Changes in your collecting decisions

[Modman]

Originally Posted by From Beyond

Quality over quantity is my Blu-ray collecting mantra these days. I scaled my collection back a fair bit, stopped making blind buys, and look to the boutique offerings when adding new titles. I'll only buy a film that I'll re-watch. I had too many Blu-rays I watched once that then just sat on the shelf for years collecting dust.

Exactly what do you mean by blind buy?

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Modman

Exactly what do you mean by blind buy?

That's buying films on discs when you've not seen them and possibly don't know much about them! Found some gems this way, but also a lot of turkeys...

[Chap Of Steel]

Originally Posted by XGEEKEDGERX

I've already binned the cases of some of the more generic titles in my collection and stuffed them in little plastic wallets.

I've never thought about doing this but I actually might do the same, and use one of those big disc wallet things. I'm running out of space, and no point I guess keeping the blu-ray cases, although not sure what I'd do if I decided to give the films away or sell in the future.

I wonder if somebody has a creative solution as to where to put the inlays.

[franzsanchez]

I'm expecting my purchases to wind down for a while. it will be into 2022 before this year's cinema releases arrive on blu-ray so that leaves a big gap opening up in 2021

lockdown has been a chance to watch those unsealed blurays i bought ages ago, sometimes years ago. this leads to me spending evenings sitting on the sofa wondering why i bought "so i married an axe murderer" on blu-ray . onto ebay they go!

i have a lot less of a collector mentality now. no longer interested in steelbooks. some have gone to be replaced by the 4k and others have gone as they are worth silly money so i'd rather have a standard blu-ray and £40 in my pocket. some of my steelbooks are on display but the ones just mixed up with others on a shelf might as well not be there

I've almost never blind bought. I'm also resisting upgrading to 4k unless the films are favourites or in a £10 or so offer. have bought some 4k which i've then sold on because i preferred the look of the blu-ray to the 4k (something which virtually never have happened with dvd to blu-ray)

so in 2021 that really only leaves catalogue releases. I expect i'll splash out the occasional arrow special edition. i consider that treating myself and everyone does that

[Modman]

Originally Posted by Justin101

That's buying films on discs when you've not seen them and possibly don't know much about them! Found some gems this way, but also a lot of turkeys...

I know what blind buy means to me but I wanted to understand what it meant to the poster?

[DTSBOY]

Originally Posted by Chap Of Steel

I've never thought about doing this but I actually might do the same, and use one of those big disc wallet things. I'm running out of space, and no point I guess keeping the blu-ray cases, although not sure what I'd do if I decided to give the films away or sell in the future.

I wonder if somebody has a creative solution as to where to put the inlays.

When I got shot of a few thousand dvd's I bought the plastic sleeves, thinking it would kill a few hours...... Several days later and I was 90% done. The dvd artwork and all the inlays etc went into clear plastic A4 ring binder sleeves. Amazon etc where you'll get them. Works great.

Now getting rid of the dvd cases was easier said than done. I rang the council and even the supermarkets with recycling facilities, and their best advice was? Throw 'em in the bin. Thousands of dvd cases in at least a dozen bin liners, an absolute pita.

Anyhoo, that's why my blu's are staying in the cases. I haven't recovered mentally yet.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Modman

I know what blind buy means to me but I wanted to understand it meant to the poster?

Fair enough, I thought it was an odd question to ask on a forum such as this.

[Chap Of Steel]

Originally Posted by DTSBOY

When I got shot of a few thousand dvd's I bought the plastic sleeves, thinking it would kill a few hours...... Several days later and I was 90% done. The dvd artwork and all the inlays etc went into clear plastic A4 ring binder sleeves. Amazon etc where you'll get them. Works great.

Now getting rid of the dvd cases was easier said than done. I rang the council and even the supermarkets with recycling facilities, and their best advice was? Throw 'em in the bin. Thousands of dvd cases in at least a dozen bin liners, an absolute pita.

Anyhoo, that's why my blu's are staying in the cases. I haven't recovered mentally yet.

That's a great shout. I could do that, and keep a few blu-ray cases spare (as I tend to do) and then if one of them suddenly becomes worth selling, I can piece it all back together. Haha. Did you just get a standard ring binder, or do you have any particular recommendations?

[khalbrae]

I have been buying used or bargain bin blu-rays. Sometimes you can find some rare gems if you look at the right time.

[Ben_C]

Originally Posted by DTSBOY

When I got shot of a few thousand dvd's I bought the plastic sleeves, thinking it would kill a few hours...... Several days later and I was 90% done. The dvd artwork and all the inlays etc went into clear plastic A4 ring binder sleeves. Amazon etc where you'll get them. Works great.

Now getting rid of the dvd cases was easier said than done. I rang the council and even the supermarkets with recycling facilities, and their best advice was? Throw 'em in the bin. Thousands of dvd cases in at least a dozen bin liners, an absolute pita.

Anyhoo, that's why my blu's are staying in the cases. I haven't recovered mentally yet.

Neo-online are also very good for cd/dvd/blu-ray binders if anyone is looking to do something similar.

I too have had a big dvd packaging downsizing over the past couple of years, be it either trying to shift rarer ones on eBay, taking them to charity shops, or putting some into binders. That can make a big difference, and I’m now getting to a similar point with blu-rays, where some downsizing will soon be necessary, especially those that have been upgraded to UHDs.

