Questions Re: the History of CD Packaging

You got that right, especially the early Japanese ones.

 

In the US, blister packaging was also common during the CD's first few years (before the longbox became standard).



My first few purchases in 1986 were a mix of longboxes and blister packs.

 

Bled many a time on the old Wax Trax! one's
Got to the point i'd carry some scissors in the car

 

I'm more curious about when transparent cassettes first showed up. You could finally see the tape rolling as it played. Some of them even had tiny metal reels inside the case. It was like watching the world's smallest r2r deck running. That was too cool.

 

April 1st 1993.

 

April 1st 1993.

 

April Fools Day? Are you putting me on? LOL

 

No. Longbox - Wikipedia

 

Oh yeah, I remember these. What a bitch to open. I used to use a razor blade.

 

I like the old jewelcases the best because they are easy to replace .
The worst kind of cd packaging can be found in Universal's 2 for 1 series , a foldout cardboard sleeve , where the opening slot is inside and you need a lot of skill to take out the cd without tearing the very tight cardboard (almost always) and without leaving surface scratches on the cd (almost always)



Just as bad are box sets which just have a tight slot for the otherwise unprotected cds

 

Thanks!

 

Was kinda nice, at least for Polygram related releases the art was include with the blister's

 

I'm thinking my oldest one with a clear tray (although tinted kinda greenish) is "E-Z Listening Disc" by Devo. It came out late 1987.

 

Points to JamesRR for first really helpful post on the subject!

I grew up in Terre Haute Indiana. Sound familiar? It's the home of the "Columbia Record Club"; also a pressing plant where they made a lot of record jackets, working tirelessly day and night for a number of labels, divisions and different LP storage products (those plain, white sleeves you might send promo copies to radio and stores, or 12" dance singles, for instance).

Now, with all of this working and production and salaries and record-industry-sorking-like-clockwork going on, how do you think they felt in Terre Haute Indiana when Columbia decided to start making CD's? Yep, the cardboard "long box" solved a couple of problems. 1) something for their soon-to-be-downsized album-cover-producing partners to produce, keeping the wheels of industry turning. 2) Packaging to fit a couple of rows of 5" discs into a bin that used to hold one row of 12" discs. 3) You may recall, most countries outside of North America did not shrink-wrap their LP's; stores in the U.S. were more paranoid about theft of a pocket-sized disc than others; this product would stick-out if you tried to stuff it down pants, in coat pockets, in a purse; and there goes your premium-prided product, right out the door with those ne'er-do-well rapscallions.

Other discs not produced in the U.S. may not have come here in long boxes, so they had to be packaged in PVC blister-packs (which hate customer fingers, no matter how you try to get into them!). Some larger chains used tall, plastic frames, which not only held your CD up high in the LP-bins so you could flip through them easily, but actually not easily at all, but clumsy, they looked crappy in a bin, and it took a few extra seconds for the cashier to get the disc out of the frame securely, then hold onto it like a store-hanger in a clothing shop. So, ugly-and-cheap solution to larger store chains; yaaaay commerce.

Eventually stores saw the light as LP sales went down and CD sales went the other way. The bins got smaller, and retailers in the U.S. continued to worry about those ne'er-do-well rapscallions. And somehow they still saw no need to make opening one of their products easier to the customer. Shrink-wrap. Then, shrink-wrap with a red pull-tab and line around the left side. Seemed like the logical solution for the customer. But remember, this is the music industry, so...how to **** that up? Easy: yet another sticker, over the top, so you could see the artist and title from above while thumbing through your products. But, that's okay, because there is handy tab to the left, to peel it off: which, under record label ergonomics, doesn't work without coming apart in your fingers...easier to alert the store clerk that you were trying to be a thieving, music-stealing scoundrel!!!! Sound the alarm! But, that wasn't enough, so they made sure that sticker over the top, also got in the way of taking off the shrink-wrap with the little red tab. Yaaaaay commerce some more.

Oh, if only we could assuage the fears of the stores even further. And that's when they added that sticky little nubbin under the CD tray that makes the beep as you leave the store. And that's BEFORE the shrink wrap, AND the sticker along the top. Halt, varlet! So, even more work for the cashier to do, by waving it over a plate at the check-out to disidable the sticky little nubbin. But, don't worry, customer...once you decide you don't want that in there, hurray! It's yet another royal b**ch to dig in there and pick it out! NOW who loves ya, baby...!

And that's the history of how the U.S. music retailer became the 20th Century model to show how little they care for the people coming into the store to buy a 17.99 item that used to cost them only 8.99.

 

First one I recall was Talking Heads Stop Making Sense. And then Prince Around the World. So likely introduced fall of ‘84 and then pretty common for the WEA label family by early 1985.

 

I have trouble getting CDs out of cardboard sleeves. I never put them back in once removed. Instead I put the discs in slim jewel cases and place them alongside the original packaging in resealable bags. I have damaged cardboard sleeves during the CD extraction process. It happened with my recently acquired “Get Easy” sunshine pop double CD set. I now have sleeves that are dented on their edges. Very difficult getting the CDs to roll or slip out.

 

Probably right. My old Henley Building, 84 is clear. (Which does not contain the full length Sunset)
Think US first run's Duran Duran Rio 1982 were regular then later replaced by clear one's. (My XDR is clear)

 

Remember this?:

'One side of this program is of longer duration than the other to preserve the album continuity.'

 

This one was a favorite as well, screw my 'convenience', gimme more tunes!

 

My first experience with the Delux Edition CD sets in the late 90's was with Marvin Gaye/ What's Going On. When I opened it both cd hubs were broken and the discs fell out, but fortunately were not damaged. I bought it out of town on a record store vacation so returning it was out of the question. If I buy a CD sealed out of town I open it before I leave the store. Lesson learned!

 

While he's not opening a CD, I will forever think of Larry David trying to open something in a 'blister-package' when I think of packaging like that!

 

The thing I don't like about these cases is that getting the booklet out to read isn't easy without damaging it. The tabs should be on the upper and lower edges of the lid, not the sides.

 

Blister packs majorly suck ! And have caused major injuries to fingers. Anything in a blister pack should be outlawed !

 

GOD help ya if you ever have to replace one of these! They’re rare! I was fortunate to get a replacement for one of my Wombles CDs from a kind and generous forum member. Before that though, I ordered from two amazon sellers SUPER CD cases and they were odd dimensions and didn’t work.