How did you get into physical media?

[snipemonkey]

Once studios started consumer-pricing VHS back in the mid-late 80s (rather than rental pricing them at $100+ a pop for sale to the chain stores) it was all over for me. First tape I ever bought was Kubrick's The Shining (still my favorite film). $19.99 and change was all that first hit cost and I've been addicted ever since. From there I moved to laserdisc (first purchase -- Star Wars), then DVD (first -- Taxi Driver), then HD-DVD (King Kong 2005) and Blu-ray (oddly I can't remember what my first Blu-ray was).

[AJR214]

I've had many movie collections... VHS in the 90's, then DVD in the 2000's. Left them all behind in the divorce in 2008. I recently decided to start collecting physical movies again. Figured it's cheaper to buy 30-50 movies at a flea market or batch buy than spend $50/month on streaming junk! Over the weekend I picked up 70 movies (selections I want, not just a box of misc) for about $40. I wanted a way to keep track since it seems my collection will grow quickly. I found blu-ray.com asking Google for a good db app.

[sivartk]

Like others have said, it was the only choice if you wanted to watch a movie at home on your schedule.

I still remember rushing to wash the dishes, etc. after dinner on a Friday night so that we wouldn't miss the beginning of the movie that started at 7PM on HBO.

[formula_nebula]

Been collecting since VHS. My first VHS, which I pre-ordered was, Batman 1989. I think it took a year from theater to home video. I owned a laserdisc player briefly. Then moved on to DVD. I even had an HD DVD player briefly, which was for the Xbox 360. Once HD DVD lost, I made the jump to BD, with my Sony PlayStation 3, which came bundled with Spider-Man 3. Ever since BD, my collection has grown faster than before. I also have a 4k player, and region free BD player. With a large collection, that is constantly growing, i'm pretty much set for life, should physical media ever disappear.

[The hitcher]

My friend's dad's "ski tapes" which were Beatles albums that I played on my single speaker Realistic tape recorder.

[jephdood]

I was always into electronics and when I went off to college and had the opportunity to amass my own huge credit card debt, I bought a big (32in) TV and a stereo VCR, the beginnings of a home theater system in my dorm room. Graduated to a DVD player and I needed stuff to play. Got up to about 400 or so DVDs. Also picked up a laserdisc player and got that collection up to 100-ish. Once blu-ray came out, I sold all that stuff and went all in on that format, gambling that HD-DVD wouldn't be the one to take over.

[dcx4610]

It started for me when VHS tapes started getting sold to consumers. The first one I can remember was Wizard of Oz. Before that, VHS tapes were only available at rental shops or if you bought directly from the studio which just wasn't something normal people had access to.

With Wizard of Oz, it was available at the grocery store and that was a huge deal. Soon after that, mom & pop rental stories used to start selling used copies and it was on after that. I had a nice little collection going as a kid and any chance I could own a movie, I would take it.

I missed Laserdisc just because I wasn't old enough and no way my parents could afford the player or the discs. With DVD, I bought my favorite movies but it wasn't until Blu-ray and especially 4K that I decided that I was going to make an effort to actually collect.

To me, Blu-ray was closest enough to the movie theater experience and especially 4K, that I was confident that there wouldn't be any other physical media formats so I was "safe" in building up a giant collection.

[PopcornRose]

I've always had some form of physical media, though it had thinned out quite a bit with streaming. Then, in the last year, my frustration with finding something to watch on streaming services along with increasing prices was laying fertile ground for beginning to collect phyiscal media again. I've seen and heard alot of discussions on Youtube, and now am full throttle back to collecting.

[Hidgxx]

Started collecting vhs in the early 90's. Then in the 2000' with Dvds and a few years ago bluray and digital movies.

[AStarToSteerBy]

Started with a few videos, then collecting DVDs in the 2000s pre-streaming. Major draw was the extras/special features. Slowed down post-university when I had less disposable income. Streaming came along about the same time to plug the gap.

Fast forward to today. More money and the increased price of streaming and I've started to get back into collecting with blu-ray and 4k.

[formula_nebula]

Originally Posted by AStarToSteerBy

Started with a few videos, then collecting DVDs in the 2000s pre-streaming. Major draw was the extras/special features. Slowed down post-university when I had less disposable income. Streaming came along about the same time to plug the gap.

Fast forward to today. More money and the increased price of streaming and I've started to get back into collecting with blu-ray and 4k.

[Sub_Dermal]

Started collecting cheap and funny horror DVDs to occupy myself while on a leave of absence from university; eventually discovered a love for horror more broadly, and found lots of films I wanted to see were only available on Blu-Ray or simply cheaper that way - so I made the switch.

Bit of a hoarder with a complex about owning the media I love - horror films and collecting physical media is probably the first hobby I have felt so enveloped by and joyous about!

[comatoad1776]

I've always been a movie buff, but was never a big buyer. I'd rent a lot and do the netflix dvd mailing thing, before streaming. However recently, about a year or so ago I started to notice how cheap used DVDs were and picked up a couple of my favorites. Things went a bit crazy from there. I'm now up to more than 1100 all averaging about $1-$2 each. I'll get blue rays when I can, but have no issue buying on DVD either. Despite a big TV, my eyes are not the greatest and I don't find the quality difference to be much of an issue for a lot of films. So needless to say I'm hooked. I still have a lot I'm on the look out for and I enjoy hunting garage sales and thrift stores trying to track them down.

[Eavyon]

I just started collecting because I never was a real movie nerd but with the amount of people who are almost thrashing their bluray/dvd because of streaming I started my own collection now. So many titles I haven't seen yet..
I think having a physical copy of something you are collecting is more exciting than just a tick in a database.

[Keks]

Like people already mentioned here. There was a time before streaming.
Also, I don't like streaming. I like to "own" my shows physically. If the industry want my money, then they better keep releasing physical media.
I'm also someone that still buy CDs/DVDs.

[Cruel Angel]

When I was finally able to talk my mom into buying a VCR back in the early 80s. Haven't stopped since, only the tech has changed (although I think even if they move past it, 4K will be it for me).

[starsteam]

I grew up without cable or satellite, no Blockbusters within a hour drive. If I wanted to be entertained I had to watch over-the-air TV or VHS tapes. If there was something I wanted to see, I basically could only buy it.

Around 2010 in my late-teens I started buying movies I had always wanted to see. My meager collection of 40 or so DVDs suddenly became 100, then 200.

My brother has satellite TV next door. I thought it would be fun, but there wasn't a damn thing on that I didn't already own. Never bothered with it again.
Our internet was lousy for the longest time. It's gotten better now, but streaming doesn't have as much appeal when there's 4000 films sitting within reach. I've built my private library, and I'm going to stick to it. There's just such a backlog now, it's been 13 years and I still haven't caught up with it. Even if physical media ends, I'll have plenty to watch for a while.

[JoshsMovieCollection]

streaming services suck.

[Donjohn80]

I'm from the days of video stores, and grabbing things from the Previously Viewed shelf was only slightly more expensive than renting sometimes. Easier to resell back then too, so if I ended up not liking the movie I could recover some of what I spent.

[cg1349]

I got into physical media because of Columbia House. LOL.