CD collectors. Jewel case matter?

As a side note, when buying used CDs online what bothers me more than cracked cases is booklets and inserts that smell musty or smoky.

 

On the flipside, I always loved the paper smell of a new booklet.

 

I just had that happen this week. Three of six CDs in a package absolutely reeked of gross smoke - the worst I've ever experienced, and two of the jewel case were significantly yellowed from it, too. Awful. Threw out the jewel cases and left the inserts and disc to air out for a few days. They're better, but not perfect - but thankfully it seems the jewel cases were the worst offenders. So in cases like this, I'm VERY thankful to be able to swap them out for new ones!

 

Nope

 

The worst is poorly packed jewel case CDs.
Very easy to avoid broken teeth with a layer of bubble wrap. So many sellers still don't do this.

 

I hate when the hinge is broken. This happens a lot in shipping. Anything else doesn’t bother me. Searching for a in tact hinge becomes the game.

 

Cracked cases annoy me, but broken hinges are definitely at the top of the list.

 

These things matter mostly to collectors and whether a CD is worth $1 or $100, or even $1,000.

And this conversation has at least two aspects:
1. Talking about your own CDs that are not ever intended to be sold and your storage preferences.
2. Talking about the buying or selling (or both) of CDs and what buyers expect and what sellers are responsible to divulge upon listing a CD for sale.

 

I like the jewel cases used on many SACDs and some import CDs that have a thumb "latch" in the center of the top cover. The have rounded edges. And the hinges are robust.

 

Or absolutely REEK of chemicals/aftershave/perfume. I got a card-sleeve 80s CD-single from a well-known international seller (that I use quite regularly) and the thing stunk the house out. I immediately put the jiffy bag outside, and tried to carefully wipe the card sleeve with water in the hope of lessening the stench. But it was on the special barcode stickers that seller attaches...fortunately it came off. The card sleeve's been airing for days and now only smells strongly when you are close to it. I have allergies/intolerances to chemicals so this can often be a bit of a problem, but not to this extent.

EG.

 

+1 SACD jewel cases should have been the standard from the beginning of the CD era. These are so superior to standard Cd cases that it's not funny.

I would be happy to pay $.25 - $1.00 more for my CDs with the better case.

 

Put it between two odour eaters designed for shoes and leave for a couple of weeks, longer if odour persists. Nearly always works, particularly with cigarette smells.

 

Are the contents of a standard jewel case compatible with a SACD jewel case, so you can just transfer the contents (booklet, and back card) to the SACD jewel case?

 

:: I used to do this with my early CDs let's say when I had 6-12 of them...there were no replacement cases here for sale, and a little of polish and cottonballs did the job...my friends used to say I was crazy...still own some of those CDs --most of them--but along came the replacements that I bought by bulk, and replace a lot of them, but since 2000 when I started to rip my CDs, the cases of these new ones were barely handled, and later, I got'em bagged in cd-sized polyprop sleeves...been doing that ever since...IMO the case Is part of the Media as I recall early ads on CD introduction saying the the case will prevent scratches and was a far more safer way to store the disc...though I really miss those early CD cases, thicker plastic, heavier...

But man, the JAPANESE cd cases, smoothed edges, frosted cd trays are amazing! I have only 2 or 3 of those, I really love those...also loved the Super Jewel Boxes around 2008-2010...I wish there were more of those CDs in my collection.

 

Yes, but if you have a large collection of CDs, you're looking at a big job to transfer them all. At this point, I'll just leave what I have in the CD jewel cases. Also, after having a look at the empty cases on ebay, I'm not sure that they are the same as the ones used by the record companies.

 

I agree that the case is part of the media and part of the look and feel. At least for me. I understand all types of motivation to get rid of the cases for people with storage problems. But otherwise I would really recommend to keep the cases and clean them like in the video. Yes, it's a bit of work if you have many CDs, but people who love to collect CDs will upgrade their collection like they would never have expected. I am not getting any money for advertising this stuff, neither is the guy in the video. It's just an advice from collector to collector. I would never have expected myself that it would work that well. Even my oldest CD cases look like almost new, many of them look like 100% new. If you do it like in the video, you will get these amazing results.

 

The disc and booklet will fit no problem, but the tray inlay won’t fit without cutting. Super Jewel Cases have cut-out corners where the hinges are that don’t work with standard tray inlays. SJCs also have label spines on all four sides, but that won’t matter - they just don’t get used.

Personally, I would never transfer the contents of a regular jewel case to an SJC - requires cutting the inlay and it’s not how the original came in the first place.

 

Oh man I have such OCD tendencies that I have been all around the block on this one over the years. I liked the regular jewel cases because they all lined up so nice and neat on a shelf. I have lost the term for the case that were cardboard on the outside and then have the plastic CD holder on the inside. Always loved the super jewel case and there were years all I was buying was SACDs and hated it if they came in a regular jewel case. Even before that were the Mini-LP sleeves like MFSL uses for their SACD releases not. I went on a binge of buying everything I could in those Mini-LP sleeve because I love how they more faithfully reproduced the original cover art and the gatefold aspect. Now everything is pretty much flimsy cardboard sleeves being released today or so it seems to me. In the end for me it just really doesn't matter anymore.

 

Thanks for correcting that rfk. I forgot about the corner incompatibility.

 

Thanks for the info. I guess I will just have to stay with the standard jewel case.

 

Exactly. I often have to remind sellers to protect the CDs from possible shipping damage by inserting a small 2" patch of bubblewrap over the center hub to protect the teeth (and booklet) during shipping. The USPS often throws your packages around. IF the package is carelessly wrapped with little no protection, fragile CD cases, trays, and teeth are going to likely get damaged.

My biggest beef are unique trays such as the ones that are in all *digipak* Rolling Stones Abkco hybrid SACDs (now OOP). I have a new Aftermath SACD recently mailed to me (from a SHF seller) with no protection: no wrap patch over the center hub, and no cardboard & bubblewrap on the outside either). The disc arrived with ALL of the teeth broken, so there is no longer able to keep the disc intact and from easily falling out.

IS there a way to fix the broken teeth or center hub area... so it will hold the disc?
One can't replace the clear plastic tray because it is built into the cardboard digipak. grrr
There are a lot of other digipaks prone to shipping damage, and unfortunately some sellers don't make the effort to protect these.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

stevef wrote the following as part of a post:

The above is why I prefer a simple nub that is used in some DVD cases. I have a purchased rental copy of Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring that came with its rental case (the sold it without the part that locks the case). The DVD is held in place by a nub that is slightly smaller than the DVD hole. There's no moving parts to break, the DVD can rotate freely, and it sits on a slightly raised circle that prevents the data part of the DVD from rubbing against the inside of the case. I wish they could implement that kind of case for a CD, so that when you close the case the CD is clamped in place.

 

Re: broken hub teeth...

This is why I prefer opaque disc trays over the clear. The clear tend to be more brittle than the opaque. For the ones I've bothered to replace, I used the opaque trays. Sure I won't see any art on the inside back insert, but I prefer that to having broken teeth.

Regards,
Dave

 

I see your point, but the art on the inside back insert (if any) is worth it, so I would look for a clear tray as replacement. Some models have better teeth than others.

 

This is a good idea for some CDs, but unfortunately ALL of the Stones hybrid SACD digipaks have clear trays the cannot be removed because they are affixed to the digipak. The clear teeth do seem more fragile but once they are broken and can no longer securely hold the disc in place... one can't substitute another tray, whether it is clear or not.
Now I just store the Stones digipaks in clear plastic sleeves to keep the disc somewhat contained. And this is why many digipaks suck!