Laserdisc Owners: Will you replace ALL of your Laserdiscs? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Adkins]

I would have thought that people who owned a Laserdisc player and maintained a respectable library of movies would ahve been at least home theater enthusiasts. And would have enough smarts not to prematurely abandon the format. Maybe I was wrong.

I don't see how hanging onto to LD's until they are worthless is "smart". One of the smartest things I ever did was dump 90% of my LDs back in November of 1997. I got a huge amount of money for them and was able to buy substantially more DVDs with that money. Since that time, every title I sold off (except maybe 2 or 3) has been released on DVD and I have replaced them at a fraction of the cost of the LD. Unfortunately, some of my friends held onto their LDs and have been struggling to get more than $5 or $6 out of titles that I got $15-25 for a few years ago. I remember when the LD of Blue Velvet was going for more than $75 on eBay. I sold mine and my friend hung onto his and I think he got $10 out of it. Sure, there are LDs that I've kept simply because the likelihood of them being released on DVD is slim. Titles I still have include:
Blade Runner (original cut, Criterion)
E.T. (original cut)
Night Patrol
Spanking The Monkey
Urban Cowboy
Short Cuts (Criterion)
Prince Of Tides (Criterion, Streisand commentary)
S.O.B.
Grease
Most of these are of little value on eBay, so there's no temptation to sell them. I still say that dumping most of my LD's worked out very well for my collection.
Jeff

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Since my main DVD player is a DVD/LD combo player, I generally don't see DVD releases as a big deal if I already have it on LD. Most of the duplicates I've bought have been part of box sets- I have the first "Toy Story" laserdisc and bought the DVD box set with the second movie when it came out; I have the first 3 Elite "Nightmare on Elm Street" discs and the older Image "Elm Street III" release and the DVD box set of all 7 films, and the first 2 Die Hard LDs and the new Die Hard box set. I can't see getting rid of the LDs since I'd get very little for them anyway, plus the collector side of my likes having various releases of the same movie- "Die Hard" was one of the first movies to come out in widescreen on LD, after all.

 

[Mattias_ka]

Well I think that people should sell theirs Ld's when the movie comes on DVD. Then I can buy it for a VERY low price and watch it with great pleasure on my HLD-X9, one of the best Ld-player there is.
I will ONLY sell the LD and buy the dvd if the Ld is:
-Cut
-P&S and dvd is in right ratio.
-BIG improvment in picture quality.
And I have many older movies that have MUCH better audio than the dvd.
I would also make people here to notice a great site that compare dvd R1, R2 and LD. Many times the LD is as good and even better. And this guy don't have the best LD player. www.dvdscan.com Check it out!
Someone complained that having 2 formats take so much
space. Well, I want to see movies and most of them are not even on dvd or ld, they are on vhs. Should I see so other action shit on dvd insteed of seeing something I want to see? I real movie lover support all fomats (vhs, Ld, dvd, maybe even beta).
I buy much more ld now than dvd, because they are cheaper and most of them are the same or better than the dvd. Why sell a LD and loose money and buy the dvd that have the same quality? Better picture?? Well, why not sell ALL your LD's dvd's and vhs and go to the movies, because there you have the BEST picture!
Mattias
Ps. I DO have a 16x9 tv.
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[Todd Hostettler]

