How to tell if you're looking at a bootleg or the real thing

[purplefeltangel]

I hope the mods let this post stay, because it is something that many people have asked and isn't really covered in a topic anywhere else!

In my quest to find non-bootlegged Sailor Moon DVDs, I quickly learned the difference between the bootleg and the licensed version. Please read this entire post before doing anything, and feel free to ask if you're still not sure about your set. Thanks.

Identifying a Bootleg

Season One, Japanese:

Bootleg:

• Four discs
  White packaging with all the Sailor Soldiers on the cover
  No ADV logo
  Fold-out case
  Inside of the case uses images from the dub DVDs

Licensed version

• Eight discs
  Deep blue packaging with a silver print of Sailor Moon against a cresecent moon on the box
  ADV logo, white BSSM logo
  "Brick" case in boxes

Season one, dub

Bootleg

• Three discs
  Pale blue with Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars on the cover (cover of dub DVD 3, Sailor Scouts to the Rescue)
  No corporate logos
  36 episodes
  Fold-out case

Licensed version

There is NO OFFICIAL BOXED SET for the dub of the first two seasons! They came in fourteen individual DVDs. Prices for these DVDs are astronomical -- a set of all fourteen is currently going on eBay for almost $600 Canadian! Please see the "notes" section for more information on how to obtain these episodes legally.

Season two, Japanese

Bootleg

• Four discs
  Deep blue with Neo-Queen Serenity on the cover
  No corporate logos
  Fold-out case
  Inside of the case uses images from SuperS

Licensed version

• Eight discs
  Deep blue with silver imprint of Sailor Moon on the cover
  ADV logo, white BSSM logo
  "Brick" case in box

Season two, dub

Bootleg

• Three discs
  Scene of the senshi posing on the cover (cover of one of the dub DVDs)
  No corporate logos
  35 episodes (dub episode 37-72, skips the lost episodes even though they were released on DVD)
  Fold-out case

Licensed version

There is NO OFFICIAL BOXED SET for the dub of the first two seasons! They came in fourteen individual DVDs. Prices for these DVDs are astronomical -- a set of all fourteen is currently going on eBay for almost $600 Canadian! Please see the "notes" section for more information on how to obtain these episodes legally.

Season three

Bootleg

• Three discs
  Green with Sailor Moon naked with Outers posing around her
  No Pioneer logos
  Has the NASM logo with "complete Heart collection" on the cover
  Fold-out case

Licensed version

• Six discs
  Medium blue with Sailor Moon on the front of the box
  Pioneer logo
  Super thin-pak DVDs inside a box

Season four

Bootleg

• Four discs
  Pink and light blue with both Princesses Serenity on the cover
  No Pioneer logo
  Has NASM logo and "Pegasus complete collection" on the cover
  Fold-out case

Licensed

• Seven discs
  Light blue with Sailor Moon smiling on the box
  Pioneer logo
  Super thinpaks in box

Movies

Bootleg

• Three discs
  Three pictures of Sailor Moon on the cover, one from each Pioneer DVD
  No Pioneer logo
  Fold-out case

Licensed version

• Three discs
  The four inner senshi (no Moon) on the cover
  Pioneer logo
  Three DVDs in a box

All seasons

• The DVD (or DVD set) is region-free
  Company logos such as: Fx, Anime Cartoon, Animation Video, MAC
  Chinese or other non-English subtitles

(thanks to Sakuya and Kameko for the "all seasons" information!)

Notes

Pros of bootlegs

Found a bootleg? Don't panic! Your product is not low-quality. In fact, the art on the bootleg sets is very nice, and the discs are ripped from the official versions so the menus are the same. Bootlegs are a great alternative to the licensed version for people who are low on money.

Problems with bootlegs

Please note that I have never bought the SM bootlegs, so some of this information is just going by the bootlegs that I have.

On bootlegs, sometimes the cover art is wrong. This is apparent with the first two uncut seasons, where the dub art is used for the first season and art for SuperS is used for the second.

Since there are more episodes per disc, sometimes the quality is lower. There is also sometimes episode selection problems, where you cannot select an episode and are forced to do so by pressing "play" and fast forwarding through the episodes you don't want to see. Also, there will be no "view scenes" for certain episodes. These are problems I have had with my *own* bootlegs. I am assuming they will be the same for the SM bootlegs since they are ripped from the official discs.

Extras from some discs will not be available. Sometimes the extras are removed completely to make room for more episodes. These are problems I have had with my own bootlegs and I am not sure if they are the same for the SM bootlegs.

Obtaining dubbed episodes

Don't want a bootleg but hate the high prices and rarity of the dub DVDs? Or is the $30 shipping for the bootleg sets giving you hives? Don't worry, there's a very simple solution:

Buy the VHSes.

Yes, the VHSes aren't as nice looking, deteriorate faster, and the packaging is easily ruined. But you're still getting your official episodes -- and for *cheap*. On Amazon, these things come for three dollars a tape. And hardly anybody bothers to bootleg VHSes. The official dub DVDs are so rare and expensive that it could take you up to six months and five hundred dollars to find them all. You can get all fourteen VHSes for $42.

Identifying bootlegs on eBay

Usually this is very easy. Look for the following clues:

- Picture matches one of the descriptions of bootlegs
- Astronomically cheap, especially if they offer all five seasons + movies for something like $150
- Picture is for the wrong product (ie, SuperS art for the first season, etc)
- Claims "not a homemade DVD or DVD-R but direct from the manufacturer!" This is their way of trying to convince you both that it's not a bootleg, and that all bootlegs are low-quality. Neither will be true.
- Most people who are selling the real thing will say so directly in their auction. Look for "We do not sell bootlegs or Asian imports," or just plain "not a bootleg." If they're lying and you buy their product, eBay can close their account.

