Criterion Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.2

Message

fdm · #1426 Post by **fdm** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:13 pm

ee what I can do... did take some pictures of the Playtimes, but dunno how/where to post them.

Sitting on them was a fer-instance. Put heavy boxes on top of them. Toss them into large containers a few different times, toss may other boxes in there with them, have them not quite make it through a sorting machine or two...

This time around, by the way, DVDPlanet used the flat magazine size, two-dvd wide box. It's barely large enough for two normal DVDs.

CSM126 · #1427 Post by **CSM126** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:13 pm

Wow. You folks must have really pissed off someone at your e-retailers. I've never had a digi arrive crunched, no matter what the packaging. Heck, my copy of My Own Private Idaho was packaged in the flimsiest packaging I've ever seen - it looked like they cut a chunk out of a cardboard box, wrapped it around the digi, and then taped it together. But the digi was pristine.

Indeed, the only time I've ever gotten a digi with any sort of ding was when I bought them in a brick and mortar shop. And even then it was very minor dings. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've always found digi's to be the sturdiest packaging for DVDs. Those plastic amarays have the nasty habit of letting the discs slip loose and slide around inside the case.

jon · #1428 Post by **jon** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:14 pm

CSM126 wrote:lucky, but I've always found digi's to be the sturdiest packaging for DVDs. Those plastic amarays have the nasty habit of letting the discs slip loose and slide around inside the case.

No, digi's are not, nor have they ever been found to be, more sturdy than armary keep cases. Digis just wear out so much more quickly than keep cases. I mean, my old criterions in the armarys and alphas look like new, while some of my Digis, that i hardly ever handle, just look so worn out and old. Digis age terribly.

Someone said earlier that digis were really special before criterion started packaging almost every new release in a digipak, i agree completely. Rules of the Game was an amazing purchase for me, i got it the day it was released, and the packaging was so awesome, i really felt like i was holding something special, something great in my hands. It was like christmas as a child. I dont know how to explain it exactly, but criterion has just lost some of that...whatever...that it had.

CSM126 · #1429 Post by **CSM126** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:09 pm

jon wrote:No, digi's are not, nor have they ever been found to be, more sturdy than armary keep cases. Digis just wear out so much more quickly than keep cases. I mean, my old criterions in the armarys and alphas look like new, while some of my Digis, that i hardly ever handle, just look so worn out and old. Digis age terribly.

Like I said, all of my digis are in great condition and they hold up perfectly. Maybe you have bad luck with your digis, but that doesn't mean I'm "wrong". It means we've had a different experience. And, in my experience, digis are damn sturdy.

Lino · #1430 Post by **Lino** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:47 pm

fdm, you should have realized by now that you are exceptionally jinxed. My best advice is to go to you local shaman or witch and get that digipack devil off your back, ASAP!

jmj713 · #1431 Post by **jmj713** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:56 pm

I love the digipaks. I would never want the new 3-disc Seven Samurai packaged any other way! And Criterion uses much better digipak materials than even WB - it's sturdier and has a pleasant "book" feel.

Titus · #1432 Post by **Titus** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:22 pm

I've got Ugetsu, Rules of the Game, Cassavetes, F&A, Seven Samurai, Slacker, and Mr. Arkadin -- the only damage to any of them was a small knife cut on the spine of F&A. I can see how they would be very susceptible to damage, but I've yet to experience it (nor have any of them been plagued with any noticeable wear and tear), and they're much more aesthetically pleasing, to me. Plus, the typical double-amarays Criterion uses for non-digi two-discers come, about 95% of the time, with oft-puttingly wrinkly covers. So I dig the digis.

Jem · #1433 Post by **Jem** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:27 am

Jon wrote: I really felt like i was holding something special, something great in my hands. It was like christmas as a child. I dont know how to explain it exactly, but criterion has just lost some of that...whatever...that it had.

Ugetsu did that for me. Not easy for a piece of carboard to do.

godardslave · #1434 Post by **godardslave** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 3:57 am

Jon wrote:I really felt like i was holding something special, something great in my hands. It was like christmas as a child. I dont know how to explain it exactly, but criterion has just lost some of that...whatever...that it had.

your a child thats been spoilt.

Matango · #1435 Post by **Matango** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 9:21 am

A week later...no Rohmer Slipcover...no reply...no email saying "sorry we don't service overseas customers"...no nothing.

Nick at MoC sent me a replacement cover for Kwaidan, from halfway round the world, immediately. No questions.

So you non-Americans know who to buy from if want good after-sales service.

jon · #1436 Post by **jon** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 1:52 pm

godardslave wrote:
Jon wrote:I really felt like i was holding something special, something great in my hands. It was like christmas as a child. I dont know how to explain it exactly, but criterion has just lost some of that...whatever...that it had.
your a child thats been spoilt.

hmm, i guess bad example. Though, if a piece of cardboard gets me off, i guess i was spoilt as a child.