With the possible exception of 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010, I’ve seen little need to replace my relatively-meager LD collection.
Beatles Anthology – The Slipcase is a friggin’ work of art. MIA on DVD.
Beavis & Butthead Do America – Good for the occasional laugh. Looks pretty good. Don’t love it enough to ever upgrade.
Big Night – Sounds wonderful. DVD isn’t anamorphic.
Clerks – DVD is a direct port.
Don Juan DiMarco – Great 5.1 soundtrack.
Elvis Costello: Greatest Hits – Will probably never find its way to DVD. Ever.
Fargo – Looks good. Sounds good. I've heard the current DVD, while anamorphic, is pretty lackluster. holding out for an SE.
FM – Uh, I only paid $3 for it. I used to work in radio, okay?
For All Mankind: Criterion – Looks as good as the original elements will probably allow.
Grosse Pointe Blank – Great 5.1 soundtrack. DVD isn’t anamorphic.
The Harder They Come: Criterion – DVD isn’t anamorphic.
How To Get Ahead In Advertising: Criterion - DVD isn’t anamorphic.
Il Postino - DVD isn’t anamorphic.
Kids In The Hall: Brain Candy – Great 5.1 soundtrack. MIA on DVD.
King Kong: 60th Anniversary – As good as it will probably ever look. MIA on DVD.
Northern Exposure (6 LD’s) – MIA on DVD.
Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country - DVD isn’t anamorphic.
Star Trek: selected TNG episodes – MIA on DVD. Still not sold on the idea of season sets.
Star Wars Trilogy – Don’t even get me started on those SE’s.
Supercop: Criterion - Great 5.1 soundtrack. DVD isn’t anamorphic. Original Cantonese soundtrack.
Swingers - DVD isn’t anamorphic.
The Killer: Criterion - DVD isn’t anamorphic.
Time Bandits –DVD isn’t anamorphic
Toy Story – Great 5.1 soundtrack.
Woody Allen Films (Annie Hall, Stardust Memories, Everything You Wanted To Know…, and Crimes and Misdemeanors: Criterion) - Will always, whatever format they’re in, still be in Mono. C&M, in particular, looks wonderful.
[Edited last by Todd Hostettler on August 28, 2001 at 05:40 PM]

 

[Keith Paynter]

Agreed, I still have several, which I don't expect to replace...
The Doors Special Edition
Star Wars Trilogy (Definitive Collection)
Star Wars Trilogy (Spec. Ed.) good for another 5 or 6 years anyway...
Dances With Wolves (extended vesion)
Beatles Anthology
Golden Age Of Looney Tunes 1-5
Complete Tex Avery
This Is Spinal Tap (Criterion)
The Flintstones - First Season
E.T. (numbered box)
Hearts Of Darkness
P.U.L.S.E.
Ed Wood
Simon & Garfunkel - Concert In Central Park
Give My Regards To Broad Street
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Zmeckis commentary)
The Wall (Alan Parker commentary)
Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Berlin
Paul McCartney - Paul is Live!
Escape from NY (commentary)
S.O.B.
Hunchback Of Notre Dame (DTS) - Disney
Jurassic Park (DTS)
Speed (DTS)
Robocop (Criterion)
Grease
Metropolis
But I still have my share of dupes
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"Fearless Freep?! That's mmma boy!"

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Heck, I've been buying backup players!

I have probably bought as many discs in the last couple of years since the format "died" as I had in the decade before...there's nothing like wandering into Monster Records and scoring a title you'd been after for years for $10 or $15, and man, that Ken Cranes liquidation nearly bankrupted me.
I'm waiting for the Godfather DVDs to come out so's I can get the THX LDs for a reasonable price.

 

[TerryPM]

I spent over 10 years collecting 250 or so LDs. I sold a buch of them several years ago when DVD first came out, and bought a bunch more recently when the price came down to $5 a disc, so now I'm back up to 250 LDs. I have about 200 DVDs, some of which were replacements for the LDs I sold, but now that LDs are essentially valueless, I'm no longer selling or replacing any but the few which I know I would watch repeatedly, and even then only if it's a great anamorphic transfer.

 

[Dave L]

Absolutely not! I've been collecting LDs since the mid-1980s, and many, if not most, of the titles from the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s have yet to reach DVD. Even if they do, why purchase a title again? I guess I'm mature enough now to realize that I don't watch a given movie enough times over the years to justify purchasing it every time I watch it.
The only titles I replace are those with extras I want, a letterbox transfer, or a director's cut. DVDs are generally just an extension of my LDs, which I probably watch more of than the DVDs. As long as one of my four LD players continues to operate I'll still be spinning those 12 inch platters and watching Flynn & DeHavilland, Bogart & Cagney, Gable & Crawford, Mickey & Judy, and any of scores of old black and white films in my collection.

