nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

From Montreal (I presume he was in Montreal from the Chalet BBQ comment), taking the most common route to Vermont will roughly take you UPSTREAM on the Richelieu river, so it can be said to be going UP to Vermont. Not many people (if any) think of it like that, but I just thought I'd point out that there is a technically correct reason for saying so.

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

I'm sorry for your loss. I too know the pain. I spoke to the high heavens of this wonder known as Febreeze until it somehow became topless and wrecked havoc on my Steve McQueen box set. Poor mutilated Bullitt did nothing but bring me joy. Why oh why could'nt it of attacked my stinky couch.

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

when we were in Canada a few years ago i was able to buy a few bags of Lays
French fry and Gravy flavored chips, mmm good.

also i work at a video store and we had a shrink wrap machine in the back for years.
i asked my DL every week if i could have it as it wasn't used for years.
last year a new DL, who happened to be a manager when he hired me, finally said i could have it as long as no one *wink* knew about it.

anyhow, i use it to shrink wrap all my dvds that have slip cases.(even some that don't)
at least the ones that i couldnt salvage when i opened them.

protects them from dust and flying gravy.

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

If I recall, the majority of the dvd's were salvaged with a washcloth and lots of patience. Many have since been sold as my buying habits have switched course over the past years. Some were lost altogether or given away. Overall, not as big a deal as it would have seemed at the time, though it was a life lesson.

As for my "OCD" tendencies regarding collecting... well I still import mostly from the States to avoid bilingual packaging. There have been times where I've conceded for the sake of convenience or situations in which it just didn't make sense, but overall that's still an issue that bugs me. I've just become less anal and more realistic I guess. If I find a bent corner on a digipack it's really not the end of the world, though when I pick up sets in stores, I still thoroughly inspect for the best overall condition and try to avoid these minor flaws. I just found it a lot easier and enjoyable to compromise because in the end it's the movies themselves that are important. That said, if I receive a box set in the mail that arrives banged up, I'll pick up the phone asap and call the company to request a replacement but I won't drive all over town for slipcases or silly things like that. In fact, I've grown to despise slipcases and many of the discs I've fretted over in the past, have since had their slipcovers junked altogether.

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

The one and only!

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

I'm paranoid about such things so I keep all food products away from my DVDs. Not so lucky with my cats, however. One of my cats apparently took a dislike to Debra Winger so she clawed Winger's face on the back jacket of Black Widow. Later I found her sitting on Kevin Costner's face and there was a slight damp spot after I yelled her off which, thankfully as it was a snapper case, wiped clean with no ill effects.

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

Speaking as someone who is still bothered by a particularly sticky piece of Target sticker that ripped off a .5 x .5 inch piece of art on my Looney Tunes Vol. 2 box set a couple years, you have my sympathies! (No, I didn't re-buy it... but I thought about it!) I also examine packages for bumps, dents, loose discs, rips, asymmetry...

In the grand scheme, it's the content that matters... however we look at packaging, it's all just... gravy. (sorry, sorry, I couldn't help myself)

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

Hillarious! To someone with my filthy mind!

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

I believe there is one near the top of the Decarie (around Jean Talon?)--but the Sherbrooke one is one I used to go to a lot when I lived in NDG (my second favourite eatery after La Villa across the overpass). I still go from time to time, but it's a bit far for a quick lunch. My wife works on Cavendish, so she has lunch there about once a month.

As to the OP topic--haven't had that happen yet (ruined more than one set of journal article photocopies when I was in grad school with a spilled drink or "sauce BBQ", but no CDs/DVDs).

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

Let me put my .02¢ worth in on this old thread...

From what I have seen about making claims on DVDs with homeowner's policies, they will only give you $1 a piece for them (depreciated value). I think in the past people had mentioned seperate and/or additional riders to cover replacement costs? And of couse as pointed out, your premiums will increase. How do you insure 1,000 DVDs with a retail and OOP replacement value of over $30,000 and get that for them instead of only $1,000 ?

