X-Files "Asian Collectors Edition"

I'm still missing a few seasons of the X-Files on DVD so I thought I'd
hit Ebay to see if I could pick them up for a decent price. After
searching I have come across many X-Files season sets that are "Asian
Collectors Editions" that are very inexpensively priced. They say they
are the same as the US versions but the only difference is that there is
Asian text on the packaging. What exactly are these? Are these
bootlegs? Are they official releases? How's the quality on them? Does
anyone know?

LVIII

Lord Vader III

"Lord Vader III" <> wrote in message
news:...
> After
> searching I have come across many X-Files season sets that are "Asian
> Collectors Editions" that are very inexpensively priced. They say
they
> are the same as the US versions but the only difference is that there
is
> Asian text on the packaging. What exactly are these? Are these
> bootlegs?

They are bootlegs. Avoid them.

Joshua Zyber

Joshua Zyber wrote:
>
> "Lord Vader III" <> wrote in message
> news:...
> > After
> > searching I have come across many X-Files season sets that are "Asian
> > Collectors Editions" that are very inexpensively priced. They say
> they
> > are the same as the US versions but the only difference is that there
> is
> > Asian text on the packaging. What exactly are these? Are these
> > bootlegs?
>
> They are bootlegs. Avoid them.

Thanks. I thought they might be bootlegs. Almost every single E-Bay
auction for X-Files seasons are these Asian Collectors Editions. After
posting this, I started going through the descriptions on all of them
and almost all the sellers say they are the exact same as the US
releases. Although, one seller was actually truthful and said that the
audio and video on these isn't quite up to par as the official US
releases.

LVIII

Lord Vader III

Lord Vader III wrote on [12 Feb 2004 09:17:07 -0600]:
> Joshua Zyber wrote:
>>
>> "Lord Vader III" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>> > After
>> > searching I have come across many X-Files season sets that are "Asian
>> > Collectors Editions" that are very inexpensively priced. They say
>> they
>> > are the same as the US versions but the only difference is that there
>> is
>> > Asian text on the packaging. What exactly are these? Are these
>> > bootlegs?
>>
>> They are bootlegs. Avoid them.
>
> Thanks. I thought they might be bootlegs. Almost every single E-Bay
> auction for X-Files seasons are these Asian Collectors Editions. After
> posting this, I started going through the descriptions on all of them
> and almost all the sellers say they are the exact same as the US
> releases. Although, one seller was actually truthful and said that the
> audio and video on these isn't quite up to par as the official US
> releases.
>

If you see an Asian edition of a disc and especially if it's region 0 or
region free, then in all likelihood it is a bootleg

Justin

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 15:25:02 GMT, Justin <> wrote:


>If you see an Asian edition of a disc and especially if it's region 0 or
>region free, then in all likelihood it is a bootleg

Not really. Most domestic Hong Kong productions are region free on
DVD. A lot of Hong Kong editions of US productions are too. Just check
out any legit site for Hong Kong DVDs like www.dddhouse.com.

Mischa

Mischa van Dinter

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 10:25:02 -0500, Justin wrote
(in message <>):

> If you see an Asian edition of a disc and especially if it's region 0 or
> region free, then in all likelihood it is a bootleg

This isn't necessarily true. Most Hong Kong discs are region zero. When I was
in Hong Kong, nearly all the discs were region zero, and yes, I did go to big
"name" stores like HMV. Same story there.

Remember, region encoding was originally pitched by the studios for use on
*NEW RELEASES ONLY*. The idea is that while some shows might have a life in
syndication in the United States, they'd have to hit the syndication-free
European market immediately while the iron is hot. If Americans could easily
import DVDs from Europe, that could hurt or even kill syndication profits.

And there are other reasons for the studios wanting to stagger or
differentiate releases.

But OLD movies? Stuff like Casablanca, for example? What possible reason
would there be for region coding stuff like that? They're shooting themselves
in the foot. Especially, cheapo movies. Who cares what country their
purchased in as long as they're sold?

Anyway, producing DVDs region free is a smart move on the part of HK studios.
There's a big foreign market for HK movies and making DVDs free of the region
encoding impediment opens a lot of doors financially. Everyone benefits --
the studio, the vendors and the country's economy.

Cernovog

eBay provides a safe haven for bootleggers to market their garbage ...

Lord Vader III <> wrote in message news:<>...
> Joshua Zyber wrote:
> >
> > "Lord Vader III" <> wrote in message
> > news:...
> > > After
> > > searching I have come across many X-Files season sets that are "Asian
> > > Collectors Editions" that are very inexpensively priced. They say
> they
> > > are the same as the US versions but the only difference is that there
> is
> > > Asian text on the packaging. What exactly are these? Are these
> > > bootlegs?
> >
> > They are bootlegs. Avoid them.
>
> Thanks. I thought they might be bootlegs. Almost every single E-Bay
> auction for X-Files seasons are these Asian Collectors Editions. After
> posting this, I started going through the descriptions on all of them
> and almost all the sellers say they are the exact same as the US
> releases. Although, one seller was actually truthful and said that the
> audio and video on these isn't quite up to par as the official US
> releases.
>
> LVIII

Rob

I bought a DVD collection like that. The movies were fine. I didn't
realize it was (probably) a region 0 bootleg until I already had it but the
movies play fine and look good, so I don't really care. In fact, the
biggest problem you may have is not the quality of the video or audio. In
my case, it is the fact that the menus aren't in English. This gives a
whole new meaning to "seek and ye shall find".

The biggest clue to "bootleg" videos is if they say English Dubbed, or only
have English in subtitle.

Head Hunter

"Cernovog" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> > If you see an Asian edition of a disc and especially if it's region
0 or
> > region free, then in all likelihood it is a bootleg
>
> This isn't necessarily true. Most Hong Kong discs are region zero.

Correction: Most Hong Kong discs of Hong Kong movies are region 0. When
a legitimate HK studio licenses a foreign (e.g. American) movie or TV
show, the original American rights holders almost always insist that the
disc be properly region coded.

Joshua Zyber

not correct.

a lot of japanese manga titles only have english subtitles because the main
language track is japanese.


"Head Hunter" <> wrote in message
news:KzTWb.11932$...
> I bought a DVD collection like that. The movies were fine. I didn't
> realize it was (probably) a region 0 bootleg until I already had it but
the
> movies play fine and look good, so I don't really care. In fact, the
> biggest problem you may have is not the quality of the video or audio. In
> my case, it is the fact that the menus aren't in English. This gives a
> whole new meaning to "seek and ye shall find".
>
> The biggest clue to "bootleg" videos is if they say English Dubbed, or
only
> have English in subtitle.


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