The Official LaserDisc Thread

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by TN798

Here she is 'out in the wild' :-D

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I have one too -- it's been played multiple times.

[TN798]

Originally Posted by The Lizard King

I have one too -- it's been played multiple times.

Cool! I saw one on eBay years ago that sold for under $200 opened. I cannot recall if there was any unusual damage, etc but I somehow lost track of that auction and it ended for like... $174 dollars or something like that. BUMMED.

I've seen opened copies sell for more than what I paid for my sealed copy and well, I don't know if we'll ever see another sealed copy surface.

Estimated that 200 were produced, let's say that is accurate, how many do we think are still out there to be had in circulation? My guess is not anywhere near 197 (your copy, mine and the other known to be for sale at the moment)

I've got my 3rd State Beatles Butcher cover (with preserved peeled cover) with a cert and now finally this. I don't think I have any 'grail' pieces left out there!

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by TN798

Cool! I saw one on eBay years ago that sold for under $200 opened. I cannot recall if there was any unusual damage, etc but I somehow lost track of that auction and it ended for like... $174 dollars or something like that. BUMMED.

I've seen opened copies sell for more than what I paid for my sealed copy and well, I don't know if we'll ever see another sealed copy surface.

Estimated that 200 were produced, let's say that is accurate, how many do we think are still out there to be had in circulation? My guess is not anywhere near 197 (your copy, mine and the other known to be for sale at the moment)

I've got my 3rd State Beatles Butcher cover (with preserved peeled cover) with a cert and now finally this. I don't think I have any 'grail' pieces left out there!

IIRC, the one that went for less than $200 had one of the sides unplayable due to a massive crack/scratch.

Not sure. But I do recall something very seriously was wrong with it.

[TN798]

Originally Posted by The Lizard King

IIRC, the one that went for less than $200 had one of the sides unplayable due to a massive crack/scratch.

Not sure. But I do recall something very seriously was wrong with it.

That would make sense and probably why I didn't 'stalk' (LOL) the listing and ended up forgetting about it.

Happy Friday!

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by TN798

That would make sense and probably why I didn't 'stalk' (LOL) the listing and ended up forgetting about it.

Happy Friday!

The Spanish Blu-ray of SOTS that you can get from amazon has amazing picture quality. Only $30!

[trespoochies]

So...my Pioneer laserdisc player died last year (yes, I used it since I bought in I think 1997?). I don't plan on finding a new one. I have a fairly large collection, including Disney and Criterion (those $125 special edition ones as well). Is there anywhere the fans go to buy them these days? Or just eBay them?

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by trespoochies

So...my Pioneer laserdisc player died last year (yes, I used it since I bought in I think 1997?). I don't plan on finding a new one. I have a fairly large collection, including Disney and Criterion (those $125 special edition ones as well). Is there anywhere the fans go to buy them these days? Or just eBay them?

Kurtis Bahr

[Show spoiler]kbahr@comcast.net

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by The Lizard King

Kurtis Bahr

[Show spoiler]kbahr@comcast.net

Weren't people having issues with him lately? Or was it someone else?

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

Weren't people having issues with him lately? Or was it someone else?

No. That was Duncan Hunter at Bayview Electronics in WA. Kurtis is a stand-up guy and lives in VA.

[denvertrakker]

I think Kurtis is no longer accepting units for repair, I may be mistaken. If so, it's a shame. Duncan is out of business for good, AFAIK. The only remaining well-known servicer for LD players is a fellow in the midwest who goes buy "Grasshopper" - I used to know his name but I've forgotten.

EDIT: Searching tells me his name is Duane Cummins, in Michigan.

[Tok]

Originally Posted by trespoochies

So...my Pioneer laserdisc player died last year (yes, I used it since I bought in I think 1997?). I don't plan on finding a new one. I have a fairly large collection, including Disney and Criterion (those $125 special edition ones as well). Is there anywhere the fans go to buy them these days? Or just eBay them?

