Discaholics Anonymous (1 Viewer)

[BarryR]

I suppose I'm a reformed discaholic. The past year or so I've thinned out around 150 DVDs from my collection. I used to pre-order like crazy. No more. I do upgrade favorites (awaiting the next 1776 edition), but it's very much a new world order now. I still have about 300+ discs, with at least 20% unviewed. I also avoid TV boxed sets because it adds pressure to devote a lot of time I could spend rewatching my favorite 300+ movies...


If I pre-order two dozen or so movies per year, that's enough.

 

[RMajidi]

I also avoid TV boxed sets because it adds pressure to devote a lot of time I could spend rewatching my favorite 300+ movies

You are clearly a man of great discipline. My hat's off to you sir!
Glad to have you aboard Barry - some of us here may benefit from the guidance of your reformed ways!

 

[BarryR]

Thanks. It's been quite the journey!


A key motivation is that I'm not getting any younger, so I need to prioritize my viewing better!

 

[RMajidi]

Are you a Discaholic, or unsure? This test might help you decide:


Q.1 Your disc label of choice announces the imminent release of your all-time favourite movie in a flawless 4K restoration. Do you...

A. Write to thank the label and swear your undying allegiance?

B. Place a pre-order for 3 units to ensure you'll always have a working copy in case any of them should ever fail?

C. Write to the label, stating: "Finally! Now get off your backsides and give me..."?




Q.2 Your ever-patient spouse/partner glances around what used to be a tastefully decorated living room (now a series of massive bookshelves 3-deep in discs, with overflow piles heaped everywhere) and wistfully reminisces about the old days when we could have friends over. Do you...

A. Look up threateningly and say: "What's your point?"

B. Quote articles of property law in a spirited defence of your constitutional right to spend your hard-earned money as you darned-well please?

C. Turn up the volume on your remote by six points?




Q.3 Your concerned daughter calculates that at your present rate of viewing 3 movies per week, you'll need to live to the age of 107 to watch your entire library. Do you...

A. Resolve not to buy any more films until you've watched your existing collection at least once?

B. Celebrate the news that you're going to live to 107 by treating yourself to a pre-order of 5 new films?

C. Calculate that if you double your viewing rate and dock her weekly allowance, you can cover an additional 1264 film purchases in the allotted time?

Spoiler: Test Results

If you felt compelled to participate in this test, then stop kidding yourself, you are already a Discaholic. Don't worry, though - there are far worse fates than an addiction to finely restored movie classics. Sit back and enjoy!

[Please feel welcome to suggest further Q&As to improve this test]

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think my blind buy thread is proof enough that I have a problem!

 

[Johnny Angell]

Bartender, I don't know these people sitting next me!

 

[Johnny Angell]

I think an intervention is in order. What blu rays to you want to watch during your intervention?

 

[Dave B Ferris]

Q.1 You decide to buy a bunch of "Really Useful Boxes" (various sizes) so that movies and books (of the same subject) can be combined for superior organization. For example, the DVD of "When the Lion Roars" along with the massive (and equally heavy) coffee-table book written by Peter Hay. Do you ...

Wait! This really happened to me. I'm an (admittedly) lost cause.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I do not have a problem -- I swear it.

...


Sorry about the interruption. The UPS driver just dropped off a package with a couple of new movies.

 

[Alf S]

Sounds like me when DVD first hit the streets. Had to have pretty much any movie BB had on sale, regardless if I really really like the movie itself. LOL

Thankfully I was able to break that habit a few short years later and I haven't looked back since. Me and my wallet are much happier because of it too.

 

[RMajidi]

Gosh, just wait for the fun in your future when you embark on a project to conserve shelf-space and optimize organization by combining various releases of the same title in new (higher-capacity) cases. When you embark on that project, sometimes your anticipated postal deliveries will consist entirely of boxes of empty cases.

Q.1 You decide to buy a bunch of "Really Useful Boxes" (various sizes) so that movies and books (of the same subject) can be combined for superior organization. For example, the DVD of "When the Lion Roars" along with the massive (and equally heavy) coffee-table book written by Peter Hay. Do you ...

Wait! This really happened to me. I'm an (admittedly) lost cause.

