I recently went down an unexpected rabbit hole trying to verify the authenticity of a few Star Trek complete series box sets I picked up, and what I found was a bit frustrating. I picked up my copies of Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine just a few days ago on the 8th of April 2026 through a Walmart Marketplace seller. Unfortunately both turned out to be counterfeit. In contrast, my copies of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Frasier, which I purchased closer to their release around 2016, appear to be authentic, with proper dual-layer discs and consistent manufacturing quality.
In this review, I’ll be comparing not just the discs themselves, but also the packaging, including the external box and the plastic disc holders inside. Given the amount of time between the original release dates and now, counterfeiters have had years to improve their copies to the point where they can look nearly identical at first glance, especially if you don’t have a real version to compare against. However, once you start looking a bit closer, some pretty clear issues begin to show. For me, it started with the packaging quality. On the Voyager set, the image looks noticeably faded and lacks vibrancy. On the Deep Space Nine set, the issue was with the construction of the outer box. When you look inside, it doesn’t appear fully finished, as it is not properly double layered. You can see the white backing of the outer box as well as the embossing impressions, which immediately made it feel incomplete. It also has issues with faded artwork and I will compare my copies with ones that I believe are genuine that I found online through reviews other people have done.
Outer Box Comparison
Starting with the outer box, the differences become noticeable pretty quickly once you know what to look for. On my copy of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the box is fully finished on the inside and clearly double layered on all sides. This gives it a much more solid and premium feel. I believe this version is from the original release, which could explain the higher overall quality as well as the presence of foiling and embossing. That said, even if later budget versions removed features like foiling or embossing, I would still expect the same underlying box construction to remain consistent.
Looking at the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine box next, several issues start to stand out. First, the construction is noticeably different. The outer layer is only extended along the back and one side, while the other three sides are folded inward just a couple of inches. This results in exposed white backing inside the box, which immediately makes it feel incomplete. From unboxing videos I found online, authentic versions of this set have a fully double layered interior on all sides. The back panel also features an image of Quark with tribbles, but on legitimate copies the image appears much sharper and more refined. I will include a comparison image from one of those videos to highlight the difference.
There are also clear inconsistencies with the labeling and release details. The sticker on the box contains a noticeable spelling error, stating “Ingludes 173 Episodes” instead of “Includes 173 Episodes.” I have seen some online sellers claim this is a manufacturer error and that the item is still authentic, but that explanation doesn’t hold up when you consider the other issues present. This box also shows a copyright date of 2017, which would indicate it is from the original release per information found on Memory Alpha's website for this release. That version is known to have both embossing and foiling. However, this box only has embossing on the station artwork and logo text, with no foiling present. This creates a contradiction. It cannot be the original 2017 release without foiling, and it also does not match the later 2021 budget re release, which would have neither embossing nor foiling and would show an updated copyright date. This mismatch is another strong indicator that something is not right with this box.
Finally, the Star Trek: Voyager box shows a similar issue in construction. The outer printed layer is only wrapped a short distance into the interior, leaving most of the inside as plain white, which is simply the backside of the outer print layer. This again contrasts with what you would expect from a properly manufactured box, where the interior would be fully finished and consistent throughout.
