The (in)sanity of collecting DVDs (2 Viewers)

[John Stone]

it's...difficult to explain the need to purchase the title that completes a set.

I'll give you my perspective.
I bought the Superman box set knowing full well that Superman III and Superman IV are terrible movies (IMO, of course). The first movie I watched out of that set was Superman IV. I was in the mood for something cheesy and horrible and that film certainly fit the bill. I've watched it again since then, too. Sometimes when people come over its fun to grab a bad movie and bust on it, ala MST2K.
I bought all three Bad News Bears films even though the last one is a complete piece of garbage (again, IMO). I've already had that disc in my player 3 times: once to watch it, and twice just to show my friends the horrible scene in which Kelly compliments his new Asian girlfriend on her nice teeth. :b
I purchased the BHC box set even though I think the 3rd film is terrible. I've seen it twice. Once just to watch it (oh the pain, the pain!), and again inebriated with my friends.
I could go on.....
I just wanted to point out that there are many reasons why people complete box sets and why people buy what are almost universally regarded as "bad" films. Sometimes when the mood strikes I just want make fun of bad movies. Now where's my copy of Karate Kid III...

 

[Patrick Larkin]

You guys should ease up on Adam. He's just expressing his opinion. He and Aaron raise valid points.
what it boils down to is what you can afford. If you feel you can afford it, then so be it. Some of us have good jobs and can afford it. Some don't. I'm worried about the folks who can't afford it. The guy previously who's buying DVD's on credit in -anticipation- of a well paying job -- well, that's scary.

You get that "first time" feeling. Remember when you sat down in a big theater to see Star Wars for the very first time? Or Jurassic Park? Or E.T.? Now you can experience that thrill right in your own HT! Having films I've never seen before in my collection is essential, I believe!

Obviously, we all LOVE the first time feeling. I just don't advocate BUYING a DVD unseen - UNLESS you know what you are buying. I never saw the Coen's The Man Who Wasn't There in the theater but I WILL purchase this unseen because I know if its a Coens Bros movie, I will enjoy it. On the other hand, I would NEVER buy something like Don't Say A Word without a rental first. Butt hell, these are MY rules, no one elses. If I could afford it, I'd never set foot in a rental place again.

 

[Julie K]

I collect DVDs for myself. This type of collecting, as I do with other things, is far different than a collection put together with the intent of making big bucks from it later. I agree with Adam about the dangers of collecting comics (or anything else) with the expectation of making money. However, that is simply not relevant to most of our DVD collections. I enjoy the content of the DVDs and could care less about any future monetary value or lack thereof.

And I do buy many sight unseen. Blockbuster and netflix simply do not carry many of the titles I'm interested in. It's easy enough to sell off the ones I don't like.

 

[Kai Zas]

Adam has a point, but this is not the place to make it. All the addicts are here wallowing in the addiction. Hell, I know I am.

Sometimes I work weekends so I cover my Visa-bill at the end of the month. On-line shopping can get out of hand real easy, and this forum ain't helping. Everytime I read a few posts, I'm already placing an order a few clicks away. But I'm getting in touch with movies I would never buy or see (I'd never heard of Rushmore, now it's on the way). And I'm realy enjoying myself with this hobby.

So it's worth it. But I can sure see it's dangerous. My friends and co-workers think I'm mad spending all that money on movies. But it makes me happy, and that's what counts. So I don't own a car. So what?

Btw, I've been collecting without a forum or friends backing me up. I'm sure glad I found this place!

 

[Adam_WM]

Not that its any of your business, but I invest more money each month than I spend on DVDs.

You've got to stop taking things so personally. After reading your above statement, you are clearly not in target of what I am trying to say. You can afford it, do what you want.

As for spending money on comics I "didn't want", at the time, I DID WANT THEM. Only retrospectively did I look back and say, "Man, what was I thinking." It just strikes me that thoughts like this will be similar to what some people may have a few years down the line about their past purchases, DVD's included. That's all. I'm not trying say what's wrong or right. I'm just trying to offer my perspective on something that I have been through before, another medium maybe, but same lesson in the long run.

 

[Kai Zas]

Hm... I don't think you can realy compare comics with dvd's, Adam.

Comics are (mostly) for kids. Kids grow up... when I was younger, I did collect all Suske & Wiske. All youngsters my age in Belgium still do. Now I just buy each and every Thorgal. But that's it. No more comics for me.

Dvd's (better yet: movies) are ageless. I'm buying movies I liked when I was a kid (Ladyhawke, Ghostbusters) and I'm buying movies I like today.

