As you know, last week we
had the scoop on HBO's upcoming
November 24th Blu-ray Disc format release of
The Sopranos - The Complete 1st Season (which hasn't actually been announced by distributor Warner Home Video yet, even though Amazon is
taking pre-orders). One part of our report showed off the package art for the Blu-ray
Season 1 set.
But as longtime Blu-ray fans know, this isn't the first time
The Sopranos will see a high-def release: HBO/Warner put out
Season 6, Part 1 in 2006 on Blu-ray (along with standard DVD, and the now-defunct HD-DVD format). They finished that show's final run of episodes with
Season 6, Part 2 in 2007, also releasing it for those same three home video formats. The box art for the BD versions, though, used blue ("blu") vertical bannering along the right edge of the box, instead of the standard horizontal bannering along the top edge.
For the upcoming new release of
The Sopranos - The Complete 1st Season, HBO is jumping back on the bandwagon and putting the blue/blu banner along the top, as you'll find with the vast majority of other Blu-ray format packaging. But they're taking it a step further, and revising the packaging for the two Blu-ray titles of the 6th Season, to keep the same key art but move it that blue banner to the top.
Despite the cosmetic change to the outside, there appears to be no change in content or pricing to the releases; it's mainly to make everything look standard. No program has been announced that allows customers to exchange one style of box for the other, so if you adapted those original releases of the sixth season on Blu, then it looks lke you'll have a "collectible." HBO/Warner didn't specify a date when the new versions of the packaging will be on store shelves, but we imagine it will be at or near the November release date of the new first season hi-def set. However, it's interesting that Amazon's existing listings for those titles now displays the new artwork.
Following is a look at the original 2006/07 packages for
The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1 and
Season 6, Part 2, then the newly revised packaging, and finally the upcoming Season 1 packaging:
