Old style insert tray for CD jewel case.

[Wombat]

I have been purchasing some CDs from the early '80s. Some arrive with inner trays with locking hubs prongs broken. In order to maintain originality for the more valuable CDs I have replaced the broken trays with the same type from less important old CDs. I am running out of these replacements.

The days of getting old undesirable titles @ 10 for a dollar seems to be past, at least in my patch.

Can ths insert be sourced from anywhere?

The particular version is here:

Note the 8, rounded, well-spaced prongs and the two very crisply embossed Compact Disc logos


For comparison and variations- not required:

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...dpr=1#imgrc=lJmIwBZGRh5NAM:&spf=1526696931134

EDIT: I found the site that posted the above pic - http://www.opti-pack.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/119

A source in Australia would be good re postage.

 

[RayDunzl]

I bought a bunch from Amazon a couple of years ago, but I don't see such a good deal for Amazon Australia... and the prices went up some here, too.

Old orders:

I figured with a little mix and match I'd be set forever...

Sorry!

 

[Wombat]

I have no problem with case purchases. It is those original style inner trays with the particular clamping prongs I'm looking for.

I will follow up the UK link to see if they do economical international shipping.

PS. Jewel cases sold on-line or in store can be very inferior to those on commercial release CDs - brittle and prone to cracking, hinge tabs easily snapping-off, poor opening and closing, difficulty in removing the inner tray and fitting inserts.

I would like to find a source of the higher quality CD jewel cases, also.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

I would like to find a source of the higher quality Jewel cases, also.

https://www.tiffany.com/?&omcid=ppc...daYyygC08FEMTJTQXEq1TrRpFWPMCYx8aAlqpEALw_wcB

 

[restorer-john]

The tray style you are referring to is the early Polygram type. The Logo can be either recessed of flush. The modern incarnations of that tray have been largely of poor quality since the late 1980s when significant material reductions were made to reduce costs. The same cost reductions resulted in much weaker CD cases. The Japanese (Sony and Sanyo) early trays used both the 8 prong (initially) then the classic finer Japanese multi prong clamp.

The best way to determine quality is by weight. Take an early West German pressed Polygram Disc and case, it will be much heavier. If you see the very early smooth edge cases, they are heavier and stronger again.

I used to order master cartons of cases from UMG and Sony back in the day when selling CDs as we'd often need to replace damaged cases or use empty cases to fill out top40 racks. They were about $35 for 100 cases IIRC- I could get black/clear and several types of double cases. They were of high quality polycarbonate, but never as thick or heavy as the early cases. I would suggest approaching JB-HiFi or a retailer that burns through cases perhaps and ask them to order a whole carton of what you need?

What I hunt for these days are original cases. It doesn't matter if they are scratched, I have a procedure to polish them better than they ever were. I've been buying CDs for the cases when they are 20c a disc.

I'm very fussy about the correct case era and tray being on my CDs.

Many of the Cash Converter stores now sell CDs for around 20c per disc and you can fish through crap you don't want for the cases.

 

[Wombat]

The tray style you are referring to is the early Polygram type. The Logo can be either recessed of flush. The modern incarnations of that tray have been largely of poor quality since the late 1980s when significant material reductions were made to reduce costs. The same cost reductions resulted in much weaker CD cases. The Japanese (Sony and Sanyo) early trays used both the 8 prong (initially) then the classic finer Japanese multi prong clamp.

The best way to determine quality is by weight. Take an early West German pressed Polygram Disc and case, it will be much heavier. If you see the very early smooth edge cases, they are heavier and stronger again.

I used to order master cartons of cases from UMG and Sony back in the day when selling CDs as we'd often need to replace damaged cases or use empty cases to fill out top40 racks. They were about $35 for 100 cases IIRC- I could get black/clear and several types of double cases. They were of high quality polycarbonate, but never as thick or heavy as the early cases. I would suggest approaching JB-HiFi or a retailer that burns through cases perhaps and ask them to order a whole carton of what you need?

What I hunt for these days are original cases. It doesn't matter if they are scratched, I have a procedure to polish them better than they ever were. I've been buying CDs for the cases when they are 20c a disc.