 

[Mike_G]

I threw away 75 LDs over the last few months. I did a search on eBay for some of the titles using the "completed auction" search and found that ALL of them (and we're talking 'A' titles here) came up with either NO bids, or less than $10 bids. Multiply how much work it takes to put up one LD * 75, and you get the idea of why I don't bother.
I wish I could snap my fingers and replace all my LDs with DVDs but I can't...or can I?
I love my Mac's DVD burner
Just so you know, all the work I do stays in my house.
Mike
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Listen to my radio station - Starman's Neverland
[Edited last by Mike_G on August 28, 2001 at 12:21 PM]

 

[Jeff Swindoll]

3 LDs that are irreplaceable in my collection :
Frighteners : a very loaded SE, 4 hour documentary

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest : nice SE, like a coffee table book
Jaws : uncut documentary
What I dont like is when they dont do a full port over to the DVD. I thought I was replacing Young Frankenstein when I picked the DVD up at Kmart for $12.99 until I read a review that some things were on the LD and not on the DVD (those things escape me at the moment).
I have a stack of LDs up to my knee that need to be Ebayed, but I'm too lazy

I even have some rotted LDs that I need to ditch but just cant seem to do it when I remember how much I paid for them

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I didnt play Dungeons and Dragons all those years and not learn something about courage.
--Bernie Faulkner

 

[JerryW]

Mike, when you get that urge to throw out more LDs let me know. I'll pay pretty well for them and cover the shipping.
Really, I'm serious.
just email me at [email protected]
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"But you have to remember that a worm, with very few exceptions, is not a human being." - Freddy

 

[Jeff Ashforth]

I could never afford to buy that many LD's, so when I got the chance, I sold all but 4 titles. The only movies I have left on LD are:

• The Star Wars Trilogy THX CLV
• The SW Trilogy SE Box set Widescreen Edition
• Raiders of the Lost Ark Widescreen Edition

Of the above titles, the only ones I can see myself getting rid of are the Star Wars SE's, which I will do when they are released to DVD. I sold the remaining 16 titles on eBay last year. Oddly, I have only replaced one of my LD's with it's DVD counterpart: Braveheart. When I would go out to buy the DVD I would always say to myself "Man, you never watched that when you had it on LD. Why are you gonna buy it on DVD?" So I just spent the money on new releases.
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"I don't know, I'm just making this up as I go."
My Spare time larcenists
The worst HT in America.

 

[Robert Hutchison]

As I stated earlier I'll only replace my LDs if the DVD is a much better transfer or if it has more extras on the disc to make it interesting. In my LD collection I have many titles that have yet to see the light of day on DVD. I was just looking through the new Maltin Movie & Video Guide (2002) and was amazed at the large number of titles that marked as being available on LD but not on DVD. Mainly films from the 30's thru the 70's. The studios seem real slow about releasing their catalog titles.
I know that LD is an orphaned format, but I've got titles in my LD collection that will never make it to DVD. Such as: The Criterion Bond films in CAV with commentary, The Air & Space Museum still collections (100,000 stills on each disc), The Space Archive sets. I truly treasures the boxed sets of cartoons on LD, (the five Looney Tunes boxes, three boxes of Tom & Jerry, two boxes of Betty Boop, the MGM Happy Harmonies box, and The Tex Avery box.) There are almost 40 serials available on LD while less than 10 on DVD.
I know that the studios will eventually release some of these titles (Citizen Kane will be out shortly), but its taking along time. Do they believe that their catalog titles won't sell? I can't believe that Warners hasn't released a set on Looney Tunes on DVD.

 

[Eric Paddon]

I've gotten rid of more than half of the LD's I once owned, but keep those that (a) have not had a DVD release and (b) have a supplement that wasn't duplicated on DVD. I also tend to retain CAV editions of movies that are on DVD now only because CAV function still offers a smoother slow mo and freeze frame then my DVD player currently offers (admittedly it's a cheap player). So far, these are the ones that aren't going anywhere.
Unique Supplements
-Show Boat (1936-Criterion CAV)
The Wizard Of Oz (Criterion CAV)
The Ultimate Oz Boxed Set
Singin' In The Rain (MGM CAV. Also has supplements)
North By Northwest (Criterion CAV)
Ben Hur (MGM CAV. Isolated score and different trailer)
El Cid (Criterion)
Dr. No (Criterion CAV)
From Russia With Love (Criterion CAV)
Jason And The Argonauts (Criterion CAV)
It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Restored cut)
Goldfinger (Criterion CAV)
Goldfinger (MGM CAV)
My Fair Lady (30th anniversary boxed set)
The Sound Of Music (30th anniversary boxed set)
Thunderball (MGM CAV. Has 65 Ian Fleming documentary)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Criterion CAV)
2001: A Space Odyssey (MGM CAV)
Patton (Original LD release. Has Fox Newsreels)
1776 (Restored cut with Peter Hunt commentary)
The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad (Isolated score)
Jaws (CAV Boxed set)
Star Wars Trilogy (CAV. Original Cut)
1941 (CAV)
E.T. (CAV Boxed set)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (CAV)

