Should I buy the US DBZ Dragon Boxes?

[tinlunlau]

Woulda offered to sell my copy of Dragon Box Vol 1 for $70 USD as that is the only Dragon Box I own.

I barely touched it myself. Probably only went thru 1 disc.

Dang. That would of been cheaper than what I paid. Oh well lol. I gotta say up cash for the second box (the Vegeta covered one) because woooooo booooi that one is a whole lot of money.

I pretty much gave up on collecting the Dragon Boxes, lol

[GTx10]

Woulda offered to sell my copy of Dragon Box Vol 1 for $70 USD as that is the only Dragon Box I own.

I barely touched it myself. Probably only went thru 1 disc.

Dang. That would of been cheaper than what I paid. Oh well lol. I gotta say up cash for the second box (the Vegeta covered one) because woooooo booooi that one is a whole lot of money.

I pretty much gave up on collecting the Dragon Boxes, lol

For whatever reason the 2nd and 4 volumes of the US Dragon Ball Z DBoxs are super high price while the rest are a tad more manageable. Strangely the JPN Boxs are cheaper to pick up. Ain't that somethin'?

[kemuri07]

Dang. That would of been cheaper than what I paid. Oh well lol. I gotta say up cash for the second box (the Vegeta covered one) because woooooo booooi that one is a whole lot of money.

I pretty much gave up on collecting the Dragon Boxes, lol

For whatever reason the 2nd and 4 volumes of the US Dragon Ball Z DBoxs are super high price while the rest are a tad more manageable. Strangely the JPN Boxs are cheaper to pick up. Ain't that somethin'?

That's pretty much been the case since the very beginning when those boxes were just released. I actually managed to pick myself up a couple of the volumes, but 2 very quickly disappeared and were extremely expensive to get. And that was nearly 15 years ago!

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'd love to know how many copies of Boxes 2 and 4 were made in comparison to the rest. It seems to be a safe bet there were considerably less copies of those two in particular.

I gave up on collecting the Dragon Boxes because when I had 5, 6 and 7 I wanted to collect backwards as that would take less of a toll on my OCD than having gaps in between, but it still wasn't worth it not being able to afford them all.

Strangely the JPN Boxs are cheaper to pick up. Ain't that somethin'?

The US Dragon Boxes are probably more sought after because the inclusion of English subs and the dub (for the Kikuchi Z dub fans out there) is more of an incentive. I think the Japanese Dragon Boxes appeal to the super hardcore collectors that either don't care about subs because they know Japanese, just sub them themselves or want the real deal instead of a localized variant, but those are a smaller minority.

[GTx10]

Looking at the episodes found on vol 2 and 4 they are mostly the "Namek/Ginyu/early Freeza fight- Android 17/ 18 awaken up to the start the Cell games. Are those episodes not popular hence the smaller amounts produced? I would think Vol 3 is more wanted than vol 2 since it has Goku's 1st SS and Vol 5 has SS Gohan but nah those sets are doable. I mean I managed to get a lower price for vol 2 but yeah... it's crazy out there.

Maybe Japan didn't send Funi a lot of vol 2 and 4 copies?. It's not like the Orange Brick sets that contain vol 2 and 4's episodes are rare to buy so it's puzzling at best.

Also a fun moment: I was watching vol 1 in English and after the credits there was no Next Episode preview. So I thought "Okay... But why?" Then I switched on the JPN Dub and POOF! The NEP showed up.

In the words of DBZ Abridged Gohan. "Why?!"

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Maybe Japan didn't send Funi a lot of vol 2 and 4 copies?. It's not like the Orange Brick sets that contain vol 2 and 4's episodes are rare to buy so it's puzzling at best.

Japan didn't have the same 7 boxes as the US though, for them it was just 2 big box sets. The idea of volumes 1-7 as we know them was Funimation's idea for creating their own version of the Dragon Boxes.

As we can see from these pictures:





^ The Japanese Dragon Boxes.



^ the US Dragon Boxes we all know and love.

There are also differences on the discs, like 7 episodes per disc vs Japan's 6, the fact Funimation's Dragon Boxes are slightly brighter than the Japanese Dragon Boxes and have a lower bitrate.

So the US and Japanese Dragon Boxes may be alike presentation-wise but the former is not an exact replica of the latter with the addition of the dub and subs. The discs were reauthored and its ultimately a similar but different product. As I've said Funimation's Dragon Boxes were a localised variant.

[GTx10]

Maybe Japan didn't send Funi a lot of vol 2 and 4 copies?. It's not like the Orange Brick sets that contain vol 2 and 4's episodes are rare to buy so it's puzzling at best.

Japan didn't have the same 7 boxes as the US though, for them it was just 2 big box sets. The idea of volumes 1-7 as we know them was Funimation's idea for creating their own version of the Dragon Boxes.

