Site: 9Covers.com
Slogan: The Advanced Cover Site.
Administrator(s): Sandman
Moderator(s): spartanstew, flyers2thecup, amelandbor
Engine: vbPortable (A CMS for VBulletin)
Access: Registration required to view site/Subscription required to access covers and artwork
Language: English Only Covers
Types of Covers Offered: DVD, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, TV Show, Foreign Films, Asian/Anime, Game Covers, Scans, Music, Thinpaks, “The Pit”
Forum: Yes, Featured Artists, WIP’s, Proving Grounds, Uploads, Requests, Site Errors, Cover Help (Q&A, Resources, Artwork), Discussion (Speak You Peace, Cover Chat, Movie News Discussion, DVD Bargains, Front Page News)
Upload Process: Via Forum Threads
DVD Disc Labels: Yes
Keyart/Cost: Yes/Subscription
Posters/Cost: Yes/Subscription
Site Advertisements: Yes, 3 on Homepage. Scattered through the site.
Newsletter: Yes
Statistics: Threads: 10,348, Posts: 28,039, Members: 4,162
Extras: Specific section for special interest covers (e.g. Children Learning Videos, Sports Related, Documentary, Computers), Slashdot News Feed on Homepage.
9Covers has been open only for a few months but has since grown to have a large base of users and a steady flow of cover submissions. When you first register, you have access to the forums but no access to the cover gallery, even previews of covers are restricted. However, they do offer a small Preview/Sample section of 10 or so covers for you to look at. However, Sandman (site admin) has indicated that soon site previews will be available for view by all members, not only those who have upgraded status. The shoutbox is also restricted to users with upgraded status. You are able to gain “Upgraded Member” status through 2 ways: 1. Proving Grounds, and 2. Subscription. The subscriptions are broken down by months (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year), and cost$5, $10, $15, and $20 respectively. Once an upgrade is purchase, they guarantee instant access, however, the purchase is non-refundable.
The upload process is done through the forums. Newly uploaded covers from regular members are then reviewed and then uploaded to their respective forum and receive their own forum thread, much like Generetic. Level 1 Upgraded members are allowed to post directly into the cover forums. Furthermore, you must accompany a preview image of your cover along with your upload. The preview, according to the site rules, must be done in the Imandix Cover Creator program. “The Pit” is similar to “The Bin” found at Replace The Case in that it offers users to submit covers to “The Pit” gallery that are not up to the regular upload standards. The site has ZERO tolerance for submitting work that is not your own. Submitting anothers work will result in an immediate ban.
[Update: Users are allowed to submit work that is not their own, however, they are not allowed to take credit for it. If the cover artist is not known at the time of upload then the cover artist is left as unknown. If someone takes credit for a cover that is not their own then they are immediately banned.]
“You must upload your covers to the appropriate forums. Custom Covers get posted into the Cover Uploads Forum in the sub-forum Custom Covers. And just in case you missed it, that would be in the same forum that you are reading this. If you have different versions of covers for the same movie or it is a series of movies then you would post in the Custom Cover Sets Forum. And remember that when you get to a Level 1 membership you will no longer be posting here but directly into the appropriate forums. Posting in the wrong forums will not be tolerated.”
9Covers dubs itself as being the advanced cover site, however, I did not find much that was anymore advance over other cover sites. Overall, the look, layout, and feel of the site reminded me of Generetic. The homepage felt especially similar to Generetic. Not allowing all users to view at least previews of all the covers on the site would, for me at least, be a deterrence to purchasing any type of upgrade membership, as I would not know what type of content is available. The sample cover page seems a bit outdated and wasn’t all that impressive. I am very sure that there are covers on the site that would be much more attractive to sample than the present samples. One suggestion, would be to keep the samples automatically updated and synced with newly uploaded covers. Although the admin Sandman did suggest that previews will soon be open to all, this may be a good alternative until that code is implemented. Another problem that I had with the site was that you are not able to see images that are posted in the forums. This is one aspect I disliked about Generetic and one that I dislike about 9Covers.
[Editors Note: It was brought to my attention that the meaning of "Advanced" in their slogan is in reference to the vast amount of Hi-Def (HD-DVD, Blu-Ray) covers that are available. Also, it should be mentioned that free previews will be implemented soon and that the front page consists of 2 Hi-Def cover previews that change every few days]
Discussions in the forums seem to be active, and new covers are posted daily. The last time I checked, 83 unique members had accessed the site within the last 24 hours and actively, there were 49 members online. The userbase is very important in making a site thrive and it looks like 9Covers has a good and active userbase that participates in both the forums and cover uploading.
The Featured Artist section provides featured artist with their own subforum. The subforums have their own rules and are managed by the featured artists. Featured artists include: DWAbernath, Demonology, Chefjoe, Georgieboy26, CORSAGAV, Kraal, and LEGO. Demonology is arguably the most notable of the bunch and has created some great covers. DWAbernath is best known for his many collections, including his Horror Collection of which includes over 200 covers, comic book collection which is a continuation of template that Moonshadow created.
