Stickers are the bane of my existence as a collector. I especially hate these newer bastards that leave a thick layer of still very sticky glue no matter how carefully I remove them.
I hate to be that guy but most physical releases today are much cheaper than they used to be. I am not even taking inflation into account, the MSRPs of DVD boxes are on average much lower than early DVD releases.
Great video. I like the standard cases. But , I hate it when you find a film that you have been looking for for a long time and there is only one copy in the store. You pick it up only to hear the disc moving around in the case as the tabs that hold it in place have broken.
I still have my old snapper cases. Specifically Goonies, Gremlins, Beetlejuice, etc. They were the first dvds I ever purchased. They hold a special place in my collection.
I have The Twilight Zone Complete series on DVD and it's about 25 discs stacked that take the night of Zeus to take out without feeling like the disc will break
Did I mention TZ ISNT on Netflix in Canada so I can't just have it for the sake of it and have to give myself a heart attack whenever I want to watch an episode
I am a huge critic of poor packaging. Lately CDs have been using all of these terrible cardboard packages and glueing the booklet to the inside. Roadrunner records is notorious for this!
Nothing beats standard blu-ray packages and Criterion's normal clear plastic blu-ray cases. I actively avoid any non-traditional packaging like cardboard or anything where the disc slips into a page or attached sleeve. When I do buy those sets, I always remove the discs and put them in sleeves and store them separately. Great video. Subscribed.
New subscriber. My pet peeve is multiple parts of a collection, like seasons of a TV show or sequels to movies where there isn't a consistent packaging type. Quantum Leap is a good example for me where season 1 has a different style of case, it's a plastic lines accordion type and the rest of the series are the super slim cases inside a cardboard sleeve. Not cool! The Big Bang Theory changed styles 3 times before settling on one style for the last 5 or 6 seasons. Makes me crazy!
Sometimes we get criticized for our attention on packaging, but we like to think that it’s an important part of the collecting experience. Thanks for your comments and for subscribing!
I've always had a problem with packaging like Chucky's. Getting the bottom discs out are a chore for me and I feel like I'm bending them. Or sometimes the top discs get detached and start sliding out when I open it.
I just put all my discs in a slim case, and put all the original packaging in a cardboard box. Takes up less room this way, but I can't display all the cool artwork.. Plus side to this, is that I don't have to fight the case to retrieve my DVD when I want to watch them.. Some of those cases will try to break your discs when you try to extract them. You have some cool packaging there.
The Curb Your Enthisiasm DVDs with the dual pull tabs you have pull in unison to get the discs to slide out of the top AND bottom of the case, I hate them. On top of being awkward to handle, the plastic trays the discs are in often snag, get cockeyed, and try to rip the thin cardboard they're housed in.
They did a very nice rewind collection here in Australia exclusive to a store where the cases look like VHS packages. I got Reservoir Dogs and Wayne’s World. Oh and the discs were blu ray.
Awesome video. I think the best looking packaging I have is the Halloween 15 disc complete collection with each movie having its own case. Perfect packaging. And also the little house on the prairie complete collection that looks like a house. It has each season in a small short fold case. Both are my favorite packaging.
Just seeing this video. I currently have over 500 Snap Case DVDs. I don't know why, but theres something so nostalgic about the packaging for them. I used to hate them because they didn't fit the shelf with regular keep case DVDs. I will say, they look and fit way better when the snap cases are separated from keep cases.
I wish region restrictions didn't exist, because there are so many American tv shows and some movies that are only released in the US and not here in Europe. Yes, I could get a region 1/A blu-ray player, but I don't want to.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the old Curb Your Enthusiasm packaging; the ones where the disc trays ejected simultaneously from the top and bottom of the case. Those were truly bizarre.
With things like the Fraggle, Lone Ranger or Lost In Space boxes, I'd gingerly take out the discs to avoid touching the surface or scratching them, then put them in slimline jewel cases and store them somewhere with the now-empty box.
I am a function over form person when it comes to blu-ray & DVD packaging. Whenever I have gotten some sort of fancy collector's edition that has some sort of unique packaging design, those invariably cause problems in terms of durability very quickly down the line.
My Twilight Zone Complete Series on Blu-ray comes in one of those clamshell cases like the Wild Wild West case you showed. I'd love to find about a dozen of those and swap out all my Mill Creek bricks with those cases.
I have it as well and I actually bought some empty 6-disc blue standard cases to put them in because I hate that clamshell that TZ came in. The discs are really hard to get out (and if you read amazon reviews you'll see a lot of people with broken discs.)
For me the worst packaging is the Sony Married with Children complete series set. It is literally 2 sides of 16 stacked discs. No dividers all loosely stacked.
Love the video! I had thought that someone should do a video about packaging. DAMN...I hated those snapper cases with a passion! I am at a point where I don't like anything but a standard keepcase. If they come in anything other, I pay extra for cases and put everything into keepcases and print custom covers for them. Even the movie sets I hate when they put more than one movie per case. I divide up and keep each movie in its own case. Another crazy set out there, IIRC was the Alien Anthology set. I can't remember if it was the DVD set or Blu-Ray set. But the digibook unfolded numerous times and was about 5+ foot long once unfolded all the way. Again, loved the topic! I love looking back on where we came from. That's why I have been doing "Evolution of Physical Media" videos on my channel.
Ah the days of bootleg DVDs being sold on Ebay! I got a Ren and Stimpy bootleg that was missing several episodes. That Turtle Van box set reminds me of the original box set for King of Queens that looked like Doug's delivery truck, though I ended up getting the cheaper repackaged version that stacked all the discs on one spindle with a cardboard sleeve keeping them in.
I didn't have any scratched discs from the TMNT van package, but I did have scratched discs from the TMNT blu-ray 4-pack because it only comes with 2 spindles for 4 discs meaning 2 of the discs are stacked directly on top of the other 2 discs and constantly fall off on their own and rattle around inside the case. First two movies both had playback issues.
Those Walt Disney Treasures sets were awesome. I'm slowly hunting them down, but I wish they were getting a Blu Ray release. As for weird packaging, I'd go with the Omerta Edition of The Godfather Trilogy. Lots of cool bonus items and a neat book design exterior, but when it comes to the disks....oh boy. It's basically a cardboard tri-fold with clear plastic center grips super glued on. I haven't had any issues with the discs, and to be fair, the discs are held firmly in place, but they are a pain to take out.
Yeah, Mill Creek used to be the worst when they would issue those multi-disc sets in a standard DVD case with the discs stacked. The paper sleeves helped, but man it was frustrating. Also, the Halloween 35th Anniversary Edition digibook...Yeesh! Great video!
