It might be interesting to have a look and see where the discs were made. I know for a fact that even the better TDK or Verbatim brands here in NZ all seem to be made in china. Whereas from what I can tell in the USA and UK got a lot of Japanese media under the same brands and packaging.
Trust NZ to get the crappy chinese junk :(
Just as a matter of interest Mielr, where are the TDK or verbatim media that you spotted made? I assume you're in the USA?