Intrada Soundtrack Forum

There is a chance that I order less CDs online than most other people here. Not because I buy fewer soundtrack CDs per se (though there are a number of collectors who are much more avid), but because I live relatively near to a store that claims to have the largest collection of CDs/DVDs of the entire world if not the entire Universe, and even though I have no way of confirming that, I admit that I've never seen a larger CD collection offered in a single store. (Its classical section alone covers something the size of a department store floor.) And it's got good prices and better sales than, say, Amazon. I also don't buy exclusively soundtracks but music from many other genres, such as classical, jazz, or even techno.

But I digress. Naturally, there are times when I order CDs online. From FSM. Or Amazon. Or Collusseum. Or Varese. Or Intrada, of course. Mostly limited releases since chances are those never see the light of retail store day, and here and there some "regular" releases.

Now my most recent order from Intrada contained Amazing Stories 3, The Travelling Executioner, and Spellbound. And what do you know: they arrived here in unscathed jewel cases.

This is remarkable because -- and this is the intriquing part -- this is the first time an Intrada offer arrived here without containing one (and usually always just one) CD where the jewel case was damaged. I don't know why that is, I figure it has always been coincidence, but every single time I have ordered CDs from Intrada, I had one damaged jewel case in the bunch, usually those plastic pins in the middle that hold the CD crushed, bent and broken. No, wait. Every single time I had ordered CDs from Intrada, I have had one damaged jewel case in the bunch. It's over now. Gone. Another of life's constants crumbled into vague pieces of uncertainty.

Now don't misunderstand, I have never complained about it and it has never stopped me from ordering from Intrada. The CDs Intrada ships come in sturdy cardboard packaging, layed out with plastic bubbles and/or newspaper, in short, they are packaged as well as those of any other CD online store. And I had broken plastic pins from other online stores, too. But, and that's the interesting thing, I could always count on the fact that an Intrada order contained a single CD with a damaged jewel case. Sometimes, in my mind, I made bets which one it would be, winning and losing about even. As the actual CDs always arrived unharmed (whew), I never considered it a big deal. I have a bunch of replacement jewel cases for such cases at hand, and bingo, I'm set. No biggie. I don't think it was Intrada's "fault", it just happened to be a curious series of coincidences that in my orders one and exactly one CD had to have a damaged jewel case. One of those things. Like Arthur Dent killing Agrajag over and over again, every single reincarnation of him. Not out of spite. Out of coincidence. One of life's oddities. Go figure.

But now THIS. NO damaged jewel case. Neither Spellbound, nor Amazing Stories 3, nor The Travelling Executioner show any sign of jewel case damage. I am at a loss and don't know if I should count this as a winning or losing bet. What did you guys do? Did you possibly retire the elephant that just so ever lightly stepped on my packages before you got them into the mail, until you heard the first fine crrrk-sound that assured you one but no more CD cases where in some way damaged?

Anyway, for some time I have considered writing a thread with the title "Intrada's Broken Record" when the day arrives that all jewel cases in an Intrada order arrive completely intact at my place. Well, guess what, that day has come.

When I ordered Amazing Stories 1 and 2 from MovieMusic way back when, both jewel cases become unusable in the mail. When they'd arrive, the back disc wouldn't be held in the holder...it'd just be loose against the tray. And can't snap back in. All the little pins are there. So it's really weird. And it only happens with Intrada discs. Of course 2 releases is hardly an adequate sample size, but I think it happened with Inchon as well. Not sure what other intrada double discs I've got over the past few years, but it is really annoying cause you can't just go to a store and buy a double case like the singles. Often have to special order them online in big bulk.

I purchase a lot of used CDs from EBay. Many are still sealed...My experience is that the post office no longer handles packages in a careful manner. 9 out of 10 jewel boxes are broken. I'm not taking about just the center spines being broken; I'm talking external cases literally being shattered into little pieces. It's a trend that I noticed starting a couple years ago. Intrada uses boxes to ship so the jewel boxes are less likely to be moved or crushed. I actually had a package that had TIRE MARKS on it where a vehicle ran over it. The CD was not scratch, but the jewel box was non existent!

Something I read a several years ago was that the "clear" holder spines broke off easier due to the plastic being more brittle than the "black" holder spines. After I had read that I saw variations on the spines. If you'll notice some are interconnected with each other some have connector's across to every other spine. Some have a circle in the center where the spines connect with that circle. Ah the science of jewel box design!