@@JMoviesMedia The first release of the Halloween "35th Anniversary Edition" was a thin digibook. It was pretty bad; instead of a normal tray the disc was stored in one of those cardboard wallet things (like what Heath showed with his Lone Ranger collection).Unless you were careful, it was so easy for the disc to slide out, and more potential to scratch. Subsequent releases of the 35th Anniversary Edition came in normal Amaray Blu-ray cases.
I've always avoided those new Mill Creek Entertainment complete sets. I have several of the older 50 movie sets and their '50s version of Robin Hood. Whenever I see the new sets in stores, the boxes are often damaged. The Blu-ray sets look nice though, but I don't own any.
Some Blu-Ray cases JUST DON'T HOLD THE DISKS! My Bladerunner 5 disk set... I just took out the guts and put the disks in paper envelopes... And then there is the Criterion Godzilla set that is coming in the mail. The 8 disks are just going into envelops... I don't know why Criterion does that! People say it's more eco-friendly then plastic, but we are not going to chuck our expensive Blu-Ray sets into the landfill! IMHO
i think the whole retro vhs look for blurays and dvds is cool digibooks are terrific mill creek does a good job, so does warner brothers, kino, shout but it just depends on how they put the discs in safely
If the CD sleeves are connected and have either a plastic back or, something as cool as I have, a slim silicone sleeve ohhhh that would awesome. One of my CD holders has this type of sleeves and I love it. I wonder where I could get more though.
The packaging for I Dream of Jennie is how my full series collection of Community is and I honestly hate it so much. I'm always super stressed the discs will get scratched
If I might make a suggestion-- with that kind of Mill Creek release that Coach was in, what I would suggest is that you find white CD or DVD sleeves (or whatever color you want; doesn't have to be white; you'll need to have as many sleeves as are discs in the release), then carefully extract each disc from each side of each of those blue holder things, place each disc in a CD/DVD sleeve, stack the discs/sleeves together, place them in the space where the blue Mill Creek disc holders were, dispense with those disc holders, and put the top of the box back down over the other part of the box; that way, you have your discs well-protected, and you don't have to worry about having to fumble with getting them in and out of those gimmicky blue holders. And also, as far as that Matt Houston release goes (and I have that one, too), you might want to get white (or any color) CD/DVD sleeves for that one as well, and do pretty much likewise (except that, when you extract the discs from the wallet and put them in those sleeves, you'll be stacking the sleeves/discs in the space where the DVD wallet had been, and dispense w/the wallet).
You are absolutely right about the TMNT van. My wife had a rolling cart full of women’s clothes which fell over and knocked my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles van off the top of a cabinet. I don’t think I’ll ever get the discs back in any kind of order
My favorite in my collection is a European Blu-Ray release Hitchcock Collection where each disk is in its own small film canister. It's a great design.
I just ordered Murder She Wrote. I was wondering how it would come as I’ve only seen photos online of the super bulky packaging with a bunch of individual cases. Now I’m wondering which one I’ll get. Just hoping whatever it is it does a good job.
More thoughts: Not crazy about a certain type of accordion packaging where the whole thing folds out. Too cumbersone. Usually the older stuff (Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes, M Squad, Marx Brothers Silver Screen collection to name a few). And (we talked a bit about this on Facebook) the clamshell cases that companies like CBS uses ESPECIALLY the Twilight Zone Blu-ray set. The hubs that the discs attach to are SO tight I've cracked a couple discs getting them out. And, for the record I STILL hate the old WB snapper cases (I went through my collection and replaced them with regular DVD cases).
"Usually the older stuff (Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes, M Squad, Marx Brothers Silver Screen collection to name a few)." You're right on the money about M Squad-- however, the show has been one of the best I've ever seen (and Lee Marvin's star turn as Det. Lt. Frank Ballinger of the titular fictional squad of the Chicago Police made it so), such that the mile-long (figuratively) fold-out packaging didn't/doesn't bother me all that much. Now if it's something I wasn't into all that much (like the first go of Star Trek TNG that I had at one time), it would indeed be a waste of money.
After years of crazy packaging, I took a look at Game stop & Game Exchange, I use the big CD wallet, but I still keep the cases on the shelf, they still look good
Awesome video. We need more like it. Glad I'm not the only one frustrated by seemingly awesome packages that turn out to be crap or just plain lazy "collectors" packaging. Keep up the fight
Thanks! My pal Aaron Pynn made a video inspired by this one in which he shows a lot of his different collectors packaging DVDs and Blu-rays, in case you're interested. Here's the link: th-cam.com/video/ejp1ZChO62s/w-d-xo.html
Battlestar Galactica season one had infamously bad packaging where the discs were held on so tight that it was really hard to get them out without damaging them somehow.
Any case where the disc is resting on a surface, whether it's cardboard/paper or another disc, is the worst, though for different reasons. TBH stacked discs may be the worst, because the type of damage the discs receive is the most likely to cause playback problems; i.e. the concentric scratches that happen as the disc on top spins against the disc/surface on bottom. Same with something like Stranger Things where the disc is on the nub but resting flush against the cardboard beneath. My Stranger Things discs are a mess of concentric scratches but fortunately at least Season 2 played fine. (I definitely swapped them out into standard cases though.) The perpendicular scratches you get from sliding a disc out of a sleeve (i.e. Indiana Jones collection) are bad, but are usually less likely to cause playback problems. Unfortunately we've reached a point in the last handful of years where disc condition isn't remotely a concern for companies/manufacturers and I've had to just suck it up and live with already-damaged discs.
Ugh...I was recently struggling with two seasons of House of Cards. Due to excess glue in the binding a few of the discs were stuck inside the very tight package sleeves. Took some careful wiggling to get them out and not tear open the cases.
