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Originally Posted by BustaUppa Yeah I'm definitely in favor of the digipak trays. Worst offender (in my limited blu-ray experience) is the Back To The Future collection, where they have a damn instruction manual for getting the discs out.

Yikes -- I hadn't seen that. Maybe I'll get the UK version of BttF too if it's region free (haven't been able to find confirmation one way or the other yet in a quick search, though Universal titles usually are), as it looks to have more normal trays. Of course, that's because it doesn't have the digital copy discs, but I don't care about those anyway.

Well, hopefully this works as I just ordered one. Going to be a pricey return otherwise. =)

Originally Posted by leshrac55 Well, hopefully this works as I just ordered one. Going to be a pricey return otherwise. =)

I've read enough reports of it working to not be at all worried. Just make sure that you have upgraded your blu-ray player to the newest firmware version, as some people who haven't have had trouble playing the Alien Anthology, regardless of whether it was the US or UK version.

Originally Posted by arcane93 If you want to see the difference between the two versions, there are some high quality pictures here (hit the "spoiler" tag in the linked posts to display the pictures): US version: http://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-mov...ml#post3907797 UK version: http://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-mov...ml#post3906184 The US version has a cooler design and better artwork, but it has the slots for the discs (slide the discs in and out, at potential peril to both the discs and the packaging). The UK version arguably isn't as nice looking, but it has the digipack trays. Personally, I prefer the trays over the slots enough to be willing to take the UK packaging (the cheaper price doesn't hurt either, but I was probably holding out for the UK set one way or the other), but YMMV of course.

Thanks very much for posting those packaging links. Even though I definitely favor trays over slots, I *hate* the rest of the UK packaging. Could it be any less impressive? If this is supposed to be the "mother of all Alien releases" then I want it to look that way. I actually canceled my UK order and I'll just stick with the U.S. release I already own. I'm the only one who handles the Blu-Ray disks in our house so I'm not too worried about any potential damage issues.

Originally Posted by Dimsdale Thanks very much for posting those packaging links. Even though I definitely favor trays over slots, I *hate* the rest of the UK packaging. Could it be any less impressive? If this is supposed to be the "mother of all Alien releases" then I want it to look that way. I actually canceled my UK order and I'll just stick with the U.S. release I already own. I'm the only one who handles the Blu-Ray disks in our house so I'm not too worried about any potential damage issues.

Heh, if you want it to look impressive, you probably should order the one in the egg packaging.

Originally Posted by arcane93 Heh, if you want it to look impressive, you probably should order the one in the egg packaging.

You know, I actually did consider that one. Trouble is, I've already bought the series three times in standard-def DVD (individually, the first collection, and the quadrilogy), so I couldn't justify the egg lamp for double the price of the regular Blu release.

Originally Posted by arcane93 The US version has a cooler design and better artwork, but it has the slots for the discs (slide the discs in and out, at potential peril to both the discs and the packaging). The UK version arguably isn't as nice looking, but it has the digipack trays. Personally, I prefer the trays over the slots enough to be willing to take the UK packaging (the cheaper price doesn't hurt either, but I was probably holding out for the UK set one way or the other), but YMMV of course.

Glad I didn't bite then. The US artwork is far superior and I don't really mind the slips since it didn't bother me with the Rome packaging. I'll just wait on a great deal here in the US.

Originally Posted by arcane93 My girlfriend ordered a bunch of CDs from Amazon UK on Nov. 24th, and according to Amazon they were all shipped on the same day in two separate packages. A box with a few of them showed up about a week later on Dec. 2nd, but the other larger box has yet to show up. She's freaked out that it got lost or stolen. I've been telling her not to worry about it yet because it's such a busy shipping time, though that's getting harder to defend by the day. Tomorrow is actually Amazon's estimated delivery date on it, so if it doesn't show up by then, we're going to file a claim -- and probably get told to wait another week or two, but at least we'll have set the wheels in motion. I just hope that if it comes down to it, Amazon UK is as good about replacing lost/missing items as Amazon US is. But anyway, yeah, delivery from Amazon UK in the US is seriously unpredictable, mostly due to complications from international/overseas shipping. You just have to kind of roll with it and accept that orders from them are sometimes going to come right away, and sometimes take a long while to arrive.

Hey arcance93 (linkbear too, if you're reading, and anyone else who has experience with Amazon UK), just curious- any update on those Amazon UK packages?

Had three separate items ship from them several weeks ago, only received one of them so far, estimated arrival dates for the others are in a few days, sure hope they arrive by then... been away from home for several days for different Christmas events, wondering now if the packages were delivered and got taken off the doorstep by some thieving Christmas SOB. Unfortunately, stuff like that has happened around here before.

