The Infidel

I just got First Contact and Insurrecton from Columbia House. Last week I received FC separately, and Insurrection with all the others today. FC looked okay, just like Generations which I purchased a while back. It was wrapped in the normal crisp plastic, and it has the normal front/back opening case, with a small insert:



However, Insurrection was wrapped in shrinkwrap, and it's in a weird large-size clamshell that has the discs overlapping on the right side:



Also, the cover insert looks like it had been taken out and handled, and is noticably wrinkled (left side):



My theory is that this is a movie that was returned to CH with the case damaged, and CH put the movies and the wrinkled cover insert in a generic case and shrink-wrapped it again. Or, this is the actual case for Insurrection, and that's that.

I'm thinking of asking them to accept it back for a better copy. Opinions?

The Infidel

Can't someone who owns Insurrection give me an answer on this? Is the case I received the actual case, or is it some bonehead generic thing they replaced it with?

canaryfarmer

Paramount used the large clamshell with the overlapping discs for the last few ST movie releases. My First Contact and Generations came in the same type case.

joliom

Paramount alternates between the two types of cases for the Treks (or others like Forrest Gump). They used to use only the fat double Alpha cases (figure 1), but now they sometimes use the fat double Scanavo cases (figure 3) with the stacker hub configuration too. At this point it's a crap shoot which type of case you'll get when you buy any of the Star Trek SE's.

The Infidel

Thanks. I'm glad to know that this isn't an isolated thing, but I think I'll still take a crack at getting a replacement with the case I prefer.

joliom

A couple months ago I bought Trek 1-6 for my Dad when they had the big price drops. About half of them were in the Scanavo cases, and there seemed to be no method to the madness. If you buy them at a B&M, check for the weight - the Scanavos feel a little lighter than the Alphas. Also, run your finger across the side of the case - the security sticker obscures the slots, but you should be able to feel the distinctive double ridge of the Alpha's finger slots as opposed to the single giant recessed slot on the Scanavo.

The Infidel

I think a quick visual should be sufficient to differentiate these cases. One opens in half, one opens in thirds. Stickers or not, the difference was obvious as soon as I received it.

bboisvert

Nothing really to add here, except to point out what an obscene amount of shelf space these things take up... I was pretty disappointed when the 'complete film series' box set was just the existing double-alphas in a slipcase (which takes up even *more* space ).

Paramount should really consider putting together a really slick, compact box set of these... put them all in double thinpaks and the thing will only take up about the same space as 5 keepcases. Which would be less than 1/3 of the space that they currently occupy.

canaryfarmer

bbios, I suggest converting them to single-width doubles. Just trimming like a 1/8 inch (it's not a lot, whatever the exact amount is) on each side of the cover is enough to use the original sleeve art. See!

pagansoul

I do this with most of my cases that give me enough space on the outer sides and the spine lettering isn't too big. Standard Keep cases are changed into ThinPak (1/2 the size) and the Double wides are changed to Double Standards (like Canaryfarmer shows above). The cover art that doesn't lend itself to be cut down is scanned and I shrink the spine. If I don't like the art I either find someones custom cases or make my own.

joliom

I couldn't bring myself to hack-up a cover like that. Plus I don't think they look very good re-cut to fit a smaller case - everything is misaligned. I just make my own customs or use someone else's if their work impresses me enough.