Great video you keep getting better and better here’s a personal opinion while I’m not the huge fan of mill creeks paper sleeves I feel like the envelopes in vei dvd set is far worse at least the paper sleeves and to an extent stacking discs won’t causes scratches right away but this well you can imagine dvd packaging is like an art form dude some are better than others
A few years ago I got on a steelbook kick, thinking they were the coolest cases ever. But since then I really chilled out on them. While I often like the exterior finish and wrap around artwork, I started to really see the faults. Like the ability to scratch or dent or the sometimes sharp edges they have. I also don't like the cardboard back they come with. I appreciate it exists and that they are printing the movie information on that and leaving the case for just artwork, but I'm not the type to throw those out, so they just end up being this separate piece I have to keep track of. I would much prefer a cardboard slip case around the steelbook like a lot of the plastic case versions come with. There is also a lack of consistency in how steelbooks are used. One would think they would always be a premium release and take full advantage of the packaging. They go through the trouble of making a metal box and printing color artwork on the exterior, so why not go all the way. But I've ended up with a lot of steelbooks that have no interior artwork, just silver or some other solid color underneath the clear plastic interior. Most of the time it's also just a single disc and sometimes without any special features on it. They're still cool, they're just not the amazing thing I originally thought they were. I think that when I look back on all the stuff I've collected I tend to like the cardboard stuff the most. Like the digibooks or DVD bookshelf releases of the Lord Of The Rings movies or the Tombstone DVD special edition. The stuff that is cardboard on the outside but still has the clear plastic disc trays on the inside. It just feels more collectable to me, because of the time and effort that was put into it. Figuring out how it's going to fold up and what is going to be printed on all those surfaces, or in the case of digibooks, actually creating a little printed book. When you pull any of these off the shelf there is more to explore than just taking the disc out and watching it. The physical container itself is a piece of art or a media unto itself in the case of digibooks. It's not just a sleeve throw into a plastic case. Nor is it some awkward statue or something like the TMNT van you showed off which just takes up a ton of space. The cardboard cases all feel just a little more elegant to me. At this point in time, physical media is a luxury. With streaming and digital downloads out there, physical media shouldn't just be a better quality copy of the movie on a disc. The packaging itself also needs to be a compelling component. Something that can be explored and enjoyed as well.
The packaging should be functional and good for discs and then and only then it can be cool or artsy or whatever. My favs are thoes thin normal dvd cases because they do their work and take as little space as possible. I don't like digibooks but only because they are higher and longer than normal dvd cases so they stick out on my shelves. Paper and plastic sleeves should stay in bin where they belong.
I got about 13 of the Disney Treasures tins. I will give them to the grandkids when I die (of course, that's after prying them from my cold, dead fingers). :D
Great topic. The foam nubbies on the Stranger Things case seems horrible. I LOVE the nubbies that can be pressed and releases the disc nice and easy. No need to tug and pull. Most are no problem but some can be very difficult to remove.
The worst packaging I have in my collection is the god awful original Back to the Future Blu-ray collection. With the tiny tabs that hold the discs in on the side.
The smaller cases were hideous when you mixed them with other cases on a shelf. They used to tear the other cases awfully. The snapper cases do not stack horizontally well at all. They are so easy to crush into each other.
This was a great idea for a video. One of the foam spindles on my Stranger Things 2 blu ray is wonky. During your video I cringed when you opened your ST2 box thinking they'd fall out because of it. I think the best is the "overlapping" clipped style. I'm not a huge fan of the collector special cases as they never fit line up or fit in a shelf (I'm looking at you season 4 of the Simpsons). So I generally opt to get the standard. Props to Will for the idea of this video.
Those Simpsons seasons drive me CRAZY! I think it was such a problem that they eventually offered them in a choice of the head-shaped packaging or in standard sized cases.
Great video. My least favourite packaging is the Lost in Space set. Absolutely frustrating, especially for the price. Why they would have chosen such terrible packaging when everything else about the set is stellar is beyond me.
Nice video! You would have hated the packaging for Mill Creek precursor Tree Line. Twelve discs in the paper sleeves, but the box itself was also entirely cardboard. No plastic or foam supports for the discs. Just some cardboard oragami going on which easily bent out of shape and let the discs rattle around everywhere. I'm surprised you haven't come across any these Tree Line sets in your thrift outings.
Nope, no Tree Line around here, but I can tell you that Mill Creek started with cardboard outer boxes too, before eventually going to sturdier plastic cases. Now they're back to cardboard for their complete TV DVD sets. Weird how some things never really change.
When the wb covers came out I loved them cause I was coming from vhs and still liked vhs and it was a feeling of keeping them around... But now that I have them I wish I had regular standard covers lol
My main issue with the snapper packages: when the holder gets damaged in transit, you're stuck with it. You can't just exchange the case. I hate that Fraggle book type. Sparticus's discs just flops out anytime I pick it up. Fist of the North Star has a set like the one you mentioned with Wild Wild West. Aside from being damaged in transit (my case is covered in packing tape), the thing holding them in just doesn't work at all. You have to position it very specifically to get it closed. I would far prefer them unattached like the one you showed.
Honestly, I didn't think the sleeves in the Matt Houston DVD set were that bad. Could have been worse, like paper sleeves! Yea, that TMNT set is great to look at, but kind of a pain when I want to get a disc out to watch haha.
Personally, I DESPISE the stacked disc method, probably my least favorite way to package dvds- I had bought several of the "Hanna Barbera Classics" collection reissues, as I had missed the original releases, thinking they would be ok, most of the reissued versions were at a cheaper price point, so I pulled the trigger and got a few titles thinking they would be ok- boy was I wrong! Not only did most of the reissues not have the bonus special features the original releases had, but they all came as stacked disc sets- so I buckled down and sought out the original releases on Amazon, Ebay, found a few at a second hand store or two, some at a bargain, some a little pricier than when they first came out, but as a collector, I'm much more satisfied with the originals- great video as always!
The ironic thing about those Hanna Barbera reissues is that I have had way more trouble with the original editions because they had flipper discs that had data on both sides. With more than one set, entire discs wouldn't even load. So the stacked discs weren't ideal, but at least they put them all on single sided discs. Neither the originals or the diamond collections are ideal.
I hate the disc flooring on top of the other one where the bottom desk is tucked under Criterion does this all the time I always feel like it's super sketchy and getting the second disc out
I honestly don't remember, it was several months ago. It might even have been in a Patreon video, possibly in a Collecting At Midnight long-form discussion. That series has moved over there as one of the exclusives for our supporters, and it could have been in one of those.
I am okay with the Mill Creek paper sleeves too. Just use a light touch with them. Anything cardboard, especially digibooks and set boxes, can arrive dinged up from amazon. That's a bummer. The CBS TV show brick is a good compromise to me. I have the 80s TV Series Beauty and the Beast set (15 discs). I handle it gingerly though. Great channel. - Heather
I want to add that Beauty and the Beast complete series set to my collection in the near future. I loved that show when it was currently airing. Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman were fantastic, and the makeup effects were great, too. Thanks for commenting, Heather!
I loathe snapper cases. Or those cases where you have to press harder than Eddie Hall to be able to get the disc to come out of the case center ring fastener thingy. If you look at the Star Trek The Next Generation hard box set, those where my favourite ones. However, these days, I just take out the disc and the sleeve booklet and put theme into a plastic sleeve to save space. I can get about 8 or 9 movies stored in width of a standard DVD case.