Dave, old friend: in years to come, your place will no doubt become the pilgrimage destination for Discaholics everywhere, as they arrive en-masse to tread reverently through your disc-motif wonderland!

 

[Dave B Ferris]

The running joke I have with a friend of mine at work, who shares many of the same interests and tastes, is that my efforts would be considered successful only if he were to parachute into my house, find a particular CD - and then immediately know (without looking) which other CD's are located (contiguously) next to the first CD.

 

[The Drifter]

I had to bump this thread because it was so great & relatable to those of us who still like/collect physical media.

When I first read this, the first thing that came to mind was people sitting in a circle in a room, and going around saying:

"My name is John & I'm a Discaholic....I haven't bought a new Disk in 1 week..."
"Hello, John."

"My name is Mark and I'm a Discaholic. I hadn't bought a Disk in 2 months, but then I lost control and bought 20 disks at once. However, since then I haven't bought a Disk in 1 month & my goal is to go 6 months without buying a Disk.
"Hello, Mark."

I have heard horror stories about people who have so much physical media that it's literally taking over their lives - and/or stories about people not paying necessary bills/etc. because they're spending all of their money on DVD's/Blu's;etc. - LOL.

In all seriousness, I will actually go through my collection on a regular basis & "purge" some items. For example, if I have something on Blu I will typically unload the DVD (if I have it on DVD), etc. I will also unload movies/TV shows I probably won't watch again, etc.

And, I'm definitely buying a lot less than I used to because of the ease/convenience of streaming, etc.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I can proudly call myself a discaholic- I started collecting films on laserdisc in 1989. I got into DVDs in 1999. BluRays in 2010. I remember when I bought my first BluRay (Terminator 2 Skynet Edition) that I told myself “I’ll only upgrade a DVD to BluRay if there’s something the DVD doesn’t have- a 16X9 transfer, or a supplement not present on the DVD I have. I have long broke that directive to myself. What I have to do soon is buy a couple of shelves to accommodate my collection that is getting a bit disorganized

 

[John*Wells]

I am indeed a discaholic. I started collecting DVDs in 2003 and have over 400 movies and documentaries on dvd and Blu Ray. I also have a total of 45 television series’ with 2 left to finish. Perfect strangers and Mayberry RFD. I’m so anxious to complete them that I search amazon Warner Archive, and google every day to see if there’s any update on them. I also follow warner archive on Facebook and Twitter. I have tweeted Facebook and e mailed them at regular intervals for updates

 

[The Drifter]

I am indeed a discaholic. I started collecting DVDs in 2003 and have over 400 movies and documentaries on dvd and Blu Ray. I also have a total of 45 television series’ with 2 left to finish.

Only 400?! LOL.

Check out this dude who says he has 15,000 movies/TV shows on VHS, DVD, Blu - and other?! formats. However, it's very well organized & not at all messy. Kudos, since I've seen people with a lot less stuff whose collections are very haphazard & sloppily organized:

 

[Jeffrey D]

I know I have over 1,000 total films/TV/concerts/
other on DVD & BluRay. I still have about 50 laserdiscs (I’ll never part with my Star Wars Original Trilogy discs).

 

[Johnny Angell]

Only 400?! LOL.

Check out this dude who says he has 15,000 movies/TV shows on VHS, DVD, Blu - and other?! formats. However, it's very well organized & not at all messy. Kudos, since I've seen people with a lot less stuff whose collections are very haphazard & sloppily organized:

That’s a tad excessive, IMHO. He could start watching his collection sequentially and never finish it before he dies. However, as he says, he’s a collector.

 

[The Drifter]

That’s a tad excessive, IMHO. He could start watching his collection sequentially and never finish it before he dies.

Agreed. There is no way he will be able to watch all of those films/TV shows (that he hasn't already seen) even just once each - even if he does nothing else but watch films for the rest of his life - LOL.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I have a similar problem to the guy who has 15,000 things to watch- I’ve had films/concerts/TV episodes in my collection of 1,000+ for years that I haven’t gotten around to watching, and I have a tendency to watch certain things over and over again, so I doubt I’ll watch everything I have either. It’s all part of collecting, I guess.