To my mind, Roan LD covers are the most sturdy, for some reason. You almost never find them with "expression" splits on the edges, and they seem to resist creases and even rub-wear better than any other covers. The cardboard quality is clearly a factor, and maybe the printed paper cover. Anyone have any info on why they hold up best over time?

Next sturdiest, in my mind, were those from MGM-UA. They show shelf-wear but rarely split.

Paramount's are the worst, especially their slipcases, which are extremely susceptible to cover creases and stress lines. Flimsy cardboard is the culprit there.

Do you have any best and worst candidates in the cover manufacturing field?




J

I'd say "Go Japanese". They make the best cover quality out there. There's a reason for that: they were mandated by law to sell audio/video in Japan only if it has been manufactured in Japan, both disk(s) and cover. That costs a lot more to use Japanese labor than cheaper alternatives somewhere else in Asia. They had to compensate for the increase of price with better quality, real booklets, better plastics and additional bonus (such as earlier release or the infamous "Japanese Bonus Tracks"). Importing US CDs has been a long standing issue (banning, bumping up the prices?) because they would sell at 1500/2000JPY when Japanese releases are typically priced at 3000JPY and above. CD Singles used to be priced at 1000JPY as there was no alternative to them.

Something else happened in the USA. Although the discs could be manufactured anywhere (USA/Europe/Asia), the covers had to be printed in the USA by law. You will often see different notices on US cover for "Disk manufactured in ... / Cover printed in...". It's regulated. And more often that not, they went for the cheapest they could get... forcing us to ship LDs outside of their cover if we don't want to get a spine-busted carnage on arrival.

Julien

For me it was some of the early discovision LD covers which came with a plastic coating on the actual card sleeve.
This made them waterproof, scuff resistant and tear resistant.

A good example is the Fleetwood Mac live documentary/concert in support of their Tusk Album:
http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/28717/74- ... cert-(1980)

Beware some issues of this same title did not come with the plastic coated top coat on the cover though so if you are a collector watch out for that.

My favorites are the sturdy ones that feel sort of like a thin hard bound children's book cover. Halloween Criterion (#247) would be an example.

The movie Analyze This(from Warner Bros) has a nice thick cover

Speaking of standard jackets, not boxes or anything like that, the Japanese covers are definitely preferable. I have, for one reason or another, a few anime discs in both US & Japanese editions, in which the same jacket design was used for both releases. Not only are the Japanese ones sturdier, they're smooth on the inside, without the "lip" American-made jackets typically have, which the inner sleeves & inserts have a nasty tendency of getting caught on.

Just have to echo the folks already weighing in.
Japanese gatefolds and jackets are hands down built to last.
Artwork,photo inserts,and obi strips also make for more of a "prize" on the shelves !
Seam "expression" tears are just so hard to love..........

Japanese sleeves are certainly stronger and thicker than European or US sleeves but they also seem to suffer from a phenomenon that other sleeves did not - sleeve rot!

I keep all my sleeves in polythene liners and never actually handle the covers. This solves the problem, however if the person who originally owned the LDs did not do likewise the first signs of sleeve rot may already be present. Fingerprints contain moisture and bacteria. If left on a card sleeve it is a breeding ground for mold and stains. Have you ever noticed that the only covers with brown blotches were Japanese sleeves? The same problem doesn't seem to happen with UK or US sleeves because they tend to have shiny surface finish which protects them whereas most of the Japanese sleeves do not. It may also be something to do with the material used to make the paper sleeves in Japan and the damp humid climate in Japan. Regardless it is a serious problem if you are collecting high end titles 30+ years old and want mint pure white sleeves.

This thread has explained a few things to me. I've always wonder why, in my search for used LDs in Junk shops and the like here in Japan, I come across so many laserdiscs with covers that look brand new, but almost all the covers of LDs I get on trade/pruchases from the states always have some dent or crease ect. on them.
Interesting stuff .

Condition of sleeves is also heavily influenced by the people who owned them originally.
The Japanese in general look after their items and are very careful when handling/storing them. I agree they generally arrive in better condition, particularly those direct from the true source - Japan.
I wish I could say the same about European and US citizens!
I had US LDs shipped to me with pizza stains on the inside of the sleeve at the opening....enough said!!

