I am fairly certain now I got a counterfeit copy of the sopranos. The pictures in this link clued me in that I might have a fake copy in the first place.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-me...e=UTF8&index=1
The quickest way to tell is to measure the box, should be 4x9x13 1/4" and feel fairly sturdy. The book itself should be about 3" thick and there should be no "warped" or "bulged" pages in the book due to them holding DVDs. Each page in the book that holds DVD's is approximately 1/8" thick paper. The background of the pockets that hold DVDs should be BLACK.
On the fake version the DVDs themselves are horrible quality, all are out of balance and several won't read. Many complaints found on the internet about this but I presume those are all fakes.
Another Update: if you rip these movies to your home server like I do you are going to notice some other BIG differences. The fakes are all single layer 4.4GB disks where the legit ones are all dual layer ~8GB or so. Further the fake ones have wacky disk titles, some don't have titles, some have titles of the wrong disk and others have titles from other SHOWS that aren't even HBO. At first I was getting a laugh at the titling and thought it was to mess people up that are illegitimately copying but it seems the legit disks from HBO are titled all correctly "SOPRANOS_S1_D2" etc.
Lots of pictures, FYI if you aren't on broadband.
Presumed FAKE Sopranos box set that was obtained through a seller on Amazon:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Spoiler
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Presumed REAL Sopranos box set that was obtained through HBO online store:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Spoiler
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Edit: moved pictures to top post and posted legit box pictures.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-me...e=UTF8&index=1
The quickest way to tell is to measure the box, should be 4x9x13 1/4" and feel fairly sturdy. The book itself should be about 3" thick and there should be no "warped" or "bulged" pages in the book due to them holding DVDs. Each page in the book that holds DVD's is approximately 1/8" thick paper. The background of the pockets that hold DVDs should be BLACK.
On the fake version the DVDs themselves are horrible quality, all are out of balance and several won't read. Many complaints found on the internet about this but I presume those are all fakes.
Another Update: if you rip these movies to your home server like I do you are going to notice some other BIG differences. The fakes are all single layer 4.4GB disks where the legit ones are all dual layer ~8GB or so. Further the fake ones have wacky disk titles, some don't have titles, some have titles of the wrong disk and others have titles from other SHOWS that aren't even HBO. At first I was getting a laugh at the titling and thought it was to mess people up that are illegitimately copying but it seems the legit disks from HBO are titled all correctly "SOPRANOS_S1_D2" etc.
Lots of pictures, FYI if you aren't on broadband.
Presumed FAKE Sopranos box set that was obtained through a seller on Amazon:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Spoiler
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)


















Presumed REAL Sopranos box set that was obtained through HBO online store:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Spoiler
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

















Edit: moved pictures to top post and posted legit box pictures.