MDubs

I bought a DVD that has the usual y-fold plastic wrap around the DVD case but it is the missing the sticker seal with the movie's title/barcode on the top of the case. Was the DVD resealed?

rbrown498

Maybe, maybe not. Some companies have abandoned the top seal, especially if they're small and do most of their business through online channels. Others will use the top seal for those discs that are bound for brick-and-mortar stores and leave them off the discs bound for online retailers.

Where'd you buy the disc from? What disc was it? This info may help in figuring out if it's been resealed or not.

MDubs

First one was from a third party seller on Amazon: "Charisma" directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Region 1)

Second one was from a third party seller on Ebay: "Cure" directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Region 1)

rbrown498

I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you, MDubs. It appears that Home Vision released both of those, and it's a pretty small company that may not even still be in business.

I was in Walmart today, so I checked their stock of DVDs and Blu-rays and about half had top stickers. It seemed pretty hit-or-miss as to which companies were using them.

I'm sorry that I can't be of any more help.

orangerunner

With a lot of DVDs and Blu-rays coming from plants in Mexico, I've noticed many titles do not have the security stickers any more.

Some titles have the folded "overwrap" and some have the sealed shrink-wrap but there isn't a whole lot of consistency. Some stores may also have a wrap machine to re-wrap any products that have damaged cello wrap.

If the product packaging and disc are like new, I guess the wrap and whether the product is officially "new" or not is somewhat arbitrary.

Trevor

You're apologizing? You win the DVDTalker of the Week for going out of your way to try to help, and doing a great job at it.

MDubs

No worries, I really do appreciate the information you and others have given me; it has helped alleviate some of my worries. My OCD only allows me to settle for the "factory sealed from manufacturer" condition; I only wish I could have purchased these now out-of-print DVDs from a large retailer.

Alan Smithee

I miss the stickers mainly because they made it easier to tell if a disc was brand-new or used, and also easier to see what titles were in a rack without flipping through all of them. The residue some leave on the case when peeling off is a pain though, I keep Goo-Gone around just for that purpose.

thetao

The y-fold wrap suggests that even if it was rewrapped, it was done officially. Digressing just a little, unofficial rewraps (including third party sellers trying to pass off a used item as new) are often easy to spot, even forgetting the security sticker. There's a thin, stretchy shrinkwrap and then there's a thick, brittle, very un-stretchy kind. The latter seems to be the only kind available to the average person on the street. When I buy a new DVD and get this kind of wrap, it always sets off alarms.

PhantomStranger

Security stickers were added for one reason - the big retail chains wanted them to prevent thieves from slipping the disc out and leaving the package.

Even some of the big studios have selectively abandoned security stickers. Very few smaller labels bother with them these days.

jjcool

Weren't we also seeing stickers on all three open sides of cases for a while for that purpose? Even with a sticker on the top, enterprising thieves were still able to slice the wrap and pull the disc out the side or bottom of the case.

PhantomStranger

I think it varied by studio. I do remember that Lionsgate used three stickers with particularly sticky glue that almost always left residue.

MDubs

Would you say the latter kind tears more easily than the y-fold wrap from the manufacturer?

MDubs

Were factory sealed DVDs released before 2005 sold without security stickers? I actually haven't purchased many DVD movies before but every PS2 game I've bought had the security sticker.

thetao

That's a tough one, as it's been a few years since I handled it. I believe it tears marginally harder, but in large part due to the additional thickness.

MDubs

I'm a little confused, you mentioned the second type of wrap is thick and brittle, two characteristics that seem to be in conflict with each other.

orangerunner

Most DVD wrap comes as either "overwrap" which is the more professional wrap that is only done in automated machines which cut the plastic material and have heat bars which give the corners the "y" fold. This wrap is generally "thick & brittle" and "crispy" sounding when you scrunch it up.

Shrink-wrap is usually more of a manually controlled process where the plastic is cut to size with a hot wire cutting across plastic and then sent through a heat chamber on a conveyor belt. I imagine there are probably automated versions of this too.

The plastic is softer and tears much easier. The sealed edges are also rougher.

Thirdly, there are the re-sealable clear bags designed for DVDs. There are often used by stores that re-sell used DVDs.

thetao

There are at least two kinds of shrink wrap, the thin, stretchy kind you often find on wrapped media and a thicker variety that's perhaps reminiscent of a shiny comic book bag (if you know what I mean), with even rougher edges. Like the "overwrap" wrapping, this kind doesn't stretch and I consider it brittle (after the shrink process is finished) compared to the others. I have never seen this thicker wrap come from the factory, but only when some mom and pop vendor decides they want to try passing off a used product as new.

I'd like to say "yes", but there are always exceptions. I've seen early DVD's from small vendors like Image, Roan, and Alpha all come with security stickers, so expect that pretty much everybody was doing it in those days. Actually, the first time I noticed a DVD without a sticker was when I started buying Woody Allen films, and saw "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" on a shelf in an FYE store without one. This would have been winter/spring 2011.

orangerunner

I think the other big reason for security stickers, especially when they were on all three sides, was to help prevent people from buying the disc, burning a copy for themselves and then re-wrapping the disc and returning it to the store.

I also noticed several companies used their own custom wrap with their studio logo printed on it.

I suppose the thinking around 2009 or so was that if someone wants a movie for free they can download it off the internet and therefore would be less likely to go through the hassle of buying a disc and then trying to re-seal and return it.
Why bother with the extra costs of security stickers?