Large DVD Collections. Is it worth it? (1 Viewer)

[Will_B]

One difficulty I will have with paring my collection down is that there are some so-so movies I'd keep because it has a favorite actor. To really par the collection I'd have to ditch films based on the quality as a whole. That's going to be tough to accept.

 

[PaulP]

It's called a "collection" for a reason. Collecting, by definition, is just an irrational amassing of objects, crudely speaking. Being of a collector and a completist mentality, my 900+ DVD collection is very much worth it for me.

 

[Craig Beam]

I have 750+ DVDs (including many home recordings from TCM). It's a collection that has mutated over the years (many titles have been sold, a few rebought), and at least 100 titles remain unopened. I sometimes amass them with reckless abandon due to my OCD tendencies (for example, I just bought all 21 volumes of the classic I Spy series... will I ever watch them? Probably not). But worth it? Hell, yes. I love film and quality TV. My frustration stems from never having enough time to actually watch them all.

 

[FranklinC]

I don't get all this hand-wringing about too-large collections... I thought I was in the company of similarly afflicted DVD addicts! What gives?

As of this writing I have 999 DVDs and I've never felt the slightest twinge of regret about it. Here's why -- I LOVE MOVIES. I am very proud of my collection and I hope to turn my young daughter into a film buff also, so that she can one day find pleasure in this thing I've spent so much time, effort, and money building. Also, I lot of this stuff I have has gone out of print until who knows when. I've tried to create a well-rounded collection with a little bit of everything so I have something anybody who comes to visit would like to watch. I love to show it off and could care less if anybody thinks I'm foolish. People spend money on a lot more foolish stuff than a collection of films.

And I don't think most people would express such an opinion about someone who has a large library of books. They would probably be impressed. How often would these books get re-read, I wonder? I bet less than my DVD collection!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

A great point was made in a prior post.

I don't smoke. I rarely drink and I have no addictions that
cost me extra money every week. Why not throw my hard-earned
dollars into something I enjoy?


I removed it a few months ago at the request of a staff
member that was offended by it. I suppose some people
saw my comments about Apple vs. Windows to be just as
offensive as HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Well, naturally, since most of us here are avid DVD collectors on this board, of course most will say it's worth it to them. I'm just saying to look at it objectively though -- we all have a lot of films, and we just don't or can't watch all of them. I still get the "itch" to add another "nugget" into my collection regularly, but I'm just trying to be more sensible about it these days than I used to be in the past where I bought almost anything just to have more films.

 

[Jim_K]

Getting into the HD formats at the beginning of this year made me think long and hard about movie/video collecting as a whole. At that point I was probably getting very close to 1,000 titles on DVD and just the thought of re-buying every title in my collection (even though many titles probably will never get an HD release) was depressing and in some cases didn't make sense, given that a portion of the titles I'd only seen once. A good portion of the titles I liked but I just never had the desire to see again in 5-10 years.

I've been methodically paring down my collection for the past 10 months but I'd never want to rely on rental outlets when I want to watch a favorite film so I'll always have some form of a movie collection (DVD and the HD formats).

 

[Vegas 1]

My SdDVD collection is around 1800 I believe, plus 500 laserdics. However I rent from Netflix more now than buy. Still on the fence with HD format.
Enjoy!

 

[Corey3rd]

recently I've had to "shrink" the collection by putting my DVDs in sleeves and dumping the plastic boxes. It's amazing how much space you can save when doing this step for 1,400 DVDs. You can't do that with VHS.

As far as stuff I haven't watched in a few years, so what? Maybe I'll watch them in a decade. Most of the stuff goes out of print. Rather just stash the disc than find myself paying way too much for it on ebay in five years.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Are you sure?

 

[nicholas_g]

I have something like 1500+ bought since 1998 and I actually stopped counting. I have stopped getting a lot of film DVD's and rent them instead but, I do buy a lot of TV series on DVD. I try not to get into new series but still carry on with series are already started collecting.

If I get into HD then I will only buy ones that will be worth it and I haven't got already on SD DVD.

