In our Nov. 11th news item about "The Twilight Zone: Gold Collection," we mentioned that the exclusive retailer of this set, Another Universe, was using this product as the follow-up to their Limited Lunchbox Edition of "My So-Called Life."
At MSCL.COM, a fan website devoted to My So-Called Life, a discussion was started on this subject. In regard to those posts, the MSCL.COM administrators received a note from Robert Hayes, president of a company called V3 Media. V3 Media (also known as MediaRacer) specializes in "just-in-time" releases of DVD-R's and CD-R's of special-made products, as long as the license-holder can provide the master that they should work off of.
Examination of the box art for "The Twilight Zone: Gold Collection" at
Another Universe's site reveals that V3 Media's logo is featured on the bottom center of the front. Mr. Haye's letter was published in the MSCL.COM discussion forum for DVD's. It had this to say:
"With regard to the DVD-R format, yes we are using this format of disc in our product offering. We understand that there are players still out in use that have trouble with these discs and are maintaining a list on our site www.mediaracer.com This list will continuously be updated as new models are marketed."
Anyone who intends to purchase this set should be aware that player compatibility is a potential issue with these discs, especially since this fact is (so far, anyway) omitted from Another Universe's advertisement. Please consult the
list at MediaRacer.com before you take the $400 plunge.
The 5 "Collection" releases provided by Image Entertainment, on the other hand, will NOT use DVD-R technology. They will be pressed via standard DVD manufacturing techniques, and should have no abnormal compatibility issues. So an alternative is available, if you don't mind having the episodes out-of-order. Every episode, including alternative versions of a few of them, will be included on those box sets from Image.