I like simple and utilitarian. Standard blu-ray case with flippable plastic trays. No stacking. The Star Wars Prequel/Original trilogies used ones just slighly thicker than a single disc case and held 6 discs. The first one I didn't like was for the Sliders Dual Dimension set. A coarse foam pad with slits for the discs to slide into. Sliders 3rd season was worse - some kind of stiff folding plastic whatever with double sided discs. But, the worst? The complete Farscape blu-ray set. It's a brick similar to the Wild Wild West one you shown. However, they stack the discs and overlap the discs and you flip the tray for more stacked/overlapped discs. Save space? Using standard blu-ray cases with flippable trays, it could have used three 5 disc cases and one 6 disc case and been the exact same size without the bulky clumsiness.
You forgot the worst part of that TMNT set: they’re the exact same discs as the individual volume releases, so the episode count per disc varies wildly, and a lot of episodes are out of order. And another poorly packaged set was the first Back to the Future Blu-rays, which gripped the discs so hard that it felt like they were going to break every time you took them off the spindle. I have them off the spindle because scratched discs are preferable to ones that are cracked in half.
There are a couple complete series sets I want from Mill Creek but I refuse to buy any that come in the Must See TV packaging. With that packaging there is no way you won’t get at least one scratched disc. Also with that packaging it is the same size no matter how many discs the show is. So a lot of times there is a lot of empty space so the box gets crushed.
Honestly I grown to appreciate packaging that prioritizes efficiency of space. I look at all those cool alien collectors sets that come in an xenomorph head and just think “what a waste of space!” I personally love the sets that mondo vision puts out. Nice classy velvet packaging. Not too many discs, but very well organized. I love it
I'm not too knowledgeable, (well I wasn't at the time) but got Pacific blue on dvd years ago on eBay. and the discs are in those paper sleeves, and I thought it was a bootleg. but yea I saw that the mill creek logo. I'm definitely not too keen on them.
Have you seen the special edition Avatar blu ray extended version? It goes up there with rhe worst bc you could possibly scratch the discs putting them back in.
It’s strange how satisfying it is to watch a video about packaging. I think the absolute worst packaging I’ve come across is one you didn’t mention. Technically, you could probably consider it a digibook variant, but it was the (now defunct?) Sony Supreme Cinema blu-ray series. I have the three they initially released: The Fifth Element, Leon the Professional, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. They have a very cool-looking plexiglass cover design and a digibook style built-in booklet, but it’s essentially nonfunctional. Even opening the case the tiniest amount causes the glue holding the whole thing together to peel off so it all just separates and falls apart. Luckily you don’t really have to open it to get the disc out... unluckily it’s that terrible cardboard pocket-within-a-page style that either causes the disc to fly out just by looking at it or is inexplicably wedged in. There isn’t any closure on the non-spine side of the case and I’ve actually had my Fifth Element disc just slip completely out of the back of the case while sitting on the shelf.
That Stranger Things one looked horrible. I'd hate to actually use that. Why not make a fake case inside the case that looks like a VHS tape (which contains the discs) instead of all these weird cardboard flaps?
Yeah I've given up on trying to get shows on DVD. Discs scratch too easily. It's Blu Ray or bust when it comes to buying shows because I cycle through the discs so much more than I do with movies
My absolute favorite packaging was the type used for DVDs by Warner's brothers and Cartoon network, I don't know what it is called, digipack maybe, it's folded up cardboard sleeves with a plastic piece to hold the disks inside a slipcase. Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amelie, Pulp Fiction, Samurai Jack, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast all had it, plus many more. It looks great and has the feel of a book and could accommodate an extra disk for special features or soundtracks. Plus there was a spot for a little booklet. It was versatile. I wish everything was still like that. And, I absolutely hated snap cases! Having the Matrix and some Stanley Kubrick in a snap case felt like it didn't do it justice. I also really dislike standard blue ray packaging. It's ok for comedies and animation/anime, but the bright blue doesn't look serious enough for 2001 and big movies like that.
Heath, you should have also showed the packaging for the Alien Quadrilogy and 24 - it's like the lost in space accordion file, but it folds out to be 9 feet long!!
I love when businesses put giant “$50% OFF” stickers on top of a cardboard sleeve, causing you to have to tear the cover to remove the sticker
Stickers are the bane of my existence as a collector. I especially hate these newer bastards that leave a thick layer of still very sticky glue no matter how carefully I remove them.
When this happens, I get a hairdryer, heat it up and the slowly and carefully peel it off.
Us loyalist to physical media pay alot for these products, it would be nice for these companies to put care into the condition.
I hate to be that guy but most physical releases today are much cheaper than they used to be. I am not even taking inflation into account, the MSRPs of DVD boxes are on average much lower than early DVD releases.
Great video. I like the standard cases. But , I hate it when you find a film that you have been looking for for a long time and there is only one copy in the store. You pick it up only to hear the disc moving around in the case as the tabs that hold it in place have broken.
I still have my old snapper cases. Specifically Goonies, Gremlins, Beetlejuice, etc. They were the first dvds I ever purchased. They hold a special place in my collection.
The packaging I hate the most is when the discs are stacked. Also when the discs are inside cardboard sleeves.
Same for me also the double disc
I have The Twilight Zone Complete series on DVD and it's about 25 discs stacked that take the night of Zeus to take out without feeling like the disc will break
@@BlueTomorrows Whoa I feel you!
That's why digital is superior race
Did I mention TZ ISNT on Netflix in Canada so I can't just have it for the sake of it and have to give myself a heart attack whenever I want to watch an episode
Wow, so many different storage options. Nice video.
I am a huge critic of poor packaging. Lately CDs have been using all of these terrible cardboard packages and glueing the booklet to the inside. Roadrunner records is notorious for this!
Nothing beats standard blu-ray packages and Criterion's normal clear plastic blu-ray cases. I actively avoid any non-traditional packaging like cardboard or anything where the disc slips into a page or attached sleeve. When I do buy those sets, I always remove the discs and put them in sleeves and store them separately.
Great video. Subscribed.
New subscriber. My pet peeve is multiple parts of a collection, like seasons of a TV show or sequels to movies where there isn't a consistent packaging type. Quantum Leap is a good example for me where season 1 has a different style of case, it's a plastic lines accordion type and the rest of the series are the super slim cases inside a cardboard sleeve. Not cool!
The Big Bang Theory changed styles 3 times before settling on one style for the last 5 or 6 seasons. Makes me crazy!
