VHS, DVD and Blu-ray packaging: big box to SteelBook

You are holding a tape or a disc, and the case it came in has a name you half remember. The name matters, because a reissue that moved from a snap case to a keep case is a different release with its own entry in the home video catalog. This page names every case and box you are likely to meet, says how to recognise each one, and tells you which packaging value to pick when you add or edit a release.

VHS boxes

Tape came in more kinds of box than any disc ever did.

Slipcase. A thin card box open at one end. The cassette slides in and the spine faces out. This was the American retail standard from the start, and it is the most common VHS packaging in the catalog. Pick Slipcase.

Clamshell. Two hinged plastic halves that snap shut, with the artwork tucked under a clear outer skin. Black was the usual colour, Disney's puffy white ones are the famous exception, and clear shells turn up too. Rental shops loved them. Pick Clamshell and put the colour in the notes.

Big box. This is where the names got tangled. In Britain the chunky black clamshell is itself called a big box. In America a big box is an oversized card carton, taller and deeper than a slipcase, that opens at the top through a tabbed flap, with the tape sitting in a moulded plastic tray. Some of those cartons held a clamshell instead of a tray, which is probably how one name ended up on two objects. Scream Baby Scream, a Regal Video tape from 1984, is both at once: a black clamshell inside a card big box. There is no big box value, so pick Other and write "big box" in the notes, and add Clamshell if there is one inside.

Full-flap box. A tuck-end carton the size of the cassette, where the whole front panel is a flap that folds down. A tray box is the same idea with a plastic tray glued inside. Both are Other, with the name in the notes.

Book box. Paperboard, larger than a slipcase, opening along the right edge the way a book cover does, with the tape in a built-in tray. The old Filmogs forum asked for this one by name, and morgue_sludge drew the line that matters: "Book boxes should not be confused with clamshells. They're totally different. Book boxes are made of paperboard and do not snap shut." Pick Other and write "book box".

Keep case. The plastic case with a rounded spine and the cover sheet under a clear film, the retail standard across the UK and Europe. Collectors sometimes call these snap cases as well, and the squarer version with posts is a rental box or library case. Pick Keep case and say which in the notes.

Glass box. A clear, hard, hinged case like an audio cassette case scaled up, with no posts. Die Geisterstadt der Zombies from VMP in Germany is one. Pick Other and write "glass box".

DVD and Blu-ray cases

Keep case. The Amaray, 135 mm wide, 190 mm high and 14 mm deep for DVD, with the Blu-ray version shorter and usually blue. The disc sits on a push button hub and the cover sheet slides under clear film. Slim 7 mm versions exist, and the shell comes in black, clear, blue and white. All of them are Keep case, and 39,136 releases carry it. Colour goes in the notes.

Snap case. The early DVD case, also called a snapper. A single sheet of printed cardboard folds round a plastic tray, and a plastic lock bar runs up the right edge. Inside are a chapter list and a strip of tear-out proof of purchase tokens along the spine. Double-sided discs nearly always came in them. Superman: The Movie from 2001 is typical, down to the double-sided DVD-18 inside. Pick **Snap case**.

Jewel case and super jewel case. CD-style clear plastic cases. The super jewel case keeps the CD width but grows to DVD height. Pick Jewel Case or Super-Jewelcase.

Digipak. Folding paperboard with a plastic tray glued to the inside. It cannot be taken apart without damage, which is one way to tell it from a card wallet. Pick Digipak.

Digibook. A hardback book with bound printed pages and a disc tray inside the cover. Tromeo and Juliet, limited to 999 copies, is one. Pick Digibook.

SteelBook. A metal case the size of a Blu-ray keep case, with the art printed or debossed on the steel itself and no paper wrap. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas from Universum Film is a plain one. SteelBook is a trade name; pick SteelBook for any metal case.

Hardbox. A rigid box that opens on a flap, common on German releases and made in a large and a small size. Pick Hardbox and give the size in the notes.

Cardsleeve. A card wallet with the disc in a pocket, sometimes a gatefold with room for two. Newspaper and magazine giveaway DVDs in Greece and the UK came this way, and Laserdisc jackets go here too. Pick Cardsleeve. A thin paper sleeve with a cellophane window has no value of its own, so pick Other and write "paper sleeve".

Outer packaging: slipcases, O-cards and obis

Packaging on a ctlgs release is a list, so a keep case inside a slipcase gets both values.

Slipcase. A card box open at one end, which a keep case or digipak slides into. Pick Slipcase alongside the case inside.

O-card. A loop of card open at the top and bottom that slides over a keep case. Some people type "O-ring". EK_ settled that in 2018: "O-RING is a gasket." The Target edition of La La Land shows one over a keep case. There is no O-card value. Pick Other, write "O-card" in the notes, and keep the Keep case beside it. The imported data mostly filed O-cards under Slipcase, so search both when you are looking for one.

Obi. The Japanese paper band. A belly band wraps the whole case, a spine card folds over the spine, and a sticker obi does either job on adhesive. Nivekian explained why it counts as packaging: "Unlike hype stickers, Obi are included with every unit in the same placement." Pick Other and write "obi".

Special boxes

Box Set. The outer housing for several cases. Most are a rigid set-up box with a lid that drops over the base, or a card slipcase. Pick Box Set and add a value for the cases inside it.

Tin. Round or rectangular, hinged or with a lift-off lid. Paramount put the UK Blu-ray of Ferris Bueller's Day Off in one. Pick Other and write "tin".

Film cans and cartons. 8 mm and 16 mm prints came in metal or plastic cans, or in tuck-end cartons. Pick Other and say which.

Recording it on ctlgs

The packaging field offers thirteen values and nothing else: Box Set, Cardsleeve, Clamshell, Digibook, Digipak, Hardbox, Jewel Case, Keep case, Slipcase, Snap case, SteelBook, Super-Jewelcase and Other. Add one for each layer. Everything else about the box goes in the release's notes. That means the colour and the size, and any die-cut or embossed logo. The old Filmogs form had a free-text box next to the value, which is why imported entries read "Keep case (Black)" or "Other (Large Hardbox)".

Today 57,143 of the catalog's 71,634 releases carry a packaging value, and the 3,064 under Other mostly say what they are in brackets.

Packaging belongs to the release. The dent in your clamshell belongs to your copy, where condition lives. See condition grading explained for that, and the format guides for the rest of the entry: VHS, DVD, Blu-ray and LaserDisc.