From the outside they look very accurate, but if someone buys a copy “New” from Ebay or an Amazon Marketplace seller, here are the tell tale signs:
· The set is flimsily shrink wrapped instead of our standard factory sealed shrink wrap
· The Master Ninja movies have the wrong films on the discs. The disc that says Master Ninja 1 has #2 and vice versa.
· Some copies of Project Moonbase have Magic Voyage of Sinbad on it.
· If you look closely at the legal lines on the discs, especially the Master Ninja discs, there are numerous spelling errors.
If someone has purchased a bootleg they should demand a full refund from the seller and report them.
Word to the wise!
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I never thought I’d see the day that MST3K was big enough in sales to be worth bootlegging. It’s sad that people steal this way, but kind of good news that our favorite puppet show is now popular enough that sleazeballs think they can make enough money off of it to make counterfeit copies of commercial releases.
weird…I was messing around on Blockbuster’s online rental program (not a member) and was looking at the MST3K selection – the reviews of Vol XX mentioned these EXACT things. looks like Blockbuster got stuck with some bootlegs!
I just checked comments on Amazon, there are some there about mislabeled DVDs. The first complaint says he got the set for $18, which kind of explains why it was so cheap, eh? Check out the comments here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1MDD6PBFSP71W/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B004G7XCS0&nodeID=2625373011&tag=&linkCode=#wasThisHelpful
Does anyone know how we should complain to the best effect? We got the set in May, and thought it was odd that the movies didn’t match the label, but didn’t notice the other clues. And we’re kinda upset that our purchase didn’t support Shout/Best Brains either.
I wonder if anyone has alerted Amazon to the fact that some of their partner sellers in their “Marketplace” are selling bootlegs? Even if it was unintentional, somebody needs to figure out what’s going on and put a stop to it.
I only buy from four sites – amazon, shout! rifftrax and cinematic titanic. It’s so sad that low lifes have sullied my favorite show. I would not accept any new product that is less that perfect. Damn bootleggers, I hope the get caught and do jailtime.
So that’s why my discs were mislabeled?! I had just chalked it up to a weird printing error and didn’t think much of it. I got this off eBay for cheap back when I was unemployed (Bought the Gamera set and Manos from Amazon for full price since getting a job). I just got the set out to check for the spelling errors and sure enough it says “Master Ninje II 2011 CBS Stubios”. Other than these spelling errors (which I never would have noticed since I don’t generally read the fine print on dvds) this set looks REALLY legit. Whoever is producing the bootlegs must have a pretty sophisticated set up (although you would think that if they can make such realistic looking knock offs they would bother to check for spelling errors!).
Lesson learned, not buying MST off eBay ever again!
I’d like to see a side by side photo series between a bootleg and the genuine.
That lying son of a bitch…I got the same thing when I ordered it months ago and wrote about it. Guy said it must have been a manufacturing problem and he’d let them know. I’d demand the cash back but honestly, it was months ago, I’ve since re-labeled them. No need for a side by side, they just have the wrong label on them. Same boxes though.
The e-mail I just sent to Amazon;
I purchased the MST3K: Volume XX box set several months ago from this seller. Came in four individual discs. I found when I played them each disc had a different film then labelled on the box and disc itself. When I complained to the seller, he claimed it had been a manufacturing problem and left it at that.
However, tonight, I stopped by the official site of the show, mst3kinfo.com, and there was a notice put up to be aware of and avoid bootleg copies of Volume XX, identified by the exact defects I had. This item was presented as legit, and the seller flat out lied to me about his product, before and after purchase. I’m not looking for a refund, but as a proud MSTie, I always avoid bootlegs to make sure my money goes straight to the creators of the show for the product they’ve created. The creators of the show still hold the copyright. Therefore, this seller is not stealing from a faceless corporation, but from the writers, stars, and creators of this magnificent program. I got what I paid for, if not in perfect condition. But the bottom line is, this seller is a thief and a fraud.
This bums me out a bit. Bunch of savages out there in the world. I haven’t bought this set, but when I do, it will have to be official and all that, as I am an avid DVD/movie collector and I do not abide by bootlegs. Gonna go straight to SHOUT! for this.
–
Bunch of savages. . . . . . .
That’s why I always pre-order from Amazon, using the link Sampo kindly gives us. (That’s also how I got the Godzilla episode on Rhino!)
To me this is not the definition of a bootleg but a pirate.
Bootlegs are fantastic, I have movies, albums (such as the Beach Boys Smile (which I will soon replace officially) and concerts I’ve been to. NOT officially available but by back door channels.
Piracy is wrong on sooooo many levels I can’t begin to start. Taking and copying legally available material and selling is theft pure and simple.
