Is there any point in collecting the Dragon Boxes in 2022?

[mecha3000]

I recently got back into collecting Dragon Ball and scooped up Dragon Ball Z Kai Parts 1-8 on Blu-ray and am wondering if I should try to go for the Dragon Boxes? Obviously, the price is the biggest hurdle to get them, but beyond that, there's also the "dated" factor. The Dragon Boxes came out between 2009 and 2011, which is 11-13 years ago from Box 1 to 7. But by that logic, I suppose you could say the Kai releases are dated (even tho I'm sure theyll never get another release unless its a complete series sort of thing)?

Now, I know the whole point of the DBoxes is to look the same way DBZ aired in '89-96, but I still feel like getting them may be pointless if Crunchyroll (who has now replaced Funimation) releases DBZ AGAIN. However, I do love the way the Boxes look and even got 5 of them at one point a year ago before selling them due to financial reasons. And I know the 4:3 steelbooks (sad that they're called that and how that's even a marketing tool they could use to entice fans when it shouldn't be) exist. And then there's the 2014 Blu-rays which a pretty cheap, but have a smeary look to them. So, I'm not reallly sure which to go with. Thoughts?

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Ngl, i got REALLY lucky when acquiring my DBoxes and that was through much searching and finding some good deals on eBay. Of course, this was over the course of several years as i bought them individually because there was no way in hell i was going to pay $600 to $1,000+ for a full set. The most i had to pay for any single volume was $200 for Box 4 and even then that was a hell of a deal given it usually lists for several times that. The rest i got from $80 at the high end to a dirt cheap $25 for Box 1 (The only set out of the seven not acquired online) which i got slightly used at a movie store several years ago. What a bargain!!!!!

As for which release to get that's not Dragon Box, i'd say the steelbooks over the 2014 BD's mostly on the aspect ratio being that they're in 4:3 with the latter an Orange Brick style fake widescreen presentation with smeared colors and aggressive DNR. The steel releases are an ok alternative if you can't get the Dragon Boxes.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Whether or not the Dragon Boxes are worth their current second hand price point is up to the person. Some will say yes, others will say no. I'd lean toward the latter, given how affordable they were originally. And yes it is a remaster pushing 20 years now that wasn't even the best possible at the time.

Crunchyroll may release Z again, and may slightly surpass Funimation's output, but if you just want to support the series legally buy the Manga UK Blu-Rays, steelbooks or Funimation's steelbooks. All are serviceable substitutes that retain the original aspect ratio and have somewhat decent colours. Either way a new release is unlikely to be an exponential jump in quality, so I wouldn't hold out just to see.

Kai looks as good as it ever will, on DVD or Blu-Ray as Q-TEC's really soft look locked it to standard def detail, although even at that it's still nice to look at. Unless you want the Yamamoto score (in which you'd need Manga UK's Blu-Rays, Funimation's Parts, their original season 1 or Madman's original Parts) you can't go wrong with any release of it.

[MasenkoHA]

What reason would Crunchyroll even have to do another re-release?

The Orange Bricks still show up in retail stores and still sell. Funimation had just recently done a steelbook release. Crunchyroll has no incentive to do another release of the series.

You're not getting a better release than the Dragon Boxes. I would think if anything the absurdprices they go for (Volume 2 is $500 on Amazon ffs) would be more of a reason not to buy them than maybe Crunchyroll might possibly do another superior physical media release even though Funimation has already released the series a ridiculous amount of times.

[TheGreatness25]

I love the Dragon Boxes and have a bad illness where I just had to have them. I got the Japanese Z boxes after I got the US ones. For me, it was totally worth it.

And while the Dragon Boxes aren't 4K and super clean when stretched out across a 75" TV, it still looks great for what it is. I don't mind the colors because they might not be accurate, but they do help remind me that the show is old and there's a certain charm to that. It's a lot better than an old show pretending that it's brand new.

So, for me, it would be totally worth it. But, you do have plenty of other options to watch it. Just depends why you want to own them.

I do think that Crunchyroll will release the series again in the next video format (4K?)--might take some time, but it'll happen. It always happens.

[ChouGenkiDama.]

Oh goodness, I hate for my very first post here to be on such a divisive topic. However, as a longtime owner of the Funi Dragon Boxes (bought each one as they came out) I feel like I should give my honest opinion here: No. Absolutely not. I beg you, please refrain from wasting a small fortune in hunting those creaky, over-hyped sets down.

