*sigh* Can someone just like...give me their Dragon Boxes?

[Kunzait_83]

For a casual fan that liked DBZ as a kid, sure, why not pick up the $35 DVD as opposed to $70 (the Dragon Boxes' original price).

$70 was the Dragon Boxes' MSRP, but like with most things you could EASILY get them for way, way less than MSRP during the window of time where they were still in stock and readily available. I got all 7 of them on release, and I never paid more than $25 to $30 for each of them at most.

[gogeta97]

IMO the Japanese Dragon Boxes are really worth the money. You get extras, better video quality and (I think) no out of sync audio tracks unless the tracks are out of sync on both releases. Only problem is no subs...

[TheGreatness25]

For a casual fan that liked DBZ as a kid, sure, why not pick up the $35 DVD as opposed to $70 (the Dragon Boxes' original price).

$70 was the Dragon Boxes' MSRP, but like with most things you could EASILY get them for way, way less than MSRP during the window of time where they were still in stock and readily available. I got all 7 of them on release, and I never paid more than $25 to $30 for each of them at most.

Again, for the casual fan, they're not searching for these things. They walk into a Best Buy and see the DVDs. They see the MSRP priced Dragon Box next to the Season Set. I think that clearly, they had their reason for discontinuing the Dragon Boxes; no company passes up money.

[Forte224]

IMO the Japanese Dragon Boxes are really worth the money. You get extras, better video quality and (I think) no out of sync audio tracks unless the tracks are out of sync on both releases. Only problem is no subs...

Yeah but no subs is the deal breaker for me. Also I can only ever find the Japanese version for like $14,000 on eBay

[Pokewhiz7]

higher quality Japanese audio track.

Is that true? I know they're better then the Orange Bricks, but I've heard Funimation's Blu-rays have the best audio on any official release so far.

It's pretty negligible, honestly. Yes, the audio is better on the Dragon Boxes than the orange bricks, but not enough for me to exactly call that a selling point. It still sounds like shit.

[qjz123]

higher quality Japanese audio track.

Is that true? I know they're better then the Orange Bricks, but I've heard Funimation's Blu-rays have the best audio on any official release so far.

No the Japanese Audio is definitely still better on the Dragon Boxes if only slightly.

[TheGreatness25]

Is it possible that Toei only allowed FUNimation to use the Dragon Box footage for a certain period of time or for a certain amount of releases? They're an extremely strange company. Even on Hulu and FUNimation's streaming service, the Dragon Ball Z footage is the Season Sets'... actually, it looks even worse. I am not sure who sets those guidelines, but it's odd that the "definitive" version of the show for FUNimation is from those Season Sets.

I would have been fine getting just the US Dragon Boxes -- more than fine considering the subtitles -- but knowing that Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball GT, and the movies didn't have a U.S. Dragon Box release drove me a little nuts, so I got those. Then it was awkward not having the Japanese Z Dragon Boxes, so I got those. Took me a while, but I have my way of watching them and knowing what they're saying, so in the very least, that's good.

The Dragon Boxes certainly make me feel like I'm really watching the series more than the other releases; don't really know why.

[Marugoto]

Is it possible that Toei only allowed FUNimation to use the Dragon Box footage for a certain period of time or for a certain amount of releases? They're an extremely strange company.

Maybe it had something to do with Kai launching around the same time. Like Toei was so convinced that it would be the new cashmaker that they where more inclined to let Funimation license there "obsolete" Z masters. And when Kai didn't turn out to be the new big thing, they became more protective of the Z brand again.

[DBZfan29]

For a casual fan that liked DBZ as a kid, sure, why not pick up the $35 DVD as opposed to $70 (the Dragon Boxes' original price).

$70 was the Dragon Boxes' MSRP, but like with most things you could EASILY get them for way, way less than MSRP during the window of time where they were still in stock and readily available. I got all 7 of them on release, and I never paid more than $25 to $30 for each of them at most.

Again, for the casual fan, they're not searching for these things. They walk into a Best Buy and see the DVDs. They see the MSRP priced Dragon Box next to the Season Set. I think that clearly, they had their reason for discontinuing the Dragon Boxes; no company passes up money.

I see your point, but whenever I walk into a Best Buy and see something I want, the first thing I do is see if it is cheaper online. "Hardcore" fan or not, I think most people are just as cautious.

[TheGreatness25]

I would assume so, of course. I know that I do that with everything. But these stores are still in business, so I'm assuming that not everyone is like that.

[MetaMoss]

Again, for the casual fan, they're not searching for these things. They walk into a Best Buy and see the DVDs. They see the MSRP priced Dragon Box next to the Season Set. I think that clearly, they had their reason for discontinuing the Dragon Boxes; no company passes up money.

I see your point, but whenever I walk into a Best Buy and see something I want, the first thing I do is see if it is cheaper online. "Hardcore" fan or not, I think most people are just as cautious.