Here in the UK MST in pretty much unknown but it must be really popular, or just very profitable, for this to happen. I’ve been offered DVDs of loads of MST stuff but I’m happy with the official release schedule and to pay the $40 every few months.
WHAT THE!! WHO THE!! MAKES ME FEARFUL OF ORDERING VOL.5 (THE ONLY SET I DON’T HAVE) FROM EBAY. STINKING BACKSTABBING VULTURES!!!
I was reading online last night that apparently this is a bigger deal than most people know about. In a lot of cases bootlegging is used to fund organized crime, in particular human trafficking. Not always, but in a lot of cases. Judging from what I found I’d say that this is exactly why this bootleg exists, because they usually appear fairly well put together.
I have a set of Doctor Who Series 3 that I’m afraid might be a bootleg. I’m really concerned that I might have accidentally helped fund organized crime now. :(
Same experience here: episodes on wrong discs, “master ninje” spelling error, poorly sized plastic covering on the Sinbad case, etc. I just chalked it up to printing errors and mishandling of the Sinbad case by its previous owner/the store.
I do not recall if it was listed as new, that was when I was quite broke and buying most things used, but I think it was listed as used with a “like new” condition. In which case, I may have received a used pirated copy. Not sure how I feel about my involvement in that; I mean, buying used, my money was only going to the seller anyway, but the original purchaser’s money certainly should have gone to the BBI crew.
I could be talking nonsense, but I think mine even came with the mini-posters. That is dedication to fraud and, really, if you’re going that far with your deception, why not just sell the real deal at that point. Less work, probably.
Too far in the past for me to get a refund at this point, but I will dig up the seller info and add my voice to the chorus of dissatisfaction aimed at Amazon’s inbox. At least I now have sufficiently gainful employment such that I can do the legit pre-order shuffle and guarantee the creators receive the fruits of their labors.
Not to add to this already pointlessly long wall of text, but are there not rights-holders involved with the films being riffed? Could this not be spun as a case of pirated films as well? The MPAA LOVES suing people over film piracy. Bad form to tip them off?
Here’s an interesting page I found about things to look for in a pirated DVD.
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/titanicboot/titanic.html
#10 Jezzicho – That’s a good letter, and one that needs to be written, but I’m afraid all Amazon can do is to remove the seller’s account, who will most likely just start a new account and do the same thing. Not with MST3K discs, but something else.
#15 ready4sumfootball – It’s not your fault. However, it’s good to stay vigilant and prevent these creeps from breathing our air.
“Master Ninje”….I have to admit I love that typo and am considering adopting it as my moniker.
#16 E.P Dingus, esq – With a scanner and some glossy paper, successfully duping the mini-posters is a good possibility. If you get a really good magnifying glass and compare your pirated posters to your legit posters, I bet it will be easy to tell them apart.
I’m not a legal expert, but I’m sure that you could get lots of rights holders, etc. involved, but the fact still remains that putting a face and name to an otherwise anonymous user account is near impossible. Also, since the perps couldn’t even spell “ninja”, I doubt it’s in the States, which makes finding them even more difficult.
Other tell tale signs:
The bots are sock puppets
Title says “Mystery Science Theater 300”
Box is actually solid Styrofoam block
Logo is just a bowl of spaghetti
Stars Joe Hopkins or Mark Nielson
#21 Matthew Redwine … or William Shatner! Hahaha! Those are great! Let’s do some more!
The collectible figurine is a McDonald’s toy.
DVDs are secured with masking tape.
Contains a mysterious bag labeled “This first one is free.”
Set actually contains five Gamera movies. Now THAT is counterfeit!!!!
I got one with mislabeled disks, but hadn’t noticed any other problems (print quality seemed okay, Shout animated menus), but I’d gotten it from an Amazon used seller–
Is Shout absolutely certain the original set didn’t also have label problems on the first printing? It took me a long time to get this copy, I ain’t giving it up without a fight!
Darn, this makes me a little mad.
To those of you who got bootlegs, I’m curious: Did the discs appear to be DVD-Rs (purple backsides instead of the typical silver)? I just wanna know how sophisticated these bootleg operations are.
Okay, looking closely, I got the “CBS Stubios” copy. But how “crappy” are we talking about–Print quality? I’ve already watched my set and only found out NOW that they might’ve been faked.
And @Max, my copy looks silver enough, and has all the bonus features, but I’ve contacted the seller anyway. Anyone have one more convincing clue?
(Oddly enough, in looking at the back, I stared at the holographic micro-printing code around the ring for the mislabeled “Sinbad” disk and saw “3000 TIIEMAGICVOYAGEOFSINBAO”
Maybe I’ll take that as a clue, but I’d still like something more convincing.)
