one does not affect playback at all, but only took me opening a handful of releases to find one with concentric scratches on it. Wasn’t easy getting them to show in a picture as they are extremely surface level, but still you can see these with your eyes and this isn’t a stacked case. Explain to me how this happened since it’s only in a regular single disc case?!

You offended God or something. Even stacked discs don't look that bad, much less non-stacked discs that definitely don't have concentric scratches. You're doing something wrong for them to look like that. Hell I'm just cynical enough to think maybe you did that on purpose just now in an attempt to win an internet argument.

You either had that handy or you did it yourself. Because what definitely isn't true is that you have a bunch of non-stackers that look like that.

[RillIris]

Originally Posted by joonskeezle

You offended God or something. Even stacked discs don't look that bad, much less non-stacked discs that definitely don't have concentric scratches. You're doing something wrong for them to look like that. Hell I'm just cynical enough to think maybe you did that on purpose just now in an attempt to win an internet argument.

You either had that handy or you did it yourself. Because what definitely isn't true is that you have a bunch of non-stackers that look like that.

It took me like 10 minutes to get these scratches to show in a picture lol, trust me if you actually saw the disc they aren’t as obvious as my successful picture shows, but I know if I’m truly looking for it I’ll find similar on more disc pretty quick. If you know what a DVD looks like that’s been ran thru a higher end resurfacer, these are still notably more surface level than the marks that will leave. I’ve had stacked and sleeved disc that are bad, the ones from my initial Mummy Ultimate Collection SteelBook looked very comparable to pics I’ve seen on here, and it would not have taken me 10 minutes to take a picture where the scratches are readable on that. I’d even say the non concentric scratches I’ve had from floaters and such are on average much deeper than these, and I’d still consider them surface level scratches, but these are almost like the surface of the surface if that makes sense. Incredibly superficial, extremely unlikely to cause issues, but the fact they are their makes it more likely they could get worse if mishandled or stacked. Surprisingly common, just such a minor thing the vast majority of people would never notice them unless they happen to catch just the right light or examine via a microscope. The right light and they do show up though.

[joonskeezle]

Originally Posted by RillIris

It took me like 10 minutes to get these scratches to show in a picture lol, trust me if you actually saw the disc they aren’t as obvious as my successful picture shows, but I know if I’m truly looking for it I’ll find similar on more disc pretty quick. If you know what a DVD looks like that’s been ran thru a higher end resurfacer, these are still notably more surface level than the marks that will leave. I’ve had stacked and sleeved disc that are bad, the ones from my initial Mummy Ultimate Collection SteelBook looked very comparable to pics I’ve seen on here, and it would not have taken me 10 minutes to take a picture where the scratches are readable on that. I’d even say the non concentric scratches I’ve had from floaters and such are on average much deeper than these, and I’d still consider them surface level scratches, but these are almost like the surface of the surface if that makes sense. Incredibly superficial, extremely unlikely to cause issues, but the fact they are their makes it more likely they could get worse if mishandled or stacked. Surprisingly common, just such a minor thing the vast majority of people would never notice them unless they happen to catch just the right light or examine via a microscope. The right light and they do show up though.

Ok seriously if your plan was to just bludgeon me under nonsensical walls of text until I relent, you win. You're still wrong, but you've driven me off. I'm tired of this shit. It's idiotic of me to spend so much time arguing with someone who is just repeatedly wrong.

I wish I cared about anything as much as you care about the fantasy that concentric scratches are common in anything but stacker cases.

Also lol at the idea that a scratch can be easier to see in a blurry photo than with your own eyes. It's that kind of thing that has me half-convinced this whole thing was just an insane trolljob.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Then arrow flat-out lied about their Dune fiasco, because they literally sent emails saying tiny, almost-invisible scratches on the surface were causing our play back woes. According to them, the cases were causing a tiny scratch on the disc in the area where people were having issues. Of course, I didn't really believe that story anyways. I always felt it was a disc authoring issue and they didn't want to admit it. But according to them, those micro-scratches were causing tons of grief for customers who bought the Dune UHDs.

It's a good story, but Arrow has lied plenty in the past about framing issues and many other things. The same "micro scratches" wouldn't happen at EXACTLY the same place on hundreds or thousands of discs (regarding Dune), so scratches weren't the issue.

As I said, never had a scratch affect ANY disc and I have enough to know.

Originally Posted by RillIris

If you’ve had the same luck as him you must be one of the luckiest disc collectors out there. I did make a comment with a picture included as it only took opening a handful for me to find one with some very light concentric scratches. Doesn’t affect playback, and they are so surface level it’s hard to see under most lights, and even harder to get a picture of, but they are still there.

That says it all. Blu-rays have protective surfaces to prevent small surface scratches from affecting playback, and that is 100% the case, as you even said. Doesn't affect playback. Thanks for admitting it.

[rexcrk]

Never had a real issue with any stacked discs. I just think it’s a little inconvenient.

