Why So Blu?

Glad I'm not OCD about dumb as shit slipcovers.

Trevor

I imagine most of us can't even see the slipcovers when they're on the shelf. I enjoy a nice lithographic or special slipcover occasionally, but like all packaging it eventually ends up in the garbage.

BobO'Link

Yeah... if I get a slipcover it's cool but absolutely not needed. Most look just like the normal case art anyway which makes them added trouble when taking a disc out. A "nice" lithograph or lenticular cover is appreciated but I can also live without them.

While I didn't have to cut any out of the packaging this time, a few *were* in so tight I wondered just how they got them in without damaging either the packaging or product.

soundman2

I like slipcover - it makes the package more stable - since the original cases are crappy eco cases.

Thought it would be nice if all BD came in steelbook

js2shops

I just don't get the appeal of Steelbooks. What is it for you guys that are fans? (Not being snotty)

DVD Josh

I hate them. They are not the same size as blu ray cases and they typically cost more for the same thing (or less).

js2shops

I agree, Josh. I find them heavy and bulky.

clckworang

I've never really understood the passion some get over steelbooks (or slip covers, but that's another discussion), especially when you look at the extra expense involved. I do own a few, but that usually is because of a sale or an added feature that the regular edition doesn't have. But hey, we're all collectors here. I'm sure there are titles in my collection that raise others' eyebrows.

As for Best Buy, I thinkeverything I ordered during Black Friday has now been shipped, including the item that had been given a estimated arrival of January.

Solid Snake

I don't care for slipcovers but if I get one from them...fuck. I paid for it even if I don't want it. I just want a clean product. Target has easy stickers to take off. Somehow BB is too dumb to understand they're damaging product.

BobO'Link

Exactly. Add WM to the "too dumb to understand they're damaging product" with their non-removable labels (which don't contain pricing info - just the date/batch it was put out).

I, too, don't understand the attraction to steel book packaging. If it's less expensive I'll buy it because it's less expensive, but I don't go out of my way, or pay more, to get it. If I purchase a title that comes in a "tin" I typically take the case out (unless it's one of those HBO things that are glued in - I hate those) and put the tin in storage. They just don't fit well on my shelves.

Spiderbite

Moving to Slipcovers subforum---------->

E Unit

Where the action's at.

Strapped4Cash

You and your family should be safe
And you work hard to bring these media products into your home
Don't they deserve the same protection?
Slipcovers*...Because your Blu-rays have the right to be secure.

* Available wherev, er, sometimes, where Blu-ray's are sold.

DVD Polizei

I'm not offended.

I buy Steelbooks because of the artwork. And Best Buy's artwork on their mainstream series is just crap. I buy most Steelbooks out of the country and have them imported.

One of my recent Steelbook acquisitions is Chained (Vincent D'Onofrio and Jennifer Lynch).

I don't buy everything in Steelbook.

Criteria I use are:

1) Is the artwork thoughtful, unique, and not mainstream whoring of a popular movie just to sell tin

2) Do I like the movie?

3) Price

js2shops

My point exactly. Some people really get in a lather just because it's a Steelbook.

Trevor

How do you steelbook and slipcover enthusiasts store your collections? Facing out on a shelf individually so as to enjoy the art? That seems like it would take up way to much space.

AaronSch

When I first started collecting I hated alternative packaging—I wanted all my DVDs and blu-rays in neat, uniform packaging. But since those days I have done a complete 360º. I have the steelbook/metalpak disease. Over 200 titles in my library are in these tin cases and I cherish them. I love that they often have unique design and look like a piece of art. They enhance the collecting experience for me tremendously. Yes, it's primarily about the movie but anyone who says the packaging doesn't matter is being foolish—of course it does—just like disc art and slipcovers. Of course, I have to like the movie first. But I will usually choose the steelbook over the standard keepcase even at a premium.

At first, I wasn't a big fan of the Best Buy "Pop Art" series of steelbooks and metalpaks—I usually prefer original theatrical poster art. But like the Criterion approach to cover art, it's a refreshing departure from the mundane floating heads. I've grown to love them. Grabbing the latest group of these titles for $5-$7.50 each gave me the best collecting rush I've had in quite awhile. The only one I passed on was "Salt" because I own the original glossy finish with Angelina's mug emblazoned on the cover. Even though I own the digibook of Ghostbusters I & II, I ended up purchasing the steelbooks for $5 each to go with the "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call" UHD/3D/Blu-ray steelbook. I may trade in the digibook but would rather hold on to it 'cause I doubt I would get more than a couple of bucks. Buying movies nowadays is becoming pretty passé for most. There's nothing rational about collecting—it's just pleasurable for those of us who continue the practice. The studios are going to continue doing things that will move us to spend our dough and packaging is a tremendous motivator. Will I continue to re-purchase movies that receive the steelbook treatment that I already own? Absolutely! Is that rational? Absolutely not!—so what? It's a harmless addiction. I don't smoke, I rarely drink and I never do drugs. Therefore I have a helluva lot more disposable cash for other less destructive pleasures.

DVD Polizei

Yeah, face out would take up too much space--at least for me.

Some people just rotate whatever titles they would like on display, and just have a few titles face out on display holders.

I just store them in the Steelbook plastic sleeves on a shelf, which protects the entire Steelbook from scratches--which can easily occur on some Steelbooks due to their thin layer of artwork. Taking movies on and off a shelf can easily scratch these things without protective cases.

PhantomStranger

I enjoy the occasional steelbook when the fancy strikes.

E Unit

That's about the extent of it for me. Content is key for me, everything else not so much.

EinCB

I like steel books, they look and feel cool, but I don't buy them to show them off. I just place them on either two columns of my collection of Blu-rays. I believe in equality.

If there's a movie I like available in steel book, I try to seek them out as long as they're reasonably priced and they don't have any extra content gutted.

Classic Films

Christmas In Connecticut (1945) $5.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/christma...&skuId=5623220

A Christmas Carol George C Scott $5.99 Currently Out of Stock online. Check for in Store pick up.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/a-christ...?skuId=7012228

Miracle of 34th St. (1947) $9.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/miracle-...?skuId=9508044

Jingle All The Way $5.99

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/jingle-a...?skuId=9117788

Alan Smithee

Vote with your dollars the way I do- if the store puts a sticker on an unsealed slipcover, I simply don't buy it.

I can take or leave Steelbooks- if a movie I want to buy comes in one then great, but if I already have it I'm not going to re-buy it, or buy a crappy movie just because it's in one. I hate the ones that hold 2 overlapping discs too, would almost rather buy those in a regular case.

IJMSPORT

The only steel books I have ever truly cared about were the Dark Knight trilogy movies. Those did something for me. Everything is kind of whatever.

Abob Teff

That is the third sign of the Apocalypse in the last few months ...