Orange bricks: any reason to buy them these days?

[Kingbrockstar1995]

is there any reason to buy them anymore? i know they're bad but i guess if its for only collectors

[Danfun64]

In my opinion, the Orange Bricks at their very worse looked worse than the Season Blu-rays at their worst (the line erasure can get really bad at times). At the same time, at their best, they looked better than the Season Blu-rays at their best (due to not sharpening/smearing the image).

In any case, it's all irrelevant with the 30th Anniversary master. It shares most of the same flaws as the Season Blu-rays, but it actually being in 4:3 alone makes it a major upgrade. Even so... the Levels, Dragon Boxes... perhaps even the singles look better than the 30th Anniversary because of said sharpening/smearing.

Still, they have different audio mixes compared to the Season Blu-rays and the 30th Anniversary Blu-rays (which I assume share the same audio mixes between them). I think the OB audio mixes don't fully match each other (with the Kikuchi audio mix having differences other than being in 5.1 and the difference in soundtracks with the Johnson/Faulconer audio mix). Also, I think they have more errors than the Season Blu-ray/30th Anniversary audio mix. Unfortunately, nobody ever did a comprehensive comparison between the various audio mixes of the dub.

In any case, I think it's still sold in stores as the casual DVD option, so it becoming a collector's item isn't happening yet...

[MasenkoHA]

is there any reason to buy them anymore? i know they're bad but i guess if its for only collectors

The Dragon Boxesand Rock the Dragon are the only “collectors items” Orange Bricks are still cheap and accessible and the go to for fans who haven’t upgraded to Blue Ray.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

In any case, I think it's still sold in stores as the casual DVD option, so it becoming a collector's item isn't happening yet...

I think the OP is referring more to the collector's who will buy anything with the words Dragon Ball slapped onto it, not necessarily for having stuff that's valuable.

[Kingbrockstar1995]

In any case, I think it's still sold in stores as the casual DVD option, so it becoming a collector's item isn't happening yet...

I think the OP is referring more to the collector's who will buy anything with the words Dragon Ball slapped onto it, not necessarily for having stuff that's valuable.

i wasnt exactly thinking that but i guess that could still be good enough for a reason

[TheGreatness25]

In any case, I think it's still sold in stores as the casual DVD option, so it becoming a collector's item isn't happening yet...

I think the OP is referring more to the collector's who will buy anything with the words Dragon Ball slapped onto it, not necessarily for having stuff that's valuable.

i wasnt exactly thinking that but i guess that could still be good enough for a reason

That's why I buy the stuff, quite honestly. I really like comparing the video from all of the different releases. I'm also always hopeful that the new release will be better than the last and always try to give it the benefit of the doubt. For example, I thought, "Hey, maybe the 30th anniversary set will look better than on the commercial because they didn't actually finish it or they still have time to listen to the fans' complaints or maybe it'll look different than in a tiny video box online." But somehow, Funimation always finds a way to disappoint.

If you're looking for an inexpensive, condensed collection of the series on DVD just to watch it for the story and don't really care much about the integrity of the video quality, then the orange bricks are your only real go-to.

[Kingbrockstar1995]

i loved seeing shenron formed on the spines

[TheGreatness25]

i loved seeing shenron formed on the spines

Aside from way too much orange, it did have some cool art. It's just... paper, y'know? How many of them got partially torn because I'd be taking those crappy plastic security tags off and they'd peel part of the box.

[Matches Malone]

The only reason I can think of is if someone likes the art enough to want them in their collection. Apart from that, they have 0 value for anyone.

[coola]

If you wanna have clear conscience while watching fanmade edits with original broadcast, you might as well get cheapest possible official release

[Dbzfan94]

I know the orange bricks are bad, I've had them since release and I honestly like them a lot.

There's a few disks that are getting worn out though, (it'll very rarely freeze on some spots) but I can ignore the line shaky crap.

