Holy Viper Exhaust! A custom DVD/Blu-ray packaging that frakkin' rocks!

There is clearly no end to my geekness.

Seriously, every day I see or hear something that only reinforces that in a major way. Last night, in an RSS feed I was reading, I ran across the link to an article to one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen:

Click to view original sleeve design

A custom packaging for the Battlestar Galactica Complete Series DVD/Blu-ray sets that an industrious and creative soul devised because of the lack of an episode guide or booklet letting us know what was on which disc, and his “minor complaint” about the packaging for the discs themselves. (More below…)

Now, I’ll admit, I personally like the original packaging box of my set (pictured at right), but I was unhappy with the paper box/sleeves that the discs are in. They look really neat, but I was immediately concerned about potential scratching and damage to the discs because of constant contact with paper, which can be acidic, over time. And the lack of any sort of guide to the discs definitely makes it troublesome to find a particular episode.

Apparently, they are re-issuing the series in April with upgraded packaging that sees the discs put into conventional boxes and includes The Plan, but I wasn’t going to pay for a whole new set. There’s a solution to that for owners of the original set, but I’ll get into that later.

Right now, I want to talk about the custom storage/packaging solution that I discovered, which will require a little time, effort and money, but will give my set a look that excites me more than even the prospect of upgraded commercial packaging from the vendor.

Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits came up with this packaging/storage solution for himself and one look was all it took for me to undertake making one for myself (two actually, one for my standard definition set and my Blu-ray set):

A binder like those used as props on the series aboard Galactica, with sleeves inside to hold the discs and printed inserts listing the contents of the discs.

I don’t have a picture of Mr. Hunt’s completed project to use here, but I put this together to explain the basic concept:

This explains the basic concept:

An unique custom packaging/storage solution for the BSG Complete series DVDs – original idea by The Digital Bits’ Bill Hunt. (click to view larger)

What’s Needed

• A 2-1/4″ Axcess/Keba Binder (I ordered from GoGoods.com)
• Four-disc CD/DVD storage pages (2 front/2 back variety like pictured above – I ordered from an Amazon.com Marketplace Seller)
• Printable disc inserts or booklet (download - provided here courtesy of Mr. Hunt at Digital Bits … Thanks, Bill!), a printer and ink. Addendum: The inserts were created from an Avery MS Word template for CD/DVD Jewel Case Inserts: 5693, 6693, 8693, 8943.
• ADDENDUM: I’ve added an ink-conservative versions of the inserts and a guide to fit the binder. Check out info here.
• BSG logo for spine and cover (included in the disc insert downloads – I added this, so you’ll wanna make sure you print it out the size you want)
• Fonts: Viper Squadron and Calibri (Google them to see what you find; just remember you download from the web at your own risk)
• Optional: To trim the four corners of the covers to BSG-style (Not sure yet how I’m going to do that but the binders are constructed from Polypropylene; will have to look into that. If you do try to trim the corners, do be careful; I won’t be held responsible for misuse of sharp objects.)

Binder-Related Links

• Bill Hunt’s Original Review of the BSG Complete Series release
• The post that gave birth to this post (there’s a picture there of a completed one, wasn’t clear of that was Mr. Hunt’s or not, but I gather the one in the picture was from a prop purchased at auction)

Prop binders from the series. Image courtesy of Propworx.

Reissue of Complete Series with New Packaging

Apparently sometime in April, the complete series sets are being re-released with new packaging, including conventional cases for the discs and the addition of The Plan, as I noted above.

Obviously, if you’ve bought the complete series set already, and The Plan, you’re not likely to plop down the cost for another set just to have new packaging — I certainly wasn’t — but I ran across something at a couple sites that indicated there was possibly an answer for those of us interested in new commercial packaging.

I emailed the address supplied and it seems there’s an offer to get the upgraded packaging at no charge — at least it doesn’t require any money to request and and there was no mention of it in the return email. I’m not sure exactly what all you get, but you do keep the main outer box and the toaster … I mean Cylon centurion.

I have followed the instructions myself and am waiting to see what happens.

Check out Bill Hunt’s post about the offer.