The trouble is: there are too many decent releases, especially from the boutique labels, too many decent sales (e.g, anime sales at Christmas combined with the recent Zavvi 40% off some anime added a large amount of titles onto my anime to-watch pile) or just an ever expanding interest into other genres/eras of film.

[Lsalas76]

Over the last few years I have tried to stop blind buying titles.

Also I only try to buy steelbooks or special packaging movies for the most part only. If theres a movie I like and it has a steelbook, I try to find it at a reasonable price. Or if there is no steelbook available, I would settle for blu-rays/4k's that come with slip covers or different packaging(digibooks). I am not a fan of regular amaray cases by themselves ever since I started buying steelbooks or when there was special or different packaging available.

If I already have a blu-ray steelbook and it comes out in 4k and or if theres a 3d version of movie I like, I put it in the steelbook and get rid of the regular case.

I actually want to get rid of most of the blu-rays/4ks that just have the regular amaray cases since I already have most them digitally and just want to keep physical copies of my favorite movies. I need to downsize big time anyways. I am at a point where I am almost satisfied with the steelbooks and blu-rays with slip covers special packaging I own. I have basically run out of space and will not have space anytime soon.

[DTSBOY]

Originally Posted by Chap Of Steel

That's a great shout. I could do that, and keep a few blu-ray cases spare (as I tend to do) and then if one of them suddenly becomes worth selling, I can piece it all back together. Haha. Did you just get a standard ring binder, or do you have any particular recommendations?

Definitely the 4 ring type. The 2 ring ones aren't strong enough. Surprisingly weighty when they're full.

[Member-222782]

My collecting habits have remained relatively unchanged since I purchased my first DVD in 1997. If anything, I've become more ravenous in my pursuit of the perfect personal library and I'm happy to report that I'm damned near close to achieving that. My wishlist has shrunk to just a handful of titles - just waiting for some long overdue upgrades and a few MIA B titles. Prices have risen steadily over the past couple of years so I've been cutting back on extraneous blind buys unless they're in the sub-$10 price range. Space is certainly an issue but I've gotten creative and have been able to make room by consolidating and, yes, removing titles. But I would never do a massive culling because of lack of space - that would be silly. Movies are my only source of entertainment.

[Modman]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Fair enough, I thought it was an odd question to ask on a forum such as this.

You obviously have to do your research but the idea of not blind buying is like not going to the cinema to see any movie you haven't seen before. Just wonder how the poster could say they don't blind buy and only buy movies that have rewatch value, unless they stream or never watch anything new.

[jhird2007]

I've really cut back my collecting over the years due to my watch list not getting ant smaller. I tend to only buy from the boutique labels of films I really like or have wanted to watch for a while.

Looking back I was guilty of buying a lot of catalog films from the 2000s and 2010s in multi buy offers and I'll probably never watch half of them. I've two bookcases that are completely full; therefore I have to remove the titles I don't like. I've realised it's better to wait a few years until a title is in the sale as it will only sit on my shelf for years before it's opened. I remember buying "The Master" for £17.99 when it first came out. It's around £5 now and it's quite a barebones disc. So I've learned to wait until it drops to the bargain basement.

It is nice to have a good collection though. During the first lockdown I was able to get through about 60 unwatched titles. As ever time is required to get through all my discs, and I'm fortunate to still have work during this time.

[eddyw78]

I planned on slowing down after spending far too much last year. That was until I found an EBay seller listing the Arrow version of Django for £29.99, another seller with the OOP Scorpion release of Flavia The Heretic (which wasn’t that expensive) and of course I still need to pre order the standard set of Dawn Of The Dead.
I am though going to clamp down on blind buys and try to concentrate on films I know I love and will revisit on a regular basis instead of gathering dust.

[CinemaScope]

Along with a lot of people, I'm cutting down, & that's being helped by the low number of catalogue releases that I'm interested in (& there's hundreds of titles that I'd love). I'm not buying any more films that I think I should own (famous films, great transfers), but don't love (or maybe even like), they just sit on the shelf collected dust, & I'm selective over what films I import, as the price is now around £22-£25...& I must start looking at my mountain of unwatched TV box sets.

[oldmario]

Originally Posted by DTSBOY

I bought 2 of these for the same reason. Just laid the blu's spine up coz' I can't be arsed to take them out of the cases.

800 ish in each 4 drawers with cases or a few thousand in those clear sleeve thingys.

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/malm-ch...rown-30403566/

were the drawers all fine being full from the start or did they need any reinforcing eventually?

[Ben_C]

I’ve got one of those IKEA units...for my clothes. Would it be classed as having a problem if I dumped the clothes and used it for blu-rays instead?

[DTSBOY]

Originally Posted by oldmario

were the drawers all fine being full from the start or did they need any reinforcing eventually?

They come with a support bar (for want of a better word) that adds strength to the drawers. As long as the floor you're placing them on is level ( mine are on thick carpet) then I see no issues.
As I've mentioned, I've got mine full and they're rock solid. They also include a wall securing bracket in the box if you need extra anchoring.

Anyone who enjoys a bit a bit of flat pack assembly will manage in about 2 hours. The second one about 20 minutes.

Oh, they're real heavy too.