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Babylon 5 season 4

Any feedback yet on packaging (hub design, loose/scratched disks) or on the blooper reel? I expect to receive mine today, but inquiring minds want to know! :)
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I bought mine at Best Buy yesterday. Two loose disks. One with a visible scratch. Unfrickin believeable.
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I bought mine at Best Buy last night. I did that (as opposed to ordering online) specifically because of this problem with the previous seasons. I picked up a box, literally shook it next to my ear, didn't hear (or feel) any movement in the first one I picked up. I bought that box, all the discs were fine.

That does not necessarily mean that the problem has gone away.
 
I bought mine at Best Buy last night. I did that (as opposed to ordering online) specifically because of this problem with the previous seasons. I picked up a box, literally shook it next to my ear, didn't hear (or feel) any movement in the first one I picked up. I bought that box, all the discs were fine.

That does not necessarily mean that the problem has gone away.
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Sounds like the packaging hasn't changed at all. I've been ordering from amazon.com and only had a problem with season 1 as far as scratched disks, but each season so far HAS had loose disks. Amazon was great about the return. They shipped me a new set overnight, and I had 30 days to return the first set. This way you can pick and choose disks from two sets (if you have to) to get one good set. Ugh! I guess it was too much to hope that they had fixed the packaging.
 
Any feedback yet on packaging (hub design, loose/scratched disks) or on the blooper reel? I expect to receive mine today, but inquiring minds want to know! :)
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The practice of buying locally paid off, again. :) I picked up Season 4 at Wally World at Noon today. All discs were firmly on the hubs when I opened the box (Whew!), but Disc 3 had a half dozen 1/2" long scratches, all grouped together (in the direction of disc rotation), ~1/4" from the outer edge, like a tiny cat (...not a duck, Vir.) had taken a swipe at the disc with its claws. All the other discs were perfect. So, the clerk and I went up to Customer Service with my set and the second set. The customer service person opened the second set to give me a good Disc 3, and as she opened it, Disc 2 was loose and almost rolled out onto the counter. It had the usual hub marks and scratches on the read surface. Luckily, Disc 3 in the second set was fine, not loose and not scratched. :)
 
I'm on my second set. The first one had a bad scratch on disc 1, so it went back. The new one has a couple of small scratches on disc 5 (not like the first set--disc one had a scratch that was much worse). I wish they would solve this problem. I hate returning scratched discs! Suncoast is supposed to have some kind of machine they sell that gets the scratches off the discs. Does anyone have one? If it works, it would certainly save me a lot of frustration!

Tammy
 
I've been pretty lucky thus far, I've had a few loose disks but no major scratches. My S4 had one loose disk with a few little scratches which I don't think will cause any trouble playing but I haven't tested it yet.
 
I must be really lucky because I have had no loose disks or scratches of any kind in the sets that I've bought. :eek:

I have purchased all four seasons at one of the local Futureshop stores here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
 
I had loose disc number 4 in season 1. I'm living in Region 2 area, and I heard about the thingie with season 3... I got scared, well, sometimes the light of the luck shines upon me, I've got my s3 set with all discs on their place with none scratches or whatsoever. Season 2 was perfect also... Hope that march 29th would come fast... so I could lay my hands upon Season 4 region release. :devil:
 
Received mine in the mail from amazon.com today. No loose disks, but disk 4 does have a small scratch, so I'll have to watch that one first.
 
i went to borders it was not in:(
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Borders. I don't know why I go there to try to find DVDs. They keep the boxed sets locked up in the case at the one near me. The only B5 thing I saw there was the ITB disc.

I was actually pretty surprised that I didn't find one at the Best Buys either. But they run out of new things fast and I didn't get to get there until after work. I ended up having to go to Tower Records (which I loathe). I swear to god those people have no idea how to stock their shelves. It wasn't in the TV, sci-fi or new release sections - it was in horror.

:rolleyes:

At least I have it now.

:cool:


Any feedback yet on packaging (hub design, loose/scratched disks) or on the blooper reel? I expect to receive mine today, but inquiring minds want to know!
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All my discs look okay and are all tight in the holders. The package is what you'd expect by the previous sets. Although I do notice that Jason Carter got dissed in the graphic department. His name isn't mentioned on the cast list in the front and there are only two pictures of him inside (I think they may actually be the same one). I'm not a big Marcus fan, but his character did a lot in that season.

The gag reel isn't even "hidden" anymore. You can find it easy on disc six.

I have to say though that the best extra is the No Surrender, No Retreat Suite. It is awesome. It's a montage of quick takes of the main scenes of the season. It's like five or six minutes and the music is intense. The CGI is really done justice by the DVD format as well.
 
The gag reel isn't even "hidden" anymore. You can find it easy on disc six.
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Yeah, I saw that too. I wasn't too impressed with the gag reel either. I thought the season 3 one was much better, but then I am partial to Londo. :cool:

I've only watched one episode so far- on my scratched disk 4 (Rumors, Bargains, and Lies). Haven't taken time for anything else yet.
 