Somehow I don't think I'll ever regret buying these discs. My collection represents who I am and who I was. It kind of makes a statement about my taste. Comics don't do that. The only statement coming from those is that you're a big kid (if you're still collecting now).

 

[John Stone]

I'm just trying to offer my perspective on something that I have been through before, another medium maybe, but same lesson in the long run.

I'm sorry that we have had problems communicating in this thread. Your experiences are valuable, both to you and to the HTF community. If you'll read though my posts again, I think you'll find that I've never once took issue with your message, just the manner in which you delivered it. I do think your heart is in the right place. I apologize if you felt singled out or attacked. Peace, and enjoy.

 

[Adam_WM]

Fair enough.

 

[Chris Wagner]

Excuse the off-topic remark, but...

I believe you can compare "comics" to film. Both are a largely visual medium which tells a story. I've actually thought of "comics" as a much more fleshed out and detailed storyboard.

Granted, a good portion of "comics" are for "kids", but if you look at the home video market your biggest sellers tend to be for "kids" as well.

To make my point, take for example these recent films:

GHOST WORLD an excellent film derived from an equally excellent "comic".

FROM HELL a decent film, and soon to be massive SE DVD, again derived from one of the most indeapth and detailed books, "comic" or other, that I've had the pleasure to read.

These are merely two examples, there literally dozens of "comic" book licenses bought up by Hollywood every year.

I encourage anyone to read GHOST WORLD and FROM HELL if they even remotely enjoyed the film adaptions.

BTW: "comic" books aren't all that funny, and shouldn't we all be "kids" at heart.

 

[Christopher Collins]

Ill give you the bit about comics being a largely visual medium. In my mind that’s about all they have in common with a DVD. Oh wait... If you expose your comics to bright light they can fade. Same goes for my home theater, its best enjoyed when kept in the dark.

Some comics have great plot lines. When I go down to the comic store I can count maybe 5 or 6 out of 300+ comics that I would actually consider reading much less purchasing. When I go to best buy I can Count maybe 5 or 6 movies out of 300+ that I dont want to buy.

Most of the movies that come from a comic background are warped into a pathetic marketing scheme by the time they hit the big screen. All of their true appeal as a comic has been banished. Spawn might have been the only live action (which I have personally seen) that did its comic counterpart any justice. Ill check out the ones you listed becuase I always enjoy new movies. But Comics that are turned into movies are not where the substantial number of films comes from.

Comics are not easy to share with my friends like my movies are. I don’t really worry about lending a DVD to a friend either. Watching a DVD does not degrade its quality. If you flip through a comic too much you ruin its "value". I can Queue up my DVD and 12 friends can enjoy not only the movie, but also my home theater. I can eat popcorn and nachos while I watch a DVD. Eating popcorn and nachos would be disastrous to a comic.

Lastly ...Comics don’t come in Anamorphic Wide Screen with DTS EX Surround Sound, Directors Comentary, Deleted Scenes all packaged on a shiny little optical disk that will last a hundred years!

 

[Neil Joseph]

Hey, the DVD's keep us off the streets and out of trouble so I say it is a worthy and necessary investment. I already have my eyes on the next generation HD DLP projectors once the one I have bites the dust.

 

[Jeff Koch]

Chad,
I can relate. In the beginning when I got my home theater I bought several dvds to show off my system that I'll probably never watch again ("End of Days" comes to mind). There are several discs that I'll probably never watch again. I've become more judicious in what I buy. I'll tell you one thing...I almost got suckered into the tv series thing. I started up the Columbia House "I Love Lucy" series but fortunately, thanks to Columbia House's ridiculous pricing structure ($30 per disc with four episodes per disc) and questionable video quality, I saw the light and cancelled my subscription. I've seen each episode probably a hundred times anyway so do I want to spend that kind of money when some day the show may become available in a more reasonable package.
I'm getting more selective with these "special editions" too. The studios just love when we have little sales resistance and they come up with more and more gimmicks and "new editions" to help lighten our pocketbooks. Be judicious, ask yourself are you going to watch this again and again or will that old videotape off the tv suffice. I hope I can adhere to my own advice.
Jeff

 

[Jack Briggs]

Neil's right. I have had no scruffs with law-enforcement officers since DVD came along. I stay off the streets at night now.

 

[DaveF]

First, in my comments three pages ago, I didn't mean to insult ChadM (or others, indirectly). If I did, I apologize.

