MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Do you collect movies?

Do you collect movies?


My dad had a pretty extensive collection of VHS and LaserDisc (it's like DVD but way way bigger). I started collecting some DVDs around high school years but stopped when I realized that VHS and LD are dead and that means my father's collections is actually just a worthless junk with realistically no way to play.

Since, I donated most of my movie collections and only retained a very few selection. Now I never bought any physical copy anymore and only rent or Netflix movies.

Do you collect (or still has a sizeable collection of) movies in any form?

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Yes. I've collected them all. VHS, DVD, and Blu ray.

I personally prefer a disc/physical copy over digital (at least as far as actual ownership goes).

I've also recently started collecting 4K Ultra HD, but have yet to upgrade to a 4K TV lol.

I use streaming too, but mainly for things I watch casually.

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Wow, how big is your collection?

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I have around 500 DVDs and about 300 Blu Rays. I don't own any VHS anymore. I got rid of them years ago.





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What a library!

When my collection peaked I only had about 200 DVDs and around 50 VCDs (late '90s and '00s Asian movies mostly came in this format at the time. Up to VHS quality in two or three discs per movie so you have to get up and change disc in every half of the movie. Very incovenient!).

I never owned any BluRays because I stopped buying physical copies before BluRays went mainstream. I even considered buying a HD-DVD player once but I'm glad I didn't do it lol.

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VCRs still exist. I have one, even. So, a VHS collection isn't actually useless with no way to play. I still have a few VHS tapes, not a lot but some, and I watch them sometimes. I still have the same Jurassic Park VHS I got in 1994, and it still works great, though there are picture issues in some spots. Just minor ones though.

I actually miss tapes, to be honest. I know they had their downsides, but so do disks. The slightest mark on a DVD, a fingerprint, a tiny scratch, and it's done for. A tape, you could drop on the floor and it would still work. Sure, they would wear out over time, but I feel that tapes were more resilient than DVDs.

I have a lot of DVDs. Maybe somewhere between 100 and 200, I don't know. I wouldn't say I consciously collect them, but I watch a lot of movies, and I buy ones I really like. I live in a rural area with bad internet service, so I can't really count on online streaming. I watch stuff online sometimes, but DVDs are more reliable for me.

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For living in a rural area, you write really well!

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He's a Japanese. That explains a lot.

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Well then I would expect written broken English.

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Yeah, but the picture quality is better in digital form than VHS. They are in SD resolution and searching for a particular scene is inconvenient. That's why I like digital files more.

I still posses about a dozen DVDs though, but not one VHS tape.

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Unless one is really rich.

Collecting is infinite. Where does it end with collecting? There are so many movies, dvds, and blue rays. Do you collect based on media or do you collect them based on one piece of media for one movie? The thing with collections is you have to have it all and for movies, it is tough!

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Think of it as getting books. You'd call that building a library, not collecting books. Now printed books don't really change format, so there's a difference there. But otherwise, it's mostly the same thing, no?

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I have 3 large bookshelves full of books. Actually most of them I also have no use of anymore. I just don't have the heart to throw them out (yet).

Also reading text on a screen is a vastly different experience than on real paper. So the idea of exclusively digital collection of e-books is less interesting to me.

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The two aren't exactly the same, idk why I made that analogy...

But yeah, I don't have the heart to throw out books either. And I don't consider digital books as part of a libraly. Nor do I consider digital movies part of a collection really. Something about a physical copy makes it more real.

But I very rarely buy physical copies of movies anymore. Digital seems more practical these days, though not so permanent.

Does any of this make sense?

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Oh yes, I agree. Physical books is more real because you touch them, you caress them, you smell them while you read (I love the smell of paper in a newly printes books!) and they add to the decor of the room.

Physical copies of movies I don't think too highly. You don't touch the disc (yes, but only when putting it into the DVD player, but not when we actually watch the movie itself), obviously they smell plasticky lol, and a rack full of DVDs don't decorate a room as beautiful as various books in wooden bookshelves.

That's why I don't feel bad to throw away all my DVD collection. But I feel a bit sentimental for books lol.

Digital is relatively as permanent as movies in a disc though. DVDs also rot and they get scratches or get bent every time. But mostly I only rent nowadays because not many new movies are actually worth keeping. Sigh.

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I don't think as highly of physical copies of movies either anymore. Only if it's something I'm certain I'd be watching multiple times would I buy it. But with digital I'm always worried that it's going to get lost in a tragic computer accident lol It's one of those irrational fears.

But still, I like the idea of grabbing something off of a shelf, and popping it in or reading it.

