Authenticity

[G5SP]

How do you tell if a Supposedly a Brand New Disney DVD is real or fake
One that I would have purchased from like ebay or something

[karlsen]

If it is OOP and the say that it is brand new: then its a fake.

The use of the words "brand new" are diliberatly used so the user up front will think that its the real deal, but when they get a fake (and spot it) they think that, "Oh, I should have known from the description"

These pirats have shring wrapping tools so the fact that there are plastic around it does not give it any autentisity at all.

If it is autentic then it does have the DisneyDVD logo in the shrinkwrap.

[Mayhem]

Hologram
Disney logo on the shrink

[2099net]

Hologram
Disney logo on the shrink

For some strange reason, US Disney DVDs don't have holograms. You would think they would, as it solves most bootleg identity issues and works well everywhere else!

[Mayhem]

Didn't know that actually. I assumed they would have them as well. I've had US Disney DVDs in my hands, but never really examined the packaging.

[Commodore Barbosa]

U.S. Disney DVD's do have a buena vista logo, it's just not a hologram. It's usually a small color print that's typically white on animation dvd's, but may be blue or red. When I list Disney DVD's on ebay that are still in the shrink, I always take a pic of the BVHV logo for authenticity reasons. If someone is selling a shrink-wrapped copy of a movie you want, ask them for a picture of the back of the DVD clearly showing the logo on the shrinkwrap.

[mvealf]

If it is OOP and the say that it is brand new: then its a fake.

You mean it "could be" a fake. It is possible to find an authentic brand new OOP DVD.

[Aladdin]

Wow !! ... this is really an open-ended question with a number of possible answers. If you want specific answers to a specific DVD, then I suggest you post the name of the DVD(s) in question.

Karlsen, like mvealf said, it is possible to have OOP DVD that are brand new ... I myself have some in my personal vault. Not sure why you stated that comment.

As for determining whether a DVD is authentic or not ....

-Post a link to the E-bay site -or- whever you are intending to buy from
-for OOP issues or all DVDs, you can look at the size, date and time of the files and when they were created.
-most asians/malaysia DVDs are NOT authentic
-if you have a DVD rom ... pop it in and check to see if it is region-coded.
If it is NOT, then it's a fake
- as mentioned before, the shrink wrap has a BV logo. Although it is still possible to have a DVD that has been re-shrink wrapped.

For all buying on-line (especially e-bay) ... please use due diligence. It is best to post the link or ask questions. And remember "you get what you paid for". So don't think that you can spend $20 or $30 bucks and get a NEW copy of an OOP DVD ... it is most likely fake.

G5SP, Is there a particular title you wanted to know about ?

[Sully]

So don't think that you can spend $20 or $30 bucks and get a NEW copy of an OOP DVD ... it is most likely fake.

That really depends on the movie, and while something like Little Mermaid is far more expensive, I picked up both Tarzan and Lion King 2 last Xmas for around $30-$35 total.

Both real Disney sealed editions from reputable sellers, just not ultra high-demand DVDs at the time. OOP does not always equal high prices.

[karlsen]

If it is OOP and the say that it is brand new: then its a fake.

You mean it "could be" a fake. It is possible to find an authentic brand new OOP DVD.

No, if a DVD is OOP then it is most likely an "old" item. It has been on the market for a while.

I myself have OOP titles still sealed by Disney but they are not new, they are just old titles still sealed.

A new title is a title that is brand new from Disney, not an old title still in shrink wrap.

Then we should not get away from the fact that the bootlegers like to use the term "brand new" because that indicates that it is just made, but does not in clear words that it is a fake.

[TheZue]

Brand new can also refer to the condition of an item as well. I sell xbox & pc games that are new on ebay, but they have been sitting in my spare room since my store closed a year ago. Sometimes saying 'new' is the best description for something like that.

I think the best thing that you can do is check the feedback really carefully. Neutrals aren't listed in the totals at the top any more so it's good to check through and read the Feedback. I also prefer sellers that have an actual picture of the item up instead of a stock picture that anyone could download.

[mvealf]

You mean it "could be" a fake. It is possible to find an authentic brand new OOP DVD.