The gag reel isn't even "hidden" anymore. You can find it easy on disc six.
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Really. Although they seem to have made up for it with the data files. It was a bit of a trick finding all of them. I liked the gag reel, it was the best one yet.

The set was kinda skimpy on the extras. The music suite was nice but I was hoping for another feature, instead they have a 'feature' that's just praising Franke for 5 or 6 minutes. I have nothing against B5 music. The show wouldn't be the same without Franke.

Tuesday is my day off from college but I woke up late. At 10:50AM Best Buy only had one B5 S4 set left. The packaging does seem to e getting better, I rolled the box a bit and none of the discs were loose. There is one light scratch on one of the DVDs but I'm not worried.

I'm an exceeding lucky individual. The little things in life always work out for me (although this is countered by my being a lazy perfectionist procrastinator, but there you are). I've bought the last three seasons from Best Buy and I haven't had any problems with any of the discs. I bought season one through Northamericandvd.com. With that set there was a little problem with one of the discs. In the middle of, I think maybe, 'Eyes' the picture would freeze. My dad has a CD scratch cleaner kit, I ran the disc through the kit twice and I haven't had any problems since.

Hey, are the S4 DVDs darker than the other seasons or is it just me (or the nature of the season)?


-SG

EDIT: Oh, yeah. I watched eight S4 episodes yesterday, one and a half today. Everytime I say to myself 'Okay, after this episode I turning it off' I end up getting interested in the next episode.

S4 of Babylon 5 seems so have the same feel it as Farscape in places.
 
I received my S4 from Amazon.com yesterday. First thing I did after opening the carton was to shake the set next to my ear. I heard nothing, which was a *good* sound. When I opened the box, I found that Disk 4 had come off of it's hub and attached itself neatly to the Disk 5 hub. So, no scratches. Talk about luck. :D

I also felt the gag reel was a let down from previous seasons. On the other hand, I enjoyed seeing some new faces on the introductory segment on Disk 1. :)
 
(although this is countered by my being a lazy perfectionist procrastinator, but there you are).
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And here I was thinking that I was unique in that respect. Glad to find I'm not alone. :)
 
My set had 2 loose discs, both with some surface scratches but nothing that I think has to be returned -- a visit to the Skip Doctor can take care of it.

But really -- can Warners please put out the movies and Crusade box sets in something more steady? I'll accept that season 5 has to come in this kind of box, but the others do not. Why not adopt a box like the Futurama season sets? Those are very cool.
 
Well, my on-line source listed the item as "back-ordered, awaiting shipment" as of today. I pre-ordered it over a month ago, so I wasn't thrilled. Got a busy signal on their toll-free line and a Mozilla error when I hit the "cancel order" button on the order status page. So I sent them an e-mail with a copy of the error message, the order page, and instructions to cancel the order.

This morning I had an interview with a recruiter who flew in from Tampa to meet with several local candidates, and on the way home I spotted a Best Buy. Checked their price $79.99 which is not bad and I had a $5 gift card so the total with tax would be less than the internet with shipping. So far not bad. There didn't seem to be any copies of S4 though, just the first three season. Damn, sold out. No. Wait a second. Moved a copy of S1 and found two copies of S4 hidden behind it. I shook both gently and both made a rattling noise. This did not bode well, but I took one to the register anyway. As aoon as I was outside I balanced the bag on top of a trash can, removed the shrink wrap and checked the disc. For the first time in four sets I had no loose discs. The rattling I had heard was probably from the enclosed booklet. For the record I heard no rattling noise with a previous season (S1 maybe) and there were several loose discs. They were wedged against the plastic in such a way that they didn't move, but they were off the hubs and scratched. So I don't put much faith in shaking the boxes. (On top of which if you shake too hard you're liable to jolt a disc off its hub. :))

My "solution" to the problem has been to place clear tape over the hubs, which "build them up" and helps the discs to hold them better.

Haven't had a chance to look at them yet (had many errands to run after that, and much work to do around the house) but will probably check them out later tonight.

Regards,

Joe
 
Yeah, those paper boxes have bothered me too. The first couple months I had them I had to take so much care when I took out a disc that sometimes I wouldn't even bother watching B5 and would watch something else.

My solution was to buy this snazzy DVD sized CD wallet I found over at Wal-Mart. It can hold 3 seasons of B5.

With my scanner/copier I made copies of the covers of the sets and put them in the clear sleeve in front of the DVD. In other words; each page in the wallet has two sides, one is designed for a DVD to be put in the center of the page, the other side (front side) is just a sleeve. I'd made a copy of the front of S1, or S2 or whatever and put it in the sleeve, I also write the names of all the episodes that are on that disc on the paper.

The original boxes are all sits on a shelf safe from harm and I can watch B5 whenever I want with fear of messing of the boxes.


much love
-Elle
 
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