If you had to start over would you collect differently

[sirdizzy]

So after my Hitchcock problem I got to thinking, what if your house burned down and you lost all your dvds and had to start over would you collect differently.

When I was buying my Hitchcock films there was only one really great collection (it had films like Strangers on a Train, Vertigo and North by Northwest in it) and I bought it. But then they released the Masterpiece collection last year with fourteen more of his films in it. I mean that would be so much easier to buy than the piecemeal way I have done it over the years.

And for years and years I worked at Blockbuster and bought so many average and so so movies because they were either free or cheap that I know that if I did it now I wouldn't own half the films I own from the 2000's decade.

I mean how I collect movies would be so much vastly different now then say five years ago. Heck if I went back to my Blockbuster days and knowing that I could use my store credits to order movies from the distributor to buy (I didn't realize this tell half way in) I would do that more often than buying the cheap so so movies.

[SamSanchez]

To simply answer the question, I would collect differently but only to a certain degree. I've always speculated and also thought it would be pretty fun to start your collection over from scratch granted that you had all of the money you've ever spent on your movies back in hand though obviously. I think if I had to start over my collection, I'd say once I hit the 2,500 mark of DVDs (which is roughly where I'm at), I'd say my new collection would probably be about 20-25% different. That is not to say, that the 20-25% of my current collection are ALL films I wouldn't purchase again on the second go around, just they wouldn't be top priority over a number of other films. Most of those films are films I picked up over at FYE when I used to manage from early '04 to '07.

[sirdizzy]

To simply answer the question, I would collect differently but only to a certain degree. I've always speculated and also thought it would be pretty fun to start your collection over from scratch granted that you had all of the money you've ever spent on your movies back in hand though obviously. I think if I had to start over my collection, I'd say once I hit the 2,500 mark of DVDs (which is roughly where I'm at), I'd say my new collection would probably be about 20-25% different. That is not to say, that the 20-25% of my current collection are ALL films I wouldn't purchase again on the second go around, just they wouldn't be top priority over a number of other films. Most of those films are films I picked up over at FYE when I used to manage from early '04 to '07.

I was also thinking what would be the first ten movies you would buy. I think I would do lots of box sets at the beginning. I would do the star wars trilogy for sure, the hitchcock masterpiece collection and other great box sets.

ever see a really great box set and its like damn it I own three out of those five or six films. There is that freedom again.

[SamSanchez]

I know how you feel about that box set thing. I would also start with the box set route.

I don't even think I would even have a which ten films would I buy first. Knowing me, I would just drive down to DVD Planet near me, and spend like $500 worth of DVDs at a time(again, given that I have the money).

[athf1980]

probably the box set will be first.

[KcMsterpce]

I "only" have about 500 DVD titles, and I wish I only had 50.

I have cut back massively on my DVD collecting since I'm unemployed. It's great.

I never wanted more than 200 movies EVER. I'm insane.

[Badbird]

I "only" have about 500 DVD titles, and I wish I only had 50.

I have cut back massively on my DVD collecting since I'm unemployed. It's great.

I never wanted more than 200 movies EVER. I'm insane.

Yeah, I wouldn't buy every piece of shit that gets released just to own it. I was really bad about buying lots of movies early on. I mean, when am I going to get around to watching all these? I'm in the neighborhood of 650 movies. I have DVDs I bought over fours years ago that I have yet to watch (Wyatt Earp, I'm looking at you). And the impulse purchases... OH, the impulse purchases. I know it was only $5, but come on. Mortal Kombat Annihilation... really!?!?

I may buy one or two movies a month now, as opposed to, like, five a week.

[sirdizzy]

Yeah, I wouldn't buy every piece of shit that gets released just to own it. I was really bad about buying lots of movies early on. I mean, when am I going to get around to watching all these? I'm in the neighborhood of 650 movies. I have DVDs I bought over fours years ago that I have yet to watch (Wyatt Earp, I'm looking at you). And the impulse purchases... OH, the impulse purchases. I know it was only $5, but come on. Mortal Kombat Annihilation... really!?!?

I may buy one or two movies a month now, as opposed to, like, five a week.


I have never bought a bad movie just to own it. I have purchased average and so so movies because they were either cheap or free. I don't think I have ever regretted a single purchase I have ever made would I make them a second time, I am not entirely sure. Its hard to regret 2 or 3 dollars on a movie that is at least somewhat enjoyable and that I might want to what again.

Problem is even if I had every single dollar back that I spent on the 1200 movies I have purchased it is unlikely I could just go into a store and even come close to getting 800 of them. I am a really good dvd shopper, I hit the sales, I go to pawn shops not to mention all the free movies I got from working at Blockbuster.


Owning movies for me is like building my own personal film library. I doubt I could ever own enough, maybe some day I will run out of movies I want to see or own but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

[Greenleaf1]

The way I buy movies now is way different than when I started, but I can't say it's saving me any money. I'm 19 years old and didn't really have a big interest in movies until 2001 when I saw Fellowship of the Ring (still my favorite movie btw). So a few years later when I worked at the movie theatre, I'd put half my paycheck away, and then go to Best Buy with the other half and buy tons of DVD's (sometimes 10 in one trip).