No, if a DVD is OOP then it is most likely an "old" item. It has been on the market for a while. I myself have OOP titles still sealed by Disney but they are not new, they are just old titles still sealed.

So, what if a store has one of your same "old titles still sealed"? Are you saying that it's false advertising for them to call it new? That's fine in theory, but the reality is that there are tons of DVDs that were originally made in 1997 or 1998 that are still in stock and have never been remastered. When you buy them today on Amazon.com as new, they are coming from a warehouse, and they are just old titles still sealed.

[karlsen]

I am only talking about the OOP titles (Out Of Print).

You can think what you want about this but I have noticed that everybody that use the sentence "Brand new" (or similar) in an auction that has forinstance the limited issues or other rear items, then it has always been fakes and bootlegs.

I am not talking about what the correct use of a word is, just only what the words mean when they are in a Ebay auction for a rare OOP title.

[rnrlesnar]

I am only talking about the OOP titles (Out Of Print).

You can think what you want about this but I have noticed that everybody that use the sentence "Brand new" (or similar) in an auction that has forinstance the limited issues or other rear items, then it has always been fakes and bootlegs.

I am not talking about what the correct use of a word is, just only what the words mean when they are in a Ebay auction for a rare OOP title.

No, and OOP isn't technically brand new, but the term brand new is often used to describe DVD's that are still in the original packaging and haven't been opened. But saying "brand new" shouldn't automatically signal that its a fake. I bought a "brand new" Mickey Mouse Color volume 1 off of ebay last year and it was a legitimate sealed store bought copy. It better have been for what I paid for it, but it was worth it. The best way to decide if someone is selling fakes is to just look at the feedback.

[AwallaceUNC]

That really depends on the movie, and while something like Little Mermaid is far more expensive, I picked up both Tarzan and Lion King 2 last Xmas for around $30-$35 total.

Both real Disney sealed editions from reputable sellers, just not ultra high-demand DVDs at the time. OOP does not always equal high prices.

Was this the plain-jane Tarzan DVD or the CE, though?

-Aaron

[Sully]

Plain Jane., but still OOP I think Tarzan was $20 and Lion King II was around $15.

I was just making the point that OOP authentic Disney DVDs are not all hyper-valuable.

[AwallaceUNC]

Yeah, I was just wondering for a point of reference for my own eBay perusals. Still not a bad deal. Thanks.

-Aaron

[pezisgood]

I know that on Amazon there are many bootlegs. If a dvd is out of print, most sellers will know its worth and what they can get for it, even though some really are super low deals. But if you see a rare one that usually sells at like $50 and this seller has it for $17.99 and claims it is the import edition do not buy that one. It is definately fake, and Amazon knows it. I wrote a review the other day for Creature from the Black Lagoon which sells for high prices. In the review I warned of the low-priced bootlegs, so Amazon took it upon themselves to edit that part out. The bootlegs benefit Amazon.com so they let that crap go on. Sad thing is a lot of people buy these bootlegs without knowing the difference. All I can say is do your homework on it.

[2099net]

Well, that's not 100% true. Lots of out of print DVDs are available overseas (Disney and non-Disney) so any claim about imports could be true. For example Creature From the Black Lagoon is freely available in Europe and South America. The Toy Story films are only OOP in America. Etc, etc. So it is possible for legitimate imports of these, and many, many other titles to be sold.

What you need to aware of are sellers who claim discs are imports and playable on R1 players. (But even then it possible, most -if not all - Disney NTSC R4 discs are also flagged as being playable on R1 machines)

It seems to me that Disney's best weapon against bootlegging is the hologram stickers that they include on every DVD case in countries other than North America and Canada. I really don't know why their R1 discs don't have one. It's a sure fire way of spotting a bootleg.

Recently, it debuted with Finding Nemo, the UK discs have had holograms etched onto the inner rim of the DVD too (sort of like the Xbox logos on the Xbox game discs). Again, I don't see Disney America doing this. Why not?

[AwallaceUNC]

They certainly should, and I really can't think of why they don't. It's not as if it hasn't occured to them.

Pez- I agree with Netty that it may not always be true, but I'm shocked that Amazon edited it out! Was it an automatic edit (maybe they screen for 'bootleg'), or did it take some time?

-Aaron