I'm very fussy about the correct case era and tray being on my CDs.

Many of the Cash Converter stores now sell CDs for around 20c per disc and you can fish through crap you don't want for the cases.

Next time I'm in the Big Smoke I'll check them out.

 

[Fitzcaraldo215]

Yup, I have many jewel cases with broken prongs. I have others with way too much grip making it hard to remove the disc, even while properly pushing the prongs with a finger. And, multidisc boxes can be a royal pain. Booklets and discs sometimes fall out onto the floor, etc.

But, I am not about to fix them. They are all ripped to my NAS, many thousands, so the discs and their problematic cases go untouched and gather dust, probably for the rest of my lifetime.

I do wish that the original design of the optical disc could have an integrated hard plastic carrier and with a sliding window for play, like the old PC 3.5" floppy discs, but still optical, not magnetic. Then, we would never have to touch the discs at all. Those old 3.5 floppies were pretty handy and fairly immune to handling issues. But, that would have made CDs more costly, and it seems the designers were convinced that error correction would solve most all issues -fingerprints, scratches, etc. It does work, but too far from perfectly.

We have an excellent classical/jazz FM station here in Philly, WRTI. I visited their studio several times years ago, chatting with the DJs while on air. I noticed that they, at least then, used special Denon broadcast players, which required that the CD be transferred from the jewel box to a special, flip top plastic carrier for play, then back to the jewel box after that. The problem was the handling. And, still, a few - too many - discs skip or freeze during on air playback. I am not sure that it is too much better than when the station played vinyl.

 

[restorer-john]

In my opinion, the jewel case is a work of art. It won several design awards I believe. The original cases were also incredibly strong.

Being the super fussy dude I am, all my cases are in perfect condition (apart from the several hundred 2nd hand ones that are in the polishing lineup waiting). Over the years I developed various methods to polish the cases to perfection. To be honest, I've never scratched (even marginally) a single CD since I bought my first one in 1983. It's getting difficult to get all the case and insert styles to maintain period accuracy but my stockpiles should last me another 10 years plus and my collecting has slowed these days.

Being as a single box TOTL vintage CD players often outperform current model transport/D/A converters in some key areas, the NAS option, although attractive in some ways, (I have a few for movies and file storage) is unlikely to ever store my music collection.

To each their own I guess, but I love the Compact Disc format and its relative perfection, longevity, portability, ubiquity and durability.

 

[restorer-john]

Wombat, it must be getting cold down there mate?

 

[Wombat]

In my opinion, the jewel case is a work of art. It won several design awards I believe. The original cases were also incredibly strong.

Being the super fussy dude I am, all my cases are in perfect condition (apart from the several hundred 2nd hand ones that are in the polishing lineup waiting). Over the years I developed various methods to polish the cases to perfection. To be honest, I've never scratched (even marginally) a single CD since I bought my first one in 1983. It's getting difficult to get all the case and insert styles to maintain period accuracy but my stockpiles should last me another 10 years plus and my collecting has slowed these days.

Being as a single box TOTL vintage CD players often outperform current model transport/D/A converters in some key areas, the NAS option, although attractive in some ways, (I have a few for movies and file storage) is unlikely to ever store my music collection.

To each their own I guess, but I love the Compact Disc format and its relative perfection, longevity, portability, ubiquity and durability.

If the seller doesn't hold the CD down in the case with thin bubble wrap then those early(8-prong) CD retainers are likely to break and in doing so will scratch the hub area of the CD if not the tracks.

I recently received 5 Rolling Stones original release(Red Sash) CDs from Germany. The seller packed them very well, including the piece of bubble wrap. All items arrived with no damage at all. These CDs were so 'mint' I thought they could be reproductions(they aren't).
I have found CDs from German sellers to be generally in excellent condition(do Germans look after their possessions better than most others?) but can be compromised, like from other sellers, due to not securing the disc.

It is worth asking the seller to use the piece of bubble wrap on more desirable discs.


PS. I have no problem at all with those enthusiasts discarding CDs for digital downloads/streaming - it helps to keep the price of used CDs reasonable.