Here's the thing- As you noted the discs are are sourced from 20+ year old standard definition masters. Well, they most certainly look it. On top of the dated, inherently soft source, Funimation's less than ideal encoding absolutely chokes on the image much of the time. If you have a smaller/older 1080p (or especially 720p) display this won't be too noticeable at normal viewing distances. However, if you have a larger/newer TV, especially of the 4K variety, the American DBoxes simply fall apart visually.

Anyway, despite its well documented flaws the 30th anniversary transfer (via the steelbook sets or Manga UK editions) is unquestionably the best current option. Not only does it look better on high end displays, it's also both affordable and readily available.

That said, there was indeed a time (a decade-ish ago) when the Dboxes really were all that and a bag of chips- or at least everything that their proponents claimed that they were. If Funi'd only had the foresight or budget to scan the negatives in HD back in the day those two decade old masters would likely still look quite good even by modern standards. Alas.

[Majin Buu]

And while the Dragon Boxes aren't 4K and super clean when stretched out across a 75" TV, it still looks great for what it is. I don't mind the colors because they might not be accurate, but they do help remind me that the show is old and there's a certain charm to that. It's a lot better than an old show pretending that it's brand new.

This. So much this.

It's an old show, it's never going to look like the new hotness no matter how much Funi or Toei try to make it so.

[ChouGenkiDama.]

And while the Dragon Boxes aren't 4K and super clean when stretched out across a 75" TV, it still looks great for what it is. I don't mind the colors because they might not be accurate, but they do help remind me that the show is old and there's a certain charm to that. It's a lot better than an old show pretending that it's brand new.

This. So much this.

It's an old show, it's never going to look like the new hotness no matter how much Funi or Toei try to make it so.

No. But it should look much better than it currently does. The Wizard of Oz (1939) is 82 years old and looks more stunning on 4K UHD than many modern films. Old thing being old means nothing when what's currently available to the public only represents a fraction of the information that's actually present on the physical film elements.

And although Toei's TV output wasn't shot on 3-strip technicolor (or even 35mm) there's still a wealth of organic fine detail and color depth on the original 16mm negatives for both Dragon Ball and DBZ that we've never seen. No amount of AI upscaling or (in Funi's case) filtering is going to restore what was never captured in the first place.

I still personally feel that out of all the bad options Fun's 30th transfer, processed as it is, looks the best on modern displays- certainly better than their badly compressed Dbox releases. Obviously though it's still a far cry from what we could have. What we should have if Toei were not the oppressively cheap establishment that they are.

[Majin Buu]

snip

Thing is, I'm not a videophile. I don't need to have the absolute best picture possible. As long as it looks decent I'm fine. The Dragon Boxes still look decent to me so I don't need another release (plus I hate double dipping).

Clean up the image as best as you can if it needs it, but let these old properties look old instead of trying to make them look like new stuff that just came out.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

snip

Thing is, I'm not a videophile. I don't need to have the absolute best picture possible. As long as it looks decent I'm fine. The Dragon Boxes still look decent to me so I don't need another release (plus I hate double dipping).

Clean up the image as best as you can if it needs it, but let these old properties look old instead of trying to make them look like they just came out.

Same, i just wanted to have the best available 4:3 release of Z even if not available commercially and the Dragon Boxes satisfy that for me even with being almost 20 year old film transfers. I also managed to get some good deals for most of the sets, the only one i had to pay a pretty penny for was Box 4 and even then it was $200 which was reasonable compared to some of the outlandish prices i've seen on eBay.

[TheGreatness25]

And while the Dragon Boxes aren't 4K and super clean when stretched out across a 75" TV, it still looks great for what it is. I don't mind the colors because they might not be accurate, but they do help remind me that the show is old and there's a certain charm to that. It's a lot better than an old show pretending that it's brand new.

This. So much this.

It's an old show, it's never going to look like the new hotness no matter how much Funi or Toei try to make it so.

No. But it should look much better than it currently does. The Wizard of Oz (1939) is 82 years old and looks more stunning on 4K UHD than many modern films. Old thing being old means nothing when what's currently available to the public only represents a fraction of the information that's actually present on the physical film elements.

And although Toei's TV output wasn't shot on 3-strip technicolor (or even 35mm) there's still a wealth of organic fine detail and color depth on the original 16mm negatives for both Dragon Ball and DBZ that we've never seen. No amount of AI upscaling or (in Funi's case) filtering is going to restore what was never captured in the first place.

I still personally feel that out of all the bad options Fun's 30th transfer, processed as it is, looks the best on modern displays- certainly better than their badly compressed Dbox releases. Obviously though it's still a far cry from what we could have. What we should have if Toei were not the oppressively cheap establishment that they are.

