How did I get into collecting?:
In 2001 I was collecting PEZ dispensers. I had been collecting for about three years, but with PEZ collecting becoming the new cool fad, “Pez Candy, Inc” began to throw its name on everything and focused less on what it was best know for, its dispensers. This completely killed my joy of PEZ collecting so out the door they went. In about a month I had a few grand from selling my collection off to other PEZheads, and at this point with my wonderful new wad of cash I decided to buy my first DVD Player. Up to this point I had only owned a VHS player and about ten VHS tapes. I bought a RCA VHS/DVD combo player and of course I small stack of DVDs. I cannot remember what my exact first titles were but I do remember buying all the Quentin Tarantino & Tim Burton titles that were out at the time and I think “The Wizard Of Oz” and “The Goonies” or something. With the “PEZ cash” burning a huge hole in my pocket, before I knew it I had spent it all of it on DVDs. And that was it... The start of my new obsession only days after my last one had ended. Collecting cinematic media is a great hobby that a decade later I am still enjoying. I had always loved movies, TV shows, documentaries, etc and collecting opened me up to many titles I would otherwise had never seen.
Do you collection only the current format/formats?:
I love collecting "vintage" and more "obscure" home-video formats. Right now in my collection you will find...
Why do you collect outdated media?
Because I'm a collector. Plain and simple... Some movies I'll buy on outdated formats because of the great artwork. Sadly a lot movies released these days just do not have the great artwork of media past. Other movies I'll buy simply for the format it's on. I'm a very big fan of collecting for LaserDisc & UMD. Other times I'll pick up a movie knowing full well that someday I'll replace it with a more modern format. The reason for this is price; if I can get a movie I've been looking for for only ten cents on VHS I'll grab it. It makes a great place holder until I find the DVD or BD release of the title for a good price. But the number one reason why I still buy outdated media is because of all the great films that you can only get on outdated media. There are thousands of great titles and cuts of titles that sadly have never made it to DVD or BD and probably never will.
Where do you store your collection?:
I have converted the basement of my house into the media library/theater. Each wall is covered by custom shelves to proudly display my collection.
What TV do you watch your movies on?:
I watch my media on a variety of screens. Everything from the 27.5" Daewoo DTQ-27U4SC Standard Definition TV and the 65" Vizio M651D-A2R 3D HD-TV in my library, to my PSP, Gameboy Advance, VideoNow player, and so on...
What media players do you own?:
I am constantly swapping out old players for new ones due to better performance, features, or a number of other reasons. As such, this would be a constantly changing list so I will leave out model numbers and simply state the types of players I have currently in use...
In 2001 I was collecting PEZ dispensers. I had been collecting for about three years, but with PEZ collecting becoming the new cool fad, “Pez Candy, Inc” began to throw its name on everything and focused less on what it was best know for, its dispensers. This completely killed my joy of PEZ collecting so out the door they went. In about a month I had a few grand from selling my collection off to other PEZheads, and at this point with my wonderful new wad of cash I decided to buy my first DVD Player. Up to this point I had only owned a VHS player and about ten VHS tapes. I bought a RCA VHS/DVD combo player and of course I small stack of DVDs. I cannot remember what my exact first titles were but I do remember buying all the Quentin Tarantino & Tim Burton titles that were out at the time and I think “The Wizard Of Oz” and “The Goonies” or something. With the “PEZ cash” burning a huge hole in my pocket, before I knew it I had spent it all of it on DVDs. And that was it... The start of my new obsession only days after my last one had ended. Collecting cinematic media is a great hobby that a decade later I am still enjoying. I had always loved movies, TV shows, documentaries, etc and collecting opened me up to many titles I would otherwise had never seen.
Do you collection only the current format/formats?:
I love collecting "vintage" and more "obscure" home-video formats. Right now in my collection you will find...
- 8mm Film
- 16mm Film
- 35mm Film
- Action Viewer
- Beta
- Blu-ray (BD)
- Blu-ray 3D (BD3D)
- Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED)
- CinemaNow
- Compact Disc Interactive (CD-i)
- Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-Rom)
- Compact Disc Video (CDV)
- Disney Digital Copy
- Digital Video Express (DIVX)
- Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)
- Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) [3D-DVD]
- Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) [Mini-DVD]
- Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) [Superbit]
- Digital Versatile Disc Recordable (DVD-R)
- Digital Video Home System (D-VHS)
- Fisher-Price Movie Viewer
- Flexplay
- Gameboy Advance Video
- Google Play
- High-Definition Digital Versatile Disc (HD-DVD)
- High-Definition Versatile Multilayer Disc (HD-VMD)
- iTunes
- Juiceware Media Chip
- Kenner Movie Cassette
- LaserDisc (LD)
- Movie Compact Disc (Movie CD)
- Personal Video Disc (PVD) [VideoNow]
- Personal Video Disc (PVD) [VideoNow Color]
- Secure Digital (SD) [Disney Max Clip]
- Secure Digital (SD) [Npower Fusion Digital Video Card]
- Super 8 Film
- UltraViolet
- Universal Media Disc (UMD)
- Video Compact Disc (VCD)
- Video High Density (VHD)
- Video Home System (VHS)
- Video8
- VUDU
Why do you collect outdated media?
