Anybody else have expensive boxed sets collecting dust? (1 Viewer)

Paul_Scott · Aug 16, 2003

the Emma Peel mega set
the Art of Buster Keaton
spent about $200 for these 2 years ago and i've watched just a few hours from each of them.
i love the material, but just never seem to be in the mood.
i look ahead to all the great stuff coming out in the next few months, including a lot of nice sounding box sets, and then i look at these on the shelf and feel awful.

don't want to sell them 'cause i know once i don't have them, i'll definitely get the craving to watch them.

seeing as how its taking me so long to work my way thru them, i have to wonder if i wouldn't be better off breaking them up and selling off the individual discs after i watch them.
there are a few from each set i would keep, but i'm sure i would never watch the majority of them again.

bad idea?

Travis_W · Aug 16, 2003

That's why I never buy TV sets. I'm one of those people that watches a DVD all the way through and I see one whole season as one DVD (don't know why) so I never rewatch them.

Scott Leopold · Aug 16, 2003

I wouldn't recommend selling them. However, if you do, I'd love to buy The Navigator, Three Ages, and the Buster Keaton Bonus Disc from you.

Mike Graham · Aug 16, 2003

I've gone through The Shield box set twice since January, but my two X-Files were only touched once. However, I've stopped watching tv completely, so I definitely feel like diving into these sets all over again. If you're someone who watches a lot of television already, these box sets probably aren't for you.

Brian PB · Aug 16, 2003

I can't speak to the Emma Peel box, but don't wait to be "in the mood" for a Buster Keaton film--just put one in and enjoy. If you have kids, they are wonderful "family" movies. They're also a great introduction to silent films for the unintiated. I've shown them to a number of friends who have no interest in silent movies, and they've all been charmed by Keaton & usually end up laughing themselves silly.

I haven't watched all my Keaton set either, but only because I'm savoring them. They're also great when you don't have the time or inclination to watch a two-and-a-half hour epic: the features rarely run over an hour, and the shorts tend to last about 20 minutes each. Not every Keaton film is a comic masterpiece (e.g. The Saphead), but there's enough entertainment value in this wonderful set to last a lifetime.

Josh Steinberg · Aug 16, 2003

It depends on what the set is. For both TV and music, I kind of go through phases where I'll want to listen/watch a lot of one thing, and then after a week weeks I lose interest in that all together for a long time. When I bought "All In The Family" season 1, I was really into the show and the reruns on Nick at Nite, so it was a good purchase - but I haven't watched it in over a year.

I've yet to look at the 7 DVD Gumby box set that my mother insisted on buying me. (I used to watch it when I was very little, apparently, and she had an attack of nostalgia and bought it as a gift for me.)

I just picked up the Chaplin set, and I've watched two of the four films, and most of the supplements for those films. I'm really looking forward to newer sets coming out, but they probably are films I'll only look at once or twice a year.

Out of my entire DVD collection (of which there is a link to below), there are only about ten discs that I watch regularly, and most of those are black and white classics from the 30s and 40s. Still, even if I don't get to watch everything as much as I'd like, as a film school student they make excellent reference, and there are only a handful of purchases I regret.

Brook K · Aug 16, 2003

Not quite on the same price scale but I bought The Godfather set when it came out and still haven't watched it. I always have a stack of unwatched discs and keep choosing something else to see. I'd also like to be able to watch the movies relatively close together and I just don't have that kind of time. Maybe when the kids go off to college...

Jeff D Han · Aug 17, 2003

I consider myself a collector so when I decide to buy
something I have interest in, it doesn't really matter
to me when I'll watch it. I have movies/ TV collections
that I haven't watched yet, but it's part of the hobby.
If you consider yourself a collector, don't get rid of it.
If you don't care about collecting, then you probably
should look to sell it.

Ted Todorov · Aug 17, 2003

Maybe when the kids go off to college...

Or are old enough to appreciate the Godfather and watch it with you, which should be sooner.

My (virtual) stack of unwatched stuff, boxed set or otherwise, is endless. But I have done a huge amount of DVD watching over the last couple of months, so I have no guilt feelings

Ted

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george kaplan · Aug 17, 2003

I don't have this problem, cause I never buy anything I don't want to rewatch multiple times. And I don't pick something I'm in the mood to watch, I cycle through my collection, and whatever I haven't seen the longest is next watched. There are certainly some titles that I get more excited about than others, but if I ever got to the point that something was up and I didn't feel like watching it, I guess I'd have to admit it was no longer a rewatchable title and move it out of the rotation. Fortunately that hasn't happened yet.

streeter · Aug 17, 2003

I have plenty of unwatched films and some of them are box sets. One of them is the Marilyn Monroe Diamond collection, of which I haven't watched a single disc since getting it over two years ago. I want to watch them, eventually, but just haven't gotten to it yet.

