Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

[Lowry_Sam]

[From Criterion OOP]

The Complete Kubrick is listed as OOP.

Any chance that a 2nd printing will be "new & improved" in packaging (more possible) or content (more improbable but no less welcome)?

[hearthesilence]

Re: the disc removal, that's exactly what it's like with Universal's Hitchcock sets and it's f-ing irritating. In hindsight, I should've waited for the breakouts in plastic cases and bought those. (Due to Gruv's frequent sales, it would've been cheaper too.) I actually took out all the standard Blu-rays and put them in a binder just to make things easier.

[cdnchris]

Late, but here's the rest of October's releases:

The First Films of Samuel Fuller
The Silence of the Lambs [4K] (Booklet)
Welcome II the Terrordome
The Shout
Christiane F. [4K]
Frankenstein [4K]

[Finch]

This is what somebody did to their copy after struggling to get the discs out.

[FrauBlucher]

Oh my. How do they not realize some of their packaging is a problem

[nicolas]

Michael Chaiken was asked about the packaging and said this:

Yeah! I mean, I know that some collectors absolutely hate the sleeve discs, which I was unaware was such a controversy among physical-media collectors. […] I know these conversations were happening when I was working with the art department, and they did do some sort of test. There’s a plastic-lined pack to help with the disc going in and out, so it won’t be scraping against paper. [...]

[Laughs] But I did ask, “How serious is this?” They said, “We don’t get a lot of returns. If anything, we get a lot of returns from people who have broken the center of the jewel cases.”

[James Stock]

Does he not know what a jewel case actually is?

[domino harvey]

If anyone involved in the process is actually unaware that actual movie watchers (not recipients of sets like this as executive gifts and museum shop curios) don’t want slots, I don’t know what to say. Learn your industry better?

[Noiretirc]

This is what somebody did to their copy after struggling to get the discs out.

Yikes! I mean...surely this person was careless? Is it really that hard to get them out??

[Finch]

A fan-made keepcase edition is already on sale at etsy.

EDIT To clarify: this is just the covers and keepcases.

[Finch]

Yikes! I mean...surely this person was careless? Is it really that hard to get them out??

I think they purposely ripped it apart to show how angry they got over the struggle to get the discs out but yeah... Some people reported the discs were easier to slide in and out after the first removal.

[domino harvey]

The same seller has cases for the Bergman, Fellini, Godzilla, and Wong Kar Wai sets as well

[CriterionPhreak]

A fan-made keepcase edition is already on sale at etsy.

EDIT To clarify: this is just the covers and keepcases.

These things usually have great designs, and I commend the creators for them. But I don't usually buy them because the designs usually copy the ones on the original package, and I don't need two similar-looking packages on my display case. If I needed extra cases, I would simply buy blank ones from places that sell them cheaply, like here, and store the discs away.

[hearthesilence]

Yeah, honestly just buy some slim cases (either “DVD” sized or even CD jewelry case sized) and store them next to the outer case on the shelf.

[Noiretirc]

But really, if we step back a bit, how much does it suck that we are even having this conversation at this forum, for a Crown Jewel in Criterion's release history?

I'm depressed.

(BC (Canada) will go Contard tonight. That doesn't help my mood.)

[Finch]

Someone managed to sell the packaging (yes just the packaging) on eBay for $125.

[denti alligator]

I expect to be jumped on for this, but as far as I can tell so far only one person who has received the set has complained about the disc sleeves (though I did not watch the unboxing video one member posted), and that person was able to get them all out. Is this problem being exaggerated by the usual internet chatter? I know many in this forum hate the sleeves; but it seems like Criterion at the least tried to address the scratch issue.

[Matt]

I'm no big fan of slots—I curse every time I try to pull a disc out of the Pasolini 101 set—but I think it's like anything else: those few who have a bad experience will be very vocal about it and garner inordinate attention for it. No one's going to post online saying "I had a mildly positive experience taking the discs out of my Kubrick box" unless they're reacting to that person who had the bad experience.

[Noiretirc]

Varda and Bergman boxes have similar slots, right? I've never had reason to complain about those.

[FrauBlucher]

Fellini too.

I will say if you finesse it as opposed to a heavy hand you’ll have more success. The pic that Finch posted looked like a heavy hand to me

[Cheech_Bogardt]

If anyone involved in the process is actually unaware that actual movie watchers (not recipients of sets like this as executive gifts and museum shop curios) don’t want slots, I don’t know what to say. Learn your industry better?

I get where you're coming from, the sleeves are tight, but have you read the interview? This guy is an archivist/curator who seems very knowledgeable about Kubrick. He was tasked by Criterion with creating these new editions. Considering the scope of this thing and what he was able to uncover by working with the studios, Criterion and the Kubrick Estate, he helped to make a lot of new things available. I think he knows his industry pretty well.

[midnitedave]

I'm no big fan of slots—I curse every time I try to pull a disc out of the Pasolini 101 set—but I think it's like anything else: those few who have a bad experience will be very vocal about it and garner inordinate attention for it. No one's going to post online saying "I had a mildly positive experience taking the discs out of my Kubrick box" unless they're reacting to that person who had the bad experience.

This reminds me, I had a mildly positive experience taking the discs out of my Zatoichi box (as well as Arrow's limited edition Gamera and Shawscopes).

[Finch]

The discs from the top slots seem to be a lot harder to remove than the bottom slot ones. Sounds like the top slots got unfathomably tight during the manufacturing process.

[CriterionPhreak]

The discs from the top slots seem to be a lot harder to remove than the bottom slot ones. Sounds like the top slots got unfathomably tight during the manufacturing process.

The sleeves are tighter when there are discs on both sides of a page. The two discs and the two sleeves are essentially all sandwiched together, making it tougher to pry open the sleeves and take out the discs. When only one side of the page has a disc, you can slightly bend the page to make it easier to pry open the sleeve. But you can't bend the page when there are two discs sandwiching it.

[fdm]

This reminds me, I had a mildly positive experience taking the discs out of my Zatoichi box (as well as Arrow's limited edition Gamera and Shawscopes).

I trashed one of its discs when I tried to extricate it from its sleeve. It was really stuck in there. Criterion replaced it for me. (This was the original dual-format box, not too long after it was released.) Now stored with the rest of the blu-rays in a 9-disc blu-ray case.