#18: I don’t blame myself, it’s just disgust at the thought of where my money might have went. Those Doctor Who sets are expensive. I was just looking for the cheapest deal I could find, and Ebay had it for $25. I had no reason to wonder if it was legit until it arrived at my door.
#24: I don’t know about this set, but when I got the Doctor Who one they were pressed DVDs, not burned. My only reason for guessing it was a bootleg is that the packaging had some fuzzy imaging and there were typos in the episode names printed on the discs. The pirates may be a little sloppy sometimes, but generally they’re actually pretty good at what they do.
#26 ready4sumfootball – I hear ya. I got burned the same way with X-files about 10 years ago on Ebay and that stung for a long time. Their trick was to get you to “pre-order” it at a reduced price and by the time the release date had come and gone the time period to file a complaint had already elapsed so Ebay couldn’t do anything about it.
What a weird set to bootleg. If they knew anything they would do the Godzilla one. I wouldn’t worry about this funding much organized crime. If anything this bought them a few cannolis.
Oh, and I agree “pirated” is a better word than “bootleg” to explain exactly what this is. I’ve heard of this plaguing the new Dr. Who series on eBay – only in those cases, the pirated copies are horrific quality. The fact that people bought these sets and didn’t notice right away is odd – maybe it’s just one guy doing it?
I Best Buyed it so I got a clean copy. My question is Why this set? Why not the previous 19 or the subsiquent Gamera set? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to do a set like vol 9 or 10. I may be wrong but I think some misties would knowingly pay top dollar for a pirated DVD of that set.
Agreed that Pirated is a better word as most proper bootleg dvd’s are shows that are commercially unavailable on DVD.
I bought one of these used on Amazon. I got a refund from the seller, but it’s interesting to know this wasn’t a manufacturing error, but a pirated set. The packaging looked authentic, except for the mislabeled discs. I didn’t notice any spelling errors, and the mini-posters were included. The discs were pressed, not burned, but one of the discs was pressed off-center and wouldn’t play, which was why I insisted on a refund.
Keep circulating the bootlegs. ;)
Wow, it’s like the mystery of Clonus, from Richard’s point of view!
This is so stupid but I almost want one, you know, just to have. I betcha in 5 years people are going to be fighting over the “rare bootleg version” on Ebay…
My wife got me ALL THREE seasons of the original Star Trek for Father’s Day a couple of years ago from eScam and As soon as we opened it I knew what was up..The “Complete collection” was in a well made outer box but a pretty crudely done Disc booklet was inside that.the DVDs themselves were labeled BUT with art that was originally used for the film ST:Nemisis!the shows apparently were from the actual discs and had the menu pages and everything but still,i mean this might anger some of you here but I don’t mind buying a burned copy as i did with my Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman sets or the 1966 Batman series because at the time NONE of these were availible on legit DVD but what these people are doing is wrong.I’ve made copies of my original DVDs as back ups or so that I could sell the ORIGINALS as in the case of the Planet Of The Apes collection my dad gave me for christmas last year, the 12 or 15 DVDs came stored in a Life size ape head to display well as cool as it was IT WAS THE MOVIES I WANTED so I copied the Films,TV Series and Cartoon and took the originals with the Ceaser head to the FYE store where they gave me $45.00 used (and we really needed the money but I don’t think that’s the same thing we’re talkin’ about here.I certinly don’t wanna think I was ever funding the mob buying an unavaiible TV series on homemade DVDs for a few bucks! sheesh
@24 – silver on the back.
Seriously, its so real looking I would NEVER have known it wasnt unless I saw this post.
Sounds like other people need THERAPY this time…
Talk about small time crooks…bootlegs for a measly 18.00
What did they accomplish really ?? Sheesh !
#34 Steve Vil:
I believe that Rolling Stones 1970s bootlegs on TMOQ (Trade Mark Of Quality) label are getting up to £1000-£1500 now but I don’t know if a pirate product can command such prices if it’s just a copy of a legit product with no real differences.
As noted by some above it’d be more logical to copy a set like the Godzilla Vol 10. In music collectible CDs and vinyl get pirated all the time.
And I forgot. It’s legal to buy and make bootlegs, it’s illegal to sell them.
I’d like to take you kids back in time, to the 70’s. I use to buy bootleg 8-tracks and they’d say JIMMY HENDRICKS and had a picture on the label of some hippie chick with a peace sign and notes all around her and when I popped the 8-track in the player, it would be some other artist like Neil Young, who at the time I never heard of. But I was expecting Jimi Hendrix. But at the same time, I got to appreciate Neil Young’s music. Back then, you could say it was a bunch of burned out, stoned out hippies making these things. Now it’s people bootlegging our favorite show. Such are the times we live in!