But there's also the complete series of The Prisoner, and the first sets of Space 1999 and The Thunderbirds. I have watched one episode of The Prisoner and with so many other movies still to watch, I'm not sure if I'll ever get to them. I remember getting them for $19 each at DDD so maybe I'll sell them and create some space on my shelf.

On another note - slowly but surely, I have watched about half of the films in the Keaton box, and enjoyed them immensely. It ended up a worthwhile purchase after all. When I went on vacation to Holland this summer, I brought two Keaton discs and watched them with my 85 year-old grandmother who is in bad physical health. Nobody else cared to really sit down and watch them, so it was just the two of us, and we really enjoyed them. It's likely that that it will end up as the last time that I saw her, so those Keaton movies are very dear to me.

Sebastien S · Aug 17, 2003

I have Buffy seasons 1 to 4 and Angel season 1 and I haven't watched any of them yet...

Not because I don't want to, I just haven't found the time yet.

Eventualy I will though!

GrantM · Aug 18, 2003

I don't know if I'm ever going to get through with all my tv box sets. Currently I'm working on ST:TNG (season 6), X-files (season 5), Buffy (season 3), Babylon 5 (season 2), Transformers (season 2, part 2), and South Park (season 2).
Haven't started: Band of Brothers, Angel, DS9, Dark Angel
And I will soon have Futurama 2, Family Guy Vol 2, and Simpsons 3 to watch as well!!!

Gary->dee · Aug 18, 2003

I don't have this problem, cause I never buy anything I don't want to rewatch multiple times.

Same here. I don't understand when people say they have DVD's they still haven't watched yet long after buying it and are still wrapped up. It's a foreign concept to me. When I get a DVD I'm watching it within 24 hours(usually that same night) or there was no point in me getting it. Space is very limited in my small studio apartment so maybe that's another reason. I'm also pretty selective when it comes to buying DVDs. I don't get DVD's just because they're new but I do ask myself "If I don't buy this DVD right now, when I go home am I going to regret it?" If the answer is yes then I buy it. I don't collect for the sake of collecting in hopes of one day watching what I bought. Sort of like uncovering a gem I forgot I purchased? That's not happening. Then again I don't have any boxsets. Ok well Back to the Future.

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EdwardKarlinski · Aug 18, 2003

No, I cannot say that I do. Before I buy a television series, I ask myself if I am likely to watch it more than once. If the answer is no, then I pass on it. This seems to work for me. I have watched all my boxed sets two or more times.

MarkHastings · Aug 18, 2003

What I don't understand is when people think that it isn't worth watching a DVD only once.

DVD's are only like $20. Look at the quality you get for that price. I have TONS of movies I've only watched once (and probably will never watch again) and don't regret a thing.

Holadem · Aug 18, 2003

What I don't understand is when people think that it isn't worth watching a DVD only once.

DVD's are only like $20.

What's there not to understand? $20 is a LOT of money for a movie I will only watch once. Obviously not for you, but surely, you do realise that not everyone is as financially comfortable?

--
Holadem

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Chris Lockwood · Aug 18, 2003

> When I get a DVD I'm watching it within 24 hours

Even a 6-7 disc set?

Do any of you have books you haven't yet read?

Gary->dee · Aug 18, 2003

Even a 6-7 disc set?

Well yeah I had to have been excited to buy the 6-7 disc set to begin with so at least I would have started watching that night or the next. I probably wouldn't have time to go through all the discs though but it just depends how my schedule's like, if we're talking movies or TV programs and if it's a weekend, etc.. For me DVD's aren't bought to be shelved and eventually watched.

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MarkHastings · Aug 18, 2003

For me DVD's aren't bought to be shelved and eventually watched.

Gary, first off, I am not arguing that your method is wrong, I just would like to explain my DVD viewing habits so you see where I am coming from.

I have a crazy schedule and I am quite anal about the way I watch my movies. i.e. Everything has to be "Perfect". I need to be 99.9% sure that I will not be bothered from the moment I start watching the movie until I finish the movie. I also need to make sure that the atmospheric conditions are comfortable enough for me. I also need to be certain that I don't start the movie too late and fall asleep towards the end.

So I will usually buy movies and then leave them on the shelf until I am "Ready" to watch them. Every night is different for me. I really need to be in the proper mind set to watch a long drama, so I will avoid movies like "Pearl Harbor" until I am absolutely sure that I am properly prepared to watch it.

Since most of these decisions are last minute, it's nice to have the movie ready on the shelf. If I didn't buy it, I might be sitting down and think "I am ready to watch Pearl Harbor tonight." and I'd have to go out and buy it , then (when I bought it), I might be passed my readiness to watch it.

As most (on this board), I won't just throw in a movie and watch it because I just bought it. That's silly. Kinda like grocery shopping, I'll buy canned food and store it on my shelf until I am in the mood to eat it. I don't buy food and then go right home and eat it. It's nice knowing that it's there if you're ever in the mood.

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