I’m a big fan of The Wire and was looking to get the box set to re-watch all 5 seasons and loan it out to family members so they can finally see what I rave about. I was on Amazon committed to make the purchase when for kicks I decided to read the 1-star reviews. Almost uniformly the 1-star rating was directed at the packaging and durability of discs. They loved the show, but hated the packaging. Apparently there was some issue over being able to get the discs out of the sleeve without scratching it.
I know we have a lot of Wire lovers on these boards so before I drop $130 on this set, is there really an issue, or are those complaints based on clumsiness?
You could always transfer them into a small 24 disc CD-case.
Also, if there’s no rush, Amazon LOVES putting that box set on sale over the holidays. It’s currently $106. I bet it gets down to $75 on Black Friday week.
I bought one used off of Amazon for a good price (about $75-80 IIRC). Wasn’t in pristine shape (a bit squashed; it’s just cardboard) but the discs were all fine. I haven’t found the packaging to be any more or less annoying than other similar large box sets.
BTW the best-packaged box set I’ve ever bought was Angel. Organized by season and discs in traditional plastic holders as opposed to sleeves.
I’ve watched mine four or five times, and my daughter has watched twice. I’m not nuts about the packaging either but the discs are holding up fine. I just wish they’d been consistent with the packaging – I’m too lazy to look but I think the first three were in the flip thing and four and five are in individual sleeves.
My set has all five seasons in the flip style cases. My only issue is that getting the actual disks out can be interesting, as the middle part that you can press down doesn’t really want to release the disk. And won’t let go if you try pulling from the sides.
