Tricks to curb compulsive Blu-ray buying... - Blu-ray Forum

toddly6666 · 08-20-2010, 03:30 PM

Just because we all love blu-rays, it doesn't mean we can all just ignore the fact that our hobby can get dangerous (financially or mentally). I would like to know what tricks or techniques people do to prevent themselves from compulsively buying blu-rays. Anyone have any tricks to prevent oneself from compulsively buying blu-rays that you truely don't really want in your collection?

Here are my tricks:

1. Ask yourself "would you have bought this movie on DVD before the existance of blu-rays?" If no, don't buy the blu-ray.

2. Don't get fooled by fancy packaging or amazing remastering of a movie you wouldn't have cared about if it had the same on DVD. For example, I was tempted to blind-buy Pandora & The Flying Dutchman on blu-ray. I looked at the old DVD cover and I know I wouldn't even consider buying it even if the DVD had great video quality or great DVD packaging...which it didn't (The DVD looked like one of those public domain dvds.) So if I woudn't consider owning it on DVD, why buy it on blu-ray? So if that helps, don't buy the blu-ray.

3. If you bought the DVD and rarely watched the DVD, don't buy the blu-ray. For example, I almost bought the Canadian blu-ray of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, because I thought I liked the movie enough to watch over and over. But then I remembered buying it on DVD first day of release and not even watching it. So, I didn't buy the blu-ray.

4. If you bought the DVD and sold or traded away the DVD (due to the film quality, not the video/audio quality), definitely don't buy the blu-ray.

5. If the blu-ray is not an upgrade from the DVD, even if it's of your favorite movie, don't buy the blu-ray, especially if there are many mixed reviews of the blu-ray. For example, I almost bought the Canadian blu-rays of Swingers, Blade 1 & 2, and Swingers, but I heard these blu-rays got very mixed to poor reviews, so I controlled myself, and I didn't buy the blu-rays.

6. If a blu-ray is sold for very cheap and you weren't crazy about the film, don't buy it! This one is my biggest problem, because I see many used blu-rays for around 5 bucks. For example, I can buy Curse of the Golden Flower used for 5 bucks, but I remember not liking the movie and falling asleep to it. But then I tell myself, I love the director and the martial arts in it, but not the movie. So far, I have controlled myself, and I didn't buy it even at such a cheap price.

7. Ask yourself, "how many times can I really watch this film or realistically be in the mood to ever watch this film?" For example, I loved The Wrestler and I can buy it used on blu-ray used for 6 bucks, but I just have no desire to watch it again. So if you are really honest with yourself and figure out the types of movies that you will be in the mood to see many times, then buy the blu-ray. But if you know it's not going to be a film you would want to revisit, then don't buy the blu-ray.

8. If you can figure out the statistics of "how often would I watch this movie in my lifetime" stat, that can help too. Most of us in here have or had huge DVD collections. We all know what we watched and didn't watch during that DVD collecting time period. For me, I have been collecting movies for about 10 years, so it's easy for me to figure out by movie-watching behavior statistics. So if I didn't watch or rarely watched a DVD that I owned for the past 10 years, don't buy the blu-ray version!

9. I pretend that each blu-ray is like a Superbit DVD. Ask yourself, "would I want a Superbit DVD version of that film?" If no, then don't buy the blu-ray.

I would like to add that this thread is mainly for people that admit they have a movie-buying addiction problem and would prefer to control it and/or be more selective without having to stop this fun hobby.
I know that there are a lot of blu-ray collectors in here that don't see compulsive movie buying as a problem, for example, because:
1. they have money they can freely spend;
2. they collect to create a library (quantity over selectiveness); and/or
3. they are against renting and/or watching movies in theaters

08-20-2010, 03:30 PM	#1
toddly6666 Blu-ray Baron Top contributor Member since:Nov 2009 Location:Hong Kong Home Theater Gallery:20 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:1441 DVD collection:31 Blu-ray reviews: 290 Trading Score:61	Tricks to curb compulsive Blu-ray buying... Just because we all love blu-rays, it doesn't mean we can all just ignore the fact that our hobby can get dangerous (financially or mentally). I would like to know what tricks or techniques people do to prevent themselves from compulsively buying blu-rays. Anyone have any tricks to prevent oneself from compulsively buying blu-rays that you truely don't really want in your collection? Here are my tricks: 1. Ask yourself "would you have bought this movie on DVD before the existance of blu-rays?" If no, don't buy the blu-ray. 2. Don't get fooled by fancy packaging or amazing remastering of a movie you wouldn't have cared about if it had the same on DVD. For example, I was tempted to blind-buy Pandora & The Flying Dutchman on blu-ray. I looked at the old DVD cover and I know I wouldn't even consider buying it even if the DVD had great video quality or great DVD packaging...which it didn't (The DVD looked like one of those public domain dvds.) So if I woudn't consider owning it on DVD, why buy it on blu-ray? So if that helps, don't buy the blu-ray. 3. If you bought the DVD and rarely watched the DVD, don't buy the blu-ray. For example, I almost bought the Canadian blu-ray of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, because I thought I liked the movie enough to watch over and over. But then I remembered buying it on DVD first day of release and not even watching it. So, I didn't buy the blu-ray. 4. If you bought the DVD and sold or traded away the DVD (due to the film quality, not the video/audio quality), definitely don't buy the blu-ray. 5. If the blu-ray is not an upgrade from the DVD, even if it's of your favorite movie, don't buy the blu-ray, especially if there are many mixed reviews of the blu-ray. For example, I almost bought the Canadian blu-rays of Swingers, Blade 1 & 2, and Swingers, but I heard these blu-rays got very mixed to poor reviews, so I controlled myself, and I didn't buy the blu-rays. 6. If a blu-ray is sold for very cheap and you weren't crazy about the film, don't buy it! This one is my biggest problem, because I see many used blu-rays for around 5 bucks. For example, I can buy Curse of the Golden Flower used for 5 bucks, but I remember not liking the movie and falling asleep to it. But then I tell myself, I love the director and the martial arts in it, but not the movie. So far, I have controlled myself, and I didn't buy it even at such a cheap price. 7. Ask yourself, "how many times can I really watch this film or realistically be in the mood to ever watch this film?" For example, I loved The Wrestler and I can buy it used on blu-ray used for 6 bucks, but I just have no desire to watch it again. So if you are really honest with yourself and figure out the types of movies that you will be in the mood to see many times, then buy the blu-ray. But if you know it's not going to be a film you would want to revisit, then don't buy the blu-ray. 8. If you can figure out the statistics of "how often would I watch this movie in my lifetime" stat, that can help too. Most of us in here have or had huge DVD collections. We all know what we watched and didn't watch during that DVD collecting time period. For me, I have been collecting movies for about 10 years, so it's easy for me to figure out by movie-watching behavior statistics. So if I didn't watch or rarely watched a DVD that I owned for the past 10 years, don't buy the blu-ray version! 9. I pretend that each blu-ray is like a Superbit DVD. Ask yourself, "would I want a Superbit DVD version of that film?" If no, then don't buy the blu-ray. I would like to add that this thread is mainly for people that admit they have a movie-buying addiction problem and would prefer to control it and/or be more selective without having to stop this fun hobby. I know that there are a lot of blu-ray collectors in here that don't see compulsive movie buying as a problem, for example, because: 1. they have money they can freely spend; 2. they collect to create a library (quantity over selectiveness); and/or 3. they are against renting and/or watching movies in theaters Last edited by toddly6666; 08-20-2010 at 03:40 PM.

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