Occassionally I purchase a LaserDisc not listed in the Database. In those instances I add them to the Database.

I have a different situation this time; two titles allready in the Database. Mint-O-Matic is unable to determine the manufacturing facility. I've entered the video master numbers and the batch numbers mint marks but your software is unable to determine the production facility. Maybe somone here knows the answer to this mystery.

The titles are:
Area 88: Acts 1&2; Japanese release, King Video; K28KL-10001
Area 88: Act 3; Japanese release, King Video; K98L-1009

Thanks,

STAY AWESOME!

It's not 100% foolproof. I will say, my impression is that the early King releases may have been pressed by some facility we don't know about. Do the master numbers on yours appear to have been scratched by hand into the master using some kind of sharp implement?

SAMPLES:

Area 88: Acts 1 & 2
KING-4-A-1-A (Hand Eteched) A6040763 (Machine Stamped)
KING-4-B-1-A (Hand Eteched) B6040640 (Machine Stamped)

Area 88 Act 3
K98L-1009-A02-P 4B191527 (Machine Stamped)
K98L-1009-B01-P 4B181527 (Machine Stamped)

Mint Marks for Area 88 Act 3 seem to indicate Pioneer Japan.
Mint Marks for Area 88 Acts 1&2 MIGHT also indicate Pioneer Japan, but I'm not sure.

STAY AWESOME!

How did you enter the 2nd set in the mint-o-matic? It finds Pioneer Japan instantly...

And you can put Pioneer Japan on the first one too (The KING-... gives it away).

Julien

I've submited an update on Area 88 Act 1 & 2 with Pioneer Japan as the manufacturer. I didn't know that "KING" was a giveway for Pioneer Japan.

STAY AWESOME!

How about this Mint Mark?

DLZ-0140-A1 and DLZ-0140-B1
These mint marks were scratched in on the Japanese release of "More". The Jacket says "Manufactured and distributed by Daiei Co. LTD. Tokyo".
I'm guessing old Pioneer because it also has the Pioneer style sequence number stamped in 4A010477
I know I'm getting old. I had to scan the hub of the disc in at 1200 dpi and zoom until I could read it

I'm quite sure that would be Pioneer Japan indeed.

Julien

Which part of the above example denotes Pioneer Japan? Which part of the example below denotes Pioneer Japan?

KING-4-A-1-A (Hand Eteched) A6040763 (Machine Stamped)
KING-4-B-1-A (Hand Eteched) B6040640 (Machine Stamped)

The Mint Marks from these two examples don't appear to be formated the same. What am I missing (besides my sanity. lol).

STAY AWESOME!

Pioneer USA is using an internal master numbering, Pioneer Japan and Kurary (with the -K) are more likely to use the LD reference (DLZ-0140 and KING-4) as a master mint marking. Also Japan had more occurrences of numbering etched manually on the discs than USA.

It's not bulletproof but it's a just more likely to be Pioneer Japan.

Julien

Good day guys,

I also have a number of titles that I couldn't find on LDDB, but maybe I need to search a little harder.

Once I get more time and things finished at home then I will try again.

Julien,

Thanks for the info. I can use all the info I can get.

STAY AWESOME!

What I do is I first search by catalog refrence number. If there is no match I try searching by title, checking the refrence numbers to what is on my copy. Sometimes Warner Home Video would issue a remastered version (or simply another batch made off of the previous master) adding LV or A/B after the catalog number. In those cases I'll make an update, because they will usually have a different set of mint marks, even if it's just the batch number that's different.

As I have dyslexia (not to mention ADHD) I'll sometimes type in a shorter version of the title. For example, If I'm searching for "The Compleat Beatles" (which WAS released on both CED and LaserDisc) I'd type in "Beatles" if "The Compleat Beatles" had no match (it actually does - just an example), becase 'Compleat' is usually spelt 'Complete' in the USA.

Other examples are when a title is made up of a word typically spelled differently here than in the U.K. In such cases I'll try 'Labour' instead of 'Labor,' 'Colour' instead of 'Color,' 'Harbour' instead of 'Harbor,' etc.

I'll then try searching by UPC code. If I still haven't found it, I'll go ahead and submit it for Julien.

STAY AWESOME!

Hello cessnaace,

Morning from the UK,

Thank you for the advice and I will try the catalog reference numbers next time I look, but to be honest I am sure that I have done this with some as it's the obvious thing to check.

Sincere Regards