Digipaks or Keepcases?

[dx23]

Any one else POed at Fox for cutting a recycle into their cases. Why can't they put a stamp like every other company?

Universal and Sony have started the same crappy packaging design.

[Matt]

Any one else POed at Fox for cutting a recycle into their cases. Why can't they put a stamp like every other company?

This design actually uses less plastic. It sucks, but at least it's ever so slightly Earth-friendly.

[HarryLong]

But DVD packaging is only Earth unfriendly if you throw the things away.
And no one does that ... right?

[Gregory]

I take it that at least the second question is tongue-in-cheek, but regarding the first: the manufacture of plastics, not just disposal, has an assortment of environmental effects. For example, the U.S. consumes millions of barrels of oil a year just to manufacture plastic bottles for (completely unnecessary) bottled water. Transportation is another issue.

A while back I read claims that in a few years, if CO2 can be captured from smokestacks, it could be converted into polycarbonates, including bottles and DVDs. However, that leaves numerous other questions unanswered about the overall sustainability of continuing to produce huge amounts of these types of plastics.

[Westwood]

What kind of digipacks are you talking about exactly? I have seen very few digipacked DVDs, usually only musical dvds or cheap movies. That is, the cardboard sleeve, and the tray is the exact same as the one digipack cds always had. Or do you mean the digipack-y things like multi-disc sets like WB tv shows like Gilmore Girls etc, with place for two discs in each tray, or the single tray version, like the first editions of the Friends tv shows seasons, where the center of the tray has 3 little thingys holding the disc down, and by pressing this you supposedly release one of those thingys thus enabling the disc removal, but too often nothing changes? Because I have problems with those as well, once I even cracked the inside rim of a dvd and luckily the crack did not reach the recorded part of the disc.

About those NexPak's, the slim cases that WB is using now for multi-movie sets: are they also available in a shorter version, like, as tall as cd cases? I am taping most of the tv on dvd-r bought in cilinders so I have nowhere to put them but those cilinders, and I would like something nicer where I can at least slide an insert in. I think I may have come across one of these, but it seems rare. I mean, the same exact kind of case, but shorter, almost square, and with transparent plastic. Or, how are others dealing with dvd-r when bought it bulks. I don't like the idea of those books with pages where you slide in 4 discs on each side.

[Zumpano]

Has anyone purchased a recent Warner Bros DVD, where the case has a pinwheel-like circle/holes on the plastic front flap and back flap? I just received a copy of "Observe & Report" and you can pretty much push through the cover/back art and touch the disc itself. It seems really really cheap and easy to break. Has anyone else gotten one of these cases?

Is this the route Warner is going? What was once one of the best DVD producers...

[tavernier]

It's not just Warner that's doing that. I've got others as well--they are going "green"--less plastic is being used to make these cases.

[swo17]

Actually, more plastic is being used, because I have to throw those cases away and buy real ones.

[Gregory]

Sounds similar to the ones with the recycling logo molded into the case. I see nothing wrong with this, but I don't really understand the logo's purpose because I don't know of a single place where DVD cases would be accepted with normal plastic recycling.

[tavernier]

What do you people do with these cases? They are perfectly adequate for what they're supposed to do: hold the DVD while it sits on the shelf.

[Joe Buck]

I find it rather comical that the studios have gone to such great lengths to be environmentally conservative yet continue to waste who knows how many acres of forest producing redundant and utterly useless cardboard outer-sleeves.

[zedz]

Or indeed releasing the same films over and over again.

[tenia]

I find it rather comical that the studios have gone to such great lengths to be environmentally conservative yet continue to waste who knows how many acres of forest producing redundant and utterly useless cardboard outer-sleeves.

That reminds me of the Yann Arthus-Bertrand movie releases ("Home").

There are so far 4 different editions (2 HD and 2 SD). Each one is in regular SD and HD plastic case. Wrapped in plastic. Then you have the cardboard outer-sleeve. And everything is wrapped again.

The planet says thanks, Yann.

[fdm]

What do you people do with these cases? They are perfectly adequate for what they're supposed to do: hold the DVD while it sits on the shelf.

