I long ago gave up on keeping DVD packaging around, instead keeping everything in CD binders. However, I’ve been starting to amass a decent number of Blu-ray, HD-DVD, Xbox 360 and Wii games in full DVD keep cases. (Well, the HD-DVD collection is no longer growing.) I didn’t really want to go to CD binders on those, but recently I came across DiscSox media sleeves. They’re disc sleeves, but they also allow you to keep everything but the keep case: multiple discs, covers, manuals and note cards. They lay nearly flat, and take up between 1/4 and 1/3 the height of a normal DVD keep case.

DiscSox media management system

That’s 50 DiscSox sleeves (25 Blu-ray/HD-DVD, 25 Wii/Xbox 360) containing 78 discs, and nearly all of the packaging that came with the original media. The cover is folded so that the entire front cover and spine are visible on the front of the sleeve, and is slid inside so the back cover is visible on the back. If the cover is printed on both sides, the front inside cover is visible on the inside of the sleeve, but the back inside cover is hidden. Manuals and other inside material can be slid inside the front cover, and are kept relatively secure.

There are two protective cloth sleeves (the special cloth you see in CD binders) inside for holding discs. One disc can be a dual-sided disc, as the inner sleeve has cloth on both sides. You can actually fit up to four discs in a single DiscSox sleeve with a little creativity. A third disc can be placed behind the rear cover, as there is protective cloth there, but it will slide around a bit. I had a few sets of four discs, and used a regular dual-sided cloth sleeve for the third and fourth discs, and simply inserted that sleeve behind the rear cover of the DiscSox sleeve.

DiscSox media management system DiscSox media management system

Here is an Xbox 360 game, complete with manual, in its DiscSox sleeve, both closed an open, with its original keep case for size comparison. The DiscSox sleeve is a little wider than a keep case, the same height, and of course much thinner. Most of my sleeves have a little bump from the spines, as each one has spent all of its life wrapped around a keep case. However, I’m anticipating they’ll further flatten out as they settle.

The manufacturer claims you can fit 66 sleeves in one of its trays, but as you can see above, I fit 50 mixed-media sleeves in there, and it would be tight adding any more. But again, that includes all materials from the original keep cases. (For example, first-party Wii games tend to come with massive manuals.)

Overall I’m very happy with this system, but there are a few drawbacks. The discs are loaded in from the right side, so it’s possible a disc could slide out while carrying a sleeve. This is a vendor-specific solution, so once you’re committed to this solution, you better hope they stay in business. Also, the sleeves are (slightly) wider than any other type of case out there, so you’re limited in third party storage options. (You may be able to use them in cases designed for CD jewel cases, as they’re only a few millimeters wider than a horizontal jewel case.) They’re also rather expensive; a kit containing 50 sleeves, a metal tray and some dividers is $52 + shipping. (They sell cheaper plastic trays, but don’t look very good in my opinion. The metal tray, on the other hand, looks nice and has a very good build quality.)

How much space have I saved?

DiscSox media management system

That pretty much speaks for itself. The stack would be much higher if it weren’t for the TV series sets that are rather tightly compacted. (The DiscSox sleeves are still less than half the height of even the most compacted TV series box set.)

One thing I am incredibly impressed with is their customer service. I emailed their sales address to ask a question on a Sunday evening. (I wanted to buy a kit containing both a “Game Pro” 25-pack and a “HiDef Pro” 25-pack, but their site only lets you build kits containing two 25-packs of the same type). Vanessa from GameSox replied within an hour, on a Sunday night, and explained I could build a kit with either type, and to just say I wanted one of each in the order notes. She even emailed me after I placed the order to warn that I had ordered HiDef Pro dividers, and that I should switch to the taller Game Pro dividers so they would be visible between the games as well as the HiDef media.

I ordered on Sunday night, they shipped out on Monday, and it arrived on Tuesday. (They shipped out of the Bay Area, which almost always arrives overnight to Reno.)

Unfortunately the order wasn’t perfect. 3 of the 25 HiDef Pro sleeves did not contain a middle cloth divider and could only hold one disc. I wasn’t mad, as I had plenty of single-disc movies to use them with, but I still emailed Vanessa to let them know to look out for that. She immediately replied that they were sending out 3 replacement sleeves to me, even though I explained the situation and didn’t require replacements. Again, excellent customer service.

By the way, I may have only used this system for Wii/Xbox 360 and Blu-ray/HD-DVD media, but it will work for regular DVDs, PS2 and PS3 games as well. In fact, even though they have multiple SKUs for different systems, they only seem to have two types of sleeves for modern systems (under the “Pro” line): DVD/Wii/360/PS2, and Blu-ray/HD-DVD/PS3.