Matango · #1437 Post by **Matango** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:45 pm

I would have thought quite the contrary. But please excuse me if I've been whooshed there.

manicsounds · #1438 Post by **manicsounds** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 1:16 am

Matango wrote:A week later...no Rohmer Slipcover...no reply...no email saying "sorry we don't service overseas customers"...no nothing.

Nick at MoC sent me a replacement cover for Kwaidan, from halfway round the world, immediately. No questions.

So you non-Americans know who to buy from if want good after-sales service.

I haven't received mine either and no email from them. Has anyone who lives overseas gotten the new slipcase?

godardslave · #1439 Post by **godardslave** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:55 am

re: Rohmer

If it makes you feel any better, i live in the USA and i havent got anything yet.

justeleblanc · #1440 Post by **justeleblanc** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 4:24 am

godardslave wrote:re: Rohmer

If it makes you feel any better, i live in the USA and i havent got anything yet.

ditto

Theodore R. Stockton · Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:22 pm

They didn't reply to my e-mail, the new box just appeared in the mail one day.

Cosmic Bus · #1442 Post by **Cosmic Bus** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:18 am

justeleblanc wrote:
godardslave wrote:re: Rohmer

If it makes you feel any better, i live in the USA and i havent got anything yet.
ditto

Double ditto. I suppose it's not the end of the world if my replacement never materializes, but it would be nice to have.

arsonfilms · #1443 Post by **arsonfilms** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:04 pm

I got mine about a week after (seemingly almost ) everyone else did, even though I sent my request the first day. Still don't have the Brazil booklet, but I'm more confident it'll appear now.

Criterion doesn't usually send stuff out like this, as they dont ship their own product - even screeners come from Image - so I'm guessing people are getting them about as quickly as the interns are able to write out labels and stuff envelopes. Just be patient, I'm sure they'll come.

Matango · #1444 Post by **Matango** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:21 pm

I don't think they'll send replacements to overseas customers. When my Elevator to the Gallows had no booklet, it took four emails from me for them even to reply and say they don't service overseas buyers any more (they used to; they sent me a replacement for the old Beauty and the Beast that went out with no insert a few years back). My last email to them on the Elevators issue was to point out that I have been a customer for over a decade and have spent thousands of US$ on their laserdiscs and DVDs, and that maybe a two-buck stamp might be worthy of my loyalty. Apparently not, since that one was ignored. The silver lining was that one of our community-spirited fellow members sent me a replacent himself.

#1445 Post by **Matt** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 6:35 pm

Matango wrote:I don't think they'll send replacements to overseas customers.

Although it doesn't explicitly mention replacement packaging, Criterion's FAQ does state pretty clearly their policy regarding foreign customers:

I live outside of North America. Will Criterion DVDs play on my machine?

The vast majority of Criterion DVDs are released with North American rights only. While there are DVD players that have been altered to allow various region discs to play on them and while many of our releases do not carry region encoding, we can not ship to addresses outside North America, nor can we provide technical support to customers outside of this territory.

bunuelian · #1446 Post by **bunuelian** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:47 am

It's possible that Criterion can't officially ship abroad for licensing reasons. They probably have more rights with some titles than they do with others.

Le Samouraï · #1447 Post by **Le Samouraï** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 8:05 am

I don't think so. The regional restriction of rights are surely bound to the films only and not the covers, essays etc. They have exchanged artwork for costumers living abroad before, and I don't really see any reason why they shouldn't be able to continue this, except for the trouble and time involved.

As for discs, the only time I have had a problematic disc was when disc one in the original pressing of Brazil didn't work for me. Criterion said then they would be happy to exchange the disc for me if I lived in America, but overseas costumers should contact the retailer they bought the product from. That is perfectly reasonable, but poses a problem when it involves a product where an error is discovered almost 2 years after the release (M), and Criterion silently have corrected the error in the meantime without giving notice to the costumers. I doubt many re-/ e-tailers will be willing to exchange a product bought almost 2 years ago, at least not without any official word from Criterion (as in on the homepage) the costumers can refer to.

perybo · #1448 Post by **perybo** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 4:00 pm

Got my new Rohmer Slipcover in the post today, and I live in Sweden. So aperantely they send them overseas!

Rich Malloy · #1449 Post by **Rich Malloy** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 4:20 pm

I still haven't received my Rohmer replacement, and it's been 1-1/2 weeks. I live in the US.

Matango · #1450 Post by **Matango** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 4:22 pm

perybo wrote:Got my new Rohmer Slipcover in the post today, and I live in Sweden. So aperantely the send them overseas!

Thanks, that's good to know. At least for future reference when dealing with the no-overseas-shipping policy, if it still stands.

Internal Resources

External Sites

Specialty Labels

Site Menu

Criterion Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.2