Sometimes we get criticized for our attention on packaging, but we like to think that it’s an important part of the collecting experience. Thanks for your comments and for subscribing!
or when sets have different menu themes for each season, took The Simpsons until season 5 to make up their minds.
Back to the future on Blu-ray is a nightmare to get out. Feels like you’re going to break it.
This was a really great comprehensive list, thanks for going into so much detail and showing us all those examples.
I've always had a problem with packaging like Chucky's. Getting the bottom discs out are a chore for me and I feel like I'm bending them. Or sometimes the top discs get detached and start sliding out when I open it.
Battlestar Galactica's first season set had that problem with people having a tough time getting the discs out without damaging them.
I HATE the disc sleeve accordian packaging. They packaged later Simpsons seasons this way. I think its even worse then Mills Creek paper sleeves.
That along with the awful character head packaging are perfect examples of top tier bad package designing.
I just put all my discs in a slim case, and put all the original packaging in a cardboard box. Takes up less room this way, but I can't display all the cool artwork.. Plus side to this, is that I don't have to fight the case to retrieve my DVD when I want to watch them.. Some of those cases will try to break your discs when you try to extract them. You have some cool packaging there.
Recently discovered this channel. Digging it. Right up my alley!
Glad you found us!
Steelbooks and digibooks? My wallets worse nightmare.
Digging the whole "Retro VHS" look of Blu-rays and DVDs. Did pickup the Stranger Things Season 1 for that reason
I picked up season 1 and 2 at Target because they were $5 each and the show looked like it might be interesting.
Have you seen the hmv vhs range, where they rereleased old DVDs and Blu Rays in a vhs box.
@@Aidenkong523 have not seen their retro releases but did add the ET VHS retro to my collection 🍻
The Curb Your Enthisiasm DVDs with the dual pull tabs you have pull in unison to get the discs to slide out of the top AND bottom of the case, I hate them. On top of being awkward to handle, the plastic trays the discs are in often snag, get cockeyed, and try to rip the thin cardboard they're housed in.
They did a very nice rewind collection here in Australia exclusive to a store where the cases look like VHS packages. I got Reservoir Dogs and Wayne’s World. Oh and the discs were blu ray.
Awesome video. I think the best looking packaging I have is the Halloween 15 disc complete collection with each movie having its own case. Perfect packaging. And also the little house on the prairie complete collection that looks like a house. It has each season in a small short fold case. Both are my favorite packaging.
Just seeing this video. I currently have over 500 Snap Case DVDs. I don't know why, but theres something so nostalgic about the packaging for them. I used to hate them because they didn't fit the shelf with regular keep case DVDs. I will say, they look and fit way better when the snap cases are separated from keep cases.
Ah Ballistic Ecks vs Sever! You have good taste, that film is criminally underrated.
I wish region restrictions didn't exist, because there are so many American tv shows and some movies that are only released in the US and not here in Europe. Yes, I could get a region 1/A blu-ray player, but I don't want to.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the old Curb Your Enthusiasm packaging; the ones where the disc trays ejected simultaneously from the top and bottom of the case. Those were truly bizarre.
Never had Curb Your Enthusiasm. Definitely sounds bizarre!
With things like the Fraggle, Lone Ranger or Lost In Space boxes, I'd gingerly take out the discs to avoid touching the surface or scratching them, then put them in slimline jewel cases and store them somewhere with the now-empty box.
I might be the only collector who LIKES "snapper cases"
I am a function over form person when it comes to blu-ray & DVD packaging. Whenever I have gotten some sort of fancy collector's edition that has some sort of unique packaging design, those invariably cause problems in terms of durability very quickly down the line.
Honestly I loved the stranger things vhs it was a really cool collectible type thing for the show.
My Twilight Zone Complete Series on Blu-ray comes in one of those clamshell cases like the Wild Wild West case you showed. I'd love to find about a dozen of those and swap out all my Mill Creek bricks with those cases.
I have it as well and I actually bought some empty 6-disc blue standard cases to put them in because I hate that clamshell that TZ came in. The discs are really hard to get out (and if you read amazon reviews you'll see a lot of people with broken discs.)
For me the worst packaging is the Sony Married with Children complete series set. It is literally 2 sides of 16 stacked discs. No dividers all loosely stacked.
Totally agree. I have that set and it’s packaging is awful. I’m thinking of buying the individual seasons because I dislike it so much.
Love the video! I had thought that someone should do a video about packaging. DAMN...I hated those snapper cases with a passion! I am at a point where I don't like anything but a standard keepcase. If they come in anything other, I pay extra for cases and put everything into keepcases and print custom covers for them. Even the movie sets I hate when they put more than one movie per case. I divide up and keep each movie in its own case. Another crazy set out there, IIRC was the Alien Anthology set. I can't remember if it was the DVD set or Blu-Ray set. But the digibook unfolded numerous times and was about 5+ foot long once unfolded all the way. Again, loved the topic! I love looking back on where we came from. That's why I have been doing "Evolution of Physical Media" videos on my channel.
Ah the days of bootleg DVDs being sold on Ebay! I got a Ren and Stimpy bootleg that was missing several episodes. That Turtle Van box set reminds me of the original box set for King of Queens that looked like Doug's delivery truck, though I ended up getting the cheaper repackaged version that stacked all the discs on one spindle with a cardboard sleeve keeping them in.
I didn't have any scratched discs from the TMNT van package, but I did have scratched discs from the TMNT blu-ray 4-pack because it only comes with 2 spindles for 4 discs meaning 2 of the discs are stacked directly on top of the other 2 discs and constantly fall off on their own and rattle around inside the case. First two movies both had playback issues.
I personally think the breaking bad barrel is one of the best sets made its unique and each disc has a case
Those Walt Disney Treasures sets were awesome. I'm slowly hunting them down, but I wish they were getting a Blu Ray release.
As for weird packaging, I'd go with the Omerta Edition of The Godfather Trilogy. Lots of cool bonus items and a neat book design exterior, but when it comes to the disks....oh boy. It's basically a cardboard tri-fold with clear plastic center grips super glued on. I haven't had any issues with the discs, and to be fair, the discs are held firmly in place, but they are a pain to take out.
Yeah, Mill Creek used to be the worst when they would issue those multi-disc sets in a standard DVD case with the discs stacked. The paper sleeves helped, but man it was frustrating.
Also, the Halloween 35th Anniversary Edition digibook...Yeesh!
Great video!
Halloween has a digibook WHAT?