Since I was a big film fan but had never seen a lot of classics (even from the 90's), a lot of what I bought were what people call "blind buys," just movies I had never seen before. I'd say that 90% of the movies I bought I'd either never seen before or hadn't seen in years.

Looking back at my collection (about 750 DVD's, 40 HDDVD's, 20 Blurays), I'd say that I'm unhappy with probably less than 5% of my DVD's (so 30-40 DVD's). I'd say that's a pretty small amount for the amount of blind buys I made (but let's face it, I love a ton of movies so it was hard to find stuff that was well known that I didn't end up liking). Whether it was Saving Private Ryan or From Dusk Till Dawn, I was finding great movies that I had never seen before, and that was a beautiful time indeed.

However, now that I've seen a lot of older filims, my focus in buying is mostly toward new releases (I probably average about 2 per week, but now that I'm into hi def stuff, 2 per week can still be $50 a week). For example, last week I bought 30 Days of Night on bluray and Beowulf on HDDVD, and this week I'm ordering the new 12 Angry Men DVD, the new 101 Dalmations DVD, and Into the Wild on HDDVD. However I still check the bargain bins for classics I might have missed (and there are several hundred still out there I want to see).

Would I do it again differently? Not very much, I'm pretty happy with my DVD collection and I watch a lot of movies very regularly, on average I'd say I've watched each DVD 2 or 3 times (which is balanced out by movies like lord of the rings or star wars that i've watched countless dozens of times over the years). If I didn't buy so recklessly I wouldn't have seen as many great movies as I have, so I don't look back on my collection with many regrets. I just gotta stop buying movies that I thought were so-so but then I spend $15 on them as a new release instead of waiting a few months and picking them up in the bargain bin for $7-$8, that's what I'm trying to do now.

Wow this is a long post, better stop here.

[terrestrial]

As I started I had no idea how to import DVD's or the possibility to buy them cheap/used at for example amamzo marketplace. So I guess today I would buy some of them cheaper. Plus I had at the beginning no idea about different releases in different qualities (like sound / video remastered, dir.cut, extras who are worthy the term extras...).
So a few I would buy today as a better quality version. Beside that, ... probably 20 of my ~ 1600 I want to get rid of, I guess I would not really change something with my 'system'. :D

[joeyatog]

I would collect a little differently I think. Mostly in waiting to buy things because DVDs either get vastly cheaper at some point or a better version of something always managed to come out.

I did (still do) buy a lot of blind-buy cheapo-discs which I would probably cut back on some as well although I tend to enjoy these purchases the most because sometimes I find something I really like.

But overall, I think I've done a decent job managing my obsession...i could be bankrupt, thankfully I am not! Although I am getting close...LOL

[Cronos]

Yeah, I wouldn't buy as many dvds when they came out and wait for them to hit sales before getting them, that's the main thing I'd do differently.

[OpT!Mu5]

In one word, no. I have a smaller collection, around 150-180, and only purchase movies that I absolutely love.

I am NOT a complete-ist.

Some movies I am fine with buying the bare-bones, and some movies I NEED the 2 or 3 disc special edition. (I love special features)

I always buy them on their street-date sale prices, or get them previously viewed from a friend at Hollywood Video for real cheap, and they are basically always in mint condition.

I look at it like this; If I am going to shell out $20 for a new-release DVD, I will have to watch it at least 3 times to get my money's worth out of it, and if am not going to do that, then it's a no go and I'll rent it.

BTW, nice avatar dizzy.

[sarah1980]

i wouldn't change a thing

[AspectRatio1986]

Yeah, I wouldn't buy as many dvds when they came out and wait for them to hit sales before getting them, that's the main thing I'd do differently.

My exact thoughts. I would have probably held back more on older movies as well, considering I purchased many of them for $7.50 and $9.99, and now all of them go for $3-5 when on sale. I would have also neglected to buy those dreadful snap cases.

[jawsismyno1]

If I were to start over but with all of the money I have used to buy my dvds (my collection is about 720 movies, 80 tv show seasons) I would not change what I have bought but the order would be vastly different. My first ten purchases would be something like this.
V For Vendetta
Jaws
Tombstone
Wonder Boys
El Dorado
Crash
Changing Lanes
Batman 89
A Few Good Men
Suicide Kings
The first couple tv show boxsets I would buy would be a couple seasons of Friends, The West Wing, Dawsons Creek, and Seinfeld.

[Greenleaf1]

My first ten purchases would be:

- The Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions
- Star Wars: Original Trilogy (I'll count this as one but I'd get the three separate DVD's that have both the 2004 special editions and the original theatrical cuts).
- The Big Lebowski
- Unforgiven: 2-disc Special Edition
- Lost: The Complete (insert season # here) Season
- Batman Begins
- Indiana Jones Box Set
- Stanley Kubrick Box Set
- Kingdom of Heaven: 4-disc Director's Cut
- 28 Days Later...

Combined list of my favorite movies, TV show, and then some big box sets thrown into the mix.