HiDefNinja SteelBook™ / Item Quality & Guidelines for Trades & Sales

apsmith21

Operations Director
Staff Member
Aug 6, 2010
28,254
USA
A General Note About Metal Collectible Quality

Note that due to quality control, if a defect such as a staple dent can be exempted as a problem - if it is indeed the result of a condition due to a manufacturing line issue.

However, it must be proven that a MANUFACTURING run has this problem, and the other party must still be made aware of any potential issues.

Inherent to the quality of any metal collectible, the additional following can be considered - even though manufacturing defects can happen with any product.

1) Steelbook - has known to seen manufacturing defects in terms of missing paint or staple dents in the past. Very minor amount of manufacturing problems.
2) Metal Box - has been known to have missing paint on edges - build quality has appeared to be usually as good as Steelbook.
3) futurepak (used to be known as Metalpak - has been known to scratch easily - may happen in transit to retailer - would not be considered a factory defect.
4) Ironpack (discontinued) - has known to see manufacturing defects such as scratches or missing paint.
5) Metal Slipcase / Tin Case (discontinued?) - overall high quality - no apparent consistent defects

Introduction to Trading Quality Rules / Guidelines

Please note that according to trading rules in this forum, it is the responsibility of each party to correctly describe any known defects, problems or issues with any items condition. This can include taking detailed pictures of the items before agreeing to any trade.

By not correctly describing your item being sent to another party, but still sending your item in good faith, moderators and staff members may request:

  • Both parties send back the items - cancelling the trade
  • A small amount of compensation that can be agreed upon sent to the wronged party
  • Other solutions found through mediation.

Mint & Sealed
  • Items must still be in manufacturer's seal (which can include manufacturing stickers and logos)
  • Opened items can't be in this category even if they were never used
  • Item condition must be free from any visible dents, dings, scratches, missing paint
  • Exempted from this are tears in the shrink wrap, but any tears must be specified to the receiving party.

Example:
collateralgerman.jpg

Like New
  • Opened and used items that still appear brand new
  • Must include all slipcovers, instructions, back paper, and artwork from manufacturer
  • Item condition must be free from any visible dents, dings, scratches, missing paint
  • Can be described as "mint" if free from any defects, even if there is no seal
  • Exception: An item with ONE DEFECT - a small amount of missing paint or a tiny defect that is still sealed can also be described as like new.

Example
sherlockholmesgerman1.jpg

Very Good
  • Metal cases and slipcovers can show a small wear - no more than 2 minor defects (minor scratching, small amount of missing paint, dings). Dings can be fixed.
  • DVD, CD, game disc, blu-ray disc can't be scratched or scuffed
  • Items must include all boxes, instructions, and artwork from manufacturer
  • Can be described as "near-mint" if free from any major defects. More than two minor defects also bumps this item down a grade.

Example:
ninjaassassingerman.jpg

Good
  • Item can be missing only one of the following items: Media box or sleeve, Artwork, Instructions
  • DVD, CD, game disc, or blu-ray disc can be lightly scratched or scuffed
  • The media item must work without the need of repair or resurfacing
  • No more than one major defect can be apparent on the case (large scratch, small dent or dings).

Example:
wolfman1.jpg

Acceptable
  • Item may be missing more than one of the following items: Media box or sleeve, artwork, backing paper, cardboard slip, instructions
  • More than one major defect is apparent to the case, but this appears it can be fixed.
  • May contain a small crack in the inner / plastic tray
  • Media item must work without the need of repair or resurfacing

Example:
equilibrium1.jpg

equilibrium2.jpg

Unacceptable
  • Any item that is received in such a condition due to poor packaging, packing, or inadequate description that causes the item to be severely damaged.
  • Missing media item, even though it was described as being included.
  • Steelbook, no matter the best efforts of the receiving party cannot be fixed.
  • Damage to the spine of any steelbook or metal collectible is usually not able to be fixed.

Example:
unaccetapble1.jpg

unacceptable2.jpg

Here is a selection of pictures to show the most general and likely issues you may come across in the steelbook world of buying/trading:

Paint Chips:
*Tip* Be careful when dealing with your steels as this picture shows, general wear+tear can affect these.
Paint+chip+-+nm3.jpg


Paint+Chip+NM2.jpg



Scratches:
Scratch+-+NM.jpg



Dents:
Dent+-+xxquartzxx.jpg


Dent+-+corner+-+Liselotte.jpg



Dings:
*Tip* Find a sunny area and tilt the steelbook to the light - this will help show any imperfections that are sometimes hard to see!
dent+-+Liselotte.jpg


Ding+-+Liselotte.jpg



Spine Slash:
*Tip* If you gently move the wrapping you'll be able to see if the slash has actually damaged the steel or not!

Spine+Slash+-+mnementh.jpg



Banana steelbook:
Spine+-+xMicheil.jpg



Tears to wrapping:
tear+-+nm.jpg




Annilnation:
*Note*: this normally happens when people don't pack steelbooks properly / Postman decides to play football with it or the Retailer/Seller sends as it is! :emb:

Spine+-+Malky78.jpg


Crushed+-+Buffalo.jpg
Crushed2+-+Buffalo.jpg



*Notes*:

1) Not everyone is OCD but it's always good practice when selling/trading to provide pictures of all imperfections upfront
2) Manufacturing problem? To confirm its a manufacturing problem it's always best to check the thread related to the steelbook in question, in this case Lion King TW.
3) You can share your damaged steel pictures in the separate thread HERE
4) Loose Discs: *Tip* You can certainly fix the majority of these, read HERE
5) Some retailers are known to send steelbooks with imperfections - such as Amazon.ca - usually hidden behind the J-card/slip
6) Sometimes it's not actually a dent behind the J-card but some GLUE
7) If you have none of these issues its more than likely you have a 'mint' steelbook! Congrats! :D

Feel free to post any related steel issues that we've missed or tips that can be added to the notes section.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
i think it is a great idea to have a standardized description for trading in this forum. there are a lot of definitions of 'mint' floating around on ebay...so it is nice to have a standardized description here for quality control. thanks.
 
i think it is a great idea to have a standardized description for trading in this forum. there are a lot of definitions of 'mint' floating around on ebay...so it is nice to have a standardized description here for quality control. thanks.

best one was a steelbook that was described as "Mint" with the slight exception of a massive dent in the spine