I wish companies would utilize 4-disc cases where each disc has a hub more often. I’ve had to make my own (by finding 3-disc Blu-ray sets where there’s a disc hub on each cover and then just replacing the single-disc middle flap with a double-disc flap).

[edmonddantes]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

This is the first time I've heard of issues with Mill Creek. Hopefully it's just a one-time thing.

are you half brit? never seen an american so sarcy

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

It's a good story, but Arrow has lied plenty in the past about framing issues and many other things. The same "micro scratches" wouldn't happen at EXACTLY the same place on hundreds or thousands of discs (regarding Dune), so scratches weren't the issue.

As I said, never had a scratch affect ANY disc and I have enough to know.



That says it all. Blu-rays have protective surfaces to prevent small surface scratches from affecting playback, and that is 100% the case, as you even said. Doesn't affect playback. Thanks for admitting it.

Scratches on UHDs can affect playback as the players are much more sensitive and more data on the disc is damaged. But that wasn't the issue with Dune because everyone had issues in the same place.

As far as Arrow, that was obviously not accurate information they told us about the Dune issues and the cause behind it, and it's amazing anybody actually bought their excuse. Sadly even an expert came in (David M I believe) to back it up.

[libertyeagle20]

I just ran into another Mill Creek stacker case. I recently picked up the Godzilla Animated Series on DVD. 4 DVDs stacked one on top of another on a single spindle, 1 of the discs is pretty scratched up.

[joonskeezle]

Originally Posted by libertyeagle20

I just ran into another Mill Creek stacker case. I recently picked up the Godzilla Animated Series on DVD. 4 DVDs stacked one on top of another on a single spindle, 1 of the discs is pretty scratched up.

If you're talking about DVDs as opposed to blu rays, I would expect a lot of their sets to be stackers, and with many more than just four discs. I don't know if I've ever seen any company put less effort into anything than Mill Creek put into their DVD set cases.

I don't remember the exact sets, but I've seen at least a handful where all the discs in the set (at least a dozen) are on a single spindle.

The problem of course is that with Mill Creek DVDs, there's an even more heinous option: paper/cardboard sleeves. Some of their sets just shove each disc into a flimsy paper sleeve, stack the paper sleeves, and then pile them all into a case. Others have these weird loose double-sided cardboard sleeves. Either way, you're looking at 100% of discs pre-scratched for your convenience.

[5meohd]

Chiming in with my personal experience.

Purchased the 3 Ultraman steelbook sets on sale for $9.99 at Best Buy last week. I've been collecting and handling optical discs for about 27 years. I took the discs out to simply count them and examine the disc artwork the night I bought them. Didn't even consider examining them for scratches as they were brand new.

Put disc one of Ulta Q in 30 minutes ago and within the first episode it has frozen in 3 places and it's repeatable. Sure enough, as others have stated these discs look mint condition but when I shine my phones flashlight on them just right all 4 discs in the set have various scratches.

Sheesh...

Also worth noting that I'm using a Panasonic UHD player. I'm on vacation so I'll have to test the discs in my OPPO later, but honestly since there is a Best Buy near the hotel I'll probably see if I can swap them out. I'll be opening the set there at the counter and examining them. Fingers crossed they have em in stock!

[Tom Sharky]

I think the only Mill Creek discs that I have are "Silent Rage" and "Charles Bronson: 4 Movie Collection". I was thrilled to have those movies on Blu-ray at a budget price, so I don't really have any complaints about them. I imagine some would say another studio would do a better job with the encoding, picture quality, new scan, etc.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by 5meohd

Put disc one of Ulta Q in 30 minutes ago and within the first episode it has frozen in 3 places and it's repeatable. Sure enough, as others have stated these discs look mint condition but when I shine my phones flashlight on them just right all 4 discs in the set have various scratches.

It's an ongoing problem not exclusive to Mill Creek or any one label. People have been reporting scratches on discs from Criterion, Kino and Shout, et. al.

[libertyeagle20]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

It's an ongoing problem not exclusive to Mill Creek or any one label. People have been reporting scratches on discs from Criterion, Kino and Shout, et. al.

Its a major issue with the ultraman steelbooks. I even got 2 sets each and still couldnt put together a fully working set due to the scratches. Blu rays have been out over 15 years and places still cant figure out how to produce working discs, pretty ridiculous.

[5meohd]

I sent Mill Creek a nice email about my issue. So far I went to one Best Buy and they didn't have any stock and the guy told me that if I actually told the next store about the scratches and specific issue then they would be prompted to not exchange my sets and tell me to contact the company. I sort of believe him, but it's a far cry from the exchange experience I used to have with them 5 or 6 years ago...

[Luke Dodge748]

How do the Ultraman non-steelbook sets come? Are they stacked or do they have the extra disc holders?

[SlimerJoel]

Originally Posted by Luke Dodge748

How do the Ultraman non-steelbook sets come? Are they stacked or do they have the extra disc holders?

Extra disc holders.