PJsig08

New Blu Ray owner here, saw a ton of Blu Ray steelbooks on sale at Best Buy for movies I love (Goodfellas, Matrix) and besides the steelbook frame and different cover, I have no idea what I'm paying for.

The Blu Ray discs are the same, it's just the packaging that's different?

Obi-Wanma

The point is.... ooooh shiny!

PhantomStranger

It replaces cheap, bendable, plastic eco-cases with strong steel cases. Sadly, the newer steelbooks are easier to damage.

Spottedfeather

I know. While the outside metal case was damaged, I had a steelbook fall about 2 feet onto the floor and one of the plastic clips that holds the flip tray in was snapped off.

PJsig08

So the blu ray discs are exactly the same in the steel book?

nemein

Yes... unless they aren't (aka some sort of special edition just for the steel book).


Mod note: Moving to the HD forum

Josh Z

The point is that some people like them. If you like them, buy them. If you don't... don't.

BuckNaked2k

What is YOUR point?

Mr. Salty

You've never heard of SteelBook or collectible packaging for DVDs? Why would Blu-ray be any different?

Double_Oh_7

It's just one more silly thing for collectors to obsess over.

That'sAllFolks

Exactly.

mig0

Sometimes it can be different discs. Hot Fuzz comes with digital copies that weren't available when I bought the movie a few years ago.

whotony

I don't obsess like most people over on bluray.com do. I will pick one up here and there if I like the art on the front.

manicsounds

Happened to my "Akira" steelbook. Had to superglue it back on...

Shannon Nutt

It's just a collectors' thing...some people like the packaging. I personally am not into steelbooks, but I am a DigiBook whore.

Trevor

Thanks for reminding me to update that thread.

List of all BD digibooks

JimRochester

No offense but it's to seperate the foolish from their money. i know the same thing goes on in music. My uncle does the music shows and people come by and buy music they already own because it's in a collector package. I don't care if they come in a shit covered brown paper bag. I just want a good movie with a good remastering.

Edited to add: I realize collecting is often in the eyes of the beholder. I own a 1978 Trans Am. To me it's a collector car. To others it's an old car that rarely gets driven, why own it? I just have never understood the packaging craze. To me it's like beanie babies or collector plates. Manufactured to be a collectable means they will rarely have long term value.

Eddie W

I know some people are obsessed over how much everything is "worth", but I dont' really see it as a collector thing. It's more of a deluxe package. If I have a choice for buying something I don't own, I'll pick up the steelbook. I would never re-buy something just for the package though.

I like them mostly because they don't use the standard photoshopped floating head artwork, and the back is not covered in specs/barcodes/bullet points. It's just a nice, clean, elegant package.

Josh-da-man

If someone would release a blu-ray in a steelbook with a lenticular slipcover half of the people of blu-ray.com would masturbate themselves to death.

BuckNaked2k

davidh777

One more way to try to extend the life of packaged media.

PJsig08

Thank you all, my assumption was correct.

That'sAllFolks

The intent of this thread was to disparage the collector and allow some to judge those who buy these items as foolish and gullible. Of course your assumption was correct. You had preconceived ideas that you wanted validated.

orangerunner

Generally I'm not a Digipak/Steelbook/Slipcase fanatic either but I have found myself refusing to replace certain DVDs that have really nice packaging with Blu-rays that come in a crappy eco-case.

But hey, I know a lot of people who bring home a disc and toss the packaging out no matter how fancy it is. They simply want the content.

When it comes to TV shows, I agree it is just about the content. That was the way they were originally presented to me on television when they first aired.

Movies, on the other hand, were always presented in a much more visual way.

You would find out about a movie from slick ads on TV or from a huge spread of ads, articles and reviews in the newspaper. You go to the movie theatre and the first thing you see is the one-sheet poster hanging in the marquee. When you walk inside the theatre there were more coming attraction posters, free magazines with movie-related ads and articles and (going way back) lobby cards showing stills of the movie.

The associated artwork and presentation becomes an important part of the movie and the movie-going experience.

I guess this is why I like the artwork and packaging when it comes to DVDs, sometimes more than the content itself.

The reality is that for most collectors the packaging is what they see 365 days a year as the content only really gets used maybe once every couple of years for most titles, at least in my case.

Having an 8TB harddrive with 800 movies on it is a great practical-minded space-saver but for me, it has no soul or substance.

Mr. Salty

If you didn't intend to offend you wouldn't have used the word "foolish." Clearly you meant to offend.

And honestly, there are so many sales that unless you're an impulse buyer it's easy to buy a SteelBook for the same price or cheaper than the standard packaging.