Quote from Blazers on 01/03/2020, 21:19

Hello, all:

I recently obtained what I think is the full set of US longbox CDi releases. I can't be absolutely sure, though, as there was no such list to be found online and to my knowledge mine is the only one. I had to piece it together from images of other CDi collections and over a year of Ebay listings. I'd like to ask if this list is indeed a complete accounting of every single longbox release, and if not what ones are missing.

For just over a year I've been after a complete Philips CDi US longbox set. That is, every single CDi that had a physical release in the original tall, hard plastic flip-open boxes with cardboard outer sleeve. Why did I decide to do this? Well, unless I completely missed it, there doesn't actually seem to be a complete list anywhere online about which titles were released in this specific format, a format that I happen to be quite taken with. These are surprisingly nice to look at and have a real quality feel to them. I wish Philips had stuck with this format instead of switching at some point to the later regular jewel cases with slipcovers.

 

With no ready list available, I had to make my own. In the end, there seems to be 97 distinct US Philips longbox format releases. Yet, I can't be entirely certain about that. Quite a few of these releases were VERY hard to obtain, and are much less common in this format than in the later CDi release style. It's entirely possible that I've missed a few, and I would like to ask the community to check their own CDi collections and see if I'm missing a few longbox releases. And to note, there is one thing that I still need: a slipcover for Berenstain Bears. I have a line on a copy but simply haven't heard back from the potential seller in a while.

 

As with any other collection, there are several titles that are vastly more difficult to find than others, rare due to low print runs, poor sales, or some other reasons. The following are the 10 rarest US Philips CDi longbox releases, in order of their rarity. If anyone reading this decides to go for the set, these are the ones that you should be willing to buy entire large lots just to obtain. You will be waiting a very long time for them to come up for sale by themselves, if they ever do.

1. Anne Willan Presents The Food of France. This the rarest CDi longbox title, and one of the rarest US CDi releases period. It did have an overseas release.
2. The ACT College Search '92. US exclusive CDi. This was also released only in longbox format. Easily the 2nd rarest longbox CDi.
3. CD-I Music Book: Classical Guitar Volume 1. This is different than the other, more common Classical Guitar title. Very rare, possibly a variant.
4. David and Goliath. The rarest of several rare religious CDi titles. Fairly expensive, too.
5. Berenstain Bears: On Their Own and You On Your Own. Not tough to find in regular jewel-case format, but rare in longbox format.
6. Sailing: A Guide to Sailing and Seamanship. Still available on Amazon, but it never came up on Ebay in over a year of searching.
7. The Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe. Possibly the most expensive longbox title. Cinemassacre has an amusing video of this CDi. While this CDi is possibly the tamest CDi in terms of content, be warned that Googling about the artist will result in some highly NSFW results. DO NOT look this title up on anything other than your personal device.
8. More Dark Fables from Aesop. Sequel to The Dark Fables of Aesop. I only saw two copies pop up in over a year.
9. Moses: The Exodus.
10. Moses: Bound for the Promised Land.

 

Now, those are just the rarest 10 CDi longbox format releases in comparison to all the rest of the longbox releases. About half of the other CDi longboxes only have one or two copies available for sale at any one time on Ebay or on Amazon. It does help to type in the name of the CDi, without adding "CDi" or "Philips" when searching for some of these titles on Ebay. There's a stunning amount of very poorly listed copies for otherwise very rare CDi longboxes, and CDis in general.

 

And at last, the complete alphabetical list of all confirmed 97 Philips CDi US longbox releases:

1. A National Parks Tour
2. A Revolution in Color
3. A Visit to Sesame Street: Letters
4. A Visit to Sesame Street: Numbers
5. A Visit to the Valley of the Pueblo and the Amparo Museum
6. Alice In Wonderland
7. Anne Willan Presents the Food of France
8. Backgammon
9. Battleship
10. Beauty and the Beast
11. Brer Rabbit and the Wonderful Tar Baby
12. Caesar’s World of Gambling
13. Cartoon Jukebox
14. CD Shoot
15. CD-I Music Book: Classical Guitar Volume 1
16. Children’s Musical Theater
17. Classical Guitar
18. Classical Jukebox
19. Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia
20. Connect Four
21. Cool Oldies Jukebox
22. Dark Castle
23. David and Goliath
24. Defender of the Crown
25. Dutch Masters of the 17^th Century
26. Earth Rhythms
27. Escape From the Cyber City
28. Gardening By Choice: Flowers and Foliage
29. Gifts to Behold
30. Girl’s Club
31. Golden Oldies Jukebox
32. Harvest of the Sun
33. How the Camel Got His Hump
34. How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin
35. How to Photograph Nature
36. International Tennis Open
37. James Brown Nonstop Hit Machine
38. Jazz Giants
39. Jazz Guitar
40. Jigsaw
41. Laser Lords
42. Lords of the Rising Sun
43. Louis Armstrong
44. More Dark Fables from Aesop
45. Moses: Bound for the Promised Land
46. Moses: The Exodus
47. Mother Goose Hidden Pictures
48. Mother Goose Rhymes to Color
49. Mozart: A Musical Biography
50. Mystic Midway Rest in Pieces
51. NFL Football Trivia Challenge
52. Noah’s Ark
53. Paint School I
54. Paint School II
55. Pavarotti
56. Pecos Bill
57. Pegasus
58. Pinball
59. Power Hitter
60. Prelude
61. Rand McNally’s America: U.S. Atlas
62. Rembrandt: His Art and the Music of His Era
63. Rhythm Maker
64. Richard Scarry’s Best Neighborhood Disc
65. Richard Scarry’s Busiest Neighborhood Disc
66. Rock Guitar
67. Sailing: A Guide to Sailing and Seamanship
68. Sandy’s Circus Adventure
69. Sargon Chess
70. Stamps: Windows on the World
71. Stickybear Reading
72. Story Machine: Magic Tales
73. Story Machine: Star Dreams
74. Tell Me Why I
75. Tell Me Why II
76. Tetris
77. Text Tiles
78. The ACT College Search ‘92
79. The Art of the Czars
80. The Berenstain Bears: On Their Own and You On Your Own
81. The Best of Draw 50
82. The Dark Fables of Aesop
83. The Emperor’s New Clothes
84. The Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe
85. The French Impressionists
86. The Palm Springs Open
87. The Renaissance Gallery
88. The Renaissance of Florence
89. The Riches of Coins
90. The Story of Jonah
91. The Story of Samson
92. The World of Impressionism
93. Time Life Photography
94. Treasures of the Smithsonian
95. Video Speedway
96. You Sing Christmas Favorites
97. Zombie Dinos from the Planet Zeltoid