@@JMoviesMedia The first release of the Halloween "35th Anniversary Edition" was a thin digibook. It was pretty bad; instead of a normal tray the disc was stored in one of those cardboard wallet things (like what Heath showed with his Lone Ranger collection).Unless you were careful, it was so easy for the disc to slide out, and more potential to scratch.
Subsequent releases of the 35th Anniversary Edition came in normal Amaray Blu-ray cases.
I've always avoided those new Mill Creek Entertainment complete sets. I have several of the older 50 movie sets and their '50s version of Robin Hood. Whenever I see the new sets in stores, the boxes are often damaged. The Blu-ray sets look nice though, but I don't own any.
Some Blu-Ray cases JUST DON'T HOLD THE DISKS! My Bladerunner 5 disk set... I just took out the guts and put the disks in paper envelopes... And then there is the Criterion Godzilla set that is coming in the mail. The 8 disks are just going into envelops... I don't know why Criterion does that! People say it's more eco-friendly then plastic, but we are not going to chuck our expensive Blu-Ray sets into the landfill! IMHO
i wanna see him as a guest on cinamassacure
Steelbooks seem to be the only "collectors" thing left. It's very rare these days to get anything other then the common release, besides the steel.
i think the whole retro vhs look for blurays and dvds is cool
digibooks are terrific
mill creek does a good job, so does warner brothers, kino, shout
but it just depends on how they put the discs in safely
If the CD sleeves are connected and have either a plastic back or, something as cool as I have, a slim silicone sleeve ohhhh that would awesome. One of my CD holders has this type of sleeves and I love it. I wonder where I could get more though.
The packaging for I Dream of Jennie is how my full series collection of Community is and I honestly hate it so much. I'm always super stressed the discs will get scratched
If I might make a suggestion-- with that kind of Mill Creek release that Coach was in, what I would suggest is that you find white CD or DVD sleeves (or whatever color you want; doesn't have to be white; you'll need to have as many sleeves as are discs in the release), then carefully extract each disc from each side of each of those blue holder things, place each disc in a CD/DVD sleeve, stack the discs/sleeves together, place them in the space where the blue Mill Creek disc holders were, dispense with those disc holders, and put the top of the box back down over the other part of the box; that way, you have your discs well-protected, and you don't have to worry about having to fumble with getting them in and out of those gimmicky blue holders.
And also, as far as that Matt Houston release goes (and I have that one, too), you might want to get white (or any color) CD/DVD sleeves for that one as well, and do pretty much likewise (except that, when you extract the discs from the wallet and put them in those sleeves, you'll be stacking the sleeves/discs in the space where the DVD wallet had been, and dispense w/the wallet).
You are absolutely right about the TMNT van. My wife had a rolling cart full of women’s clothes which fell over and knocked my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles van off the top of a cabinet. I don’t think I’ll ever get the discs back in any kind of order
My TMNT Van fell down twice but I did manage to get all disc in order of episode and thankfully all disc play just fine, Now i just set on the floor
My favorites are standard blu ray elite boxes. Those are perfect.
My favorite in my collection is a European Blu-Ray release Hitchcock Collection where each disk is in its own small film canister. It's a great design.
I’ve seen that set! Absolutely beautiful.
I like a seperate dvd/blu ray cases with a box around it. Its cheaper then buying it individualy but if you want you can still do that.
I have a Snapcase of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. With a double-sided DVD inside. Now that's a scratched disc!
Murder she wrote now comes in a box with 2 cases similar to the CBS box but slightly different.
That's not the only one-- Magnum, P.I. and Columbo have that as well.
I just ordered Murder She Wrote. I was wondering how it would come as I’ve only seen photos online of the super bulky packaging with a bunch of individual cases. Now I’m wondering which one I’ll get. Just hoping whatever it is it does a good job.
The one for the Child's Play/Chucky ones I'd call that a clam book as it's part a clam shell in a way and a book.
The snappers are fun to collect now.
I find it weirdly satisfying to open and close snaps.
More thoughts:
Not crazy about a certain type of accordion packaging where the whole thing folds out. Too cumbersone. Usually the older stuff (Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes, M Squad, Marx Brothers Silver Screen collection to name a few).
And (we talked a bit about this on Facebook) the clamshell cases that companies like CBS uses ESPECIALLY the Twilight Zone Blu-ray set. The hubs that the discs attach to are SO tight I've cracked a couple discs getting them out.
And, for the record I STILL hate the old WB snapper cases (I went through my collection and replaced them with regular DVD cases).
"Usually the older stuff (Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes, M Squad, Marx Brothers Silver Screen collection to name a few)."
You're right on the money about M Squad-- however, the show has been one of the best I've ever seen (and Lee Marvin's star turn as Det. Lt. Frank Ballinger of the titular fictional squad of the Chicago Police made it so), such that the mile-long (figuratively) fold-out packaging didn't/doesn't bother me all that much.
Now if it's something I wasn't into all that much (like the first go of Star Trek TNG that I had at one time), it would indeed be a waste of money.
After years of crazy packaging, I took a look at Game stop & Game Exchange, I use the big CD wallet, but I still keep the cases on the shelf, they still look good
the snapper cases and the white VHS cases have a special place for me!
Specialty packaging are cool, but most of them are not good for the discs
Awesome video. We need more like it. Glad I'm not the only one frustrated by seemingly awesome packages that turn out to be crap or just plain lazy "collectors" packaging. Keep up the fight
Thanks! My pal Aaron Pynn made a video inspired by this one in which he shows a lot of his different collectors packaging DVDs and Blu-rays, in case you're interested. Here's the link: th-cam.com/video/ejp1ZChO62s/w-d-xo.html
the very worse ones are the "eco cases" that have plastic cut out to reduce the overall amount of plastic used they always cave in at the top
Battlestar Galactica season one had infamously bad packaging where the discs were held on so tight that it was really hard to get them out without damaging them somehow.
God that’s the worst when you’re actually scared of snapping a disc in half…
Any case where the disc is resting on a surface, whether it's cardboard/paper or another disc, is the worst, though for different reasons. TBH stacked discs may be the worst, because the type of damage the discs receive is the most likely to cause playback problems; i.e. the concentric scratches that happen as the disc on top spins against the disc/surface on bottom. Same with something like Stranger Things where the disc is on the nub but resting flush against the cardboard beneath. My Stranger Things discs are a mess of concentric scratches but fortunately at least Season 2 played fine. (I definitely swapped them out into standard cases though.)
The perpendicular scratches you get from sliding a disc out of a sleeve (i.e. Indiana Jones collection) are bad, but are usually less likely to cause playback problems.
