For those in the U.S. midwest: Disc Replay

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EDIT: Images removed upon request

Brick & mortar sources for Blu-Rays and DVD are rapidly disappearing from the landscape. As convenient as eBay and Amazon are, as a lifelong collector there's something about digging through shelves and racks of goods... the thrill of the hunt!

I'm old enough to remember when it wasn't easy to own movies. When I was growing up and went to college, the industry was centered around tape rentals. The Beta-VHS wars predate me, but when I was in college, you couldn't afford video tapes, because they were $75-150 and only sold to video rental stores, not to consumers. You went to the local video store, rented a VHS tape for $5 for a night (2 or 3 if you were lucky). You had to remember to rewind the tapes before taking them back ("Be kind, REWIND!") or the store would charge you a rewinding fee.

And just like audio cassettes and 8-track tapes, you hoped that your VCR wouldn't "eat" a rental tape, because it would cost you a fortune.

Then came laserdisc... I remember going to Camelot Music in the mall and browse the (insanely expensive!) laserdiscs. There was a local independent store called "Laser's Edge" that carried Japanese laserdisc imports. I still have a couple Pioneer laserdisc players somewhere in storage.

Then came DVD. Remember "flippers" with 4:3 on one side and widescreen on the other? The "black bar" debates and how so many people hated widescreen versions because at the time all the TVs were 4:3. Heck, my first HDTV was 4:3 aspect ratio, a Toshiba TN55X81.

Then came the big one: The Red vs. Blue wars. I was fervently Team HD-DVD. I was at Best Buy that first weekend in April of 2006, where I bought my Toshiba HD-DVD player and The Last Samurai. The debates and arguments raged like no other before Blu-Ray finally won out.

Throughout all these periods, there were always places you could buy used video: independent stores, pawn shops... even the big box stores had cutout bins everywhere, where you could find import and OOP titles.

Well... that was then.

Now, pawn shops around here are carrying fewer and fewer movies, used CD stores have disappeared, Circuit City is long gone, as is Camelot Music. Best Buy no longer carries music, and a minimal number of movie titles. There's only so far that the Big Lots and Dollar Tree bargain bins will get you.

It's become a pretty barren landscape for those who enjoy scrounging for OOP or unusual titles.

Enter Disc Replay. Think Gamestop, but no PC games, just gaming consoles and games (including vintage/legacy game cartridges and old game consoles in original boxes, etc), and used DVDs and Blu-Rays.

Buy 5 titles and the 6th is free (lowest priced one is free).

http://www.discreplay.com/

ILLINOIS
Bloomington
Champaign
Countryside
Cresthill
Downers Grove
Naperville
Orland Park
Peoria
Rockford

KENTUCKY
Owensboro

INDIANA
Columbus
Evansville
Fort Wayne
Highland
Indianapolis East
Indianapolis North
Indianapolis South
Indianapolis West
Lafayette
Merrillville
Mishawaka
Terre Haute

OHIO
Lima

IOWA
Davenport

MICHIGAN
Battlecreek
Flint
Grandville
Jackson
Kentwood
Lansing
Livonia
Roseville
Saginaw
Taylor
Troy

I'm at a point where the only things I'm buying are 4K steelbooks and 3D blu-rays, the latter becoming increasingly difficult to find on a local basis. Online is really the only option, and frequently the prices for 3D titles are marked up the wazoo on Amazon.

I only just discovered the local Disc Replay store about 1.5 months ago. My particular store is roughly 50:50 in terms of square footage devoted to movies vs. games.

I've been there 3 times and the turnover is actually pretty good. I've come away with 3D Blu-Rays every trip, and was actually able to score a copy of the 4K Steelbook Spiderman Legacy Collection on my trip a few weeks ago.

Pricing is hit or miss. Some are attractively priced, whereas others (especially 4K) are priced as much or more for 2nd hand titles than you pay for new online. It's really 3D Blu-Rays that I'm finding are great hunting there.

Sometimes the titles will have original slipcases, sometimes they'll even have unredeemed digital code slips.

The biggest problem are the f*cking price stickers they put on everything. They use a sticker that does NOT peel off without leaving residue, even if the sticker was only put on the day before. I'm guessing that they don't want them to be easy to come off. What's more annoying is that they frequently apply the sticker in such a way as to cross onto lenticular slips. Judicious work with a hair dryer and/or Goo Gone is required.


Today's haul - $US43.55 (including usury 10% sales tax) for 6 titles = $7.25 each:

My Bloody Valentine 3D, including original 3D glasses still sealed.

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D

IMAX Island of Lemurs Madagascar 3D

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D

Shrek The Complete Collection 3D

Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides 3D (Best Buy edition). 6-disc set including a Best Buy exclusive bonus disc. Still has the original slipcase with a gorgeous lenticular panel.