DVD and Blu-Ray Packaging: The Good, The Bad, and the Collectible! 

I love when businesses put giant “$50% OFF” stickers on top of a cardboard sleeve, causing you to have to tear the cover to remove the sticker

Us loyalist to physical media pay alot for these products, it would be nice for these companies to put care into the condition.

Great video. I like the standard cases. But , I hate it when you find a film that you have been looking for for a long time and there is only one copy in the store. You pick it up only to hear the disc moving around in the case as the tabs that hold it in place have broken.

I am a huge critic of poor packaging. Lately CDs have been using all of these terrible cardboard packages and glueing the booklet to the inside. Roadrunner records is notorious for this!

I still have my old snapper cases. Specifically Goonies, Gremlins, Beetlejuice, etc. They were the first dvds I ever purchased. They hold a special place in my collection.

The packaging I hate the most is when the discs are stacked. Also when the discs are inside cardboard sleeves.

Back to the future on Blu-ray is a nightmare to get out. Feels like you’re going to break it.

Murder she wrote now comes in a box with 2 cases similar to the CBS box but slightly different.

Nothing beats standard blu-ray packages and Criterion's normal clear plastic blu-ray cases. I actively avoid any non-traditional packaging like cardboard or anything where the disc slips into a page or attached sleeve. When I do buy those sets, I always remove the discs and put them in sleeves and store them separately. Great video. Subscribed.

Wow, so many different storage options. Nice video.

The Curb Your Enthisiasm DVDs with the dual pull tabs you have pull in unison to get the discs to slide out of the top AND bottom of the case, I hate them. On top of being awkward to handle, the plastic trays the discs are in often snag, get cockeyed, and try to rip the thin cardboard they're housed in.

I just put all my discs in a slim case, and put all the original packaging in a cardboard box. Takes up less room this way, but I can't display all the cool artwork.. Plus side to this, is that I don't have to fight the case to retrieve my DVD when I want to watch them.. Some of those cases will try to break your discs when you try to extract them. You have some cool packaging there.

I've always had a problem with packaging like Chucky's. Getting the bottom discs out are a chore for me and I feel like I'm bending them. Or sometimes the top discs get detached and start sliding out when I open it.

I HATE the disc sleeve accordian packaging. They packaged later Simpsons seasons this way. I think its even worse then Mills Creek paper sleeves.

New subscriber. My pet peeve is multiple parts of a collection, like seasons of a TV show or sequels to movies where there isn't a consistent packaging type. Quantum Leap is a good example for me where season 1 has a different style of case, it's a plastic lines accordion type and the rest of the series are the super slim cases inside a cardboard sleeve. Not cool! The Big Bang Theory changed styles 3 times before settling on one style for the last 5 or 6 seasons. Makes me crazy!

This was a really great comprehensive list, thanks for going into so much detail and showing us all those examples.

They did a very nice rewind collection here in Australia exclusive to a store where the cases look like VHS packages. I got Reservoir Dogs and Wayne’s World. Oh and the discs were blu ray.

Just seeing this video. I currently have over 500 Snap Case DVDs. I don't know why, but theres something so nostalgic about the packaging for them. I used to hate them because they didn't fit the shelf with regular keep case DVDs. I will say, they look and fit way better when the snap cases are separated from keep cases.

I wish region restrictions didn't exist, because there are so many American tv shows and some movies that are only released in the US and not here in Europe. Yes, I could get a region 1/A blu-ray player, but I don't want to.

I didn't have any scratched discs from the TMNT van package, but I did have scratched discs from the TMNT blu-ray 4-pack because it only comes with 2 spindles for 4 discs meaning 2 of the discs are stacked directly on top of the other 2 discs and constantly fall off on their own and rattle around inside the case. First two movies both had playback issues.

Steelbooks and digibooks? My wallets worse nightmare.

With things like the Fraggle, Lone Ranger or Lost In Space boxes, I'd gingerly take out the discs to avoid touching the surface or scratching them, then put them in slimline jewel cases and store them somewhere with the now-empty box.

