Jewel cases broke my spirit

[Scott Dolan]

But how are they supposed to secure it if not with shrink wrap? 

I can unwrap a CD in a matter of seconds, so I don't see why it's something to gripe about.

Now, if you want to gripe about those bubble packs that way too many things come in these days that require a hacksaw, jackhammer, and scalpel to open, I'm right there with you. 

[BFrank]

11 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

But how are they supposed to secure it if not with shrink wrap? 

I can unwrap a CD in a matter of seconds, so I don't see why it's something to gripe about.

Now, if you want to gripe about those bubble packs that way too many things come in these days that require a hacksaw, jackhammer, and scalpel to open, I'm right there with you. 

Just adding that to my other gripes about jewel cases. 

Glad you like them, Dolan!  

[Scott Dolan]

I prefer digipaks, but I'm cool with jewels too. 

I do hate cardboard slipcases, though. It seems every one of them is one size too small for the disc it contains. 

Edited December 14, 2015 by Scott Dolan

[BFrank]

16 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

I prefer digipaks, but I'm cool with jewels too. 

I do hate cardboard slipcases, though. It seems every one of them is one size too small for the disc it contains. 

Agreed - that "one size too small" thing is an issue, too.
You'd think that after about 30 years of CD production they'd have it figured out by now.

[Scott Dolan]

Right? 

Some of those damn things had me wondering, "do I really want to listen to this disc THAT bad?!"

 

[BFrank]

2 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

Right? 

Some of those damn things had me wondering, "do I really want to listen to this disc THAT bad?!"

 

If they're worried about the disk falling out, just put it in a slipcase like an album. Which is what they should have done from the beginning - why change the packaging at all?

[Scott Dolan]

But that's the problem. That's what they thought they were doing!

ESP got it right with the Spiritual Unity packaging, but most others have failed miserably. And in some of those cases they DID have the slip cover included. 

I wish I could recall what release it was, but I had one that I actually fucking RIPPED the slip cover trying to remove it from the cardboard sleeve. Another I wrinkled all to hell trying to get it back IN the cardboard cover...

Either way, epic fail. 

Give me a jewel everyday over that bullshit. 

[mjzee]

So many things I dislike about jewel cases:

- Teeth breaking

- Teeth so tight it's near impossible to extricate the disc

- The hinges breaking, leaving you with an unattached cover

- The residual glue on the jewel case after removing the labels, which always afterwards gets stuck to a digipak

- The difficulty of removing the booklet!  Not always, but on enough releases to really rankle.

- And, of course, their size, which usually leads to a booklet printed with 2-pt type.

In hindsight, a great answer would have been to retain the 12-inch cardboard cover, but to insert a plastic tray holding the CD.

[Stefan Wood]

Let's not forget at one time the jewel cases had thicker and more durable plastic.  Then they cheapened it by making them thinner.

[gmonahan]

Years ago, Mosaic sold (or gave away?!) a cool little gadget for opening jewel cases.  Has a tiny blade.  Just slide it along one side, and the plastic comes off.  Wouldn't lose that little treasure for nuttin'!

 

 

gregmo

[Scott Dolan]

Yeah, see? Same concept as my fingernail trick!

[duaneiac]

1 hour ago, gmonahan said:

Years ago, Mosaic sold (or gave away?!) a cool little gadget for opening jewel cases.  Has a tiny blade.  Just slide it along one side, and the plastic comes off.  Wouldn't lose that little treasure for nuttin'!

 

 

gregmo

The online version of Tower Records, which existed after the Tower stores closed, gave away those little things with purchases.  I have two or three of them and they are very helpful and get the job done easily.

[medjuck]

8 minutes ago, duaneiac said:

The online version of Tower Records, which existed after the Tower stores closed, gave away those little things with purchases.  I have two or three of them and they are very helpful and get the job done easily.

I paid for mine (25 cents?) at a brick and mortar Towers. 

[BFrank]

I could use one of those. My fingernail isn't sharp enough.

[JSngry]

You just need a knife or something to get a rip started. Once you get that little tear, the rest takes care of itself.

A really good weak spot is on the vertical side, the one that opens. There's usually a bit of a recess there that is super easy to rip into.

But, you now, there's so many more things to use a knife for, things that are essentially knife-centric, like cleaning your fingernails or gutting squirrels. Why you want to waste good knife time on opening CDs, right?

[Scott Dolan]

4 hours ago, BFrank said:

I could use one of those. My fingernail isn't sharp enough.

My fingernails aren't sharp either. They're just regular ol' fingernails. 

[crisp]

On 15 December 2015 at 0:57 AM, mjzee said:

- The difficulty of removing the booklet!  Not always, but on enough releases to really rankle.

I've always stored the booklets upside down so the spine is facing the opening of the case. They are easy to remove that way. Having battled to remove it the first time I don't want to do it again.

Re the cardboard long-boxes, someone told me once they were so US stores could display them in the same racks designed for LPs. Two rows could be fitted in one rack, side by side. We never had them in the UK so when the US chain Tower Records opened in Piccadilly they used to open the jewel cases and re-house them in tough plastic long boxes to store in their LP racks. You had to use shears to get these cases open; there was no other way.

[rockefeller center]

On 12/18/2015 at 11:48 AM, Scott Dolan said:

My fingernails aren't sharp either. They're just regular ol' fingernails. 

YT tutorial please.

[Scott Dolan]

On how I open jewel cases?