Forum - View topicArtwork or Boxset?
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Aura Ichadora
 Posts: 2308 Location: In front of my computer |
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As I search through TRSI and such for different titles I want to purchase, I started to question my ideas and methods for purchasing titles I want. One such title is Tsubasa, particularly the first half.
Thanks to the Bargin Bin, I can get the entire first half, plus the artbox, for pretty cheap. I love this idea, since the artwork for Tsubasa is just so beautiful. However, I know that there is a Season One boxset available, when not on sale by Weekly Sale or Funi coupon code, for a few dollars more. I love this idea too, since getting this would save some room on my shelf for more anime and manga that I plan to order. But then my thoughts turned this, and sadly this isn't the only series I'm thinking this about: should I sacrifice getting the artwork of the singles to get the boxset, or spend possibly the extra to get the artwork for the original releases? Not all collections are going to get the same "art" treatment when going to "complete" or boxset collections, which really makes me sad. Examples I'll give are the Nanaka 6/17 and King of Bandits Jing Complete Collections. When Nanaka 6/17 was released, the cover was new, and the DVDs were just simply done in a pink/purple shade with the original name of the release title (i.e. Nanaka vs. Nanaka! for the third DVD). King of Bandits Jing had the 4th DVD's cover instead of a new cover, and the DVDs inside had the other three original releases as their artwork, so to speak. Now if all boxsets had the same treatment as Jing, I'd be happy, but since I know not all of them aren't, it doesn't bode well with me and my love for an anime's artwork. So what do you think, as your personal thought as well? Do you go for boxsets for cases of space, convenience, price, etc.? Or do you try and buy singles and artboxs for the artwork to try and round out that collection and make it look "pretty"? |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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I go for whatever is complete while being the cheapest, singles or in a boxset doesn't matter.
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kyokun703
 Posts: 2505 Location: Orgrimmar |
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I will go for the cheapest as well. However, if the price is pretty close, like only a few dollars, I will go for whichever is prettier. I just did this with Eureka 7 so I could get the two artboxes over the upcoming, much thinner Anime Legends set.
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2094 |
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It depends. Of the artboxes I have so far, I bought because:
-Baccano, It's BACCANO, a series this excellent demands an artbox, plus only 4 singles makes it easy on the wallet -Darker than Black, I really liked this one, and I want at least one BONES (my favorite studio) anime in artbox-form. I felt the artbox spine could've been better, but I'm overally happy with it -Evangelion movies, my favorite mecha series, and the image of Kaworu in front of spoiler[Lilith (I think, it's been a while)] was just great-looking -Gurren Lagann, one of my favorite mecha titles, and the artbox is just amazing-looking. The 3rd LE has the soundtrack, so overall good call here -Last Exile, singles + artbox were in Rightstuf's bargain bin, and the artbox was very good-looking, plus the series is excellent, so this was a no-brainer -Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, kinda the "everyone has this artbox" of collections, but for me personally, I just loved this series and had to own the artbox. Though I'm different, I prefer displaying the "band" side instead of the "three girls handing out flyers" side -Paranoia Agent, boxset IS an artbox, and I have no complaints, a great series so I'm glad to have it in artbox form However, I won't panic if I don't own a series in artbox form. I love Evangelion, for example, but am fine with my Platinum collection. It's a matter of what is easily available to buy and how much I like the artbox images in question. Also the quality of the series is important, for example I personally felt the Tsubasa anime (the seasons, not the OVAs) was a poor representation of the excellent manga, so I'm fine with just a boxset of that. I have all the singles for Samurai Champloo and Tweeny Witches, but didn't get the artbox since the store didn't carry them when I bought the singles. The artboxes will be bought eventually though. Future artboxes I plan to get are Code Geass, Gundam Seed, and Gundam 00 (well, I assume it will eventually have an artbox, hopefully Bandai is just planning to start doing "ender boxes"). In terms of space issues, it won't be a concern once I get a new shelf for my birthday, then I won't have to worry about space for a while. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7361 |
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I usually want to go for space saving, but that comes after money saving if the two conflict.