Digging the whole "Retro VHS" look of Blu-rays and DVDs. Did pickup the Stranger Things Season 1 for that reason

I am a function over form person when it comes to blu-ray & DVD packaging. Whenever I have gotten some sort of fancy collector's edition that has some sort of unique packaging design, those invariably cause problems in terms of durability very quickly down the line.

Ah the days of bootleg DVDs being sold on Ebay! I got a Ren and Stimpy bootleg that was missing several episodes. That Turtle Van box set reminds me of the original box set for King of Queens that looked like Doug's delivery truck, though I ended up getting the cheaper repackaged version that stacked all the discs on one spindle with a cardboard sleeve keeping them in.

Ah Ballistic Ecks vs Sever! You have good taste, that film is criminally underrated.

Honestly I loved the stranger things vhs it was a really cool collectible type thing for the show.

I might be the only collector who LIKES "snapper cases"

Great Video! The Childs Play set is a Digi-Pack afaik

I'm surprised you didn't mention the old Curb Your Enthusiasm packaging; the ones where the disc trays ejected simultaneously from the top and bottom of the case. Those were truly bizarre.

Recently discovered this channel. Digging it. Right up my alley!

Those Walt Disney Treasures sets were awesome. I'm slowly hunting them down, but I wish they were getting a Blu Ray release. As for weird packaging, I'd go with the Omerta Edition of The Godfather Trilogy. Lots of cool bonus items and a neat book design exterior, but when it comes to the disks....oh boy. It's basically a cardboard tri-fold with clear plastic center grips super glued on. I haven't had any issues with the discs, and to be fair, the discs are held firmly in place, but they are a pain to take out.

Watching this a year later but I'm getting started in physical media collection with the unreliability of streaming services lately and what content they have the rights to. I actually don't mind the CD wallet cases VEI is doing especially with the Stargate SG-1 dvd release they have when compared to the older complete series release that was a paper accordion where the discs fell out and were always scratched. Plus they are nearly half the price of what it would be to collect each season individually. It definitely looks bootleg but it does save space and keep the discs in good condition.

I've always avoided those new Mill Creek Entertainment complete sets. I have several of the older 50 movie sets and their '50s version of Robin Hood. Whenever I see the new sets in stores, the boxes are often damaged. The Blu-ray sets look nice though, but I don't own any.

Awesome video. I think the best looking packaging I have is the Halloween 15 disc complete collection with each movie having its own case. Perfect packaging. And also the little house on the prairie complete collection that looks like a house. It has each season in a small short fold case. Both are my favorite packaging.

Love the video! I had thought that someone should do a video about packaging. DAMN...I hated those snapper cases with a passion! I am at a point where I don't like anything but a standard keepcase. If they come in anything other, I pay extra for cases and put everything into keepcases and print custom covers for them. Even the movie sets I hate when they put more than one movie per case. I divide up and keep each movie in its own case. Another crazy set out there, IIRC was the Alien Anthology set. I can't remember if it was the DVD set or Blu-Ray set. But the digibook unfolded numerous times and was about 5+ foot long once unfolded all the way. Again, loved the topic! I love looking back on where we came from. That's why I have been doing "Evolution of Physical Media" videos on my channel.

If I might make a suggestion-- with that kind of Mill Creek release that Coach was in, what I would suggest is that you find white CD or DVD sleeves (or whatever color you want; doesn't have to be white; you'll need to have as many sleeves as are discs in the release), then carefully extract each disc from each side of each of those blue holder things, place each disc in a CD/DVD sleeve, stack the discs/sleeves together, place them in the space where the blue Mill Creek disc holders were, dispense with those disc holders, and put the top of the box back down over the other part of the box; that way, you have your discs well-protected, and you don't have to worry about having to fumble with getting them in and out of those gimmicky blue holders. And also, as far as that Matt Houston release goes (and I have that one, too), you might want to get white (or any color) CD/DVD sleeves for that one as well, and do pretty much likewise (except that, when you extract the discs from the wallet and put them in those sleeves, you'll be stacking the sleeves/discs in the space where the DVD wallet had been, and dispense w/the wallet).