 |
| Top of the Real ST: TNG Complete Series Box |
 |
| Front of the Real ST: TNG Complete Series Box |
 |
| Inside of the Real ST: TNG Complete Series Box |
 |
| Side of the Real ST: TNG Complete Series Box |
 |
| Back of the Real ST: TNG Complete Series Box |
 |
| Bottom of the Real ST: TNG Complete Series Box |
 | ||||
Front of the Fake ST: DS9 Complete Series Box Showing Spelling Mistake
|
 |
| Inside of the Fake ST: DS9 Complete Series Box |
 | ||
| Side of the Fake ST: DS9 Complete Series Box |
 | ||||||
| Front of the Fake ST: Voyager Complete Series Box Showing Image Darker And Less Vibrant |
 |
| Inside of the Fake ST: Voyager Complete Series Box |
 | ||||
Back of the Fake ST: Voyager Complete Series Box Showing Text Box A Darker Red Than What The Real Version Looks Like
|
 |
| Bottom of the Fake ST: Voyager Complete Series Box |
 | ||||||||||||
Top of the Fake ST: Voyager Complete Series Box
|
Plastic Case Comparison
 | ||
Front of the Real ST: TNG Complete Series Box Clamshell
|
 |
| Closeup Of The Back of the Real ST: TNG Complete Series Box Clamshell |
 |
| Inside of the Plastic Clam Shells of The Real ST: TNG Complete Series Box |
 | |
|
 | ||
Front of the Real Frasier Complete Series Box Clamshell
|
 |
| Side of the Real Frasier Complete Series Box Clamshell Showing A Different Clasping Mechanism |
 |
| Inside of the Plastic Clam Shells of The Real Frasier Complete Series Box |
 |
| Inside of the Plastic Clam Shell of The Real Frasier Complete Series Box Showing AMARAY Stamp |
 |
| Front of the Fake ST: Voyager Complete Series Box Clamshell |
 |
| Back of the Fake ST: Voyager Complete Series Box Clamshell |
 |
| Inside of the Plastic Clam Shells of The Fake ST: Voyager Complete Series Box |
 | |
|
 | ||
Front of the Fake ST: DS9 Complete Series Box Clamshell
|
 |
| Inside of the Plastic Clam Shells of The Fake ST: DS9 Complete Series Box |
 |
| Inside of the Plastic Clam Shell of The Fake ST: DS9 Complete Series Box Showing No Manufactuerer Logo Or Stamp. Also Showing Disk Information Is Blocked By DVD Disks Mounted On The Inside Cover |
 | ||||||||
Back of the Plastic Clam Shell of The Fake ST: DS9 Complete Series Box Showing That Disks Should Be Dual-Layer Format
|
Disk Comparison
The discs themselves are where the most definitive differences show up, and in my opinion, this is the most reliable way to determine whether a set is real or counterfeit.
Starting with the label side, the discs from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Frasier, which I know are authentic, have a lighter grey screen print with a slightly textured finish. In contrast, the discs from Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are darker in colour and noticeably smoother in texture. It is a subtle difference in photos, but much more obvious when you have them in hand.
On the data side of the discs, the difference is even more apparent. The counterfeit discs have a more reflective, silver appearance, while the authentic discs have a slightly amber tint. Both the TNG and Frasier discs share this amber colouring, while the DS9 and Voyager discs are consistently silver. Given that these sets were produced around the same time and by the same manufacturer, it is reasonable to expect that authentic DS9 and Voyager discs would look similar to the TNG and Frasier ones.
The most important and conclusive test, however, is the disc capacity. Authentic releases use dual layer DVDs, while the counterfeit sets use single layer discs. When checking the discs on a computer, the real ones should show a capacity in the range of about 6 to 8 GB. In my case, the Frasier discs were around 6 GB and the TNG discs were around 7 GB. The discs in the DS9 and Voyager sets, however, were only about 4 GB. This is the clearest indicator that the sets are fake. The packaging for these sets explicitly states that they use dual layer discs, so anything significantly below that range is a direct contradiction.
The reason for this is likely cost. Single layer discs are cheaper to produce, so counterfeiters compress the video files to fit within that smaller capacity. If they had used dual layer discs, it would have made the counterfeit much harder to detect, but also more expensive to manufacture. Because of this compression, the video quality is also affected. While I don’t have a legitimate DS9 complete series set to compare against, I do have the Star Trek Fan Collective releases that include episodes from both DS9 and Voyager, and those are on dual layer disks. Comparing those to the counterfeit discs, the difference in quality is noticeable, with the counterfeit versions appearing more compressed and lower in overall visual quality.
 |
| Front side of Real ST:TNG Disk |
 |
| Back side of Real ST:TNG Disk |
 |
| Front side of Real Frasier Disk |
 |
| Back side of Real Frasier Disk |
 |
| Front side of Fake ST: DS9 Disk |
 |
| Back side of Fake ST: DS9 Disk |
 |
| Front side of Fake ST: Voyager Disk |
 |
| Back side of Fake ST: Voyager Disk |
 |
| Comparing The Front Side of TNG Disk (Real) and The Front Side of DS9 Disk (Fake). The DS9 Disk is Darker |
 |
| Comparing The Back Side of TNG Disk (Real) and The Back Side of DS9 Disk (Fake). The TNG Disk has an Amber Colour To It |
 |
| Comparing The Front Side of TNG Disk (Real) and The Front Side of DS9 Disk (Fake). The DS9 Disk is Darker |
 |
| Comparing The Front Side of TNG Disk (Real) and The Front Side of Voyager Disk (Fake). The Voyager Disk is Darker |
 | ||||||||
Comparing The Front Side Of The Disk From All Four Sets
|
+copy2.jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.