I admit I have never encountered this phenomenon. The only Japanese covers I have in bad condition are attributable to storage & handling, such as the El-Hazard box set which was nibbled on by mice in a warehouse.

I'd a similiar experience when I bought a little 8" LD from someone on Ebay and the cover had been nibbled to pieces by their pet rabbit!
They warned any potential buyers in the listing. I was just after the disc.

Very good thing these small creatures don't eat much !!! LOL ; ^ )

I recently received some LDs shipped in a used Pizza (delivery) box - you know the ones: cheap cardboard all greased up. And there was absolutely no packaging, not even a sheet of paper between the sleeve and the box.
I reckon I've received about 1k shipments for my different collections in the last 7 years, this was definitely one of the most shocking packaging methods ever. Got the discs themselves very cheap off eBay, but still ...
Oh btw: sent from Germany ...

Now, I did go around to a local pizza place & get a few clean, new 14" pizza boxes to ship small numbers of LDs in, with bubblewrap & so on, but the idea of dropping a disc "naked" into a used pizza box? Bizarre!

Actually clean pizza boxes are ideal for shipping laserdiscs. At one stage I was buying loads of LDs from a guy in South Korea who was sellling his entire music collection. He shipped all his discs in pizza boxes which had unique photographic artwork of different Korean people on the boxes. I think I've got an entire set of boxes from him in my garage which I kept as the boxes were really quite cool.

In the previous example I gave I think it was just a case of someone sitting down to watch a LD and eat a pizza at the same time.
The inner part of the sleeve had really obvious pizza stains from fingers that had not been cleaned. This had actually resulted in fungus spores on the inside of the sleeve.
It was probably a rented laserdisc and the person just didn't care. I cannot imagine anyone who collects laserdiscs doing this!

The most memorable incident I recall in relation to a laserdisc cover was when the postman arrived at my doorstep and handed me a normal LD parcel enclosed inside a thick polythene sealed bag with a large 'contaminated' sticker on it. The box was absolutely saturated with diesel fuel when it had arrived in the UK postal depot so had been wrapped in the outer bag so as not to contaminate other postal items.
The disc inside the parcel I had paid almost a $100 USD for so I was horrified about the state the parcel had arrived in. I opened the box and could see the diesel had seeped all the way the through the parcel but had not actually touched the laserdisc cover because it was sealed inside one of the self sealing wraps. I was able to remove the disc and it was absolutely mint with no damage. Moral of the story - always put discs inside a plastic wrap before shipping and also double box!

LOL yeah buy one get one free LOL it would save on money for boxes which would cost I’m sure a bit more than Pizza box and keep a little extra red peppers in the box for the buyer, he might feel hungry after opening up the box.

Interesting thread and I never gave much thought to the quality of the singles and gatefold Laserdisc covers.

I have looked at some and noticed some have thicker cardboard and some are less lose when starching the two sides of the cardboard.

The MGM cardboard looks good I have to say and I need plastic cover for my 2001: a space odyssey (ML102233) as its starting to get a little worn on the sides and needs preserving in plastic cover.

The Abyss cover is bit, this thread needs pictures and my camera is full and I have no new-card for the camera otherwise I ‘d try and get some good pictures.
I noticed some have folder cardboard on the inside this were the its glued on The Abyss cover and on the MGM cover its different. On the STAR WARS the phantom menace its the same as the MGM only (sorry my mistake) I took a deeper peek inside and it has lip that is folded in the middle of the cover only The Abyss is a different cover design, is that not right?
Grease THX DOLBY AC-3 Laserdisc cover is still in good nick and its got no plastic cover thou It really should have.

Cardboard tends to thin on some covers and thicker on few.

To me the best jackets are for Japanese releases. The jackets are sturdy, are tight (if you open them slightly they feel very tight), and the colors are more vibrant. Plus, you get an Obi strip. What's not to love?

MGM/UA had the best jackets in the U.S., especially the gatefolds. The discs even came in custom printed poly-lined paper sleeves.

STAY AWESOME!

By far the best covers I've come across were the ones made specifically for the LD release of The Vision of Escaflowne. The covers are textured so they have a sort of "hammered" feel to them and thus are thicker than normal.

And on top of that you get some pretty artwork from Nobuteru Yuuki adorning them!