 

[RickER]

I have 900 or so DVDs, and about 10 Blu-ray discs. I have sit at the 900 range for a few years. I always thin out my collection, and use that money to buy another title, or maybe even an upgrade of the same title. Now, i buy more TV than movies, and i also started renting from NetFlix a few months ago. But i will always buy movies, especially CHEAP movies. Why cant i buy a $5 disc? If i watch it twice it paid for itself!
I am also a mid 40s guy, and if i used my potential life expectancy to gauge what i own...well, i better not buy anything. Cause i could be snuffed out tomorrow, or worse GO BLIND! and not be able to watch anything!

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

I don't have a large DVD collection, I have a large movie collection (that happens to be mostly DVDs, right now, but it was mostly VHS at one time).
I also have a large music collection that just now happens to be CDs, with some vinyls, but once was vinyl only.
I hardly ever rent, too much hassle, I like to browse my collection knowing I can watch almost anything, and I do. Most films I own I have watched several times, and I will watch them again.
So, over a thousand CDs, just less than 600 DVDs, I don't buy everything I see, but I buy most of what I want, sometimes a bit after it is released, for a good price .
Is it worth it? You bet! It's not the getting, it's the having !

 

[Bonedwarf]

My favourite films... I watch them every few months. I have probably 300 DVD's, but my DVD purchasing has slowed way WAY down this past year. Not just because of my crippling financial problems, but also because I'm at the point where I won't buy stuff just for fun.

 

[Rhett_Y]

Yeah people don't like to admit it, let alone have it pointed out, when they are wrong and have picked a product that down right sucks!!

 

[AnthonyC]

My collection (of movies at least) is small compared to everyone else here--I only have about 100 or so. My TV collection is much bigger, and gets watched much more often. I do watch every TV show at least once, although I haven't done that with a couple of movies.

But honestly, the reason I don't mind is because I can't think of a single DVD movie I've purchased in the past 2 years that I've bought when it wasn't on sale or discounted heavily. (I did pay about $35 for The Godfather Collection, but that's five discs.) The majority of my recent film purchase have been the in the $3.99-$7.99 range. It's not like when I first started collecting and $15 was the minimum you could expect to pay for a DVD. I don't feel obligated to watch everything I buy immediately. But I don't feel I buy anything excessively either.

 

[Frank@N]

I would relate having a LARGE movie collection to secretly dating three women at a time:

Expensive? Yes.

Frowned on by others (although possibly due to jealousy)? Yes.

Not recommend for the average person? Yes.

Unquestionably rewarding? Yes!

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I have about 900 owned movies, and have definately slacked off on what I purchase to films I know will get 2nd viewings. If I see a movie I really thought ws better than expected and I might see again, like Disturbia, I'll wait for it to show up in a $7.99 or less sale. This has carried over to my HD-DVD Purchases, I have about 28 disks but I rent alot of them and buy the bigger releases like transformers, blade runner etc. I have definately learned from the time 5 years ago where I spent $100 a week that netflix can be your friend. I buy more TV releases now because I know they will get viewed more often.

 

[JonZ]

I have about 700 DVDs.

Ive started selling off a few things I had laying around here. I was sitting around the other day and thinking.. do I really need this stuff.

They were taking up too much room.

I just put like 160 DVDs on ebay.

 

[BethHarrison]

I own around 700 titles. 90% are classic titles which my mates wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

I have just finished building a new house and will move in on Tuesday. I have a beautiful new study, and have installed custom built shelves for my DVDs. I cannot wait to give my pride and joys a proper place to live. I especially can't wait to show off my classic boxsets with the beautiful Warners artwork like the Barbara Stanwyck, Errol Flynn, Bogie, Lancaster, Gable, Grant, Loy/Powell, Hitchcock etc Collections. I also have a Rita Hayworth Boxset with a beautiful picture of Gilda on the front. I have ordered posters for Laura, Libeled Lady, Double Indemnity, Gilda, The Sting, etc.... to frame and place in my home. (classic movie art is simply devine). I also can't wait to see all my Fox Studio Classics and Fox Noir titles put together.

Like a few other posters, I don't smoke, I don't touch alcohol (hate the stuff), and rarely indulge in anything else. (apart from footy and cricket). My DVDs are my vice.

I'm a classic film tragic, but a happy one. Can't wait to set my house up next week!!!