Back during the 1990s I was a big fan of the action-adventure show, Xena: Warrior Princess. I watched the series on television when it aired, then collected the VHS boxsets of all six seasons (spread across 12 boxsets no less).

When the show was released on DVD I decided an upgrade was needed. Individual season boxsets were available – six this time – so it was certainly time to make the switch.

However, the companies behind the sets – Universal and Playback – also offered up a rather tempting treat in the form of a limited edition, full series boxset. Set out like a large book, the boxset was made of sturdy black card, with plastic ‘page holsters’ and multiple images of the cast spread throughout.

OK, so this boxset was fairly cumbersome in its design, but hey, this was the early ‘00s and DVD boxsets came in all different shapes and sizes, including cumbersome ones. The important thing was, this set offered up every episode of Xena in one place, and all spread across 36 DVDs!

Mind you, it wasn’t cheap. The set cost an eye-watering £250!!!

Crazy prices? Yes, but again, this was the ‘00s, and that’s how much these things cost.

Anyway, over the years I kept hold of the boxset and for the most part it has served me well. However, various house moves, a few loads to friends, and the general onset of time have all taken their toll on the set, and it’s not what it was.

Some of the discs are a bit scuffed, a couple don’t play all that well, and the odd episode skips or jumps entirely. In short: It’s a bit knackered.

With this in mind I decided now was the time for another upgrade. This boxset has been in my possession for twenty years and it needed to be retired.

So, I looked into upgrade options and… well… the options were few and far between – and that’s putting it mildly. Basically, the options were as follows: One cheaper, alternate DVD boxset. 

Yep, that’s it. 

Xena: Warrior Princess isn’t available on Blu-ray, not on 4K, and it’s not even available on digital (some seasons are, but not all of them), and this newer DVD boxset is the only other choice.

So essentially my option was to just buy a new DVD boxset and toss the old, limited edition one into the big dumpster in the sky. Sad, but unfortunately necessary – and it wasn’t like my £250 DVD tome had retained its value anyway, as the same sets are now going for £50 on the secondary market.

Fine. A new DVD boxset to replace my old one.

So, I took myself off to Fopp, purchased a new one for £40 and figured it would do. But the thing is, with DVDs not being the big money spinners they once were, this new DVD boxset was clearly a very cheap release and it featured a significant issue I was not a fan of: The disc holsters!

As with my old set, this new one contained 36 discs. However, unlike my old set, this new set did not have 36 holsters, it only had 12.

To get around the space issues, each holster contained three discs. This meant three discs sat on top of each other in each holster, moving freely around without any protection from scratches.

Sure, it would be fine for now, but in time those discs would get damaged. And if that happened, I’d be back where I started.

So that’s when I decided this boxset would have a completely different purpose: To help me restore my old one! I’d simply remove the discs from the old boxset, retire them indefinitely, and replace them with the discs from the new one!

Sacrilege to swap out the discs, you say? Maybe, but what use is a £250 boxset (now valued at £50) with dud discs? No use whatsoever!

Plus, this is my boxset, which I’ve had for twenty years, and I’d like to keep it for another twenty if possible. It simply needs a bit of TLC, and the replacement discs are the perfect solution.

So, I switched out the discs and now the old boxset has a new purpose and a new lease of life. Oh, and for those wondering, the discs have exactly the same menus and content, the only difference is the disc art, so it’s a fairly straight forward switch. 

Anyway, as DVDs age, it’s not a bad idea to give your boxsets a bit of an update from time to time. This update has freshened up my Xena boxset and will hopefully give me years of entertainment in the process.

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