The cases themselves are "adequate". But their design is such that the artwork is more easily messed up if one's not careful (e.g., if the people who are packing/shipping it to you, or the employees/customers handling them in stores are careless). (At least for the blu-ray version.)

[Paul Moran]

What do you people do with these cases? They are perfectly adequate for what they're supposed to do: hold the DVD while it sits on the shelf.

Handled delicately, they should be fine. But grab them too hard over the "cut outs", expecting a normal case, and fingers may go through the liner.

[Fiery Angel]

so be gentle, man!

[manicsounds]

I certainly have no problem with them.

[Ben Cheshire]

Sounds similar to the ones with the recycling logo molded into the case.

Just to clarify a point here. I believe there is really only one kind of flimsy new case out there, and if you want to read a million people complaining about it, search for eco-cases, because that's what I've heard them called most often; but yes, those "holes in the case" are the same as the "ones with the recycling symbol cut into the side" as far as I can tell.

[HarryLong]

I find it rather comical that the studios have gone to such great lengths to be environmentally conservative yet continue to waste who knows how many acres of forest producing redundant and utterly useless cardboard outer-sleeves.

That reminds me of the Yann Arthus-Bertrand movie releases ("Home").

There are so far 4 different editions (2 HD and 2 SD). Each one is in regular SD and HD plastic case. Wrapped in plastic. Then you have the cardboard outer-sleeve. And everything is wrapped again.

The planet says thanks, Yann.

I was going to make the same observation, but you beat me to it. It's not just that particular release, however; I've encountered it on other titles and on CDs. In addition to the waste, there's the aggravation of removing the shrink-wrap, then trying to remove the cardboard sleeve (usually such a tight fit from the shrink-wrap underneath that one tears it apart rather than slides it off), then more shrink-wrap and then those sticky labels, sometimes on all three edges of the case. By the time I get all that taken care of I'm rarely in a pleasant frame of mind to enjoy the movie.

[Murdoch]

I find it rather comical that the studios have gone to such great lengths to be environmentally conservative yet continue to waste who knows how many acres of forest producing redundant and utterly useless cardboard outer-sleeves.

I've not seen any of the flimsy new cases since I've only been buying dvds from mostly boutique labels, but I have come across these sleeves far too often. It makes me wonder who thought up this numskull idea in the first place, maybe to make it seem like buyers were getting more for their money.

then trying to remove the cardboard sleeve (usually such a tight fit from the shrink-wrap underneath that one tears it apart rather than slides it off)

I have no idea how they manage to get those sleeves so tight onto the case, usually they slide right off for me but I had one that was so tight - and didn't go over the case's edges - that I needed a box-cutter to get it off!

[Matt]

Personally, I appreciate them because they're lighter and use less plastic while still being pretty durable. As a media librarian, I'm not so crazy about them because they're not as durable as good old Amaray-style cases. They're still better than digipaks, though, which at my library mostly get thrown out and replaced with standard cases (for which I have to make custom covers).

[tenia]

Personally, I love digipacks. OK, they're hard to keep safe, and they're not environment friendly, but I don't care. I like the digipacks cause they really look like something really worked, unlike a cheap plastic case.

So, as part of a collection, digipacks are really more beautiful.

But yeah, a good ol' Amaray, that's the way to keep safe a DVD / BR for 10 years.

[MoonlitKnight]

I HATE digipacks...especially for CDs, where they distort the perfect square shape of the artwork of older albums (one of the main reasons I'm avoiding the new Beatles remasters).

What I'm really perturbed by, though, is that they seem to no longer make normal-sized replacement keepcases. I can only hope I don't end up receiving a damaged case for a title I ordered online, or that I don't inadvertently damage any more of the ones I already have.

[Fiery Angel]

I HATE digipacks...especially for CDs, where they distort the perfect square shape of the artwork of older albums (one of the main reasons I'm avoiding the new Beatles remasters).

What I'm really perturbed by, though, is that they seem to no longer make normal-sized replacement keepcases. I can only hope I don't end up receiving a damaged case for a title I ordered online, or that I don't inadvertently damage any more of the ones I already have.

This is what's keeping you from buying the Beatles remasters?

[swo17]

Speaking of crappy keepcases that need to be replaced...Sleeve City (or is it Sleeve Town? I'm confused) is currently offering 15% off all orders.