The packaging for I Dream of Jennie is how my full series collection of Community is and I honestly hate it so much. I'm always super stressed the discs will get scratched

My Twilight Zone Complete Series on Blu-ray comes in one of those clamshell cases like the Wild Wild West case you showed. I'd love to find about a dozen of those and swap out all my Mill Creek bricks with those cases.

I like a seperate dvd/blu ray cases with a box around it. Its cheaper then buying it individualy but if you want you can still do that.

Yeah, Mill Creek used to be the worst when they would issue those multi-disc sets in a standard DVD case with the discs stacked. The paper sleeves helped, but man it was frustrating. Also, the Halloween 35th Anniversary Edition digibook...Yeesh! Great video!

Some Blu-Ray cases JUST DON'T HOLD THE DISKS! My Bladerunner 5 disk set... I just took out the guts and put the disks in paper envelopes... And then there is the Criterion Godzilla set that is coming in the mail. The 8 disks are just going into envelops... I don't know why Criterion does that! People say it's more eco-friendly then plastic, but we are not going to chuck our expensive Blu-Ray sets into the landfill! IMHO

i think the whole retro vhs look for blurays and dvds is cool digibooks are terrific mill creek does a good job, so does warner brothers, kino, shout but it just depends on how they put the discs in safely

Ugh...I was recently struggling with two seasons of House of Cards. Due to excess glue in the binding a few of the discs were stuck inside the very tight package sleeves. Took some careful wiggling to get them out and not tear open the cases.

I personally think the breaking bad barrel is one of the best sets made its unique and each disc has a case

If the CD sleeves are connected and have either a plastic back or, something as cool as I have, a slim silicone sleeve ohhhh that would awesome. One of my CD holders has this type of sleeves and I love it. I wonder where I could get more though.

A few years ago I got on a steelbook kick, thinking they were the coolest cases ever. But since then I really chilled out on them. While I often like the exterior finish and wrap around artwork, I started to really see the faults. Like the ability to scratch or dent or the sometimes sharp edges they have. I also don't like the cardboard back they come with. I appreciate it exists and that they are printing the movie information on that and leaving the case for just artwork, but I'm not the type to throw those out, so they just end up being this separate piece I have to keep track of. I would much prefer a cardboard slip case around the steelbook like a lot of the plastic case versions come with. There is also a lack of consistency in how steelbooks are used. One would think they would always be a premium release and take full advantage of the packaging. They go through the trouble of making a metal box and printing color artwork on the exterior, so why not go all the way. But I've ended up with a lot of steelbooks that have no interior artwork, just silver or some other solid color underneath the clear plastic interior. Most of the time it's also just a single disc and sometimes without any special features on it. They're still cool, they're just not the amazing thing I originally thought they were. I think that when I look back on all the stuff I've collected I tend to like the cardboard stuff the most. Like the digibooks or DVD bookshelf releases of the Lord Of The Rings movies or the Tombstone DVD special edition. The stuff that is cardboard on the outside but still has the clear plastic disc trays on the inside. It just feels more collectable to me, because of the time and effort that was put into it. Figuring out how it's going to fold up and what is going to be printed on all those surfaces, or in the case of digibooks, actually creating a little printed book. When you pull any of these off the shelf there is more to explore than just taking the disc out and watching it. The physical container itself is a piece of art or a media unto itself in the case of digibooks. It's not just a sleeve throw into a plastic case. Nor is it some awkward statue or something like the TMNT van you showed off which just takes up a ton of space. The cardboard cases all feel just a little more elegant to me. At this point in time, physical media is a luxury. With streaming and digital downloads out there, physical media shouldn't just be a better quality copy of the movie on a disc. The packaging itself also needs to be a compelling component. Something that can be explored and enjoyed as well.

