UK Anime Distributor Anime Limited Discussion Thread

I'm guessing AL weren't expecting these to be put together this shoddily by the manufacturers. After all it's a premium collector's set and I think @anime_andrew is going to be as dissappointed as we are about it. Will be interesting to see what happens with this though as I'd wager there's going to be a hell of a lot of people asking for refunds. I'm already considering it myself. Let's hope this is addressed shortly so we can make an informed decision. Thinking of getting another edition like the Zavvi one.
 
Scrambled Valkyrie said:
I'm guessing AL weren't expecting these to be put together this shoddily by the manufacturers. After all it's a premium collector's set and I think @anime_andrew is going to be as dissappointed as we are about it. Will be interesting to see what happens with this though as I'd wager there's going to be a hell of a lot of people asking for refunds. I'm already considering it myself. Let's hope this is addressed shortly so we can make an informed decision. Thinking of getting another edition like the Zavvi one.
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After watching a German unboxing of the Ultimate Edition, I'm also feeling a buyer's remorse as well.

As much as I love Evangelion, I don't want to see an £180-200 box set turn out to be a cheap package. Sure the artbook looks really interesting, but I personally feel they really should have gone for the Eureka Seven / Wolf's Rain approach on this one so that we have a nice box for the shelf and a nice large artbook/illustration box for another display.

The point is, there's a lot of really nice artwork on paper but if the execution turns out to be worse than expected, then it's not worth the price we paid. I'm sure the UK version will have extra care to protect the discs, but we shall see. I'll have to see it in person to fully judge it myself.
 
It is sad reading these comments about the Ultimate Edition. I am someone with rather crippling OCD over discs and I have to say that the condition of the discs I received in the Zavvi CE a month ago was frustrating.

2 out of 11 discs had scratches, but all discs had copious amounts of fingerprints. Now I have bought countless AL products over the years and this makes me nervous about future releases; especially expensive sets like CCS which has 10 discs. I would hope that AL can look into who is handling their discs during the assembly process and ensure they are being done in a way that prevents damage / fingerprints from now on if possible.

With regards to the chipboard box for the Zavvi CE, this was also the most frustrating of all the AL CEs I have owned. It is a major fingerprint magnet due to the felt / suede coating it has.

I ultimately had to return this to Zavvi, who kindly offered me a full refund.

I’m just going for the HMV standard edition as I am not precious over the classic dub. Please know though that I am a big supporter of AL and have loved pretty much all of the products of theirs I have bought.
 
Anyone else thinking the first 1000 units AL ship are going to be testing the UK quality waters?

Methinks potential delays on the "early 2022 units" to address the potential issues and alot of UEs turning up on eBay and the like for less discerning collectors.
 
unknownfate said:
Anyone else thinking the first 1000 units AL ship are going to be testing the UK quality waters?

Methinks potential delays on the "early 2022 units" to address the potential issues and alot of UEs turning up on eBay and the like for less discerning collectors.
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That would be ****** practice if that was the intention and a potential PR nightmare.
 
Obviously not AL intention to put out a sub par product but if they're getting batch #1 on the 10th then there's no opportunity to address production issues now assuming the same company is half-assing all the UK/EU versions.

Can't see it being accepted by those who've bought the UE sets so either a hold is going to be placed while the quality issues are addressed or substantial losses are going to happen when everyone cancels/returns their orders.
 
EmanonMidori said:
Here is an Unboxing of the German Edition. The issues with the disc mounts become immediately apparent.


Edit: Here is another one, which is much worse. Do we have nsfl tags here?

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__ikari_gendou_neon_genesis_evangelion_drawn_by_doemu__119cc20583a56ffe36f21e87f97d032c.jpg


unknownfate said:
Anyone else thinking the first 1000 units AL ship are going to be testing the UK quality waters?

Methinks potential delays on the "early 2022 units" to address the potential issues and alot of UEs turning up on eBay and the like for less discerning collectors.
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I ain't signed up for no wannabe red photobook, posing badly as a disc holder that don't hold my dics. This sh*t ain't on, man.

