When buying, what's more important: the movie inside, or the packaging?

[theater dreamer]

Happy Sunday, everybody!

Since joining the forum a few months ago, my movie addiction, which has always been pretty strong, has kicked into the high gear. I can't begin to approach some of the collections I've seen here, at least, not yet, anyway. And I don't yet have the A/V system a lot of you guys do, either. All things in good time.

Since I am in the relatively early stages of building my collection, I'm trying to figure out how, exactly, I want to do it. I've put together a pretty good list of a few hundred films I want to get by the end of the year. This should be a pretty good start. Included within my master list are all the Academy Award Best Picture winners, as well as AFI's 100 Greatest American Films list.

But I find myself on the fence about how I want to put this collection together. Let me give you an example.



Lionsgate Films has assembled a 5 movie pack, including No Country for Old Men, Crash, Chicago, The English Patient, and Shakespeare in Love. This collection could be had for under $20. That's a steal. None of these rank among my favorite Best Picture winners, but at that price, it's hard to pass up.

However, I love looking at the cases and slips Blu Ray movies come in, and it's pretty clear this collection won't have those. I've looked everywhere, and can't see a picture of the discs, or the interior packaging. It looks like it's just a fold out like in the Superman Motion Picture Anthology. As somebody who loves color, and typography, photography, and working in Photoshop, I would really miss those. Plus, I like to display the movies side by side.

So, on the one hand, for $20, I can knock out 5 Best Picture winners. And the money I save can be put towards other films. Yet, the packaging will likely fall well short of what I really like.

So, I ask you all, what's more important? Is it just important for you to own the films you want? Or, do you spend substantial time considering the appearance of your collection?

Thank you all for your input!

Bill