I mean, I know there have been weather issues in the UK, but it's kind of weird that one of the items I ordered after the others was delivered within a week, but I'm still waiting on the others even though they shipped weeks ago. I hate that there's no tracking on the items. So, are Amazon UK as good as their US counterpart at replacing missing/lost stuff or no?

My copy is still out in the wild, shipped on 12/02/10. If it doesn't arrive by end of the day on Monday, 01/03/11, I'm asking Amazon.co.uk to reship another copy of it.

Same here.

Mine doesn't even have tracking information but the estimated delivery is Jan 11.

Does anyone ordering from US actually get tracking info from Amazon UK? (think I might use more expensive options next time, if it's possible)

Originally Posted by shrike4242 If it doesn't arrive by end of the day on Monday, 01/03/11, I'm asking Amazon.co.uk to reship another copy of it.

Let's hope they're as good as regular Amazon about doing something like that.

Originally Posted by CENNY Hey arcance93 (linkbear too, if you're reading, and anyone else who has experience with Amazon UK), just curious- any update on those Amazon UK packages?

Haven't gotten mine yet. I ordered it on 12/16, and it was shipped on 12/17. The delivery estimate is 1/5 to 1/12. So I'm not overly concerned yet.

Shipments from Amazon UK have gotten severely messed up by the weather and the holidays over there -- not Amazon's fault, but there's also nothing they can do about it. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, my girlfriend ordered a bunch of CDs on 11/24, and they were shipped the same day in two parcels, with an estimated delivery date of 12/16. The first parcel arrived on 12/2, but the second didn't arrive until 12/24, a full week after the estimated date. Apparently shipping from the UK is still a bit messed up -- I don't know if it's still weather problems, or residual issues from it getting so backed up before.

Honestly, if you ordered when this thread was posted in mid-December, I wouldn't be in a huge rush to ask them for a replacement. Give them a couple more weeks.

Originally Posted by CENNY Does anyone ordering from US actually get tracking info from Amazon UK? (think I might use more expensive options next time, if it's possible)

Not through Royal Mail -> USPS shipping -- to the best of my knowledge, there's no tracking option available with that (the most you could get, if Amazon UK would do it at all, would be a Royal Mail tracking number, which would cease to be useful once the package was handed over to USPS). To get a useful tracking number, you would need to ship through some other service -- UPS, FedEx, etc. Not sure if Amazon UK offers those as an option or not, or what they use for their expedited shipping, as I've never tried it. It's a lot more expensive.

So has anyone actually gotten their Alien sets yet? I ordered mine on 12/16 and it's been in the US since 12/27, but has not yet arrived.

Originally Posted by TVsRobLowe So has anyone actually gotten their Alien sets yet? I ordered mine on 12/16 and it's been in the US since 12/27, but has not yet arrived.

May I ask how you know your set is in the US? If it went standard delivery, there's no tracking information.

Also, there was no mail delivery yesterday, so you can't count that as a day for mail to arrive. Plus, if it was coming through the East Coast once it made it to the US, there's been numerous delays due to the bad weather from the beginning of last week that they're just now trying to catch up on.

Originally Posted by shrike4242 Also, there was no mail delivery yesterday, so you can't count that as a day for mail to arrive. Plus, if it was coming through the East Coast once it made it to the US, there's been numerous delays due to the bad weather from the beginning of last week that they're just now trying to catch up on.

Also, keep in mind that this stuff has to go through customs, and they probably got backed up over the holidays as well. There are lots of reasons why international shipping might take a bit longer than usual right now, so really, everybody just calm down. You'll get your parcel eventually. If you were really in that big a hurry, you should have just gone to Target and bought a US copy.

Originally Posted by shrike4242 May I ask how you know your set is in the US? If it went standard delivery, there's no tracking information. Also, there was no mail delivery yesterday, so you can't count that as a day for mail to arrive. Plus, if it was coming through the East Coast once it made it to the US, there's been numerous delays due to the bad weather from the beginning of last week that they're just now trying to catch up on.

On my order I was given a DHLGA tracking number. It tells me when it departed the UK (Croydon) and arrived in the US(Rutherford, NJ). Once it hits the US, it transfers over to USPS shipment, which I don't have a tracking number for. Estimated delivery was Dec 30.

I'm in no hurry to get it though, as long as it eventually gets here.

Originally Posted by arcane93 Also, keep in mind that this stuff has to go through customs, and they probably got backed up over the holidays as well. There are lots of reasons why international shipping might take a bit longer than usual right now, so really, everybody just calm down. You'll get your parcel eventually. If you were really in that big a hurry, you should have just gone to Target and bought a US copy.

