JerryJames33

Hello everyone, I am new here, and I was wondering if anyone who owns the "Star Trek: Motion Pictures DVD Collection", can help tell me if the boxset I own is real or fake. I recently bought the full set, (with the special edition versions) from someone on Ebay. He claims in his auction that his set is "Authentic", and he had good feedback, so I went ahead and bought it. Now here is when I got suspicious. The first red signal for me came was when the set came wrapped up in a foamy white type wrapping that was clearly sent from China. Why does he need to send an American DVD set from China? Second, the black DVD cases were of terrible quality. The were very rough, unlike the smooth black case I have with my copy of Star Trek Generations, which I bought at retail. They also stink, have no inserts, and open up completely different, with my single retail release having an extra section in the middle to accommodate the discs, while my movie set version has no extra section in the middle. The discs are simply held on the back and front ends of the case.

The discs themselves are also very suspicious. My retail copy is silver colored and has the encryption barcode in the center of the disc, or near the ring. The movie set version I have has NO encryption barcodes at all. What it does have is the names of the movies in the center of the rings instead. For example, my Generations disc says "Generations Disc 1 D9-B", right where the encryption should be. Also, the movie set disc itself is slightly more yellow than my retail copy, and the art work is slightly lighter as well. The final test was when I tried to play Generations in my computers Windows Media Player. Both play, but my retail copy has the names of both the movie and the chapters appear on the side screen, however, my movie set version does not. All it says is "Unknown DVD" and gives only the numbers of the chapters with no names.

So, I am just hoping to hear from someone who owns a retail copy of the Star Trek Motion Pictures DVD collection, or atleast from someone who bought it online from known vendors like Amazon. Does your movie set discs sound anything like the ones I described? Are the movie set discs different from the single release versions? I never in my life bought an American DVD that didn't have the encryption codes at the center of the disc before, and the fact that it came from China itself makes me question if this is a legit copy. I would appreciate any help. (I tried to post a link to the auction, but the site won't let me until I made a certain amount of posts.)

EdTheRipper

Sounds like a bootleg to me.

ericmylad

Definitely sounds like a bootleg. I bought parts 1-6 as a set and they were the same as the single releases. Section in the middle of the case and inserts came with them. I then collected the last 4 movies when they were released. I think Nemesis was the only one that came with no insert and the case was different. However, the discs both went on the right side like a regular DVD does, but they sort of stacked ontop of one another in way they didn't touch each other. Never had any of them be on opposite sides like you describe. I think you got hosed if you ask me.

Cactus Jack

I'm by no means an expert, but these sound like bootlegs to me.

JerryJames33

I figured as much. Thanks for pretty much confirming my suspicions. The lack of an encryption code for me was the biggest sign. Damn it. Now I have to figure out the best way of getting my money back. Should I just just tell the seller I know its a bootleg and want my money back, or make up some other reason for wanting a refund? He says he will refund the money if the customer is not satisfied, but that still means I will get stuck with the shipping and handling, won't it?

My Other Self

Just dispute it with PayPal saying it wasn't as advertised if the seller won't do jack. You'll get your money back.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Talk to the guy first and get all the money back, including shipping and handling. If he won't do it, then bring up that you're going to file a dispute through Paypal(assuming that's how you paid).

FYI: Those aren't encryption bar codes. They have nothing to do with encryption. The data itself is encrypted and it's nothing you can see on the disc.

manicsounds

any pictures of the set?

OldBoy

i'll tell you what...send me your set and i will let you know for certain if it is a bootleg or not. if it is