The TNG DVD sets... individual seasons, or series set?

Anyone who's bought the "all seven years in a green box" set, can you tell me if the discs are decent?

I had a bad experience getting an "entire series in a box" set of another show. Turned out pretty much everyone who bought the set got discs with splotches on the recorded side that looked like dirt, but were under the surface.

Needless to say, it turned out the discs went bad quickly.

How did the "all in one box" TNG set turn out?

Anyone have comparison info on the individiual season sets vs. the "one box" set?

Thanks.

 

My experiences with "all in one box" season sets has never been positive. Usually the manufacturer has to cram a few dozen discs into something relatively compact and it's not possible to do this and to properly protect the discs from damage.

I have the "MacGyver" box set and all of the discs are inside of a short "accordion file" style device made of cardboard with most of the back of the disc-surface touching the face of the disc behind it. Luckily none of the discs were damaged and I simply placed all of the discs inside of paper windowed envelopes for better protection.

The "X Files" series set has the seasons broken up into several "book-like" binders with the discs placed inside slits, the wax-coated paperstock binder does a decent job of protecting the discs. This is probably the "best" series set collection I've seen.

:deep breath:

And then there was M*A*S*H... A beautiful looking box set with a very nice collection of extras and such. The discs however? Were in the crappiest possible device you can imagine putting something in. They were in a similar "binder-like" device with the discs inside slits on the "pages" but the cardboard used to make the "pages" was very rough and was not kind to the discs at all. Pretty much all of the discs in the set looked like someone had rubbed them on Klinger's ass.

I took that box-set back to where I had bought it and was told for an opened item I could only get an exchange, when we opened the other box they had at the store we saw that the discs were all scratched up as well. I was given an exception and got my money back.

I cannot speak for the Trek series but my experiences with box sets for TV series isn't greatly positive. The only reason why the X-Files discs survive is because the discs are stored in a secure manner against a slick surface. Indelicate handling of the MacGyver set before I protected the discs could have resulted in damaged discs. The M*A*S*H discs were damaged just by being in the box (and this was a common complaint with this set.)

So I cannot say from personal experience how specifically the TNG sets are just that observe caution when it comes to series sets. For TNG you'd be cramming some 50 discs into a fairly small space, the likelihood they're properly contained isn't staggering. You're better off getting the season sets (which I'm sure can be found pretty cheap either at a retail store or in second-hand stores) that way you know all of the discs come fully secured in hard-plastic, snap-in style "jewel-case" like devices.

 

Get the blu-ray sets that start releasing later this year.

 

I was about to say the same thing. If the OP isn't too familiar with the project, head over to Youtube and watch the trailers, and check out some of the screen caps. It looks like it's going to be amazing!

 

I'll 3rd the blu ray recommendation. I have had no issues with my TNG DVD boxed set. But if I were looking to buy it today, I would wait for the blu ray set.

 

I'll fourth the blu-ray suggestion. I have the 7 season box set and the case... Picture it... 25 sheets of cheap green plastic molded to hold two discs on each, and then "bound" into three separate "books" by a piece of extra wide tape placed on one side... Did I mention that the plastic is cracked all over the place and some of the discs don't even stay in the holders? I was not fond of the packaging. The discs themselves are fine, although the menus on the season one discs don't work correctly when I play them on my laptop... It only works when I play them on my Xbox 360...

I'll be getting the blu-rays as they come out, though.

 

Well, at least it seems the discs were in traditional snap-in holders that's far better than any series set I've ever seen.

I'd also second the idea of waiting for the Blu-Ray, keep in mind it'll take the next few years for the entire series to get out. If you must have the series now (and/or you don't have a BD player) then -as I said- I'd think the season sets can be found cheaply in second-hand stores. (Around here we have a place called "Vintage Stock" that carries old, used, DVDs, games, tapes, CDs, comic books and even toys.)

