How much are your old laser discs worth? (1 Viewer)

[Gary Seven]

I still have a few hundred discs. I have managed to copy all the Looney Tunes (vol 1 - 4) and a variety of single discs ones, all the Playboys discs from the 90s, and am currently working on my concert discs. Then I move on to movies that are not available on another format. So many have excellent gatefolds that would look nice framed. Once I am finished, not sure what I will do with them as it seems more trouble than it's worth to try to see them.

 

[Vegas 1]

At this point in time I think the cover art is the best thing about LD.

 

[Mark Booth]

'The Jerk' was the first Laserdisc I purchased. Its cover has been framed on the wall in our theater room for 20+ years.

Mark

 

[Jeffrey D]

My first laserdisc purchase was Clint Eastwood’s Sudden Impact (I bought it in 1989). I remember thinking “Wow! What a great looking picture!”
The disc was 4X3 ratio, so I didn’t fully appreciate how the correct ratio is the only way to properly watch a film. I think my first letterboxed film was Lethal Weapon 2.

 

[Matt Hough]

I joined the Columbia Laserdisc Club, and my first three free discs were all letterboxed musicals: The King and I, The Sound of Music, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when watching these films finally on my television in widescreen.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

I remember Camelot Music would have twice a year a half off sale on Laserdiscs including Criterion. When I got to the store before they opened there would be a big line in front of the doors.

 

[titch]

I have 1500 laserdiscs and there are certainly some gems in there that have never been released on any other format - eg. The Compleat Tex Avery.

 

[Jeffrey D]

A gem that hasn’t been upgraded from laserdisc is The Prince Of Tides Criterion. I’d like to see this one upgraded (really like this film, and I’d like to hear Barbra’s commentary too).

 

[Spencer Draper]

This article is silly. Sure there are rare discs, titles never issued on other formats, exclusives, exclusive extras and the rare late releases-with the Japanese only late release final discs going for crazy money. But LDs are a nice hobby and an important one for film buffs since they usually feature a superior soundtrack to even later spiffed up releases.

I've never paid more than $3-5 per disc and a bit more for the fantastic box sets. If there's one I'd really like I wait for a good deal if possible.

Now if you really want to get into rare and expensive disc collecting there's Japanese MUSE discs. There's something I'd love to see in person one day.

 

[RobertR]

Now if you really want to get into rare and expensive disc collecting there's Japanese MUSE discs. There's something I'd love to see in person one day.

I think you'd be underwhelmed as I was. I went to a friend's house where he had the HLD X9 player and some MUSE discs, and I kept thinking how inferior it looked to the hidef system adopted in this country. MUSE was little more than an "early adoptor" curiosity that deserved its fate.

 

[Spencer Draper]

Probably compared to today but 1080i in 1991 is impressive and some folks I know have gone whole hog with super high end gear resulting in some remarkable results. Just like LD the system is very dependant on hardware.

 

[RobertR]

Probably compared to today but 1080i in 1991 is impressive and some folks I know have gone whole hog with super high end gear resulting in some remarkable results. Just like LD the system is very dependant on hardware.

The X9 was the ultimate, the pinnacle, of laserdisc players. The thing was enormous, built like the proverbial tank, and could play discs that other players couldn't. What I saw was everything that was wrung out of the laserdisc format. What people were impressed with 30 years ago doesn't hold up. I'm glad it was never adopted here.

 

[Worth]

I've never seen MUSE laserdisc, but from what I've heard it was generally considered inferior to DVD quality, let alone modern HD.

 

[JoshZ]

The X9 was the ultimate, the pinnacle, of laserdisc players. The thing was enormous, built like the proverbial tank, and could play discs that other players couldn't. What I saw was everything that was wrung out of the laserdisc format. What people were impressed with 30 years ago doesn't hold up. I'm glad it was never adopted here.

Some might say that the HLD-X0 was superior to the X9. As huge as the X9 was, the X0 was even bigger, and supposedly had a better laser or something. The big downside to the X0, however, was that it was a single-side player only. No auto-flip.

 

[JoshZ]

I've never seen MUSE laserdisc, but from what I've heard it was generally considered inferior to DVD quality, let alone modern HD.

I have an HLD-X9, but never invested in the MUSE decoder or discs. My understanding is that a still or largely static image on MUSE could look very good, equivalent to a 1080i TV broadcast. But whenever the image was in motion, the resolution dropped precipitously.

 

[Spencer Draper]

Actually from the samples I’ve seen others post it’s quite remarkable and more akin to early hd forms but with an analog gloss to it. Not all decoder units were equal. But it is a hassle to do, exorbitantly expensive, lacks 5.1, and as mentioned does lose some resolution on motion. Plus only a select number of features were ever released thus increasing the rarity.

The X0 is supposedly the best player ever made but is indeed single sided only. The greatness is due to it using a different type of laser than was standard and it has the ability to read through some laser rot.
The X9 is said to be second to it and the best autoflip player.

LD is extremely hardware dependant but when you get a great player with really good clean video output and a good setup going it can result in a really nice experience. I adore my Panasonic Lx-900 which has none of the ringing, CLV smearing or other issues like my older pioneers/other players I’ve used.

 

[JoshZ]

Seems that there's still a fair bit of interest in Laserdisc out there. I posted those Blade Runner photos from earlier in the thread on my blog (along with shots of the backs and gatefolds), and the post is getting a surprising amount of traction in social media shares.

I guess LD nostalgia is taking hold.

 

[bigshot]

Try and sell it for more than a buck.

 

[YANG]

What we need to keep our LD collection alive and kicking... is new generation gears that:
1. going to play possibly 8inch video disc in the future that holds 8K videos as well as advance audio formats in coming years,
2. backward friendly with past decade techs such as LaserDisc*, DVD**, FHDBD, current UHDBD.
(*with aid of integrated analogue to digital conversion, **image upscaler)

 

[Worth]

What we need to keep our LD collection alive and kicking... is new generation gears that:
1. going to play possibly 8inch video disc in the future that holds 8K videos as well as advance audio formats in coming years,
2. backward friendly with past decade techs such as LaserDisc*, DVD**, FHDBD, current UHDBD.
(*with aid of integrated analogue to digital conversion, **image upscaler)

Good luck with that. Electronics companies aren't even interested in manufacturing Blu-ray players anymore.