Can Andrew put me on batch #2 if the first 1000 gonna be guinea pigs? 'cause I ain't no pig.
For once, it might be better if AL did their thing and delayed until 2022. Whatever is done right, is somehow also wrong, like Zavvi getting the CE stock too sodding early.
 
The first 1000 aren't testers. No way they could sort out and manufacture any sort of replacement in a month. We will find out soon enough what condition our version is in. If there are issues hopefully they can be fixed. For the moment all we can do is wait (even if that is frustrating)
 
I'm actually surprised it seems that discs are put in cases by hand. I had always assumed that it was done mechanically in the factory they are made. At least I think that CD's are done that way.

I haven't checked the discs for my Zavvi set yet, but I have to agree with the point about the box as well. Major disappointment the material they used as it literally picks up every mark and finger print possible. - Did absolutely no one order prototype versions before having everything made? baffling.
 
I bought it as soon as the site went live. Rarely have I ended up having such mixed feelings about being at the front of the queue.

Like a few people have mentioned, there's no way the second patch will change the packaging, if indeed we are using the same materials. Even without Christmas, that kind of thing will take months to organise and schedule time to replicate. It was the same situation for Gurren Lagann, back in the day.

Speaking of which, I'm beginning to wonder if there's literally no way to making multi-disk trays like this without there being some issue, at least in Europe (maybe America has the means to do it better). I like the idea of the plastic nubs better than glued-on trays, although it still doesn't appear the issue of loose disks has been fixed. More annoying to me personally is how rough and untreated the cardboard seems to be. After all these years I really would have hoped there were polished systems in place for these kind of releases.
 
Wicker said:
I'm actually surprised it seems that discs are put in cases by hand. I had always assumed that it was done mechanically in the factory they are made. At least I think that CD's are done that way.

I haven't checked the discs for my Zavvi set yet, but I have to agree with the point about the box as well. Major disappointment the material they used as it literally picks up every mark and finger print possible. - Did absolutely no one order prototype versions before having everything made? baffling.
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I just opened my Zavvi CE set to inspect the inside materials; the printing in the booklet is perfect, no faded or blurred text like some people are seeing in the booklet for the US release. Also, my discs were pristine, no greasy or food-laden fingerprints on any of the discs; they must have stuffed my set before the morning coffee and doughnut break, lol.

You mention the outside box surface is a big fingerprint magnet, but I won't be able to confirm that, because I always leave the shrinkwrap on all my larger box sets and just slit a door on the open side with a razor blade to be able to remove the contents, so the box remains protected from shelfwear. I do have a supply of large bags and a 16" impulse heat sealer for making proper-sized storage bags for box sets I can't find plastic box potectors that will fit; I just need to put aside some time to craft some of them.
 
In the end, I decided to cancel my order of the Evangelion UE (I did do my best to craft a nice thankful email to Anime Limited when I cancelled to soften the blow a bit, and they said they appreciated it when they replied). I have now ordered the standard edition from Amazon UK, as while I am a dub completist I just cannot bring myself to fork out £125 after all that either. I will likely be watching the series in Japanese with English subs anyway, and if I want the classic subtitles I can watch my Platinum Edition DVD Boxset from ADV (the US R1 version). It is sad but I'll live with it, and if I really want the CE I'll buy one at a later date if I can still find it for a price I'm happy with. I want to thank AL for their polite, kindly and graciously written response and for getting the money back into my bank account straight away (I paid via Paypal so was thinking I might have to wait a few days). This cannot be an easy situation for them and I really hope they come out of this still doing well, or at least OK, good luck guys! :)
 
HOLD THE LINE

I feel like I will be the only one keeping my order at this point (exaggerated for dramatic effect)

I wonder if anything will be done concerning these quality details and if they'll be the exact same when they get to our hands or if only certain copies were affected.

Oh man. Of all the series and all the editions. I still need that book.
 
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