Unfortunately we've reached a point in the last handful of years where disc condition isn't remotely a concern for companies/manufacturers and I've had to just suck it up and live with already-damaged discs.
Ugh...I was recently struggling with two seasons of House of Cards. Due to excess glue in the binding a few of the discs were stuck inside the very tight package sleeves. Took some careful wiggling to get them out and not tear open the cases.
Great video you keep getting better and better here’s a personal opinion while I’m not the huge fan of mill creeks paper sleeves I feel like the envelopes in vei dvd set is far worse at least the paper sleeves and to an extent stacking discs won’t causes scratches right away but this well you can imagine dvd packaging is like an art form dude some are better than others
Child's Play is a digipack, it was probably the most popular collectible packaging for DVDs 10+ years ago, at least in Europe.
I've noticed that! I have lots if imports that use that packaging. I really like it. I think it's probably the best.
A few years ago I got on a steelbook kick, thinking they were the coolest cases ever. But since then I really chilled out on them. While I often like the exterior finish and wrap around artwork, I started to really see the faults. Like the ability to scratch or dent or the sometimes sharp edges they have. I also don't like the cardboard back they come with. I appreciate it exists and that they are printing the movie information on that and leaving the case for just artwork, but I'm not the type to throw those out, so they just end up being this separate piece I have to keep track of. I would much prefer a cardboard slip case around the steelbook like a lot of the plastic case versions come with.
There is also a lack of consistency in how steelbooks are used. One would think they would always be a premium release and take full advantage of the packaging. They go through the trouble of making a metal box and printing color artwork on the exterior, so why not go all the way. But I've ended up with a lot of steelbooks that have no interior artwork, just silver or some other solid color underneath the clear plastic interior. Most of the time it's also just a single disc and sometimes without any special features on it. They're still cool, they're just not the amazing thing I originally thought they were.
I think that when I look back on all the stuff I've collected I tend to like the cardboard stuff the most. Like the digibooks or DVD bookshelf releases of the Lord Of The Rings movies or the Tombstone DVD special edition. The stuff that is cardboard on the outside but still has the clear plastic disc trays on the inside. It just feels more collectable to me, because of the time and effort that was put into it. Figuring out how it's going to fold up and what is going to be printed on all those surfaces, or in the case of digibooks, actually creating a little printed book. When you pull any of these off the shelf there is more to explore than just taking the disc out and watching it. The physical container itself is a piece of art or a media unto itself in the case of digibooks. It's not just a sleeve throw into a plastic case. Nor is it some awkward statue or something like the TMNT van you showed off which just takes up a ton of space. The cardboard cases all feel just a little more elegant to me.
At this point in time, physical media is a luxury. With streaming and digital downloads out there, physical media shouldn't just be a better quality copy of the movie on a disc. The packaging itself also needs to be a compelling component. Something that can be explored and enjoyed as well.
The packaging should be functional and good for discs and then and only then it can be cool or artsy or whatever. My favs are thoes thin normal dvd cases because they do their work and take as little space as possible. I don't like digibooks but only because they are higher and longer than normal dvd cases so they stick out on my shelves. Paper and plastic sleeves should stay in bin where they belong.
I got about 13 of the Disney Treasures tins. I will give them to the grandkids when I die (of course, that's after prying them from my cold, dead fingers). :D
Great topic. The foam nubbies on the Stranger Things case seems horrible. I LOVE the nubbies that can be pressed and releases the disc nice and easy. No need to tug and pull. Most are no problem but some can be very difficult to remove.
The worst packaging I have in my collection is the god awful original Back to the Future Blu-ray collection. With the tiny tabs that hold the discs in on the side.
The smaller cases were hideous when you mixed them with other cases on a shelf. They used to tear the other cases awfully. The snapper cases do not stack horizontally well at all. They are so easy to crush into each other.
Snapper case, that is. **
The only tin set I got was the Friday the thirteenth set. Great set and as far as I Know the only way to get the entire series in one set on Blu Ray
This was a great idea for a video. One of the foam spindles on my Stranger Things 2 blu ray is wonky. During your video I cringed when you opened your ST2 box thinking they'd fall out because of it. I think the best is the "overlapping" clipped style. I'm not a huge fan of the collector special cases as they never fit line up or fit in a shelf (I'm looking at you season 4 of the Simpsons). So I generally opt to get the standard. Props to Will for the idea of this video.
Those Simpsons seasons drive me CRAZY! I think it was such a problem that they eventually offered them in a choice of the head-shaped packaging or in standard sized cases.
Great video. My least favourite packaging is the Lost in Space set. Absolutely frustrating, especially for the price. Why they would have chosen such terrible packaging when everything else about the set is stellar is beyond me.
The Mummy 🤩✨
Omgoodness dvd sets were horrendous 🤣🤸🤾
You're right about ST 2 case, its bad. But we got ST 2 for $5 bucks at Target(50% discount & cartwheel), couldn't pass it up.
Nice video! You would have hated the packaging for Mill Creek precursor Tree Line. Twelve discs in the paper sleeves, but the box itself was also entirely cardboard. No plastic or foam supports for the discs. Just some cardboard oragami going on which easily bent out of shape and let the discs rattle around everywhere. I'm surprised you haven't come across any these Tree Line sets in your thrift outings.
Nope, no Tree Line around here, but I can tell you that Mill Creek started with cardboard outer boxes too, before eventually going to sturdier plastic cases. Now they're back to cardboard for their complete TV DVD sets. Weird how some things never really change.
When the wb covers came out I loved them cause I was coming from vhs and still liked vhs and it was a feeling of keeping them around... But now that I have them I wish I had regular standard covers lol
My main issue with the snapper packages: when the holder gets damaged in transit, you're stuck with it. You can't just exchange the case.
I hate that Fraggle book type. Sparticus's discs just flops out anytime I pick it up.
Fist of the North Star has a set like the one you mentioned with Wild Wild West. Aside from being damaged in transit (my case is covered in packing tape), the thing holding them in just doesn't work at all. You have to position it very specifically to get it closed. I would far prefer them unattached like the one you showed.
Honestly, I didn't think the sleeves in the Matt Houston DVD set were that bad. Could have been worse, like paper sleeves! Yea, that TMNT set is great to look at, but kind of a pain when I want to get a disc out to watch haha.