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Still, where do you draw the line? Would you get one of each book ever made?

It's not like Pokemon cards where there is an established set, say 150 cards. Once you collect 150, you know you have accomplished something. With books or movies, it will just keep going on and on and on. I mean all that wasted money...

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You wouldn't want to read every book ever made. And I wouldn't consider buying books a waste of money. Information and knowledge are valuable things. And you seem to be interpreting "collection" to mean "all of the things" when it isn't that.

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So I am just suppose to collect a given number of certain things, just to sit there and say I have collected them? That is not thorough enough. It makes no sense. You might as well just get the ones you like and watch or read them over and over.

Yes, I mean all of things = collection.

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Well this might surprise you, but when you get a book, you do that because you actually want to read it. Same with movies. And since you've bought those things, yeah, they just kinda have to sit there. And you might just get some use of them later on. Or if you don't, you can resell them, or donate them. It's not that difficult of a concept to wrap your head around. People have been doing it for centuries.

And you're not supposed to do anything. Noone's going to come into your house and fine you because you don't have all the things! Buy stuff, don't buy stuff, do whatever you want.

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I would. I want to regulate this collection thing. We should tax people that have incomplete collections.

Good idea Mina!

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Whatever rocks you goat, Arvin...

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Lol @ this convo 😅😅😅😅

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Was that prejudice?

Whatever rocks my goat?

Not cool Mina!

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LOL.



:-)

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No. I still have a few VHSs that would be impossible to get otherwise, but I'm not sure why I bother to keep them because the chances of me getting them either transferred to DVDs (another dying format) or in a more portable digital format are very slim.

I did have a reasonably large VHS collection at one time, have a number of films on my drive, and less than 10 DVDs.

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Yeah, when I finally have the guts to get rid of my DVD collection many years ago I also worried about the rare and obscure old Asian flicks that I had. But in the end I only reserved one of them and surprisingly I actually never missed those movies.

There are so many movies I want to see I very very rarely want to rewatch those "collectibles" anyway.

I still cling to about a dozen or so DVDs though, so you having less than 10 is very minimalist. Every day I strive to have more and more minimalistic approach to things in life. 😊

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Same for me. The reality is I've never missed not being able to watch the rare things I kept that are on VHS. But, you know, I might, someday! :D

I like the minimalist approach, and want to incorporate that into my everyday life, like you do.

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Yep. My family collects a ton of movies. I believe we have a couple hundred DVDs/Blurays. And probably still have VHSs that got moved to the attic or basement.

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Poor VHS tapes... lol.

One day I visited my friend's house whose family collect a ridiculous amount of... Betamax casettes! Those things just sitting abandoned in dusty racks, spider webs and all. Sad pieces of obsolete technology.

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VH tapes were the best. They were extremely durable. I miss VCRs.

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I used to collect DVDs but they get scratched easily. So now I keep a digital collection.

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I have direct-TV with a DVR. (Digital Video Recorder). So if I tape a movie and really like it I just burn it onto my DVD burner. Plus after a few viewings if I don't want to keep it any longer I just tape over it.

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Oh I don't do stuff like that. I really don't like DVDs. If DVD disks weren't so delicate, then I would purchase more. Keeping a digital movie collection is limiting but I know that the technology will catch up and allow for digital movies to be played on any device or provider.

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I don't. There are so many movies I have never seen, my queue in Netflix is a mile long, so I just don't really watch the same movie over and over. I have less than 20 dvds, and even those I have not watched them that many times.
I used to have a lot of VHS tapes in the 80's and 90's but I got rid of those all a few years ago. I don't even have a player for them anymore so there was no reason to keep them.

Basically, any time I want to watch something, I am much more likely to choose something I have not seen yet, not something I've already seen.

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Netflix really revolutionized how we watch and collect movies. Even when there were rentals we still bought movies we ought to enjoy multiple times.

But with all-you-can-eat streaming services available today we can rewatch a movie as many times as we want anyway.

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Well I have the streaming + 3 discs plan on Netflix because not everything is available streaming. The selection in dvd format is like 10x bigger than the streaming section. All those movies you can't find on streaming? They do have them, on disc.
So those dvd-only movies I cannot re-watch any time spontaneously, because I'd have to get the disc again. So like I could watch it again but I'd have to know that 2-3 days beforehand. But I don't usually want to watch the same movie again and again like I said.

I have so many tv series in my queue as well, that I don't know if I will get through all of them in the next ten years! So why watch something I've already seen?

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🍖

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What?! Around 3000 VHS tapes... Three frickin' thousands! Are you by any chance a Blockbuster Video branch? 😲

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🍖

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