Open Or Sealed? The Debate

[JLSTF]

How many people open their Steelbooks when they buy them or do you just leave them sealed.

So far i have 13 Steelbooks and have opened 3 i opened Angels and Demons,Inglorious Bastards and District 9.

I fear if i open my pirates and nightmare before christmas ones i will have to modify them to be able to put the discs in and not have them in a sleeve

 

[pmwhelan]

Thread needs a poll.

 

[Parkman]

I've only ever cracked open one SB in a moment of weakness (), Iron-Man 1 + 2.

If I want to see the film, I rent.

I guess I'm the other type of collector, minty mint and sealed

How do you know they are minty mint if they are sealed.

 

[smileyx9]

Open steelbook is the best steelbook. Not majority of people here agree with this I think.

I agree with you-lenticular Steels look much better open then sealed

 

[EastCoast]

Virtually all my steelbooks are currently sealed (other than a couple I purchased or traded for which were open), but I do intend to open most of them. Haven't had a lot of time for watching any movies, with a couple of small children around.

I leave them sealed until I am ready to watch, at which point I will open. This also gives me greater flexibility should I choose to trade or sell any steel, as most people at that point want them sealed.

I do this with all the movies I purchase, not just steelbooks, especially now with 3D titles, where I might buy the movie on/near release day in the regular amaray version (sometimes with lenticular slip) not watch it right away, but then it gets released in an awesome steelbook format somewhere. So maybe I return or sell that regular-cased version.

Early on in my collecting, I bought a Disney film (not steelbook), and my wife opened it right away, even though we had no thought to watching it anywhere near that particular time - I almost had a heart-attack!!

Now I ensure that every title/case I bring in the house I personally place in the media cabinet without her touching it

 

[PunkNinja]

I open my steels if the disc is loose and if I don't have a copy of the film in a regular amaray so I can watch the movie. I don't buy doubles, don't sell, only for the love of collecting.

 

[SillentWolf]

Mostly I let the Steals sealed, or if they are open .. I put them in those plastic Poly Sleeves to protect the Steelbooks. I Don't watch a lot of movie, due to heavy Tinnitus/Minere, that get worse everytime (and some eye problems). So you can imagine I don't always have the need to watch a movie. So I mainly collect them now.
But I do have a Girl and daughter who watch more then I do.

 

[punking]

For me the movie is king. I only buy blu-rays that I want to watch. I like the steelbook covers but if the film is only available in a crabby case then I'll get that.

So I always open them.

Hell, I even buy DVDs if I know there's no chance in hell of it ever getting a blu-ray release.

 

[themanfromunkle]

The Steelbook copies I buy replace the normal copies I have. For example, when I picked up the Steelbook Blu-ray of Monsters Inc, I sold my DVD copy of it. When I picked up Wall-E on Steelbook Blu-ray, I sold my normal Blu-ray copy.

I open them up and watch them. I'm just careful when I open them, and put the case onto a smooth surface.

At some point, I'll address the issues with # of slots vs # of discs, but I figure if I'm buying a movie, I watch it and enjoy it. It does nothing sitting on my shelf sealed.

I'm the same-I have a list of dvd stuff I want to get rid of as I would not watch again, then stuff on dvd I will watch but is not worth upgrading-then stuff I will sell or have sold on dvd that I will upgrade to Blu ray. The criterion collection is a prime example of all 3 occasions-personally if I buy something I haven't seen yet I don't open the steel book-if it's something I've seen-the shrink wrap comes off when delivered and I watch it that night

on a personal note if I buy 2 copies-one to keep, one to sell- I will sell the better looking copy so as not to annoy any buyers out there-call it professional courtesy...

---------- Post added at 08:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:02 PM ----------

I used to work for Virgin & HMV-you tend to accumulate a lot of s&*%e-a collectable does nothing sealed, sitting on a shelf or in storage-as nice as some of the steelbook blu rays are you have to open them & watch them-defeats the object of buying them-years from now I really don't want people to find my skeleton in my room surrounded by unopened blu rays-that would be uber creepy!

 

[Smisla]

I collect UK steelbooks of films I like. Open, watch them and protect them. They're too nice to leave sealed. Don't get having 100+ steelbooks sealed.

On the hunt for Drive.

 

[pd13159]

Of my collection all of them are open except for the two which I haven't got round to watching yet. Generally I open them straight away to check they are in good condition under the cardboard and then poly them up. They tend to get watched within a week too. If I've seen the film before and it looks all ok externally I might leave them sealed until I want to watch it. My Zero Dark 30 will prob stay sealed until I can get a UK disc to swap into it and I really can't decide about my Jack Reacher, it'll probably be opened pretty sharpish though.

 

[Detronpower]

For me it has to be sealed sadly, it's like collecting most things really always seem to be more desirable sealed, I have to admit I bought The Dark Knight Rises and watched it and then sat looking at it thinking I should never have opened it so I bought another to leave sealed, please don't judge me

 

[Steelers629]

I just got into this hobby but I open all mine. I don't want to have to get another version just to be able to watch the movie

 

[SlimJim24]

I'm a mix between the two. But if you're not rich I suggest only buying to open. Stay away from the "grails" cause it just becomes ridiculous.

I only buy JP steels for the most part now to keep sealed. But even that I've kinda stopped. Special editions have been more my style recently. Just more of a product than steels and quite often the same price.

Oh well. JP steels will always have a special place in my collection

 

[serjitank]

Am I in the minority when I say I don't care about keeping steels shrink wrapped?

For instance, if I got my hands on a copy of a Thor or Iron Man steelbook, I would open it without a second thought. To me, keeping it sealed implies you care about the monetary value of it (which is fine if you do) but I put my on value on it.

Thoughts?

---------- Post added at 10:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 AM ----------

Please excuse the flag... for some reason I thought I needed to pick one..

 

[snooloui]

I open all mine but I would never spend a fortune to buy a sealed version of a rare Steelbook. If I needed a copy of Thor, I would source an open one. You never know what's hiding behind those J-cards, it's not worth risking £100+ in case it is damaged.

 

[Scarface]

Yeah I open all of mine, I'm not bothered about keeping them sealed for value reasons, even opened there still going to be worth something anyway,and If you open them you can actually watch them too lol, I just like how you can have a movie in a nice edition like a steelbook and its also great if its limited as that just adds to it.

 

[justboy]

I open all mine but I would never spend a fortune to buy a sealed version of a rare Steelbook. If I needed a copy of Thor, I would source an open one. You never know what's hiding behind those J-cards, it's not worth risking £100+ in case it is damaged.

I have to agree with you.
I open all of mine too, which it makes it slightly cheaper getting an opened steel on ebay.

I don't really see the point in spending loads on a grail, then be unable to appreciate it by keeping it wrapped. If it's a case of only having it to resale later, might as well keep it in a safe and never look at it.

 

[iheartsteel]

All mine are open or are on the to be opened pile I relatively new to Blu-Ray in general. Didn't think my tv could produce such a nice picture! So all mine get opened to watch them. I really like getting some older classic's that I haven't seen in a while too. Makes the films worth watching again!

The most expensive Steels I have purchased are Iron 1 and 2. Both got instantly opened and took those nasty glued on cards off! Gotta appreciate the back art

 

[Grifter2099]

I open them all.. cant watch the movie otherwise
and ive only kept 2 j cards .. uk skyfall and uk life of pi

 

[karl01]

Yeah i open all mine i also only buy cheap steelbooks i sold all my rare editions for me its not worth keeping a steelbook on a shelf wrapped up.