Are you still not sure? The best way to find out is to use the "ask this seller a question" feature. Avoid asking directly if these are bootlegs, because they will usually give you the DVD-R response. Instead ask in a more roundabout way -- specifically, ask how many discs are in the set. If there are less than there should be, you're looking at a bootleg.

Identifying bootlegs on Amazon

This one is much harder. People list the bootlegs under the official product, and their listings don't have pictures. Sometimes they will mention that it is an "import edition," but other than that, there's absolutely no indication at all whether it's a bootleg or the real thing. Don't be fooled by the prices; sometimes they will jack up the price just to convince you that it's real!

So again, ask the seller. Click on their name and click "contact" on their profile. Then ask them the number of discs in the set. Hopefully this will be a tipoff.

Sailormoonshop.com bootlegs

Sailormoonshop.com offers bootlegs at good prices, with nice art from the manga. However, I am not sure what the quality is like. I don't believe these are ripped from official discs because episode 67 is included. If anyone has bought these bootlegs, can I have some information on their quality?

I hope this post was useful! Enjoy your episodes, everyone!

[Neon Heart]

I'll use this for refernance of my mom ever wants to buy me SM DVD's off of eBaY or something. Thanks for sharing this with us! ^__^

[Umino]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the main problem with bootlegs, [/b]they're illegal. And they don't help support the series at all.

[Tiff]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the main problem with bootlegs, [/b]they're illegal. And they don't help support the series at all.

ADMIN MODE:

Becuase she was listing TECHNICAL problems. This is not a place to discuss the morals of bootlegs. We've gone through this before. Please don't start.

Her information could HELP support the series, becuase she's letting people know how bootlegs are identified.

If I see anymore of the same "bootleg vs original" battle in this thread, then those starting it will be spoken to.

[Sakuya]

I've got some bootleg stereotypes to add.

- The DVD (or DVD set) is "Region 0" or "Region All"
- The entire series is all on 3 or 4 discs
- Cheap pricing such as $14.95 (or under) for 3-4 disc sets
- Company logos such as: Fx, Anime Cartoon, Animation Video, MAC

Ah, what the heck, I remember telling you about this site that houses reviews for almost all the anime bootlegs out there? Well, I found it. So now, you can check-reference items on Ebay on this archive site to see if it's a bootleg or not.

http://www.import-anime.com
(I'm not sure if I should be posting this. The site is mainly just an archive with reviews of bootlegs as well as screencaptures of the DVD's content. However, there is also a link to a store... )

[Kameko]

If the DVDs have subtitles other then english, usually chinese, it's a bootleg.

[purplefeltangel]

thank you for the information! I will add this to the main post.

[Crysta]

Would you like pictures of the bootleg DVDs for reference purposes? I can upload them if it would be helpful for you.

[MarioKnight]

Would you like pictures of the bootleg DVDs for reference purposes? I can upload them if it would be helpful for you.

That won't be necessary. There's a coverart archive with nearly all of the art from the licensed versions on this site, so anyone can check that out to see what the licensed covers look like.

Also, it's important to note that Pioneer changed names to Geneon a couple of years ago, so anything from the S and SS seasons, as well as the movies, that have Pioneer or Geneon on them are the licensed ones. I believe I saw the Toei Animation logo on the S and SS boxes too, so that may be noteworthy as well.

[Musashi]

Yeah, my SuperS boxset's got the Toei animation logo. ^^

[Crysta]

Would you like pictures of the bootleg DVDs for reference purposes? I can upload them if it would be helpful for you.

That won't be necessary. There's a coverart archive with nearly all of the art from the licensed versions on this site, so anyone can check that out to see what the licensed covers look like.

Also, it's important to note that Pioneer changed names to Geneon a couple of years ago, so anything from the S and SS seasons, as well as the movies, that have Pioneer or Geneon on them are the licensed ones. I believe I saw the Toei Animation logo on the S and SS boxes too, so that may be noteworthy as well.

I know that, I offered pictures of the BOOTLEGS for comparison purposes. ^.^;; Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[MarioKnight]

Would you like pictures of the bootleg DVDs for reference purposes? I can upload them if it would be helpful for you.

That won't be necessary. There's a coverart archive with nearly all of the art from the licensed versions on this site, so anyone can check that out to see what the licensed covers look like.

Also, it's important to note that Pioneer changed names to Geneon a couple of years ago, so anything from the S and SS seasons, as well as the movies, that have Pioneer or Geneon on them are the licensed ones. I believe I saw the Toei Animation logo on the S and SS boxes too, so that may be noteworthy as well.

I know that, I offered pictures of the BOOTLEGS for comparison purposes. ^.^;; Sorry if that wasn't clear.

It was, I'm just saying that the ones for the licensed versions will always be the same ones as shown. Bootleg covers can always vary, so if covers are different than the actual ones, then they're obviously bootlegs. It would be easier for people compare to the one actual cover, then check through several bootleg covers.

[Crysta]

Ah, I get your point now. ^.^;;

[*KEEP-SM-ALIVE*]

If they're technically illegal, why do so many online shops sell them? Wouldn't the government keep this from happening or something?

[jupiter23]

Well, they can't babysit everyone on the internet. Despite the fact that they are in fact illegal, if they were to arrest everyone who engaged in online piracy, then all of us would probably be sitting in jail right now.

[Tiff]

If they're technically illegal, why do so many online shops sell them? Wouldn't the government keep this from happening or something?

jupiter23 said it exactly. People have sold fansubs for years. Those are illegal, too. But I myself own a set of Stars fansubs. *Shrugs* Downloading MP3s for free is illegal, but just about everyone on here does that, too.

And actually, most "official" online shops don't sell bootlegs. Bootlegs are normally found on places like E-bay and in online shops that specialize in bootlegs.