 

[Adam Tyner]

A pretty hefty portion of my Laserdiscs were impulse schlock-horror bargain bin purchases, and I'm not in a rush to replace 'em. Off the top of my head, Slugs is the only Laserdisc I've replaced so far.
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My DVD list | My personal site

 

[Kenny_H]

I have close to 275 laser disc titles (I also have over 160 dvd titles loaded into a Sony DVP-CX860 300 disc changer), of these titles, only 4 have been replaced on dvd,(Alien, Aliens The Abyss and Terminator2). I have no plans on selling my laserdiscs. Two years ago I purchased a Pioneer CLD-606 (which the "old" Pioneer logo-another thread for another time)and I will live with that. After replacing lots of vinyl for cd's and loading them into a 300 & 400 disc changer(s), I just don't have the energy to go throught that again. besides, it give me the pleasure of buying more dvd's, loading them, then, choosing what I want!!! My next purchase (dvd) is the 10 disc Muppet Show series!!! Didn't have this much fun with laser discs!!!

 

[Rachael B]

I buy 1 to 4 LDs every month. My LD collection is now over 700. There are thousands of LDs that are not on DVD and proably never will be. I bought my dad a copy of SINK THE BISMARCK this week too. Title is just as important as # of scan lines in my book.
This week I watched on LD:
MARS NEEDS WOMEN - "...don't eat any of the earth food..."
IT CAME FROM HOLLYWOOD - I love this film! It has a clip from MARS NEEDS WOMEN too. It's a movie of clips, it's lovely, buy one if anybody is daft enough to sell one.
DANCE IN CYBERSPACE (psuedo 3-D computer animation put to the dance tracks of Dr. Devious, it came with "3-D Cyberspecs")
ALLEGRO NON TROPPO - I stille like it better than FANTASIA, the object of it's parody....
I watch LDs on a regular basis. They don't sit on the shelf. I bought an HLD-X9 and LD-S9 so I could watch them at pretty near the highest resolution possible too. The Japanese players outclass ALL the Elite models.
I replace some LDs too, like BEN HUR, it looked like shite on LD! I've learned my lesson not to blindly replace them though. I bought THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES on DVD and although it looked great, the audio has zero output below 80 hz. The DVD ruined the wonderful music, ugh!
The movies of the 20's, 30's, and 40's don't look better on DVD unless a 1st class restoration job is done to them, not a common occurence. These films haven't been commonly issued on DVD anyway... Gee, I can't wait for Chaplin's MODERN TIMES on 5.1 DTS DVD!
I tend to buy DVDs of films I've never had, but I will replace LDs that are very substandard. I've gone to great trouble to elevate my LD playback equipment so my LDs are very competative with DVDs. Anyway, like many of the other posters, I figur I have beaucoups of titles that can't be replaced now, if ever? Content is king. Lines of resolution are a wonderful thing but...
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Rachael, the big disc cat! "...Mandrake, have you ever seen a commie drink water..."
AFI Film Challenge, hey I've only got 1 to go!

 

[Casey Neutron]

I consider my LD collection and DVD collection to be one whole collection. For instance, all the Speilbergs are represented, some on laser, some on dvd, many in both formats, but all the movies are there. And when I do replace a laserdisc title with a dvd, I still hang on to the laserdisc. In fact, there's never been a better time to be a laserdisc collector, what with all these clearance sales (got some excellent discs from DVDPlanet for $1.99 each!). I've got three laserdisc players, one of which is still in the box, and the other two have been working flawlessly for years. I'm looking forward to collecting laserdiscs for many years to come.

 

[richard plumb]

the packaging is more important to you? Aren't you on the wrong forum?
Surely the movie is the only important thing. If a DVD is mastered well and is anamorphic, then the transfer should be significantly better and be worth buying to replace a LD. There are some arguments about original Star Wars and better sound, and they are more valid, but a good DVD should outshine a LD significantly.
BTW, I don't have a LD player, so feel free to correct me

 

[Joel Fontenot]

Actually, I should add that I'm not "replacing" any of my LD's. They might be "retired" to the closet, but I still have all the LDs that now have a DVD counterpart.
Joel