Do I really want to invest $520 on The Simpsons, on something I will probably be able to watch in syndication for free for the rest of my life

Syndicated shows are shown in (seemingly) random order, with the many episodes rarely aired. By buying the set, you can watch any of them, at anytime, according to your tastes. If that's worth the $30 - $100 a TV DVD-season costs, then go for it.
I just "discovered" Buffy in late night reruns. I'm tempted to buy the S1 set to enjoy the show from the start. I can't do this via reruns, and it's only $30! But first, I've got several recent purchases I have yet to watch, so no more purchases until those are viewed. (Please, feel free to comment on my spending and viewing habits, bluntly or tactfully, as you feel led )

 

[Mike Broadman]

I made a little rule for myself: I don't buy any DVDs until I've watched all of those I already purchased. That way, I don't spend too much money and I always have something to watch.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Interesting discussion, guys.
I was buying comics myself for about ten years, though I tended to go for 1960s material that has held its value much better than the collectible-driven stuff that people were selling new. Thus, when I lost interestin collecting about a year ago, I was able to recoup a sizable portion of what I had into it. Did I make it all back? No. But I never looked at it as an investment anyway; I looked at it as a collection. It gave me a great deal of pleasure to read uninterrupted runs of Spider-Man or Daredevil from when I was a kid. To be able to get *any* of the money I spent back is a bonus.
With ebay and half.com one can almost always get back most of the price of a DVD now---the difference is usually less than a rental--so it's easier to justify purchases. Heck, though February was a somewhat lean month, I funded my entire purchases for the month through half.com DVD sales of discs I decided I didn't need to keep, and I don't think I came out more than a few dollars short of what I spent, either. I'm getting a bit pickier, though, as I run short on space. I'm passing on the STTNG sets for space and time reasons, and I was never that much of a fan anyway. A lot of sets made sense economically---the Beverly Hills Cop box of 3 was only about $3 more than the first two individually at Best Buy when they first came out, so I went for it. But the difference between Superman I & II and the box of four was sufficient that I didn't see the urge to go for the whole box. Since I'm kind of a completist, that was a real watershed day for me.
We'll see if I can resist the lure of keeping The Criterion Collection complete, though....those damned spine numbers!!! So many good movies I wouldn't have seen otherwise though. It's a good thing I bought Salo when it streeted.

 

[Trace Ahlers]

My wife and I had the same discussions as well. My defense is that some people spend $500 on a GUN and call it collecting GUNS. Would you like me to be a GUN collector?

and if that doesn't work, lead her to the closet and ask about her shoe collection.
Trace

 

[Anthony Thorne]

I also collected comics for a while, but mostly the 'good' ones (my phrase, with all the bias and subjectivity that goes with it) like Fantagraphics titles, Robert Crumb, Dan Clowes, Peter Bagge, Jim Woodring etc. etc. - alternative comics gave me a lot of fun for a few years.

The comments about 'obsessive' collecting definitely have some substance, especially when I talk to a friend of mine (a low-budget film/TV director here in Melbourne who makes a decent income) and he talks about the weekends he's budgeted to go without food so he can spend the cash on a particular DVD, or the way he and his brother (another collector) hide the DVD receipts from their wives/girlfriends so they don't discover the real reason that their monthly restaurant visit was cancelled. Another friend of mine, a well-paid computer programmer, only has 150-160 discs, but that's because most of his cash goes into upgrading and tweaking his home theater system.

Anyway, as I said earlier in the thread, I've slowed my purchases down, but part of that is because I'm investing in some film equipment and stock and want to try and shoot some stuff myself, rather than continually blowing money on other people's movies. Likewise, for what it's worth, there's no way I'm going to be suckered into comprehensively upgrading when the next Hi-Def Blue Laser SuperDVD format comes along. If these DVD's of mine last, I'll keep them, and the era of high-resolution next-gen video due some years from now will be something I'll dabble in, not devote every spare hour and dollar to.

 

[josh4040]

For me I have to say that every week sure feels like xmas. Throughout the week and even the month ahead I check my list for what is coming out. Sunday comes and I pull my bb cc and frys ads out of the paper and search for the best prices. I know I can find cheaper prices occasionally on line but hell I gotta have em now. If a movie comes out on tuesday I want it tuesday not the following saturday! Then tuesday morning comes around and I buy my dvds right after class. By the time friday rolls around Frys has their special ad in the paper and if I am lucky I can price match one or two and save a few more bucks like today. Today I saw that taps was 11.99 in the frys ad I paid 14.99 at bb so I went over and got my 3.52! and you know what I did? I said what the hell and bought a fish called wanda and ID4 so instead of getting 3.50 i spent about 20 bucks but it felt good! :b

 

[RicP]

I knew I had hit the addiction wall when instead of trimming my collection down so that it would fit on my shelving...

I just bought more shelving. :b

Unfortunately I'm running up against the same problem soon and this time I am determined to trim the collection of those discs that I haven't watched in over a year.

I hope I have the strength.