An I dont wanna shell out another $300 for a series I already have. Maybe once my Orange Bricks die completely

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I have the entire set, all of which i got second hand a few years back at a pawn shop and watched a ways before i very quickly became dissatisfied with their terrible visual quality/cropped fake widescreen presentation and really started in acquiring the Dragon Boxes. Nowadays they mostly just sit on the top shelf of my closet as a display piece with the Shenron spine image out as it's been quite a long time since i last watched any of them as the Dragon Boxes have become my definitive way to watch the series. Basically, they're just gathering dust now as i will most likely never actually be viewing the series in that format ever again.

[Mr.Poot]

I guess if you're super tight on money and want to watch all of Z, they're an easy and cheap way to own the series.

[VDenter]

Was there ever really a good reasson to buy them? I don't think i could even watch them if offered for free, let alone pay for them. The problems with this set are too numerous and large to ignore. These would look worse than ever nowadays on a 4K display upscaled. Just thinking about how bad the footage might look is enough to give me a headache.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Was there ever really a good reasson to buy them?

It's been said many times but they were once the only affordable way of owning the entire series. It's easy to forget how expensive the singles were now that most of them can be found so cheaply second hand, and they were incomplete. The orange bricks are of course a heavy flawed release, but considering the success DBZ was around the world their success, given the circumstances in 2007 their success was pretty much inevitable.

[VDenter]

Was there ever really a good reasson to buy them?

It's been said many times but they were once the only affordable way of owning the entire series. It's easy to forget how expensive the singles were now that most of them can be found so cheaply second hand, and they were incomplete. The orange bricks are of course a heavy flawed release, but considering the success DBZ was around the world their success, given the circumstances in 2007 their success was pretty much inevitable.

I don't think their price was really a good reason to own them. Really that just signalled to Funimation that products like it are OK and the Orange Bricks did more harm to the franchise long term. I can understand that the price was appealing and alternative options were limited in 2007, but that is not really a good reason to support something that you know is crap. Especially since Funimation even lied to the fans in their marketing.

[MasenkoHA]

At the time they were the most affordable and convenient way for someone to own all 291 episodes in Japanese and English. Especially since Funimation screwed the pooch on the Ultimate Uncut episodes getting a decent release twice. (There’s the Dragon Boxes but those are A. Expensive B. Not a viable option for that segment of fans that want the dub with the dub score)

[Son Gara]

Especially since Funimation screwed the pooch on the Ultimate Uncut episodes getting a decent release twice.

Man I'm still salty over the Ultimate Uncuts. So much money wasted. That and the "Lost Episodes" bullshit with GT they pulled made me never really look at them with much respect after that.

[coola]

Especially since Funimation screwed the pooch on the Ultimate Uncut episodes getting a decent release twice.

Man I'm still salty over the Ultimate Uncuts. So much money wasted. That and the "Lost Episodes" bullshit with GT they pulled made me never really look at them with much respect after that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but...didnt they actually finished re-dubbing Saiyan and Namek Saga, but instead of releasing it on DVD, they just aired them on TV?

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Especially since Funimation screwed the pooch on the Ultimate Uncut episodes getting a decent release twice.

Man I'm still salty over the Ultimate Uncuts. So much money wasted. That and the "Lost Episodes" bullshit with GT they pulled made me never really look at them with much respect after that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but...didnt they actually finished re-dubbing Saiyan and Namek Saga, but instead of releasing it on DVD, they just aired them on TV?

The Saiyan/Namek 1-67 redub aired in full late nights on CN as the DVDs were coming out concurrently, the first run broadcast was from June to October 2005 and the UUE had started releasing a few months ahead of time in April '05. It wasn't until May or June of the following year after the second disc of the Vegeta Saga II set released that the line was silently canceled by FUNi behind closed doors as we all know.

So yes, they fully intended to go from episode 1 to 67 with the Ultimate Uncut line until the abrupt radio silent cancellation in summer '06 torpedoed that.