#40 Captn Ross Hagen – Wow! Tell us again about 8-tracks, Grandpa Hagen! You could make the argument that bootlegging played a big part in making Mst3k famous and keeping it alive more than a decade after its final episode. It’s free advertising, and it gets people interested in current ventures like CT and RT.
And I must say that I’m proud of MST3K bootlegging sites that refuse to pirate DVD releases of MST3K. I think bootlegging becomes pirating when you lose that kind of respect for something.
By the way, why is it called bootlegging? Where does that word come from? Anyone?
Bootleg whisky I think.
Clinton Heydlin wrote a book on the music bootleg industry called Bootleg (imaginative). The first music bootleg was a guy recording wax cylinders in an opera house. They’re now considered priceless artifacts as they document music not captured any where else.
FWIW
Bootleg From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term bootlegging originally came from concealing hip flasks of alcohol in the legs of boots.
I don’t know why it’s called bootlegging but I Like it Very Much. Oh wait that’s Bootblacking. My mistake
I bought my copy through Amazon as a pre-order and got the real deal. Be careful bargain hunting. You may get less than you bargained for.
Randy
#43 is right about where the term Bootlegging comes from.
Personally I see bootlegging as when someone who doesn’t actually own the rights to something that is otherwise unavailable is making that thing available. Like a movie never released on or long out of print on video tape and totally unavailable on DVD being put out there on a “bootleg” DVD. I’m sure any serious movie fan with a sizable film collection has at least one or two such rare movies that are impossible to find any other way. I had “bootleg” DVD copies of the films “Night of the Creeps” and “Monster Squad” for years until the rights owners finally pulled their heads out of their butts and released them officially. And then I was out there on release day buying my official copies. I don’t see bootlegging as being all that harmful in most cases. If the rights holders are unwilling or unable to make a movie or TV show available on DVD then people should be able to get it where they can (as I’m sure a vast majority of us here have done with all the unofficial copies of unreleased MST episodes that we all have). In some countries that’s even a part of their copyright law and they won’t even go after people for “bootlegging” things that aren’t actually officially available to begin with.
Piracy on the other hand is taking an actual official release and making knock off copies to sell as if they were genuine, such as in this case. That actually is very harmful as it literally takes money out of the hands of people like Shout and Best Brains who are investing their money into actually releasing it to begin with. Every illegit copy sold is literally a lost sale for them, and less of a chance that they will see some benefit from their investment. Piracy is bad. Where “bootlegging” might even be done purely out of a love for the thing itself (such as with the DAP releases of otherwise unavailable MST episodes, or all the fan made DVD versions of the original untouched Star Wars trilogy) piracy is done purely for profit.
Man I can’t believe I got stuck with one of these “pirated” version. I thought it was weird that Joel was wearing an eye patch and Mike had a pegleg.
Creepy. Typos might not have ever registered on my radar as being a sign of a pirated copy. About half the legit DVDs I buy have numerous typos in the chapter names or on the code printed around the center of the disk. And if the disks were pressed, I wouldn’t have thought a thing about it.
Was this the set that Amazon stopped selling for about a day?
No the set Amazon stopped selling briefly was XXI, the most recent Gamera one.
I’m surprised that so many people don’t realize that most counterfeit DVDs are pressed in factories, not burned. Guys selling obviously pirated DVDs on the street are probably selling burned copies that they make themselves, but the kinds of counterfeit discs you find on eBay that are being passed off as legit copies are usually made overseas in factories just like other DVDs.
#42 Well you see Mr.Temp- 8-Tracks are big chunky plastic things with a magic tape that had music on it. They would take your favorite albums ( you know they’re popular again} anyway they’d turn them from two sided records into 4 sections cut up. So right in the middle of a long song like, lets say Whipping Post it would go Budda-Budda-Budda-Clink-Clunk!( Right in the middle of a blistering solo ) Then it would finish the song. Or if it was a real long song like, lets say Whipping Post it would change a third time. And then when you see Allman Brothers Live and they’d be playing that song you’d wonder where the Budda-Budda-Budda-Clink-Clunk was during the solo. Also if you listened to 8-Tracks with headphones ( a story for another time) you’d hear Demons speaking while you played your favorite song. Then someone would tell you didn’t hear Demons it was just another track playing at the same time. So you’d jam a match book or two under the 8-Track so you could hear one song at a time. I hope this proved to be helpful, now Grandpa Hagen has to go to bed. I’ve got to take out my teeth, drop a trout and be rested for a long day of Bootlicking at my job. Did Frank Zappa do a song about boot licking? No, now I remember it was Keith Moon that sang “Spend my days licking boots for my perks.” or something like that…..