Checking on Amazon (USA version) right now the TNG DVD sets are available for about $47 -though buying one from a secondary retailer through Amazon takes that down to $40.) This would put the entire series at about $329 which, keep in mind, is a fraction of what people paid when the series came out new. From Amazon the series set costs around $300.

For $30 more I'd say it's worth it to get better packaging. If you don't like the bulkiness of the series sets (and the fold out style of the case) 7-disc cases can also be found and bought fairly cheaply.

 

Not what I'm looking for, not an answer to my question.

 

The green trays in the set are really brittle and almost always come with pieces of the hubs shattered. I bought clear slim dual disk cases from Meritline to replace the green trays. Those little broken pieces of plastic can easily scratch any disk.

The discs themselves are fine, but I too am looking forward to replacing the set with the blurays, there is no comparison.

 

Just trying to help you avoid a DVD set that is, at best, a blurry mess.

 

Me and Gastrof are cool.

 

What about the special features on the "green set" is there any difference?

 

All the bonus content is on the discs in the green set.

 

So nothing new? Thats lame. Has anybody heard that theyre going to be doing new stuff for the blurays?

 

Yes, they are doing new interviews with much of the TNG production crew, and I believe cast (pending contractual terms)

 

I should say though, that the interviews and production stuff on the green set are extensive, with new features included at the end of every single season. Sit down interviews with individuals, and round tables with many production teams sitting together, like the FX guys. Great stuff.

 

As mentioned, I'm looking for info on the DVD sets, not on the Blu-ray sets.

That's why I said "Not what I'm looking for".

Nothing more.

If the two sets are virtually identical and nobody's had problems with the discs themselves in the green box, depending on price my decision may have been made already.

As for how the discs are stored... eh.

I can get plastic boxes for them and put them in those to protect them.

You can even make up your own inserts. I do that sometimes with other discs. I'll be fun to do it for TNG.

 

1) Regarding the smilie - there are no current plans to remove it AFAIK. Suggestions regards changes to the board's functionality/features should ideally be made in the QSF forum, as it is more a matter for the entire board than any specific series subforum. QSF threads should of course not make reference to any specific board user but rather be about board-wide issues and suggestions, like this.

2) While I certainly appreciate a good sense of community spirit, if BillJ had felt any specific concerns about gastrof's post he always had the opportunity to notify me via the usual system. As he later pointed out in this thread, he seems not to have felt there was any problem with gastrof's post at all. The notify system is usually the best way to deal with posts that potentially break board rules, rather than interposing oneself in the middle of someone else's potential dispute (esp. when it later turns out not to be a serious dispute at all).

BTW, on a more general note not specifically related to this post/issue, I don't necessarily check the board every day, so sometimes it takes a couple of days for me to get round to checking notifications, and I don't necessarily write back to the notifier with an outcome, but you can rest assured I do read & review notified posts as soon I have the chance. If I don't act after 2-3 days or so, you can usually take it as read that I haven't found anything actionable.

 

For TNG, I'm waiting for the bluray. I never bought the DVDs, in part because of the cost, and am now glad I did not buy.

A word of warning - don't buy any Trek DVD sets on eBay unless you are 100 percent sure they're not fakes/counterfeit. If you see an auction offering any complete Trek series for a "great deal," odds are they're gonna be fake.

I know this because I got taken by a so-called "wholesaler" on all six seasons of Doctor Who, who was also selling other sets, including Trek. The Who sets were obvious counterfeits, and I was fortunate to get my money back rather easily without having to go through the hassle of returning them (they're not worth the box they came in). I'm fairly certain all the sets that seller sells on eBay are fakes.

It angers me eBay lets that seller stay on the site, and to see his feedback going up and up - buyers either don't know they're getting fakes, or they're happy with fakes just because it's cheap, and don't care about the inferior quality (from packaging to the audio/video quality).

The saying "If it's too good to be true, it probably is" applies. As does "buyer beware."

I'm getting the Who sets from WalMart now.