Sorry to hear your player died. It’s a shame Pioneer isn’t what it used to be and there’s not many options to keep these players in working order.

I try to warn younger collectors about buying into laserdisc now. The last models stopped production nearly 15 years ago now and not many were being manufactured at that point. Most players available for sale are early 90s models pre-AC3 and SPDIF outputs. Those players are 30 years now and I wouldn’t purchase a complex piece of equipment that old. Too many things to fail.

[Vanguard]

I too, dread the day my player dies. Something simple like the belt or the grip ring are easy to replace, but I worry most about the laser assembly or the motor breaking.

Try to use it about once a week to keep the grease in good shape and the belt from drying out. I imagine its not good to just let them sit for a long time. Only got into the LaserDisc scene in 2015, so quite late. But it has been an absolutely wonderful journey and I will enjoy it as long as possible.

Those players Pioneer made up until 2009 or so. They are the DVL combo players and a CLD-R5 model, but I cant imagine the same quality material used on those players in the late 90s was still in use by 2009, considering how much cheaper they sold for.

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by The Lizard King

No. That was Duncan Hunter at Bayview Electronics in WA. Kurtis is a stand-up guy and lives in VA.

I read on LDDB that someone (a few people mentioned it in here as well) was coordinating with people to get all the players delivered to their rightful owners. I guess Duncan went rogue after taking way to many repair requests, and the players were left abandoned or something. A lot of wild stories out there. Then I read he died.

Did anyone get their players back from the guy who reached out?

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by Tok

...Those players are 30 years now and I wouldn’t purchase a complex piece of equipment that old. Too many things to fail.

Well the irony is I haven't had any failures with my LD player - unlike my 'premium' blu-ray players/receivers...

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

Well the irony is I haven't had any failures with my LD player - unlike my 'premium' blu-ray players/receivers...

Unfortunate that build quality isn’t what it used to be.

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

I read on LDDB that someone (a few people mentioned it in here as well) was coordinating with people to get all the players delivered to their rightful owners. I guess Duncan went rogue after taking way to many repair requests, and the players were left abandoned or something. A lot of wild stories out there. Then I read he died.

Did anyone get their players back from the guy who reached out?

One of the users on this site that I remember who had his player taken in by Duncan is Xtempo. Maybe he will chime in on this subject in the near future.

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by The Lizard King

One of the users on this site that I remember who had his player taken in by Duncan is Xtempo. Maybe he will chime in on this subject in the near future.

I believe it was Xtempo. I haven’t seen him around lately. Be great to have him chime in and give any updates.

[danny24]

Finding someone to repair an LD player these days is a pure blessing. Let's face it when your player bites the dust it's probably not worth the hassle to get it repaired unless it's a really high end model LD player. It's probably cheaper to just buy a working used one.

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by denvertrakker

I think Kurtis is no longer accepting units for repair, I may be mistaken. If so, it's a shame. Duncan is out of business for good, AFAIK. The only remaining well-known servicer for LD players is a fellow in the midwest who goes buy "Grasshopper" - I used to know his name but I've forgotten.

EDIT: Searching tells me his name is Duane Cummins, in Michigan.

I believe you're right (sadly), about Kurtis. I reached out to him a few years ago and he didn't seem interested in working on it at all. He referred me to a parts website for a new spindle motor but they no longer carry it. I messaged him again asking if he had one in his shop somewhere and never heard back. So one of my players is a heavy paper weight at this point which really sucks.

Truth...and the sad reality.

Originally Posted by danny24

Finding someone to repair an LD player these days is a pure blessing. Let's face it when your player bites the dust it's probably not worth the hassle to get it repaired unless it's a really high end model LD player. It's probably cheaper to just buy a working used one.

[sfmarine]

Spinning up Titanic tonight. The ship struck the iceberg tonight at 11:40. This is my first time listening to the AC-3 track. It’s crazy how hot the demodulator gets. You definitely do not want anything on top of it.



I really want to get my hands on the DTS version to compare.