Is the Lost Tales DVD a DVD-R?

ag87 · December 27th 21, 21:35

Hi,

I am new to this site, so please forgive any mistakes in posting. Also, I looked for the answer to this question and did not see it, but I am not good at searches so may have missed it, in which case please point me to that post - thanks

I just purchased a copy of The Lost Tales DVD and while it looks fine overall (case and disk intact), the play surface of the disk is blue/purple, NOT the typical silver of a professional DVD. I seem to recall that blue/purple is the usual color for a home-made DVD. So I'm trying to figure out if Amazon accidentally sent me a bootleg copy and I should ask for a replacement or if this is in fact the correct, real product. The back of the box does mention "Warner Archive" and I know that they do produce some burn-on-demand disks, so I was thinking this could be the explanation, but I'm not sure. Can someone who also owns this tell me if your copy is also like this? (blue/purple play surface) - thanks

I did attempt to contact the company directly (Warner Archive), but so far I've had no success doing so.

Thanks

Gary

Kraig · December 27th 21, 22:10

My copy, the play side is silver. The other side says DVD video, has the WB logo right beneath it. It has Babylon 5 logo. Under the word "BABYLON" it has "THE LOST TALES" and artwork showing the station with a nebula in the background. It has a copyright date of 2007.

ag87 · December 28th 21, 17:36

Thanks, I appreciate your help on this

This tells me that my copy is definitely different, so it sounds like I need to do something about it, unfortunately. I do think I have one other possibility to contact the company (another email address I found), but if that doesn't work I may need to ask Amazon for a replacement. If the replacement is the same as what I currently have then it may just be how the newer disks are made or something (assuming that they don't have a large supply of bootleg disks or something). Unfortunately, doing so may end up being the only way to find out.

Kraig · December 29th 21, 01:23

I checked with a Wiki website about how to spot a fake or pirated DVD.

This question/answer was on the page:

Quote:

Question
Is it a possibility that some discs with a purple bottom--not silver--are authentic? If so, what are the circumstances?

Community Answer
Yes. If it is an "on-demand" DVD. Many studios use recordable media (DVD-R) for titles that are manufactured on demand. Universal's Vault Series and Warner Bros. Archives are a couple. These are usually only on movies that are older and do not sell in high enough volume to have thousands pressed.
Not Helpful 0

It might be a non-fake.

ag87 · December 29th 21, 18:24

Thanks! That is great evidence in favor of it likely being legitimate. Yesterday I did send an email to that other email address I found and it didn't immediately bounce (unlike the one I tried previously), so hopefully they will write back and confirm this.

Ubik · December 31st 21, 09:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kraig

I checked with a Wiki website about how to spot a fake or pirated DVD.

This question/answer was on the page:

Quote:

Question
Is it a possibility that some discs with a purple bottom--not silver--are authentic? If so, what are the circumstances?

Community Answer
Yes. If it is an "on-demand" DVD. Many studios use recordable media (DVD-R) for titles that are manufactured on demand. Universal's Vault Series and Warner Bros. Archives are a couple. These are usually only on movies that are older and do not sell in high enough volume to have thousands pressed.
Not Helpful 0

It might be a non-fake.

If it was direct from Amazon and not a re-seller, then I think it's likely legit. But Amazon returns are super easy if you want to trade it in for another copy.

Looney · December 31st 21, 15:36

I'm sure they have moved to the Made-To-Order format using burned discs. I wouldn't worry about it as long as it plays and you take care of it because those discs scratch when you look at them wrong.

SIDE NOTE: I believe I've told the story before but here it is again. My original LOST TALES DVD randomly stopped working. Pre-Ordered through Best when it was originally released and five years later it would not play on anything. No visible wear or damage (I have thousands of discs so I know how to treat them) and it just wouldn't work. I will check when I get back to Illinois because I have a couple of Lost Tales DVDs (because you can never have too many backups) and one of them might be Made-To-Order.

LateArrival · January 1st 22, 14:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Looney

SIDE NOTE: I believe I've told the story before but here it is again. My original LOST TALES DVD randomly stopped working. Pre-Ordered through Best when it was originally released and five years later it would not play on anything. No visible wear or damage (I have thousands of discs so I know how to treat them) and it just wouldn't work. I will check when I get back to Illinois because I have a couple of Lost Tales DVDs (because you can never have too many backups) and one of them might be Made-To-Order.

Same here. The BB Lost Tales DVD (with comic) was sitting in it's holder on a shelf, and years later pulled it for a B5 rewatch I was hosting - Toast. Gave it to a friend who had some recovery software to see what might come of it, and best he could do was view scrambled pixelated images. The term might be "DVD Rot", where the disc is so poorly made that it fails even if stored under near-perfect conditions. The non-BB version purchased as a replacement still works (for ? now). Purchased a "used" 3rd one - backups aplenty - that also came with the comic, and while it would Play All, wouldn't play the two episodes individually. All discs look silver-ish. As an extra extra backup, purchased the HD streaming version from Amazon, although that lacks bonus features. Unrelated TLT: Since I am dense, took me years to notice that the script for the never-produced Garibaldi Episode was included with the B5Book "TV Movies".

babylonfan · January 1st 22, 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by LateArrival

Unrelated TLT: Since I am dense, took me years to notice that the script for the never-produced Garibaldi Episode was included with the B5Book "TV Movies".

Could you give an outline of that story? Or maybe even a link to the script?

Looney · January 1st 22, 19:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by LateArrival

Same here. The BB Lost Tales DVD (with comic) was sitting in it's holder on a shelf, and years later pulled it for a B5 rewatch I was hosting - Toast. Gave it to a friend who had some recovery software to see what might come of it, and best he could do was view scrambled pixelated images. The term might be "DVD Rot", where the disc is so poorly made that it fails even if stored under near-perfect conditions.

So yes mine was the Best Buy edition with the comic. Also only pixelated images could be recovered. You know I thought with "DVD Rot" you could tell something looked a little discolored or off, but that disc looks brand new like I just bought it.