4K Buying Habits?

[TelkEvolon 4K]

So I’ve been wondering what is everyone process for buy 4K Blu-Rays? Did you buy in bulk a few times a year, pick off selected quality titles for a well-curreated collection? Get any and everything as fast as you can? Do you by monthly? Weekly? Or just when a new film is released that takes your interest?

I personally feel a have quite an additive personality that always had led me towards collecting something, the joy of building up a collection, looking forward to making purchases, I’ve always had pretty consistent funds with a bit of disposable cash each pay, so it’s enabled me to follow my heart with these collective endeavours.

That being said I had purchased two bulk lots of 4Ks from selling of my previous Blu-Ray collection last year, but since that I had not made. 4K purchase in 2018, even with films that’s were “day one purchases” in my eyes, and as I fell behind in my collection and more and more titles were released, it kinda disheartened me and I didn’t pick any up for months.

Recently I have decided to spend roughly $100 every pay on some films and more slowly but surely build up my new collection. So currently for me, every week I’m getting 3-4 new 4Ks into my library. That lead me to wonder what everyone else is doing, how they budget for 4Ks and how often they are picking up new stuff?

[HBAngel]

I have amassed large collections of laserdiscs, DVDs, blu-rays and digital movies over the years. I still have 400 blu-rays and many still look and sound great. That said, I am REALLY enjoying the 4K disc experience. HDR, 4K resolution and Atmos make for a immersive experience coupled with my projection system.

As for buying habits, I am now disciplining myself to new films that are guaranteed multiple viewings (Star Wars, Marvel, Greatest Showman, etc). If it's a film I won't watch in the first week or two of purchasing, then I can wait. After being almost exclusively digital for a couple years and buying codes for $5 a pop, it's hard to justify paying over $20 per movie again unless it will be in heavy rotation. Somehow I have managed to avoid the steelbook craze which has probably saved me thousands.

I will definitely look to upgrade some catalog favorites around Black Friday when so many titles will be in the $10 range. Anything with solid PQ and an Atmos track is worth an upgrade for $10. I expect all the Mission Impossible series, the Jack Ryan movies, Braveheart, Gladiator, etc to fall in this category.

[kyloren]

I have a collection of about 450 movies all Blu-Ray & 4K (no DVD's)

I'm not sure how old you are, but I figure I'm on the younger end of the collecting spectrum, at least from what I've seen on here and IRL.

Back to the point: I ONLY buy movies I want to own. PERIOD!

That sounds like an obvious statement, but I won't just buy a movie because I enjoyed it a bit and may watch it again or because it's a new release, new format, etc. Even if it's on sale for $4.99, I won't just add a mediocre movie to my collection new, or discounted. It has to be something special to me. Obviously movies are subjective, you may hate something I like and vice versa. I may love a series people mostly dislike, etc, you get the point.

If I had to guesstimate, I would say on average I buy 3-5 new movies in a month. I do have release dates in my notes so I know what's coming out and I get excited for Tuesday releases. I have a full 4K setup so I always get the best format available for the movies I need to own on Day 1.

Outside of that there are movies I'll rent and then buy later if I enjoyed it. That's usually my Black Friday list. Movies I enjoyed a lot, but won't pay FULL price for. For example, The Post & Call Me By Your Name. I enjoyed them and will own them, but I'll grab them on Black Friday for a 1/3 of the price because I don't have the need to have it NOW!

So in conclusion, lol, I buy all my MUST OWN's on Day 1 in 4K, no question, I will pay the Day 1 price without hesitation. I'm lucky to have some extra cash every month to afford it. Outside of the MUST OWN's I create a list which in most cases I clean up on Black Friday or when spontaneous sales hit and the price tickles my fancy.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally I was only going to replace my faves but then so many upgrades were amazing I started buying willy-nilly. Then I got back into video games though so my budget got tighter, which means more focused buying. Still, damn near any upgrade to a movie in my big genres is high on my list.

As for buying, I mostly pre-order and get day one honestly. I might start putting stuff off for sales though, as again I have twice the hobbies now. For example I want the game Pillars of Eternity on May 15th for $75, so that makes all those May UHD releases look a little more expensive. The wife and I have a roughly $250ish allowance cap per month on fun purchases (movies and games for me, clothes and shoes for her for the most part).

[bradnoyes]

I try to hold off on some stuff so I’ll have fun movies to pick up during Black Friday sales but for the most part I just buy everything I want day one. I justify this by getting the bulk of my purchases from Best Buy to help build up towards Elite or Elite Plus status for the year. My wife has no idea how much I spend which is what keeps our marriage from falling apart.

[ROSS.T.G.]

I’ve been addicted to collecting movies since VHS, don’t see myself ever giving it up. Other priorities are in play now so I don’t buy every title just the must haves like some of the May and June 4K’s coming. The ones on my radar I’ll pick up on BF.

[ArchiTech]

I only purchase 4K films (almost) dirt cheap, at least compared to their msrp. I pour over the reviews to see which films (that I like, and think would benefit from a UHD presentation) have mostly good marks. I picked up my first UHD’s on BlackFriday for $10, and then used the Amazon 3for50 sale, following with the BestBuy 3for45 & 3for50 deals, and finally with FYE’s B2G1 deal.