Well, back in ye olden days, the series wasn't played on a 4K giant screen. The series aired on 4:3 TVs that looked like microwaves. I get what you're saying, but some people--myself included--don't mind if something looks old and dated because that's how it looked when I saw it on TV the first time around. It's for this reason that I don't mind the muffled, crackling sounds of the audio on the Japanese track.

I do see what you're saying, but this series was meant to air once on a 1980s/90s TV never to be seen or heard from again.

[ChouGenkiDama.]

snip

Thing is, I'm not a videophile. I don't need to have the absolute best picture possible. As long as it looks decent I'm fine. The Dragon Boxes still look decent to me so I don't need another release (plus I hate double dipping).

Same, i just wanted to have the best available 4:3 release of Z even if not available commercially and the Dragon Boxes satisfy that for me even with being almost 20 year old film transfers. I also managed to get some good deals for most of the sets, the only one i had to pay a pretty penny for was Box 4 and even then it was $200 which was reasonable compared to some of the outlandish prices i've seen on eBay.

And that's a perfectly fine attitude to have when it comes to your own respective viewing preferences. I just find it slightly irksome when some of the "I'm no videophile. Dbox is good enough for me." people (not either of you specifically) still go out of their way to wax on about the supposed "unwatchable" nature of the 30th. Either you care about how the show is mastered or you don't.

The bottom line is that this show could look gorgeous if the original elements were simply scanned in HD and then given minimal cleanup/proper color correction. That's not making it look "new" so much as simply presenting the source at a higher level of visual fidelity. If nothing else than for sake of preservation I can't see why anyone wouldn't be proponent of that happening.

Well, back in ye olden days, the series wasn't played on a 4K giant screen. The series aired on 4:3 TVs that looked like microwaves. I get what you're saying, but some people--myself included--don't mind if something looks old and dated because that's how it looked when I saw it on TV the first time around. It's for this reason that I don't mind the muffled, crackling sounds of the audio on the Japanese track.

Except, as we all know, it didn't sound that way at all when it first aired. I get where you're coming from as well though. Classic cinema/vintage media is my lifeblood, which is why I do my best to educate people who tend to dismiss mediocre/bad transfers of older, film based titles.

[ZodaEX]

snip

Thing is, I'm not a videophile. I don't need to have the absolute best picture possible. As long as it looks decent I'm fine. The Dragon Boxes still look decent to me so I don't need another release (plus I hate double dipping).

Same, i just wanted to have the best available 4:3 release of Z even if not available commercially and the Dragon Boxes satisfy that for me even with being almost 20 year old film transfers. I also managed to get some good deals for most of the sets, the only one i had to pay a pretty penny for was Box 4 and even then it was $200 which was reasonable compared to some of the outlandish prices i've seen on eBay.

And that's a perfectly fine attitude to have when it comes to your own respective viewing preferences. I just find it slightly irksome when some of the "I'm no videophile. Dbox is good enough for me." people (not either of you specifically) still go out of their way to wax on about the supposed "unwatchable" nature of the 30th. Either you care about how the show is mastered or you don't.

The bottom line is that this show could look gorgeous if the original elements were simply scanned in HD and then given minimal cleanup/proper color correction. That's not making it look "new" so much as simply presenting the source at a higher level of visual fidelity. If nothing else than for sake of preservation I can't see why anyone wouldn't be proponent of that happening.

Well, back in ye olden days, the series wasn't played on a 4K giant screen. The series aired on 4:3 TVs that looked like microwaves. I get what you're saying, but some people--myself included--don't mind if something looks old and dated because that's how it looked when I saw it on TV the first time around. It's for this reason that I don't mind the muffled, crackling sounds of the audio on the Japanese track.

Except, as we all know, it didn't sound that way at all when it first aired. I get where you're coming from as well though. Classic cinema/vintage media is my lifeblood, which is why I do my best to educate people who tend to dismiss mediocre/bad transfers of older, film based titles.

You can't see why Toei wouldn't want to do it? My man. Remastering tv shows from film isn't free. Toei would rather keep the money instead of spending it on remastering. It's not exactly a hard concept to grasp.
I like to keep my money too, rather then spend it on unnecessary things.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

And that's a perfectly fine attitude to have when it comes to your own respective viewing preferences. I just find it slightly irksome when some of the "I'm no videophile. Dbox is good enough for me." people (not either of you specifically) still go out of their way to wax on about the supposed "unwatchable" nature of the 30th. Either you care about how the show is mastered or you don't.