Personally, I DESPISE the stacked disc method, probably my least favorite way to package dvds- I had bought several of the "Hanna Barbera Classics" collection reissues, as I had missed the original releases, thinking they would be ok, most of the reissued versions were at a cheaper price point, so I pulled the trigger and got a few titles thinking they would be ok- boy was I wrong! Not only did most of the reissues not have the bonus special features the original releases had, but they all came as stacked disc sets- so I buckled down and sought out the original releases on Amazon, Ebay, found a few at a second hand store or two, some at a bargain, some a little pricier than when they first came out, but as a collector, I'm much more satisfied with the originals- great video as always!
The ironic thing about those Hanna Barbera reissues is that I have had way more trouble with the original editions because they had flipper discs that had data on both sides. With more than one set, entire discs wouldn't even load. So the stacked discs weren't ideal, but at least they put them all on single sided discs. Neither the originals or the diamond collections are ideal.
I hate the disc flooring on top of the other one where the bottom desk is tucked under Criterion does this all the time I always feel like it's super sketchy and getting the second disc out
My favorites are the blockbuster cases. Sturdy as hell
Great Video! The Childs Play set is a Digi-Pack afaik
Which video do you mention owning Mannix complete series?
I honestly don't remember, it was several months ago. It might even have been in a Patreon video, possibly in a Collecting At Midnight long-form discussion. That series has moved over there as one of the exclusives for our supporters, and it could have been in one of those.
I am okay with the Mill Creek paper sleeves too. Just use a light touch with them. Anything cardboard, especially digibooks and set boxes, can arrive dinged up from amazon. That's a bummer. The CBS TV show brick is a good compromise to me. I have the 80s TV Series Beauty and the Beast set (15 discs). I handle it gingerly though. Great channel. - Heather
I want to add that Beauty and the Beast complete series set to my collection in the near future. I loved that show when it was currently airing. Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman were fantastic, and the makeup effects were great, too. Thanks for commenting, Heather!
I loathe snapper cases. Or those cases where you have to press harder than Eddie Hall to be able to get the disc to come out of the case center ring fastener thingy.
If you look at the Star Trek The Next Generation hard box set, those where my favourite ones.
However, these days, I just take out the disc and the sleeve booklet and put theme into a plastic sleeve to save space. I can get about 8 or 9 movies stored in width of a standard DVD case.
I like simple and utilitarian. Standard blu-ray case with flippable plastic trays. No stacking. The Star Wars Prequel/Original trilogies used ones just slighly thicker than a single disc case and held 6 discs.
The first one I didn't like was for the Sliders Dual Dimension set. A coarse foam pad with slits for the discs to slide into. Sliders 3rd season was worse - some kind of stiff folding plastic whatever with double sided discs.
But, the worst? The complete Farscape blu-ray set. It's a brick similar to the Wild Wild West one you shown. However, they stack the discs and overlap the discs and you flip the tray for more stacked/overlapped discs. Save space? Using standard blu-ray cases with flippable trays, it could have used three 5 disc cases and one 6 disc case and been the exact same size without the bulky clumsiness.
You forgot the worst part of that TMNT set: they’re the exact same discs as the individual volume releases, so the episode count per disc varies wildly, and a lot of episodes are out of order.
And another poorly packaged set was the first Back to the Future Blu-rays, which gripped the discs so hard that it felt like they were going to break every time you took them off the spindle. I have them off the spindle because scratched discs are preferable to ones that are cracked in half.
Nice video my favorite packaging is probably jewel cases least favorite stacking discs (place for 6 discs they put in 2or3 its a pain to get them out)
There are a couple complete series sets I want from Mill Creek but I refuse to buy any that come in the Must See TV packaging. With that packaging there is no way you won’t get at least one scratched disc. Also with that packaging it is the same size no matter how many discs the show is. So a lot of times there is a lot of empty space so the box gets crushed.
Yes! It's not good at all.
Honestly I grown to appreciate packaging that prioritizes efficiency of space. I look at all those cool alien collectors sets that come in an xenomorph head and just think “what a waste of space!” I personally love the sets that mondo vision puts out. Nice classy velvet packaging. Not too many discs, but very well organized. I love it
I'm not too knowledgeable, (well I wasn't at the time) but got Pacific blue on dvd years ago on eBay. and the discs are in those paper sleeves, and I thought it was a bootleg. but yea I saw that the mill creek logo. I'm definitely not too keen on them.
coolest things are media books, we have them a lot here in the German area.
Have you seen the special edition Avatar blu ray extended version? It goes up there with rhe worst bc you could possibly scratch the discs putting them back in.
I have not!
Remember when DVDs first came out they came in these hard transparent plastic cases?
It’s strange how satisfying it is to watch a video about packaging.
I think the absolute worst packaging I’ve come across is one you didn’t mention. Technically, you could probably consider it a digibook variant, but it was the (now defunct?) Sony Supreme Cinema blu-ray series. I have the three they initially released: The Fifth Element, Leon the Professional, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
They have a very cool-looking plexiglass cover design and a digibook style built-in booklet, but it’s essentially nonfunctional. Even opening the case the tiniest amount causes the glue holding the whole thing together to peel off so it all just separates and falls apart. Luckily you don’t really have to open it to get the disc out... unluckily it’s that terrible cardboard pocket-within-a-page style that either causes the disc to fly out just by looking at it or is inexplicably wedged in. There isn’t any closure on the non-spine side of the case and I’ve actually had my Fifth Element disc just slip completely out of the back of the case while sitting on the shelf.
I always hated Double sided DVDs!! Because they Scratch easy or get fingerprints on them and feel cheap!!
That Stranger Things one looked horrible. I'd hate to actually use that. Why not make a fake case inside the case that looks like a VHS tape (which contains the discs) instead of all these weird cardboard flaps?
Yeah I've given up on trying to get shows on DVD. Discs scratch too easily. It's Blu Ray or bust when it comes to buying shows because I cycle through the discs so much more than I do with movies
My absolute favorite packaging was the type used for DVDs by Warner's brothers and Cartoon network, I don't know what it is called, digipack maybe, it's folded up cardboard sleeves with a plastic piece to hold the disks inside a slipcase. Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amelie, Pulp Fiction, Samurai Jack, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast all had it, plus many more. It looks great and has the feel of a book and could accommodate an extra disk for special features or soundtracks. Plus there was a spot for a little booklet. It was versatile. I wish everything was still like that.
And, I absolutely hated snap cases! Having the Matrix and some Stanley Kubrick in a snap case felt like it didn't do it justice. I also really dislike standard blue ray packaging. It's ok for comedies and animation/anime, but the bright blue doesn't look serious enough for 2001 and big movies like that.
Heath, you should have also showed the packaging for the Alien Quadrilogy and 24 - it's like the lost in space accordion file, but it folds out to be 9 feet long!!