Another ? Re: Bootlegs VS. USA DVD sets

[smurr05]

I recently purchased "The Wire" CS and "The Sopranos" CS re-packaged version from Ebay and found out that they were Chinese bottlegs thanks to this great forum of ours! I returned them and was fortunate to get refunded. Now I re-purchased both titles from Amazon Marketplace sellers both of whom stated before I purchased that these sets were indeed autrhentic USA factory releases and both sellers had perfect feedback scores. I recieved both sets today ironically and inspected them. Well they both had discs wrapped in clear plastic sleeves like the bootlegs did BUT I could not find that Chinese writing on the inside/underside of the discs like the bootlegs had. The "Sopranos" also had this black masking/framing tape on the slipcover and book inside that held the discs. I have never seen the discs pictured at any website with the clear plastic sleeves so again, did anyone else purchase these titles in the near past and did your discs indeed come in plastic sleeves? Again the discs inscriptions seem to be real but hell I'm just paranoid at this point!!! I would really appreciate any feedback or info you guys have on these sets to ease my mind! Sorry to ramble on but I just want to make sure I got the real deal this time! Thanks for your time, info and support-
smurr05

[smurr05]

Bump...Any info on this subject?
Thanks-

[manicsounds]

Post pictures?

[smurr05]

Wish I could but Honestly and embarraslingly I don't know hot to do that which is Why I give the best descriptions I could-

[RickWJ324]

Sadly I've purchased bootleg tv shows on Ebay but was fortunate enough to get refunded. I never thought such a thing would happen on Amazon, but it did!

I bought some of the Doctor Who seasons through Amazon and one of the seasons was "sold by another vendor but shipped directly through Amazon". I was certain that there would be no way a bootleg would ship from Amazon. Well, when I got the package, the case itself was a very good reproduction and would fool most consumers. The discs were 'pressed' discs (not dvd-r's) and were silk-screen printed (though the quality was very iffy on the printing). The real test however was in the quality of the discs. they were DVD 5's (single layer discs) not DVD 9's (dual layer discs). The entire contents had been shrunk down to fit on the cheaper discs. I knew right away that they were fakes and contacted Amazon. Of course I got a call center that appeared to be 'not in the USA' and had a tough time dealing with them. They did however refund my purchase and I later re-purchased the same set from Amazon, but this time the set was directly from them (not a third party seller). I would've done this initially, but it was apparently sold out from Amazon at the time.

I will NEVER EVER EVER buy a TV series set on Ebay or Amazon (through third party vendors)! Piracy is just too rampant these days. If a deal seems to good to be true, it is. I'll only buy from a reputable source. Lesson learned.

I hope you were able to get legit sets this time! A sure-fire way to tell is to put the discs in your dvd drive and check the size of the disc. Most TV Show discs are going to be larger than a single-layer disc (which is around 4.5gb or less). An average TV Show disc is going to be between 6Gb -7.5Gb in size.

--Rick

[smurr05]

Originally Posted by RickWJ324

Sadly I've purchased bootleg tv shows on Ebay but was fortunate enough to get refunded. I never thought such a thing would happen on Amazon, but it did!

I bought some of the Doctor Who seasons through Amazon and one of the seasons was "sold by another vendor but shipped directly through Amazon". I was certain that there would be no way a bootleg would ship from Amazon. Well, when I got the package, the case itself was a very good reproduction and would fool most consumers. The discs were 'pressed' discs (not dvd-r's) and were silk-screen printed (though the quality was very iffy on the printing). The real test however was in the quality of the discs. they were DVD 5's (single layer discs) not DVD 9's (dual layer discs). The entire contents had been shrunk down to fit on the cheaper discs. I knew right away that they were fakes and contacted Amazon. Of course I got a call center that appeared to be 'not in the USA' and had a tough time dealing with them. They did however refund my purchase and I later re-purchased the same set from Amazon, but this time the set was directly from them (not a third party seller). I would've done this initially, but it was apparently sold out from Amazon at the time.

I will NEVER EVER EVER buy a TV series set on Ebay or Amazon (through third party vendors)! Piracy is just too rampant these days. If a deal seems to good to be true, it is. I'll only buy from a reputable source. Lesson learned.

I hope you were able to get legit sets this time! A sure-fire way to tell is to put the discs in your dvd drive and check the size of the disc. Most TV Show discs are going to be larger than a single-layer disc (which is around 4.5gb or less). An average TV Show disc is going to be between 6Gb -7.5Gb in size.

--Rick

How exactly do you check the size of the disc??? What I'm also asking others that if they have bought these afore mentioned sets ,Did they come in the plastic sleeves and was there a way to tell if they were legit by the inscriptions on the underside/inside portion of the disc. Thanks for the info and I hope you can tell me how I check the size of the discs I have...with the remote??? ,and How-
Thank you-
Also should I do this through my computers DVD drive instead or my players drive???
Thanks-

[RickWJ324]

Originally Posted by smurr05

How exactly do you check the size of the disc??? What I'm also asking others that if they have bought these afore mentioned sets ,Did they come in the plastic sleeves and was there a way to tell if they were legit by the inscriptions on the underside/inside portion of the disc. Thanks for the info and I hope you can tell me how I check the size of the discs I have...with the remote??? ,and How-
Thank you-
Also should I do this through my computers DVD drive instead or my players drive???
Thanks-

Yes.. do this through your pc's DVD Rom drive. The size should display in the properties of the disc (go to My Computer and look at your DVD Rom). This is NOT a100% definitive way of finding out, but if these are bootleg discs the bootlegger will most often use lower quality single-layered discs, which will be less than 5gb per disc. To do this, they take the original disc (which was probably around 7-8GB's each) and 'shrink' them down to accomodate the smaller disc, thus saving them on manufacturing costs.