Because I'm a collector. Plain and simple... Some movies I'll buy on outdated formats because of the great artwork. Sadly a lot movies released these days just do not have the great artwork of media past. Other movies I'll buy simply for the format it's on. I'm a very big fan of collecting for LaserDisc & UMD. Other times I'll pick up a movie knowing full well that someday I'll replace it with a more modern format. The reason for this is price; if I can get a movie I've been looking for for only ten cents on VHS I'll grab it. It makes a great place holder until I find the DVD or BD release of the title for a good price. But the number one reason why I still buy outdated media is because of all the great films that you can only get on outdated media. There are thousands of great titles and cuts of titles that sadly have never made it to DVD or BD and probably never will.
Where do you store your collection?:
I have converted the basement of my house into the media library/theater. Each wall is covered by custom shelves to proudly display my collection.
What TV do you watch your movies on?:
I watch my media on a variety of screens. Everything from the 27.5" Daewoo DTQ-27U4SC Standard Definition TV and the 65" Vizio M651D-A2R 3D HD-TV in my library, to my PSP, Gameboy Advance, VideoNow player, and so on...
What media players do you own?:
I am constantly swapping out old players for new ones due to better performance, features, or a number of other reasons. As such, this would be a constantly changing list so I will leave out model numbers and simply state the types of players I have currently in use...
- 8mm Film Projector
- 16mm Film Projector
- Apple TV
- Beta VCR
- Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D Player
- Blu-ray/HD-DVD Player (Region Free)
- CED Player
- Disney Mix Max Plus Media Player
- Duel Eight Film Protector
- DVD Player (Region Free)
- DVD/DIVX Player
- Game Boy Advance
- HD-DVD Player
- Juice Box Personal Media Player
- LaserDisc Player
- Npower Fusion Digital Media Player
- Roku
- Super8 Film Projector
- VideoNow (Black & White)
- VideoNow (Color)
- PSP
- VCD Player
- VHS/DVD VCR/Player
- Video8 Camcorder (With AV Outputs).
What are your favorite titles?:
"Young Frankenstein" is my #1 all time favorite. I'm not 100% sure what I would say my other top favorites are but some of the ones I enjoy the most are “Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker”, “Cannibal! The Musical”, “Gilmore Girls” (yea I said it), “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”, “Home Alone”, “Aladdin”, “The Simpsons”, "Snatch", "House Of 1000 Corpses", "Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels", "The Innkeepers, "King Kong" (1933), "Sideways", "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story", "Shaun Of The Dead", "Full House", and the list goes on and on and on... It's just too hard to narrow it down to only a few.
What is your favorite format?
That would be a tie between DVD and LaserDisc. DVD will always hold a special place in my love of cinematic media, since it was the format that got me into collecting. There are also so many great movies and TV shows that got released to DVD that will probably never see a better physical format. It's the most abundant format in my collection and might always be. However LaserDisc is my all time favorite format to collect. The artwork is almost always amazing and there is just something about the large size and shape of the packaging that I enjoy. For a format that requires you to flip a disc at least once each movie (sometimes more), I still find my self watching a film on LaserDisc that I might also own on DVD or Blu-ray. It's just a lot of fun to collect, and no matter what the title might be, if I can get it for a good price, I'll always buy a LaserDisc copy.
Do you only like certain genres of films?:
No, I enjoy them all. You will find everything from Care Bears to Letherface in my collection. My personal philosophy is, if it's good it's good and if it's bad it's bad. No matter what genera it might fall under. Of course sometime it's so bad that it's good... Hmm...
How much have you spent?:
Honestly, I rather not think about it. However unlike other collectors I almost never pay retail price for a title, I buy used a lot and I'm always on the hunt for a good bargain. If I pass a store that sells media then I'm there! Who knows what deals I'll find? And I have certainly found some great ones.
Where do you shop?:
Simple and easy answer... Everywhere and anywhere that sells cinematic media. Discount stores like Ollie's and Big Lots produce amazing prices on factory sealed titles. Movie rental stores are great for getting newer released titles used for cheap. Thrift shops, pawn shops, flea markets, and yard sales have produced some of my greatest finds, and of course you cannot forget the great sales at mega chain stores like Best Buy, Walmart, and Target.
Have you seen everything in your collection?:
Sadly no, I would say only about 50% I have seen. I have the nasty habit of buying faster than I can watch. However, I do make it a goal to watch at least one title that I've never seen daily. So one day I'll hopefully catch up.
Why do you own multiple copies a title?:
For many reasons. Sometimes it can be a different cut of a film (theatrical, extended, director's, etc). Sometimes it will be for collecting purposes such as artwork or different special features. And even other times it's just because I enjoy owning a title on an out of date format, but still want to own it on a modern format as well.
Do you plan to always upgrade your titles to the next format?:
Hard to say. It all depends on the title and price. And of course it will depend on the new format as well. As a collector I enjoy owning some titles on outdated formats, but at the same time I might want to own those titles on the new upcoming format as well. There are a lot of factors that come in to play when deciding whether or not to upgrade.