Any case where the disc is resting on a surface, whether it's cardboard/paper or another disc, is the worst, though for different reasons. TBH stacked discs may be the worst, because the type of damage the discs receive is the most likely to cause playback problems; i.e. the concentric scratches that happen as the disc on top spins against the disc/surface on bottom. Same with something like Stranger Things where the disc is on the nub but resting flush against the cardboard beneath. My Stranger Things discs are a mess of concentric scratches but fortunately at least Season 2 played fine. (I definitely swapped them out into standard cases though.) The perpendicular scratches you get from sliding a disc out of a sleeve (i.e. Indiana Jones collection) are bad, but are usually less likely to cause playback problems. Unfortunately we've reached a point in the last handful of years where disc condition isn't remotely a concern for companies/manufacturers and I've had to just suck it up and live with already-damaged discs.

Nice video my favorite packaging is probably jewel cases least favorite stacking discs (place for 6 discs they put in 2or3 its a pain to get them out)

For me the worst packaging is the Sony Married with Children complete series set. It is literally 2 sides of 16 stacked discs. No dividers all loosely stacked.

I loved the old BCI Eclipse sets. Great packaging and presentation especially with the animation stuff

Steelbooks seem to be the only "collectors" thing left. It's very rare these days to get anything other then the common release, besides the steel.

I have a Snapcase of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. With a double-sided DVD inside. Now that's a scratched disc!

My favorites are standard blu ray elite boxes. Those are perfect.

The one for the Child's Play/Chucky ones I'd call that a clam book as it's part a clam shell in a way and a book.

My favorite in my collection is a European Blu-Ray release Hitchcock Collection where each disk is in its own small film canister. It's a great design.

Great topic. The foam nubbies on the Stranger Things case seems horrible. I LOVE the nubbies that can be pressed and releases the disc nice and easy. No need to tug and pull. Most are no problem but some can be very difficult to remove.

The Mummy 🤩✨ Omgoodness dvd sets were horrendous 🤣🤸🤾

When the wb covers came out I loved them cause I was coming from vhs and still liked vhs and it was a feeling of keeping them around... But now that I have them I wish I had regular standard covers lol

the snapper cases and the white VHS cases have a special place for me!

The snappers are fun to collect now.

Great video Heath!

Battlestar Galactica season one had infamously bad packaging where the discs were held on so tight that it was really hard to get them out without damaging them somehow.

Awesome! Keep it up!

The packaging should be functional and good for discs and then and only then it can be cool or artsy or whatever. My favs are thoes thin normal dvd cases because they do their work and take as little space as possible. I don't like digibooks but only because they are higher and longer than normal dvd cases so they stick out on my shelves. Paper and plastic sleeves should stay in bin where they belong.

You're right about ST 2 case, its bad. But we got ST 2 for $5 bucks at Target(50% discount & cartwheel), couldn't pass it up.

I like simple and utilitarian. Standard blu-ray case with flippable plastic trays. No stacking. The Star Wars Prequel/Original trilogies used ones just slighly thicker than a single disc case and held 6 discs. The first one I didn't like was for the Sliders Dual Dimension set. A coarse foam pad with slits for the discs to slide into. Sliders 3rd season was worse - some kind of stiff folding plastic whatever with double sided discs. But, the worst? The complete Farscape blu-ray set. It's a brick similar to the Wild Wild West one you shown. However, they stack the discs and overlap the discs and you flip the tray for more stacked/overlapped discs. Save space? Using standard blu-ray cases with flippable trays, it could have used three 5 disc cases and one 6 disc case and been the exact same size without the bulky clumsiness.

Awesome video. We need more like it. Glad I'm not the only one frustrated by seemingly awesome packages that turn out to be crap or just plain lazy "collectors" packaging. Keep up the fight

Heath, you should have also showed the packaging for the Alien Quadrilogy and 24 - it's like the lost in space accordion file, but it folds out to be 9 feet long!!

Honestly, I didn't think the sleeves in the Matt Houston DVD set were that bad. Could have been worse, like paper sleeves! Yea, that TMNT set is great to look at, but kind of a pain when I want to get a disc out to watch haha.

i wanna see him as a guest on cinamassacure

More thoughts: Not crazy about a certain type of accordion packaging where the whole thing folds out. Too cumbersone. Usually the older stuff (Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes, M Squad, Marx Brothers Silver Screen collection to name a few). And (we talked a bit about this on Facebook) the clamshell cases that companies like CBS uses ESPECIALLY the Twilight Zone Blu-ray set. The hubs that the discs attach to are SO tight I've cracked a couple discs getting them out. And, for the record I STILL hate the old WB snapper cases (I went through my collection and replaced them with regular DVD cases).

