Many of us here (including me) bitch about the variations of cheap cardboard disc packaging that tends to either scratch discs or coat them with glue. In fact the cardboard packaging is so likely to scratch discs, that 99% of the time if i see one in pawn shop, thrift store, etc; I will NOT buy it for my business because the disc will be all but destroyed.

As I was reminded today, I've also had significant problems with jewelcase & dvd case packaging; & it never seems to happen with cheap discs!

The serious problems (I really don't care about cracked cases) are when taking a disc out of the case (or in the case of the DREADFUL old style DCC/MFSL cases shutting the case) cracks the disc in half.

I've had this happen with at least 4 or 5 MFSL gold discs, & oddly the thin double cases that Mosaic uses have have a tendency to hold the disc too tightly & break the disc in half when pulling it out. This has ONLY happened to me on the regular thin double cases with Mosaic (i.e. not with any other company in that style of case). The "good" news is if it happens on a set I bought new from Mosaic, they've always replaced the discs (this has happened to me several times). But I've also bought quite a few Mosaic sets used on ebay, I've also had several of those discs break, & as they weren't broken when they arrived, it's certainly not the seller's fault. It doesn't feel fair to ask Mosaic to deal with it. So I get screwed. If I'm LUCKY, someone will have uploaded the disc to the internet, & if I'm real lucky, it won't be as an MP3.

Off the top of my head, the following MFSL discs have broken in half on me when I shut the case: 1 of the 2 from Eric Clapton Just One Night, one of the 2 from Todd Rundgren Something Anything, Nirvana Nevermind & Johnny Winter Second Winter are the ones I remember immediately. I think there are one or 2 more.

Mosaic sets I've had issues with that I bought used include the Bix Beiderbecke Brunswick, Buddy Rich Emarcy Verve, & the Bunny Berrigan Brunswick. On the boxes I purchased new, I know either 1 or 2 of the Ellington boxes & 1 other had issues (it may have been more; that's what I remember); but again at least Mosaic replaced the broken discs (which is wwhy I can't tell for certain which they are!). And they don't usually break the first time out of the case (though I've had that happen also). It may happen on the 5th play or the 10th. I.E., whoever is manufacturing Mosaic's jewelcases is doing a really bad job. I'm really hesitant to say it's me; as I have hundreds of this style of case, & it's only happened in cases I got with Mosaic titles.

I have the Tori Amos Official Bootleg set. Because it comes in crappy cardboard packaging, I put the discs in a 10 dvd box set case. Today, when removing disc #2 of Chicago, it cracked in half. I was very lucky to find a used "Like new" copy of this out of print set for $13 shipped on ebay. Of course, due to the cardboard packaging I'll find out just what "like new" means in this case...........

And people wonder why I'm becoming more & more in favor of eliminating discs & ripping to hard drives (with redundant back ups, as hard drives go bad too).

I blame the labels, the FACT is they designed all of the various forms of packaging. I don't know what the solution is, but I'm not manufacturing the product so it isn't my job to know. I do know that at least the Japan record companies use the quality rice paper inner sleeves, which minimizes all the issues I describe above. There are few sounds more frustrating than that of "One MFSL Cracking".

And then there's the totally separate issue of a small percentage of DVD's coming completely loose in the packaging before it's even been opened the first time (these are usually called "Floaters" & they are usually pretty well destroyed).

Can you tell I'm a bit pissed?

I have been buying CDs for 30 years now, have several thousand in my collection and have never once snapped a CD in half or even cracked one. Recently I've run into the occasional digipak where the spindle is very tight on the disc making it difficult to remove the first one or two times out of the case, but they seem to loosen up after those initial removals and have never given me a problem after that.

When speaking of MFSL, are you refering to the "lift-lock" jewel cases? You shouldn't be having any trouble with those.

The old-fashioned jewel case was the perfect packaging for CDs and it's a real shame the labels moved away from them.

Good Lord but I hate cardboard packaging. What utter crap.
You couldn't design a better package to drive consumers to digital downloads than that.

I have unfortunately found repeatedly that if the moveable tray isn't seated perfectly, it forces the cd to seal with too much ppressure & cracks it in half.

I snapped a DVD in half recently. Gentle Giant - Free Hand 2 disc edition with DVD Quad Mix. The disc was too tight in the tray.

That happened to me the first time I had an MFSL case - I didn't know how it worked and accidentally cracked it. I think it was a Jam CD (bought it used).

Never bought another MFSL...

Sad it happened to you; glad it isn't just me. If i had room for unlimited "hates" under my name those cases would be there!

Same has happened to me. I had a MFSL gold disc of "Songs for Swinging Lovers" by Frank Sinatra crack around the hole in the middle because of the ridiculous "spindle" that holds the disk in the case.