If a disc contains 3-4 episodes that are 1 hour shows and its on a single layer (DVD5 = 4.5GB) disc, you can pretty much guarantee them to be bootlegs. Major studios don't do shows (such as the Sopranos) and put 3-4 hours worth of shows on a single layer disc.

--Rick

[Mr. Salty]

Take a picture, upload it for free to Image Shack, copy and paste the forum code here.

[smurr05]

Thanks for all the input I genuinely appreciate it. That is why I consider this site is my 3rd home!

[smurr05]

Okay I emailed both sellers who swear thier products are authentic #1-
One seller even mentioned that it was proven because "The Sopranos" set had an"RFID tag implanted in it which guarantees authenticity"...Whatever that is or means!!!
Lastly I did put both sets in the computer and "The Sopranos" discs which have 3 or 4 episodes per disc read 4.35GB while "The Wire" discs which have 3 episodes each read 4.30GB!
So y'all whats the verdict? Do you think these sets are indeed fakes based on that info??? Should I return them and just buy from a legit retailer? HELP!!!
Again many thanks for your input as I just don't know what the hell to do after my Ebay fiasco. I'm seriously at the end of my rope and ready to give up on these damn sets yet I want to own them,(Authentic ones)!!!

[DeputyDave]

Based on everything you've said I'd say they are fakes.

[smurr05]

Thats the feeling I'm getting! For any of you out there that has e legit set can you confirm that they are indeed on DVD9's and have more GB per disc Like Rick stated? Again I greatly appreciate the info- I think I'm sending these sets back ASAP-

[smurr05]

Well enough of these boxed sets for me. WB shop has all the individual seasons of the wire and the sopranos for $19.95 a piece...Sold...To hell with these bootleggers and their boxed sets!

[RickWJ324]

Scott... those definitely sound like 'fakes' to me. The internet (ebay, amazon third party sellers, etc) are full of these knock-offs. Most of the sets are produced in Asian countries and the packaging can be very authentic looking! The Doctor Who set that I had was very nice and even had the 'lenticular' cover on it. To the average consumer it would totally pass as legit. However, the discs themselves definitely stuck out as counterfeit and once I received a legit copy of them and compared the boxes there were lots of subtle differences on the packaging that would indicate them being knock-offs.
Even if the packaging and disc art seem legit, they 'almost' always seem to press the discs on single layered discs, which HIGHLY degrades the quality of the video. You are basically taking 7 or 8 GBs (on average) of video and compressing it to less than 4.5gb. It's easy to do, but the quality is unacceptable (in my opinion).
I have The Sopranos discs, but it may be a few days before I can access them (lots of my stuff is in storage at the moment). I'll take a look at them once I pull them out and post the sizes here.
Shows like The Sopranos, Star Trek, Doctor Who, etc are big in the bootleg market. The LEGIT sets are typically pretty expensive and these foreign countries churn out these crappy bootlegs at a considerable discount, making them very tempting. Lots of people won't even notice the loss in quality (especially those using small televisions), but I would stay far away from them.
After getting burned on Ebay (unknowingly bought bootleg ALIAS seasons) and on Amazon by the third party sellers (Doctor Who sets) I will never buy shows from either of those sources again. The best thing to do is look out for sales at retails stores such as Best Buy, Target, Walmart, or buy directly from Amazon (NO THIRD PARTY SELLERS).

Sorry to hear about your situation... hopefully you can get reimbursed.
--Rick

[JeffTheAlpaca]

I hope Redtag and Moviemarz are legitimate since they sell a lot of stuff at Ebay which are usually cheaper than Amazon in some cases

[SkullOrchard]

Originally Posted by JeffTheAlpaca

I hope Redtag and Moviemarz are legitimate since they sell a lot of stuff at Ebay which are usually cheaper than Amazon in some cases

Me too. I buy a lot of stuff, mostly CDs, from Moviemars and Blowitoutahere.

[Josh-da-man]

Originally Posted by RickWJ324

I never thought such a thing would happen on Amazon, but it did!

This happened to me as well. A while back I bought a CD from an Amazon seller, fulfilled by Amazon, and they sent me a fucking South American bootleg. Actually, it was one of those situations where you click on the product page and it automatically places your order with the marketplace seller instead of Amazon.

I didn't even need to open it up to know because the writing on the back was in Spanish and the cover art was blurry and obviously (poorly) scanned.

It' really ridiculous that Amazon allows this to happen.

Needless to say, I sent that fucker back.

[PhantomStranger]

Originally Posted by JeffTheAlpaca

I hope Redtag and Moviemarz are legitimate since they sell a lot of stuff at Ebay which are usually cheaper than Amazon in some cases

They are legitimate, in fact they are the same company.