Pros: Active site with an active user base, new covers are uploaded daily. Zero tolerance when it comes to taking credit for work that is not your own.
Cons: Restricted preview access to both the forums, covers, and artwork until upgraded status is attained. Static sample cover page. Bulky ad placement.
September 1, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Nice review icoty and very honest, but as stated Sandman will be making changes like you already said, would also like to add if you have trouble trying to find a scan of a certain film wether it be dvd / blu-ray / hd-dvd members there will try there hardest to help ya, like recently be looking for hd dvd and blu-ray scans to make customs with right specs
….
i keep forgetting about my little private section there so i’m gonna have to start making some sort of use of it ….lol
once nice review keep up the good work
September 1, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Glad you enjoyed the review, D! Thanks for the heads up as well about kylumi! I got that information edited out…
It’’s good that you make note about the HD/Blu-Ray scans. Scans are always good to use as a reference when making a custom. As a whole, the users do seem to be very helpful I will not doubt that!
September 2, 2007 at 8:28 am
I had visited this site about twice recently and found it very unuser friendly. Its reputation as having started by stealing 100’s of covers from gen does it no credit, and makes their 0 tolerance for uploading others work a joke.
September 2, 2007 at 11:38 am
Removed Upon Request.
September 2, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I dont hate any site but you just admitted they did steal the covers knowingly the fact kylumi enforced it means nothing.
I will have to check customaniacs out.
September 2, 2007 at 12:24 pm
wow thanks for the tip demonology, been looking at customaniacs for the past ten minutes and its awesome so far.
September 2, 2007 at 12:29 pm
never realised thre was anything worth stealing from hires
September 2, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Removed Upon Request.
September 2, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I agree site wars are pathetic, it doesn’t accomplish anything and everyone uses all the sites anyway, but the only person I saw actually putting a site down is demonology so the term “practise what you preach” comes to mind. Plus out of all the sites mentioned customaniacs seems to be the most active so it cant be bad and I have never had anything but help and great covers from there. On a side note I havent put a username down because I am not known by any means and just a user/subscriber/member of lots of different sites.
September 2, 2007 at 5:13 pm
As a member of maniacs, I will not say anything against it. However, as a moderator at 9covers, I will defend it.
Are there some covers at 9covers that might have originated at Gen? Yes. But they were not stolen. Many of the covers were uploaded by the site owner from usergroups (that’s a fact). The covers are all over the net. When known, the original artist is given credit. It’s no different in that respect than Gen or numerous other sites. There’s been several “artists” who bash 9covers for having some of their covers, but they continue to upload their work to other sites that do the same thing.
A bit hypocritical, if you ask me.
There’s also been many members from other sites (including mods at sites mentioned in these comments), who keep signing up at 9covers using aliases just to have access to the HD and BD templates that are available there. That’s a lot worse than uploading covers found on the net to fill requests and get the site started, especially when credit to the artist is always given if known and nobody is allowed to take credit for work that isn’t their own.
Don’t understand why people (usually people in power at other sites) get so bent out of shape about other sites being in existence. It used to be a cover community, sadly that’s no longer the case, due to petty jealousies and bickering.
September 2, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I appreciate all comments, fellas, but try and keep em’ clean. I’m not here to bash other sites. I try to make the reviews as non biased as possible. I will give Pros, Cons, Suggestions for all sites that I review. It’s all in the name of evaluating each site and offering people who are interested in subscribing to one site or another but are not sure what exactly each has to offer.
Also, for the people who are actual users of the sites I review, please feel free to add or correct anything that I say in the review….I’m not here to give misinformation – at least I try my hardest not to.
I’ve been around this hobby long enough that site wars never end well and often end up in bruised relationships. In the grand scheme of things, we are all here to make custums…so lets make that the focus.
September 3, 2007 at 4:10 am
Sent you a PM at 9covers icoty.
September 3, 2007 at 9:29 am
A few corrections have been made to the original post including:
1. Kylumi and Boneapart are no longer moderators at 9Covers.
2. Users are allowed to submit work that is not their own, however, they are not allowed to take credit for it. If the cover artist is not known at the time of upload then the cover artist is left as unknown. If someone takes credit for a cover that is not their own then they are immediately banned.
3. It was brought to my attention that the meaning of “Advanced” in their slogan is in reference to the vast amount of Hi-Def (HD-DVD, Blu-Ray) covers that are available. Also, it should be mentioned that free previews will be implemented soon and that the front page consists of 2 Hi-Def cover previews that change every few days
4. DWAbernath has done much more than the comic book collection, he is known for doing a variety of collections including his very large horror anthology (over 200 covers).
5. Free previews will be coming soon. The front page, however, does showcase 2 hi-def covers and those 2 covers are changed every few days.