What's your most recent Dragonball purchase?

[Tyro]

So, assuming I didn't just get ripped off big-time, my Dragon Ball DVD-collection should be complete in just a few days!!

I so did not get ripped off big-time. Quite the contrary, this turned out to be such an investment that I almost can't properly describe it...
(snip)
(The Tenkaichi Budokai figurine set came with it too... But I didn't feel like assembling that so here's some pics of just the box.)
This thing isn't just in "good" condition... It actually seems like it's never even been taken out of the box. I just got a Dragon Box in mint condition for only a quarter of the retail price! And now I have the entire Dragon Ball TV-series! (<- Emoticon that utterly fails to convey the awesomeness of this fact.)

Wow, that sounds like a steal. If you don't mind me asking, where from and how much? I don't know the retail value of a Dragon Ball DragonBox so "a quarter" of that means diddly to me.

[Roland_ELoG]

The video quality is worse than I even thought was possible for DVD.

How bad is it? Can you get some screenshots of the Pioneer DVDs?

Certainly. I'm sure Mike put up some of his DVD at some point in history, but here's a few from Arrival. I skipped episode 1 since that one looks pretty rough in almost every version.


Jeezus. Well first thing's first, let's deinterlace it.


Much better.

Basically there is damage in almost every frame. It's super grainy, but that's just how film works, and I think grain is a good look for Dragon Ball Z. I haven't noticed much in the way of macroblocking, and the footage isn't too dark. Mostly it's just the omnipresent film damage that keeps blinking in your peripheral vision like a needy cat.




Here's a comparison of four frames over about a second.



EDIT: And no, I don't know why VLC defaults to 720 x 540. I tested it in MPC and it correctly identified 480 NTSC. VLC deinterlaces better though so... blagh.

[Vegard Aune]

Wow, that sounds like a steal. If you don't mind me asking, where from and how much? I don't know the retail value of a Dragon Ball DragonBox so "a quarter" of that means diddly to me.

Amazon Japan. About 25 000 yen. It was like, the second cheapest copy they had there. (Why didn't I go for the cheapest one? Because from what I could tell, the description mentioned something about some of the discs potentially being scratched. That's kind of a huge detractor, wouldn't you say?)

[Im insaneFromEarth]

Well, I just got from Amzon the first two DBZ dvd box sets. I have all of the DBZ box sets on VHS tapes but I want them all of dvd. I know I might be wasting my money on the first release of the anime, but it's what I grew up on.

[Tyro]

My Daizenshuu #6-7 arrived today with #10 on the way. I was a little excited.

[Roland_ELoG]

Well, I just got from Amzon the first two DBZ dvd box sets. I have all of the DBZ box sets on VHS tapes but I want them all of dvd. I know I might be wasting my money on the first release of the anime, but it's what I grew up on.

The Pioneer DVD sets? They're a pretty nice trip down memory lane, and why else do you buy old TV shows if not nostalgia?

[Im insaneFromEarth]

Well, I just got from Amzon the first two DBZ dvd box sets. I have all of the DBZ box sets on VHS tapes but I want them all of dvd. I know I might be wasting my money on the first release of the anime, but it's what I grew up on.

The Pioneer DVD sets? They're a pretty nice trip down memory lane, and why else do you buy old TV shows if not nostalgia?

Yes thos two. The rest will be the Funimation ones. That is true, even tho I still have all of thos on VHS I need them on dvd. Good memorys.

[The Time Traveller]

Well, my first two movie packs arrived, and I'm already up to Movie 7.

Also noticed that Collection One has movies that have the Saiyan/Freeza arc character designs, Collection Two has all the movies that use the Artificial Humans/Cell arc designs and Collection Three obviously has the movies that use the Boo arc designs! So it's actually kind of interesting the way they were split up.

Also YesAsia says Dragon Ball SD is in stock, I was afraid that that would delay my Battle of Gods DVD, but they're still waiting for Battle of Gods to come in stock...

[Metalwario64]

Basically there is damage in almost every frame. It's super grainy, but that's just how film works, and I think grain is a good look for Dragon Ball Z.

It's not film. Until the Season Sets, FUNimation used digibeta tape masters for all of their series (and still do for GT and DB). That's mostly why it looks so bad.

I still love the Pioneer discs out of nostalgia though, and I think they look better than the Rock the Dragon set simply because the latter has really terrible looking blurring on the footage in random patches.

[snaku]

Ordered the Battle of Gods HK Blu-ray from Play Asia. I still haven't seen the movie, and have kept myself fairly unspoiled. Hopefully the English subtitles aren't too bad.

[Roland_ELoG]

Basically there is damage in almost every frame. It's super grainy, but that's just how film works, and I think grain is a good look for Dragon Ball Z.

It's not film. Until the Season Sets, FUNimation used digibeta tape masters for all of their series (and still do for GT and DB). That's mostly why it looks so bad.

I still love the Pioneer discs out of nostalgia though, and I think they look better than the Rock the Dragon set simply because the latter has really terrible looking blurring on the footage in random patches.

So the damage wasn't on the film, it was on the digibeta tapes? I always just assumed the tapes were made FROM damaged film. Huh.

[Metalwario64]

Basically there is damage in almost every frame. It's super grainy, but that's just how film works, and I think grain is a good look for Dragon Ball Z.

It's not film. Until the Season Sets, FUNimation used digibeta tape masters for all of their series (and still do for GT and DB). That's mostly why it looks so bad.

I still love the Pioneer discs out of nostalgia though, and I think they look better than the Rock the Dragon set simply because the latter has really terrible looking blurring on the footage in random patches.

So the damage wasn't on the film, it was on the digibeta tapes? I always just assumed the tapes were made FROM damaged film. Huh.

The damage is from the film, but the extra graininess and quality loss is from the tapes.

[Roland_ELoG]

Ah okay, makes sense.

Yeah I figured the scratches and weird marks were film artifacts.

[eledoremassis02]

Ended up getting these today


Not too bad overall (knowing what the flaws are)

However....has anyone else notice ink problems?

[Metalwario64]

Looks like Roshi nosebled ink all over those pages.

[eledoremassis02]

Looks like Roshi nosebled ink all over those pages.

That was my first thought!!

Is there any direct way to contact VIZ about this? All I can find is mail in contact

[medama_oyaji]

Wow, that is seriously horrible. The 3-in-1's just get worse and worse.

[Im insaneFromEarth]

Ended up getting these today


Not too bad overall (knowing what the flaws are)

However....has anyone else notice ink problems?

Wow, nice. But ya it looks like a nose bleed lol. hmmm I don't know, maybe you can message them on Facebook. Or maybe you can E-Mail them on the web site.

[dodge2461]

Ended up getting these today


Not too bad overall (knowing what the flaws are)

However....has anyone else notice ink problems?

Wow, nice. But ya it looks like a nose bleed lol. hmmm I don't know, maybe you can message them on Facebook. Or maybe you can E-Mail them on the web site.

I hope this is an isolated issue. I own both, and my copies don't have any of that.

Seriously, did nobody check the books and make sure they were okay? If it was one or two drops on the side of the page, fine. But when it blocks dialogue, than it's defective in my book.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Good lord, I hope that's something that just somehow happened to your particular copy (though it sucks that you ended up with one like that), rather than something that's in a lot of them. I'm betting too that you can see those ink splatters through the next page super easily too, given how thin the paper already is.