I'm looking to get The Big O II Complete Collection, the original release of which is OOP but there is now an "Anime Legends" re-release that is readily available. As I'm all-too-aware that re-releases aren't always better than the originals, does anyone have experience with Anime Legends and their treatment of material? Wondering if I should hold out for the original, as I have UPCs for both old and new.

I think they're just cheaper re-packagings. I haven't heard of any issues myself.

Based on the Bandai Anime Legends collections that I have (Escaflowne, Scrapped Princess, Cowboy Bebop) they're just repackaging of the exact same discs that the original single-disc releases have. Bandai's pretty good about that. However, almost all of ADV's thinkpacks have the extras removed (which usually makes a 6 disc series turn into a 5 disc series). The notable exception to the ADV rule is Princess Tutu.

They are the SAME as the original just repackaged and cheaper!

How are they packed? I was thinking about the Gundam Wing version, and noticed the double Amarys. Are they just stacked discs on a hub?

does anyone know if the single discs' price will drop? i bought 4 of the 6 cowboy bebop dvds right before they announced the boxed set. now it looks like i can get the set for the price of the last 2 discs...

I bought the Cowboy Bebop set. The discs are packed in what essentially looks like one of these:

There are actually quite a few exceptions to the ADV rule... a lot of the early thinpack collections are intact, and Gantz, for example, also has all the extras. But yeah, I wouldn't count on it.

ADV, to my knowledge, is the only company that gimps the collections (for on-disc stuff, of course). Bandai just puts it in really crappy packaging.

Content > Packaging (provided the packaging is structurally sufficient...)

Cool, thanks! Too bad I already have the individual Cowboy Bebop Remix releases individually.

Or less... RightStuf currently has the box set on sale at 29.99, 27.00 with their membership.