As we can see from these pictures:

Picture here:

There are also differences on the discs, like 7 episodes per disc vs Japan's 6, the fact Funimation's Dragon Boxes are slightly brighter than the Japanese Dragon Boxes and have a lower bitrate.

So the US and Japanese Dragon Boxes may be alike presentation-wise but the former is not an exact replica of the latter with the addition of the dub and subs. The discs were reauthored and its ultimately a similar but different product. As I've said Funimation's Dragon Boxes were a localised variant.

Lol Even the US Dragon Box casing got the 16:9 treatment. Ok that may explain (sort of) why certain Volumes of the US version is made in different amounts and prices vary. Man two big boxs vs 7 boxes would save my shelf soooooo much space. Wow.

[GhostEmperorX]

Also a fun moment: I was watching vol 1 in English and after the credits there was no Next Episode preview. So I thought "Okay... But why?" Then I switched on the JPN Dub and POOF! The NEP showed up.

In the words of DBZ Abridged Gohan. "Why?!"

Being that they never dubbed those, it does make sense.

[GTx10]

?!

Being that they never dubbed those, it does make sense.

Well they didn't dub Cha la and Zenkai power yet those are included with the English dub so why not the neps? So now what i will do is select the Japanese dub then use my remote to switch to the ENG dub during the episode and that "tricks" the disc into playing the Neps with the dub. Lol. The downside to that is the subs will only appear on the neps with the JPN dub selected not the ENG.

Plus i swear during one of those neps someone other than Masako voiced Gohan because that was not her Gohan voice at all.

[GTx10]

Update:

I now have all seven US DBZ Dragon Boxes. So now I can say for sure that it was kind of Worth it. In short you get more out of the Orange bricks; 2 dubs with 3 music score options, dirt cheap and blu-ray available if you want that. The biggest downside is the cropped 16:9 picture.

Am I happy with my Dboxs? Yes! Do I love the guide books they contain, yes indeed I do! But boy am I glad it is over.

So in short should I have gotten them? (Shrugs shoulders) Eh.? Thanks for all your input everyone and this thread can officially be closed down.

[PowerPhantom245]

Update:

I now have all seven US DBZ Dragon Boxes. So now I can say for sure that it was kind of Worth it. In short you get more out of the Orange bricks; 2 dubs with 3 music score options, dirt cheap and blu-ray available if you want that. The biggest downside is the cropped 16:9 picture.

Am I happy with my Dboxs? Yes! Do I love the guide books they contain, yes indeed I do! But boy am I glad it is over.

So in short should I have gotten them? (Shrugs shoulders) Eh.? Thanks for all your input everyone and this thread can officially be closed down.

Congratulations!
Such a shame other 2 series (original and GT) and movies (1~17) didn't get this release in US.
It's also frustrating that Toei has not plans to release remastered Blu-ray release for classic series as of this writing (2024), so that Crunchyroll can get that master to release in US, but that's another topic.

[MasenkoHA]

Update:

I now have all seven US DBZ Dragon Boxes. So now I can say for sure that it was kind of Worth it. In short you get more out of the Orange bricks; 2 dubs with 3 music score options, dirt cheap and blu-ray available if you want that. The biggest downside is the cropped 16:9 picture.

Am I happy with my Dboxs? Yes! Do I love the guide books they contain, yes indeed I do! But boy am I glad it is over.

So in short should I have gotten them? (Shrugs shoulders) Eh.? Thanks for all your input everyone and this thread can officially be closed down.

Congratulations!
Such a shame other 2 series (original and GT) and movies (1~17) didn't get this release in US.
It's also frustrating that Toei has not plans to release remastered Blu-ray release for classic series as of this writing (2024), so that Crunchyroll can get that master to release in US, but that's another topic.

Selecta Vision did a full blu-ray release of the original series so it's not like it can't be done without Toei

And literally at this point all I ask of a Dragon Ball blu-ray release is 1080p, 4:3 aspect ratio, and not to do the stupid disc overlapping each other crap the Bricks did (all of which I think would be assumed anyways) . I'm not even demanding broadcast audio and NEP and proper opening and ending animations, those would be just cherries on top

[GhostEmperorX]

I'm not even demanding broadcast audio and NEP and proper opening and ending animations, those would be just cherries on top

Which says a lot because elsewhere it's like the bare minimum.

[GTx10]

Og and GT getting a US released Dragon Box would be great. With all the DB content coming you'd think Funi/Crunchyroll would re-release the whole show in a mega box set. If the entire POwer Rangers series minus the last 3 seasons can get gigantic box sets why not Dragon Ball? Anyway, the US DBox's have the dvds on top of each other like the Bricks do.