My main issue with the snapper packages: when the holder gets damaged in transit, you're stuck with it. You can't just exchange the case. I hate that Fraggle book type. Sparticus's discs just flops out anytime I pick it up. Fist of the North Star has a set like the one you mentioned with Wild Wild West. Aside from being damaged in transit (my case is covered in packing tape), the thing holding them in just doesn't work at all. You have to position it very specifically to get it closed. I would far prefer them unattached like the one you showed.

I got about 13 of the Disney Treasures tins. I will give them to the grandkids when I die (of course, that's after prying them from my cold, dead fingers). :D

This was a great idea for a video. One of the foam spindles on my Stranger Things 2 blu ray is wonky. During your video I cringed when you opened your ST2 box thinking they'd fall out because of it. I think the best is the "overlapping" clipped style. I'm not a huge fan of the collector special cases as they never fit line up or fit in a shelf (I'm looking at you season 4 of the Simpsons). So I generally opt to get the standard. Props to Will for the idea of this video.

The smaller cases were hideous when you mixed them with other cases on a shelf. They used to tear the other cases awfully. The snapper cases do not stack horizontally well at all. They are so easy to crush into each other.

Child's Play is a digipack, it was probably the most popular collectible packaging for DVDs 10+ years ago, at least in Europe.

The Simpsons Season 12 DVD set had the same kind of packaging like that Lost in Space set, but the discs were difficult to get out.

Great video. My least favourite packaging is the Lost in Space set. Absolutely frustrating, especially for the price. Why they would have chosen such terrible packaging when everything else about the set is stellar is beyond me.

Nice video! You would have hated the packaging for Mill Creek precursor Tree Line. Twelve discs in the paper sleeves, but the box itself was also entirely cardboard. No plastic or foam supports for the discs. Just some cardboard oragami going on which easily bent out of shape and let the discs rattle around everywhere. I'm surprised you haven't come across any these Tree Line sets in your thrift outings.

Great video you keep getting better and better here’s a personal opinion while I’m not the huge fan of mill creeks paper sleeves I feel like the envelopes in vei dvd set is far worse at least the paper sleeves and to an extent stacking discs won’t causes scratches right away but this well you can imagine dvd packaging is like an art form dude some are better than others

the very worse ones are the "eco cases" that have plastic cut out to reduce the overall amount of plastic used they always cave in at the top

I didn't like those snapper cases back then. They had those "Proof of Purchase" removable tap in the inner center spine where it never used for anything that I can remember? Also Don't know if they had these in the US but in the UK they had those tall CD style DVD jewel cases. I still have some in my collection. Good thing about those the cover was a booklet on some titles. So many different packaging though. Worst would have to be those plastic envelopes! Urgh! I do like my movies and TV shows to look uniform and in order. Some of the big packaging I see mostly for TV shows look good. But when you have a big collection it's the space it takes up too. I remember they were doing special edition box sets on VHS also. Took up eve more space. haha

I just mentioned the issue I had will Mill Creek on your Mill Creek video and as I stated in that comment, the Highway to Heaven complete series I bought, I'd rather have that in the paper sleeves vs. the envelope style you talked about. I have a main box that uses the envelope style and the flap is very thin and won't stay closed. I'd rather have the plastic clam with the sleeves instead.

I like the CBS sets however I ordered all Star Trek sets from Amazon when they were on sale and 1 disk in each set came loose (the one single disc on the inside cover) and had a scuff mark on each disc which sucks but still happy to have them

The only tin set I got was the Friday the thirteenth set. Great set and as far as I Know the only way to get the entire series in one set on Blu Ray

I loathe snapper cases. Or those cases where you have to press harder than Eddie Hall to be able to get the disc to come out of the case center ring fastener thingy. If you look at the Star Trek The Next Generation hard box set, those where my favourite ones. However, these days, I just take out the disc and the sleeve booklet and put theme into a plastic sleeve to save space. I can get about 8 or 9 movies stored in width of a standard DVD case.