Not everyone is that tech-savvy (even more so back during the Dragon Boxes' release five years ago). People see DBZ on the shelves, they see that the orange boxes are cheaper than the yellow ones, so they go for the orange boxes, thinking they've gotten quite a deal on the show they love.

[Ringworm128]

From what I can tell the cancelled level sets are at least a good contender for the Dragonbox. If they hadn't been cancelled the Dragonboxes might not be in such high demand. But instead we're stuck with grain removal and cropping as the only release of DBZ on the market.

[Forte224]

From what I can tell the cancelled level sets are at least a good contender for the Dragonbox. If they hadn't been cancelled the Dragonboxes might not be in such high demand. But instead we're stuck with grain removal and cropping as the only release of DBZ on the market.

Yeah most people I have heard consider the Level sets better than the Dragon Boxes. I so wish they finished those

[gogeta97]

Yeah most people I have heard consider the Level sets better than the Dragon Boxes. I so wish they finished those

The only thing the Level sets have over the Dragon Box is the 1080p resolution and the better, albeit a bit too dark, colors. Things like no Japanese title cards and no NEPs definitely put them below the DBoxes imo. Plus the Dragon Boxes come from the original film negatives and aren't a copy of a copy.

[G1Ravage]

I really wish FUNi would give us a Dragon Ball Dragon Box already....

[DreamedArtist]

In my city there is a small comic shop that sells anime and a few years back I seen the whole Dragon box collection the yellow brick set for 500 flat and I was like FUCK I need money and have no job. now I have a job and money and that set is long gone... so I had to get the new blu ray set cropped :/ but still dig it. I am looking to getting this set as well, How much better is it besides the crop?

[Danfun64]

Yeah most people I have heard consider the Level sets better than the Dragon Boxes. I so wish they finished those

The only thing the Level sets have over the Dragon Box is the 1080p resolution and the better, albeit a bit too dark, colors. Things like no Japanese title cards and no NEPs definitely put them below the DBoxes imo. Plus the Dragon Boxes come from the original film negatives and aren't a copy of a copy.

Forgive me admins and mods if what I am about to discuss is illegal, but I can't think of a better comparison at the moment...

To compare with Star Wars, the Dragon Boxes (both Toei and Funi) are to the Level sets as the 1993 transfer used for the Definitive Collection LDs, '95 "Faces" LDs, and the 2006 "GOUT" DVD are to the ******** 35mm scans. The Dragon Boxes and the 1993 transfer for the Star Wars Trilogy are standard definition, but (AFAIK) each uses the lowest generation source possible, bringing the best and most complete (in frames) image quality possible (heavy DVNR on the 93 Star Wars transfer aside ). The Level Sets and the ******** 35mm Star Wars scans, on the other hand, have the advantage of being in full HD, bringing with it beauty that wasn't possible before. However, the sources used are several generations away from the original source, meaning loss of detail and frames.

[MCDaveG]

I feel your pain man, I was looking for a job after school when they were released and it was like the only release I really ever wanted.
But after I've finally settled, the first two boxes were for rudiculous prices already, so I passed on that.

So I've said to myself, fuck that, and got the US Z boxes the illegal way. I don't think that any set is worth like 700 dollars. Even I've got 10 years old goddamn DC TAS series on one set per 100 dollars max.
Yeah, can't shovel them into my shelf to gaze upon their awesomeness or go trough the booklets, but whatever.

Spoiler:

Everybody has external drives these days

But I don't encourage anything here

I've just started in third job since then, pushing my carrier higher, so I hope nothing cool comes out until I settle in few months

[gogeta97]

Forgive me admins and mods if what I am about to discuss is illegal, but I can't think of a better comparison at the moment...

To compare with Star Wars, the Dragon Boxes (both Toei and Funi) are to the Level sets as the 1993 transfer used for the Definitive Collection LDs, '95 "Faces" LDs, and the 2006 "GOUT" DVD are to the ******** 35mm scans. The Dragon Boxes and the 1993 transfer for the Star Wars Trilogy are standard definition, but (AFAIK) each uses the lowest generation source possible, bringing the best and most complete (in frames) image quality possible (heavy DVNR on the 93 Star Wars transfer aside ). The Level Sets and the ******** 35mm Star Wars scans, on the other hand, have the advantage of being in full HD, bringing with it beauty that wasn't possible before. However, the sources used are several generations away from the original source, meaning loss of detail and frames.

That's pretty much what I said in my initial post just phrased differently.

[ZodaEX]

In my city there is a small comic shop that sells anime and a few years back I seen the whole Dragon box collection the yellow brick set for 500 flat and I was like FUCK I need money and have no job. now I have a job and money and that set is long gone... so I had to get the new blu ray set cropped :/ but still dig it. I am looking to getting this set as well, How much better is it besides the crop?

Please don't call them Yellow Bricks. That's just disrespectful.