As for food near DVDs... I try to avoid at all costs. As soon as I finish the movie, I place it back in my bookcases which is in the bedroom. I have a feeling that when people complain about a disc quitting on them... that they have been handeling them with greasy fingers and the glue in the hub or edge areas will eventually dissolve from the grease penetrating it. I make sure my hands are bone dry and handle each disc with kidd gloves.

Eric Huffstutler

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

I claimed for 30 DVDs a few years ago when we had a break in (had a TV, DVD player, laptop and VCR taken as well) and all I had to do was make a list of titles. My insurer sent the list to a local store (HMV) and I was able to pick up all the ones that were available--I had my choice of any title I wanted at the same list price if the title I was looking for was not in store. My premiums did not go up dramatically (certainly far less than the cost of replacing 30 DVDs at an average of--at the time--20$/title).

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

But how about Limited Edition or Collector sets, (OOP) Out Of Print items only rarely available on eBay for top dollar, Numbered sets, Import Titles, etc... I am sure the local Best Buys or Circuit City will not carry replacements nor can order them so what do you do about their replacement? I am not going to settle for a $14 title to replace a $100 set.

Eric

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

I was fortunate that none of that applied (most of my DVDs were with me in our temporary house in Ohio--my wife had an 18 month contract--and I'd only left lesser titles for my occasional visits home. Too occasional, as it turned out. ).

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

I am only going by what others we know who have had break ins and made claims, ended up getting from the insurance companies here in Virginia. A buck a piece no matter what they were

Eric

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

I'm very picky about my stuff too - to the extent that the wife doesn't really like to touch anything, because I can always tell! Anyway, my story of DVD terror involved a tall bookcase from IKEA, called the "Billy." Its about six feet or so tall, and I bought a couple of extra shelves to maximize its DVD holding power!

I had two of these side by side in the bedroom. As I had recently become a dad, I decided to put all cardboard packaging, digipaks, etc on the top shelves. That way when my little one was crawling around she would just get her hands on easily replaceable keepcases.

One day I was in the upstairs study when I heard an almighty CRASH! from the bedroom. I rushed in to find one of my Billys, the one with all the cardboard packages, had fallen forwards. It ended up on top of a rocking chair, at a 40 degree angle to the floor. The chair had stopped the bookcase, but all my cardboard packages had continued their journey, slingshot style - straight into the floor.

Regular DVDs, being on the bottom shelves, just fell a short distance.

Aghast with horror, I dropped to the floor and started inspecting the damage, expecting the worst. Amazingly enough, the only two items that sustained enough damage to get me were the Alien Quadrilogy, and my Antoine Doinel Criterion set. Both boxes took it on the chin.

I emailed both Criterion and our old pal, Peter Staddon. Both generously supplied me with replacement boxes! A happy ending.

*

Less happy, in our basement I stored my LaserDisc collection and loads of vinyl 12" platters. About two years ago, our dehumidifier malfunctioned, and kept sucking water out of the air, even after the tray was full. This water started to spread over the floor. I checked it each night, and the green light that said everything was okay was on.

Eventually I twigged that the thing hadn't been emptied. It was then that I discovered the brutal havoc the water had wreaked. It has spread across a part of the floor, and slowly seeped into tons of LP & LD sleeves, the water soaking the bottoms and working upwards.

Numerous treasures were screwed - I had picked up the LD box of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" because it was a fine example of the kind of packaging that would disappear with LaserDisc - a 12" square hardcover book, with the front cover molded like a prison door, a plastic window inset with printed wire over it, and Jack Nicholson behind it. A full illustrated screenplay book was part of the package, and the water really hit the book.

Loads of my 12" singles ended up sticking together, my precious X-Files LD collection got hit, and on, and on. It was the big one. To this day, I haven't the heart to look at some of those items!

Re: nooo I just ruined nearly 20 DVDs!!!

I'm glad I don't live in Virginia, then.