I know how the process works for international shipments to get here, though it's just a matter of getting such blanket responses that change every time I ask that question about where the item is at. Eventually, it'll have to show up or be considered lost, and that timeframe I ask the reps at Amazon.co.uk when it should be considered lost changes from day to day. Right now, they've said 30 days should be the timeframe that it's considered to be lost, and I'm about that timeframe.

Originally Posted by TVsRobLowe On my order I was given a DHLGA tracking number. It tells me when it departed the UK (Croydon) and arrived in the US(Rutherford, NJ). Once it hits the US, it transfers over to USPS shipment, which I don't have a tracking number for. Estimated delivery was Dec 30. I'm in no hurry to get it though, as long as it eventually gets here.

I didn't have any tracking information on my shipments, both this current one and the previous ones I've ordered over the last few months. I'd expect that level of information from Expedited shipping pricing, though if that was from Standard shipping, I'm not so lucky.

Originally Posted by TVsRobLowe So has anyone actually gotten their Alien sets yet? I ordered mine on 12/16 and it's been in the US since 12/27, but has not yet arrived.

I have not received the Alien set or another title that a lot of people excitedly purchased and was shipped out around the exact same time, Battle Royale.

There's a lot of blame being thrown around, and I suspect it is to be attributable to the USPS. They completely messed up two domestic boxes I was expecting, with one still not received, two weeks overdue. I also have no tracking on the UK packages. It's not their fault on that.

Originally Posted by shrike4242 I know how the process works for international shipments to get here

Yeah, I wasn't so much talking to you as I was to people like the one you were responding to, who ordered in mid-December. Yours I would be starting to get a bit more concerned about, since you ordered so much earlier. Honestly, I'd probably give them this week yet, but I wouldn't fault you for going ahead and contacting them either. The only thing to be aware of is that in order to issue you a replacement or a refund, they will make you agree to ship back the first parcel if it arrives, which you'll probably end up having to do on your dime since they're not a US company (one of the big disadvantages of Amazon US and Amazon UK operating as separate business entities). That's what happened with my girlfriend's CD parcel, anyway, and rather than agree to that we decided to give it one more week (at which point it arrived). Of course, it's all on your conscience whether to send it back or not, since they have no way to determine whether you got it, but since they are so good about refunds and replacements, I didn't feel like it was right for us to screw them.

Originally Posted by TVsRobLowe On my order I was given a DHLGA tracking number. It tells me when it departed the UK (Croydon) and arrived in the US(Rutherford, NJ). Once it hits the US, it transfers over to USPS shipment, which I don't have a tracking number for. Estimated delivery was Dec 30.

A few things --

First, mail has been significantly delayed in the UK through much of December, mostly by the weather, but also by the holiday. It normally wouldn't take from Dec. 16th to Dec. 27th for Royal Mail to get a parcel to the US, so there was already some delay in there.

Second, when their tracking says they handed it over to USPS, it actually means that they handed it over to US Customs (all it's really saying is that Dec. 27th is the point when Royal Mail no longer had it in their hands). Sometimes Customs is fast, sometimes they're . . . the opposite of fast. The first mail day after Christmas, they were probably still getting deluged with holiday parcels from the UK and other parts of Europe that had gotten delayed by the weather there.

Third, the 26th (into the 27th) was the day of that huge snowstorm in the northeast. Rutherford, NJ was right in the middle of that. They got somewhere on the order of 23 inches of snow. Things were pretty much shut down there for a couple of days. Then after that, Saturday was a holiday and there was no mail delivery. So there actually hasn't been all that much time since the 27th.

When Amazon gave that Dec. 30th estimate (if they did -- I find that suspect because I ordered at the same time, and my delivery estimate was 1/5 to 1/12, but then I also didn't get a tracking number so you apparently got different shipping than I did), they had no way of calculating in weather, as they had no idea what the weather was going to be. They also figured in an average time for customs, but likely did not calculate in extra for how backed up customs would be at this point. If you'd ordered in the middle of summer, it probably would have been a lot faster, and even gotten to you a week or two before the delivery estimate. This time of year, though, you have to expect it to take longer.

Edit: Just realized, you had a DHL tracking number rather than a Royal Mail tracking number. Same basic principle, though. Yours probably got shipped right at the window where Amazon decided that Royal Mail was too backed up and looked for other options. DHL must be faster within Europe, because a lot of European companies use them, but I've found them to be very slow in getting things to the US. Probably why they seriously scaled back their US operations -- they just couldn't compete here.

Originally Posted by vivafriend5 There's a lot of blame being thrown around, and I suspect it is to be to attributable to the USPS.

As has been noted, it's attributed to many different factors. Most of them are weather and holiday season related, not the fault of Amazon, Royal Mail, or USPS.