I'm surprised that setup isn't liked, I thought it was the best way to hold the discs. Must places use cardboard sleeves or God forbid in Colombo's case the Dics are all lying on top of each in crunchy plastic casing that snaps and pops each day I open it. DB has the best DVD layout I've seen so far. Far better than the Godzilla Showa collection layout.

Dear Lord.

[PowerPhantom245]

Og and GT getting a US released Dragon Box would be great. With all the DB content coming you'd think Funi/Crunchyroll would re-release the whole show in a mega box set. If the entire POwer Rangers series minus the last 3 seasons can get gigantic box sets why not Dragon Ball? Anyway, the US DBox's have the dvds on top of each other like the Bricks do.

I'm surprised that setup isn't liked, I thought it was the best way to hold the discs. Must places use cardboard sleeves or God forbid in Colombo's case the Dics are all lying on top of each in crunchy plastic casing that snaps and pops each day I open it. DB has the best DVD layout I've seen so far. Far better than the Godzilla Showa collection layout.

Dear Lord.

It's because of Shout (and Lionsgate) had good relation with Saban Brands; whether people liked that era of Power Rangers (Samurai~Super Ninja Steel) or not, Saban did a lot to promote the show, especially for anniversary (20th and 25th) where they promoted a lots, such as DVD release with (almost) every episodes (MMPR~RPM, Samurai~Super Ninja Steel).

Dragon Ball, a franchise with bigger audience, should have gotten a better release, with correct aspect ratio and no DNR, but sadly, Funimation doesn't care about quality control, and stuck with what we have so far.

Funimation dropped the ball by not releasing original, GT, and movie, as Dragon Box release, since they could have easily piggy backed up from moment of last Z Box set release, to keep the momentum. Despite the limited release, it sold very well.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Well, we actually did kinda technically get the GT Dragon Box over here in the form of FUNi's original single discs/box sets, as the video source for those were more or less ported from an intermediate set of masters from before they had underwent the clean up process Pony Canyon did for the Dragon Box, as the singles preceded that by almost two years (the GT box didn't release in Japan until 2005) and if you look at image comparisons they look almost identical detail wise.

[PowerPhantom245]

Well, we actually did kinda technically get the GT Dragon Box over here in the form of FUNi's original single discs/box sets, as the video source for those were more or less ported from an intermediate set of masters from before they had underwent the clean up process Pony Canyon did for the Dragon Box, as the singles preceded that by almost two years (the GT box didn't release in Japan until 2005) and if you look at image comparisons they look almost identical detail wise.

Interesting.
I don't have singles of GT (I only have Green Brick and A Hero Legacy DVD), so I didn't know about that.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Well, we actually did kinda technically get the GT Dragon Box over here in the form of FUNi's original single discs/box sets, as the video source for those were more or less ported from an intermediate set of masters from before they had underwent the clean up process Pony Canyon did for the Dragon Box, as the singles preceded that by almost two years (the GT box didn't release in Japan until 2005) and if you look at image comparisons they look almost identical detail wise.

Interesting.
I don't have singles of GT (I only have Green Brick and A Hero Legacy DVD), so I didn't know about that.

Indeed, and if you compare the two they more or less mirror one another. The difference being that the masters FUNimation used were from an earlier stage of mastering pre DBox clean up, along with FUNi's DVD encoding/compression being les than perfect given the time they were made. Also unlike OG DB and DBZ it had the distinction of being the only release at the time of any of the original run to have the complete broadcast package on both ends due to being effectively the Dragon Box masters, and on the dub side it has the original GT dub presentation (with the laughably awful Step Into the Grand Tour rap song and Menza score) and the custom next episode previews reflecting the Japanese ones.

If you're picking up GT that's the version i recommend over the Green bricks if you can get a good deal, especially if you're able to grab the four box sets over the individual discs.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'd get the GT singles if there was a good deal on them, I bought most of the Z singles so may as well.

I have the UK green bricks though and happy enough with them. The singles don't look that much different, all things considered:

Single:


Green Brick:


Single:


Green Brick:


Single:


Green Brick:

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I'd get the GT singles if there was a good deal on them, I bought most of the Z singles so may as well.

I have the UK green bricks though and happy enough with them. The singles don't look that much different, all things considered:

Single:


Green Brick:


Single:


Green Brick:


Single:


Green Brick:

Indeed, as the Green Bricks (and the Blue boxes for OG DB) aren't all that bad looking as the noise removal wasn't nearly as destructive as it had been on the Orange Bricks but mostly on the Season 1 through 6 sets because by the time they got to the Buu arc in the last three sets is when the DNR process was toned down (the later parts of the arc look decent enough, aside from the widescreen crop. I'd have liked if the entire run was like that but with the original 4:3 AR) but for those who want the complete package especially for the Japanese version the singles/box sets really can't be beat from that aspect.