Criterion packaging

I recently purchased a few Criterion films on Blu-ray and it seems the movies now come in small plastic cases with thin booklets. They feel cheap to me and not like the older Criterion releases that were more substantial with nicer packaging and booklets. Have the majority of their releases been scaled back to this smaller packaging?

Is there a way to tell when you order online what kind of packaging it comes in? Some may like the smaller versions for shelf space, but I find they are not as exciting anymore.

I also recently received the Bergman collection and that is beautifully done. Maybe now only the special releases and multiple disc versions get more lavish packaging?

 

www.blu-ray.com is as good a place as any to check. You'll usually see comments or pictures of the packaging on Criterion editions there. I don't know which one you bought, but for instance the listing for the recently released "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" Criterion blu has pictures of the packaging.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High Blu-ray Release Date May 11, 2021

Most of their editions are in plastic cases vice the cardboard digipak style releases of old.

 

Thanks! Fast Times looks like the newer small plastic case like the ones I recently received. I just bought Stalker and expected it to be more substantial like the old digipak style with a larger booklet.

 

Just went to my shelves, Fast Times is just as thick (the case) as the one near it, Festival. It's a fairly thick case, with booklet.
The digipak ones I can think of are ones like The Elephant Man from last year - it depends on the title/release.

 

... the new Tarkovsky Mirror is in a cardboard box, grrr.

 

I wonder what qualifes a film to get a digipak or the plastic case. Like Tree of Life is in a nice digipak but rest of the Malick titles are in the plastic cases.

EDIT: I think it depends on how many discs are in the release.

 

I would say the vast majority of Criterion Blu-Rays have always been in plastic cases. Very rarely have I seen digipacks.

 

I have several older movies also in plastic cases but the case use to be larger and had a nicer booklet. I’m not saying they all use to be digipak, but the last few I ordered are all the smaller cases and seem skimpy.

 

I WISH all my Criterions were plastic cases. The digipaks annoy me sitting on my self as much as the old Warner DVD snapcases. WHY CAN'T MY WES ANDERSON COLLECTION HAVE UNIFORMITY????

 

Why the grrr?

I think they did a lovely job with Mirror. The booklet is substantial enough that it wouldn’t fit in a regular Scanavo case.

 

Cardboard doesn't last ...

 

It does if you look after your stuff. I have box sets that are decades old that look as good as they did when I bought them.

 

Everywhere the bean counters cut costs. But since Criterion considers itself a quality label, it is sad to see flimsier cases.

 

Criterion doesn’t make the cases, Scanavo does. They could switch to another supplier, but then some people wouldn’t be happy with the alternate design.

 

some of my Criterion is packaged in slick plastic ... I get they are attempting to go green, but the longevity of cardboard cases becomes compromised by the rigors of daily living. Not everyone is going to keep their collection in a fire-proof climate-controlled vault so that it doesn't become exposed to the elements. Cardboard is prone to humidity, whether we like it or not.

 

I don’t think the digipaks are an attempt at eco-friendly packaging. If they were, they’d do it with all their releases. In my experience, they tend to use digipaks when the included printed material is too thick for a standard Scanavo case.

I don’t live in a particularly humid climate, and, like I say, I look after my stuff without having to resort to the extreme preservation measures you suggest. I’m confident my many digipaks (Criterion and otherwise) will outlive either my lifetime or the usefulness of the BD format, whichever comes first. YMMV, and clearly does.

 

Yeah I’m tired of the cardboard cases from Criterion.

On a side note War of the Worlds Criterion's $19.99 at Amazon at present.

 

What Criterion Blu-Rays do you have with the thicker cases? I want to see if I have any of them so I can compare.

I just got the Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Revue Criterion last week, and it seemed like the same case that all of my Criterion BDs have.

 

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I'd accept it as trying to keep peripheral costs down to avoid raising the price. As long as the product itself doesn't slip in quality, I'm good.