That being said, even after owning all my favorite films which could benefit from the UHD presentation, I find that perhaps 55 inches (TCL P605/7) is not enough real estate to appreciate the difference by a large enough margin. I bought the XBoxOne X for gaming (in which they do shine in HDR), but the UHD film experience has been closer to the HD experience than I’d like. Blu-rays still look great.

So far I own:
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Rises
The Prestige
Inception
Interstellar
Passengers (because it came with 3D)
Oblivion (never owned/got it for less than $7 at Target)
Valerian (this one grew on me after repeated viewings)
The Fifth Element
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2 (returned because of freezing issue at Chapter 10)
Ghost In The Shell
Blade Runner: The Final Cut
Blade Runner 2049
Leon: The Professional
Assassin’s Creed (‘reference’ reviews and $10 Fry’s promo)
Wonder Woman
Deadpool
The Great Wall (GF loves it)

[Al_The_Strange]

I'm new to the 4K scene. Before having my TV replaced and buying the UHD player, I had about 25 or so that I bought purely because of futureproofing. I made a big push recently and now I have about 90 titles. I expect I might want to upgrade another 40 or so, but I expect that'll be it. Once I'm caught up, it'll probably just be a trickle, buying an occasional title that's either new or a catalogue release I genuinely care about (so, a few a month perhaps?).

A lot of this depends on how I feel about flipping some of my current titles (especially the 3D ones).

[MEB]

Because of HDR, I only buy the 4K version if available. If a new-release good title gets released in standard Blu-ray only, I find myself feeling disappointed. 'Only the Brave' was one such example, 'Molly's Game' another.

Even streamed 4K HDR titles (iTunes) look better than a standard Blu-ray.

Mark

[TheAshCohen09]

Any new release that has a 4K version, I`ll try and purchase, and sometimes if that means importing from the states or elsewhere, then so be it. I have around 90 4K titles now and although not all of them have probably been worth it, that`s the approach I take.

[brainofj72]

The release schedule hasn't been too overwhelming so far, so I've pretty much bought every title I'm interested in, whether it's a new release or a catalog upgrade. If it ever ramps up considerably (May is looking pretty intense), I might have to reexamine my buying strategy...but I really don't want to, haha.

[Nothing371]

I appreciate the slow pace of 4K releases. That way we only have to worry about a few titles at the time. We can savor and discuss what is new, with there being a couple of hot topics every other new release week. It has been really nice upgrading at my own gradual pace and not worrying about buying EVERYTHING on 4K HDR and becoming overwhelmed with my spending. I'm thankful for competition in the marketplace too, which causes retailers like Best Buy and Amazon to make good deals available to us.

[recS-12]

My goal is to keep 4K Movie Purchases at the $14.99 range. I also collect slipcovers so that’s an added challenge. TV shows on 4K are a little more challenging. I’m not really setting a limit like I am w/the movies. Picked up Blue Planet II 4K Steelbook for $39.99 & spent almost the same for Dunkirk 4K. I bought into the hype on the latter. I’m not in any rush to build my collection so hopefully I can stick to my goals and make the jump into 4K collecting a more affordable one in comparison to Blu-ray. We’ll see, I still need to p/up my 4K tv as well. Waiting for the 2018 release and reviews of the TCL 65”.

[Geoff D]

4K buying habits? Yes: as many as I can get.

[reanimator]

I buy early and often.

[stevezissou]

1. New release get the 4K version
2. Catalog title(i already own on blu) I ask myself how many times have I watched this film on blu-ray?
If I haven't watched it more than once in the past year I just keep my blu not worth the upgrade for me.
3. Catalog title(I don't own on blu) case by case IE Mission Impossible(Hopefully has good audio) etc etc.

[DJJez]

I buy majority of new 4k releases plus majority of steels and premium steelbook weekly. Money is not an issue. I have zero rules. I just buy what i like the look of. Ive done this for nearly a decade since blu ray

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by stevezissou

1. New release get the 4K version
2. Catalog title(i already own on blu) I ask myself how many times have I watched this film on blu-ray?
If I haven't watched it more than once in the past year I just keep my blu not worth the upgrade for me.
3. Catalog title(I don't own on blu) case by case IE Mission Impossible(Hopefully has good audio) etc etc.

Im pretty much here too although even if I do watch a blu-ray regularly it doesnt mean Ill buy the UHD version of the film. There are some that simply are NOT a big enough upgrade.

Im more selective than ever these days. Ive aready rebought everything twice and just wont do it all again. Standard blu-rays look fabulous on my OLED. t aint just pixel counts that make an image look awesome

[Hucksta G]

I buy films that stick in my mind after I see them, try for day one

[Talal86]

I don't set strict rules per se, but I try not to go overboard with double dipping.

I find it a lot easier to skip recent movies (Rise/Dawn of the Apes, Hell or High Water, Warrior, Cabin in the Woods, etc..) and go for older movies, mostly because they usually get new transfers