A unique style of packaging is the wooden boxes. Anchor Bay's Wicker Man release comes to mind as well as some European releases of Argento's films (though those cost like like 100 dollars right away!)

It’s strange how satisfying it is to watch a video about packaging. I think the absolute worst packaging I’ve come across is one you didn’t mention. Technically, you could probably consider it a digibook variant, but it was the (now defunct?) Sony Supreme Cinema blu-ray series. I have the three they initially released: The Fifth Element, Leon the Professional, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. They have a very cool-looking plexiglass cover design and a digibook style built-in booklet, but it’s essentially nonfunctional. Even opening the case the tiniest amount causes the glue holding the whole thing together to peel off so it all just separates and falls apart. Luckily you don’t really have to open it to get the disc out... unluckily it’s that terrible cardboard pocket-within-a-page style that either causes the disc to fly out just by looking at it or is inexplicably wedged in. There isn’t any closure on the non-spine side of the case and I’ve actually had my Fifth Element disc just slip completely out of the back of the case while sitting on the shelf.

My favorites are the blockbuster cases. Sturdy as hell

it seems like in america you get wayy more types of packaging than here in the uk, we have standard boxes for things in varying sizes and thats about it

Weird I’m sure my Coach discs were not in that packaging, but had the same cover. I use binders, so I don’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure mine were packaged better.

The worst packaging I have in my collection is the god awful original Back to the Future Blu-ray collection. With the tiny tabs that hold the discs in on the side.

I'm not too knowledgeable, (well I wasn't at the time) but got Pacific blue on dvd years ago on eBay. and the discs are in those paper sleeves, and I thought it was a bootleg. but yea I saw that the mill creek logo. I'm definitely not too keen on them.

It's nice to see the Time Life: Real Ghostbusters Firehouse set in the backround! :) Got that in my collection!!

I got the DS9 box set I had to get a CD book to store the discs because of how hard they are to pull out of place

There are a couple complete series sets I want from Mill Creek but I refuse to buy any that come in the Must See TV packaging. With that packaging there is no way you won’t get at least one scratched disc. Also with that packaging it is the same size no matter how many discs the show is. So a lot of times there is a lot of empty space so the box gets crushed.

Personally, I DESPISE the stacked disc method, probably my least favorite way to package dvds- I had bought several of the "Hanna Barbera Classics" collection reissues, as I had missed the original releases, thinking they would be ok, most of the reissued versions were at a cheaper price point, so I pulled the trigger and got a few titles thinking they would be ok- boy was I wrong! Not only did most of the reissues not have the bonus special features the original releases had, but they all came as stacked disc sets- so I buckled down and sought out the original releases on Amazon, Ebay, found a few at a second hand store or two, some at a bargain, some a little pricier than when they first came out, but as a collector, I'm much more satisfied with the originals- great video as always!

My absolute favorite packaging was the type used for DVDs by Warner's brothers and Cartoon network, I don't know what it is called, digipack maybe, it's folded up cardboard sleeves with a plastic piece to hold the disks inside a slipcase. Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amelie, Pulp Fiction, Samurai Jack, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast all had it, plus many more. It looks great and has the feel of a book and could accommodate an extra disk for special features or soundtracks. Plus there was a spot for a little booklet. It was versatile. I wish everything was still like that. And, I absolutely hated snap cases! Having the Matrix and some Stanley Kubrick in a snap case felt like it didn't do it justice. I also really dislike standard blue ray packaging. It's ok for comedies and animation/anime, but the bright blue doesn't look serious enough for 2001 and big movies like that.

My patience for elaborate packaging has grown thin over the years. Just give me standard cases with standard dimensions that fit on a standard shelf. I have the old TOS DVD editions which came housed inside a plastic "tricorder", very cool at first but getting the discs out and then closing this thing can be a hassle after a while.