But I've still gotten a few artboxes: Mushi-shi: first artbox I think I got, I kept the insert thing in the middle and use it as a spacer on my shelf. The thinpack has decent artwork on it to be fair, but I don't think they can compete with the artwork on the singles. Last Exile: it has the first 6 discs in it and I had a good amount of store credit to use at Suncoast, so I got it since they also had the last disc. I don't think it's that pretty of an artbox and it came with a mouse pad (which I find to be a worthless extra), so it was because of price. Gurren Lagann: Always wanted to get a series entirely in LE and with Best Buy's half off sale, it was a must. And yeah, it's totally awesome too. It's as sexy as the series is for me, now I just need to get the last one, I must have the CD soundtrack! Kurau: TRSI's bargain bin reasoning. It's not too bad looking, the problem here is that the series severely let me down and now I'm having trouble ridding myself of it. And I have a few that came with series singles, like Outlaw Star and Noein. The Southern Cross/Genesis Climber Mospeada double pack kinda counts too I guess, even if they both have their own thickpacks inside of it. The one artbox I wish had gotten in retrospect would most certainly be the one for Cromartie High School, I got the first manga cus it had a series demo thing in it, but I didn't want to get the artbox afterwards cus I didn't think I needed two copies of the same manga. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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I couldn't care less about the artwork. If singles/boxsets all came in clear plastic cases, it wouldn't bother me in the least bit.
It's about the DVD, not the artwork, for me. If I wanted art, I sure as heck wouldn't limit myself to postage-sized pictures. For that, I'll find originals and framed. Larger, better quality, and not shoved away into a box. I'm sure people enjoy the art, and that's okay, but it seems rather silly given the art is shoved away, not viewable until the DVD is pulled out. As for the singles purchase, I started doing this a month ago. TRSI definitely has some fantastic deals on the singles, which is way too good to pass up. I've purchased about 5 singles collections this way, saving over $70. Hell, yeah, baby! Of course, I then took that savings and bought more, so in the end, I really didn't "save" anything money wise. I sure did improve my collection, though. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24564 |
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Price and space are my prime considerations. If buying the bargain bin singles saves me a wad of cash vs. buying a box set, I'll take the hit in terms of losing shelf space. My ideal situation is when a box set cover kicks ass, like my version of Desert Punk. It's a gorgeously done tin box that gives me a little thrill every time I see it. But PJ is right...artwork is nice, but most people store their DVDs with only the spine showing, so unless you pull it out, it remains hidden anyway.
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Aura Ichadora
Posts: 2308 Location: In front of my computer |
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Everyone has a good point. I guess I think about the artwork from a graphic designer's point-of-view.
I definitely have a lot more to consider when it comes to purchasing my anime, and not just because I'm focused on my love for art.  Thank you for your thoughts.
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doctordoom85
Posts: 2094 |
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Well, when I say "good-looking", I generally mean the spine that IS always visible on the shelf. I've even sacrificed shelf space to display the side I like more, for example, with Noein (which I forgot to list in my previous post), I display the front with all the characters on it since it's better-looking even though it sacrifices an additional 3-single-size space, and with Last Exile, I display the side showing Claus and Lavi, though this only sacrifices 1-single-size space. That being said, I did decide to already order the Heroic Age sets instead of waiting because I love the front covers so much. So I guess I'm guilty of this too. |
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JacobC
ANN Past Staff
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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I do this, too. Originally, my plan was to be a weird collector who only had boxsets and singles and didn't have any artboxes, buuuut I've stumbled across a rare few that were cheaper than their boxset counterparts, weird. (Ryvius, Gunslinger Girl, Fruits Basket, GTO...) So yeah, I'm a cheapskate. Despite the cool art on some of the Bebop releases, I still traded in my few singles of the show for the UGLY Bandai brick. 
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zawa113
Posts: 7361 |
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Hmm, I've never actually considered doing this before for some reason, except for the Mushi-shi insert artbox which I display with the pic on either side showing (whatever fits my mood), but all of my DVDs have always been spine out. Now that I actually have a few artboxes, I should consider this. Luckily with Gurren Lagann, the most space saving side is probably the coolest, but that's not normal I realise. |
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ClocktowerKyon
 Posts: 36 |
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Unless the price of singles drop significantly, I'll always buy the Boxset and not the Artbox. As others said, it depends on cost, conent, and shelf space:
Cost: The less it costs, the more I'll likely buy it. Unless Content is really high and worth the price. For example, a $50 boxset for 13 episodes is more likely to end up as Xmas shopping. But, a $70 boxset for 26 episodes seems like more of a bargain to me. Shelf Space: If an artbox contains more than 3 DVDs, then it's likely going to take up more shelf space than a boxset. |
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The King of Harts
 Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
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With this recent spree of box sets that have unfavorable packaging (Funi thinkpaks and stack packs) and stripping of extras I tend to find myself searching for singles and art boxes more often than box sets. If it's a re-license or a rescue I look for the originals because....I don't know really. Shelf space is never a concern of mine because I built my shelf and if I need more room I can simply build another one. Also, artwork is never a worry because I could care less who or what's on the cover as long as it plays well.
It basically boils down to: what kind of packaging does the box set have and does it retain it's original extras? Of course cost plays a HUGE part, but I assumed that was a given. |
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