The bottom line is that this show could look gorgeous if the original elements were simply scanned in HD and then given minimal cleanup/proper color correction. That's not making it look "new" so much as simply presenting the source at a higher level of visual fidelity. If nothing else than for sake of preservation I can't see why anyone wouldn't be proponent of that happening.

See, thing is that i got them gradually from 2015 to around early 2019 when there was no 4:3 version then available commercially as this was well before the 30th Anniversary release/steelbooks.etc was even out yet. I just preferred to have a decent 4:3 release of Z (given FUNi's lack of alternatives at the time) thus the Dragon Boxes were my choice and i knew going in that it would take time to get them all because i had to wait for good deals to pop up on eBay (with exception of Box 1, that i found used for a dirt cheap $25 at a movie store) because there was no way in hell i was going to pay over a grand for a full set auction. Now, that's not to say i'm not in favor of Toei and or FUNimation/Crunchyroll getting their act together and putting out a true proper remastered edition of Z from the original negatives that's actually GOOD.

Unfortunately, so far they haven't stepped up to the plate and given us that. I got the Dragon Boxes just to have an acceptable alternative (granted flaws included) since neither company has provided a better release when they have the means to make it happen, and i would indeed buy an HD properly restored 4:3 edition of DBZ if it were to happen in the near future.

[ChouGenkiDama.]

You can't see why Toei wouldn't want to do it? My man. Remastering tv shows from film isn't free. Toei would rather keep the money instead of spending it on remastering. It's not exactly a hard concept to grasp.
I like to keep my money too, rather then spend it on unnecessary things.

My man. Have you heard the term "spend money to make money"? DBZ is literally the most popular anime in the world. A proper remaster would more than pay for itself both through domestic home video sales and licensing out the new masters to other countries. It's not exactly a hard concept to grasp.

[ZodaEX]

You can't see why Toei wouldn't want to do it? My man. Remastering tv shows from film isn't free. Toei would rather keep the money instead of spending it on remastering. It's not exactly a hard concept to grasp.
I like to keep my money too, rather then spend it on unnecessary things.

My man. Have you heard the term "spend money to make money"? DBZ is literally the most popular anime in the world. A proper remaster would more than pay for itself both through domestic home video sales and licensing out the new masters to other countries. It's not exactly a hard concept to grasp.

The existing releases already sell just fine. It's almost certainly not worth the investment for them.

[ChouGenkiDama.]

The existing releases already sell just fine. It's almost certainly not worth the investment for them.

Well that is certainly an opinion that you have written on this forum.

[VegettoEX]

I mean, I completely agree with that…? Rather than sarcastically dismissing, let’s continue to actually engage with the conversation here.

Fan preferences aside, if I were in charge of home releases for a franchise that’s continuously having its old stock outsell new stuff that they’ve simultaneously oversaturated the market with at every twist and turn, I wouldn’t be giving the green light to a “proper” 1080/4K remaster of the series myself, either.

I’m not sure some of y’all can put the fan hat aside and look at things from a (terrible) capitalist (hellscape) modern reality from the rights owner perspective. They’re not stewards. They don’t give a shiiiiiiiit ‘bout preservation or legacy on mass market fluff like our favorite little series here. Its legacy is to coast along as-is until it doesn’t.

If and when it stops coasting, MAYBE you’ll see a reappraisal… but with the overall shift to streaming instead of ownership anyway, they really have no pressing incentive any time soon.

[MuscleRobo]

For the actual topic at hand, no I do not think the price is worth the difference in quality you could get from spending far less on the steel books/Wal-Mart 3:4 blu-ray releases. The Dragon Boxes are just too old/sought after that everyone who has one is barely willing to part without a small fortune in return. If you don't feel like supporting the blu-ray releases just watch it on CR/Hulu or watch DB: Evolution for free on tubi!

If you do want to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a Japanese cartoon spring for the platinum Evangelion DVDs which keep "Fly Me to the Moon" as the ending

[Majin Man 101]

I'm a huge collector and I own American and Japanese Dragon boxes, and many funimation releases including all of the volumes and seasons of Kai. I have always been a proud supporter of the official release, but essentially by this point in time, watching Dragon Ball on physical (Other than Kai) would be doing a disservice to yourself as a fan, because there are much better and higher quality ways to own the series through what fans have been able to accomplish over the years with their own collections and edits. Finding them though I will not mention here as I am not condoning piracy.