babka

It is a THX system demonstration laser disc. It contains alignenment test signals and soundracks , etc. Mostly test signals is what is written on the back. It is sealed so I cant see for myself. But is this worth anything? Or is it garbage?

also, what is the star wars laserdiscs worth (empire strikes back, etc. all Japanese versions.

thanks !

DouglasRobert

I would say the best bet is to check e-bay. But don't be surprised if it's not worth much or anything for that matter.

It seems that most LD's don't sell or sell for very little. Most LD's that sell for a lot of money is either very rare or of movies that won't be on DVD anytime soon (as in the Star Wars Trilogy).

Or you could try selling or trading here on the forum or maybe some other members might know of other sites that might be more useful.

I have about 100 LD's still and haven't made up my mind what I will eventually do with them.

Jackskeleton

the moment you said Laser disc you should automaticlly assume you wont get much unless it's one of those rare cases.

the star wars laserdisc aren't worth much. I would say they normally go for 20-40 bucks for the set, but since you have import copies (Japanese versions) you will either get less since fully english versions are floating around like crazy or you might luck out and find a collector who is into this sort of import star wars stuff. either way Laser Disc aren't worth much now a days.

trdn89

The only LDs that I've seen that really command significant prices are Criterions which haven't seen the light of day as DVDs yet. I think I've seen Vengence Is Mine go for a hundred bucks, and the Magnificent Ambersons has gone for $80+. It's pretty frustrating since (a) I want my Star Wars discs to go away, and (b) I want the Magnificent Ambersons disc right good. (a) < (b) = sad.

DouglasRobert

So the question is, what to do with the old Laser Discs. As with anything there is only a certain amount of things you can do with something.

1. Keep It.
2. Donate it to Charity.
3. Give It Away
4. Sell It.
5. Throw It Away.

1. Keep It. Doesn't make much sense, if you don't want it anymore, or you already own it on DVD.
2. Probably one of the best choices, and it would be tax deductible.
3. Give It Away. Also makes sense, if the person you're giving it to really wants it.
4. Probably wouldn't make much sense in the case of LD's
5. Throw it away. Also wouldn't make much sense, and about the only thing recycable is the paper sleeve and the inner disc sleeve.

What do you do with movies you don't really want any more, either on LD, DVD or tape?

By the way, I have been going to garage sales recently and seen a lot of people trying to unload their old VHS tapes. Some of these people are so stupid they put them out in the hot, direct sunlight. I have seen some people doing that to old records, some even warping in the sun.

Jackskeleton

1. It makes plenty of sense if you have a LD of Star wars or any of the other Criterion Collection LD's that will never see the light of day on

2. Wont get you much. better off trading them in at a record store

3. again, why give it away when you can simply trade it in for store credit?

4. You can make some money.. not much, but something is better then nothing

5. Why the hell would you throw anything away?

Just keep it. it's pretty thin and storage isn't that much. Besides if you have a LD player in your Home theater set up, you can easily play those that are worth keeping.

Rule of thumb.. Trade them in if you don't want them.

shill66

There's one particular worthless laserdisc set I'm looking for, so if anyone has one, just email me and I'll take it off your hands. It's called "Forbidden Hollywood Collection Vol II", containing all pre-Hays Code films.






(Copies have sold on ebay for over $600...)

ckolchak

i was just thinking of those great MGM sets while i was flipping thru Mystery of The Wax Museum.
boy would i love to see some dvd boxed sets of tasty pre-code stuff.
unfortunately, considering how long its gonna take to cover the typical A list material, i'm sure the majority of pre-code material is low on their list.
just watched Employees Entrance on tape the other day...amazing how some of these films feel less dated than much of what came out years later.

i would expect those FH sets will be the best viable alternatives for a few years yet.

Shill66, do you know what films are in Vol 2?

gerrytwo

Just like vinyl records, the laser disc may have little value, but the cover may end up being worth something, depending on the cover art.
The second collection of Forbidden Hollywood on laser retailed for $129.00. Most of he movies on it, such as Havanna Widows, are only available now on TCM, and then very infrequently. Big Business Girl, which I recall was also in this collection, is out on VHS. If the brief Leonard Maltin movie commentaries on the second collection are similar to the first Forbidden Hollywood laser, which I have, the commentaries describe the obvious.
Now that Wareners has its film library of older movies back from MGM, may of the pre-code movies in these collections should be on DVD, but as low-priority releases.

Hendrik

"...Now that Wareners has its film library of older movies back from MGM, may of the pre-code movies in these collections should be on DVD..."

...erm... a lot of the MGM releases on LD were actually of MGM movies (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, THE PIRATE, GASLIGHT, THE PORTRAIT OF DORIAN GRAY, BROADWAY MELODY OF 1938, THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, ZIEGFELD GIRL, ZIEGFELD FOLLIES, TWO GIRLS AND A SAILOR, THOUSANDS CHEER, THE GOOD EARTH, the original MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, to name just a random few)... a lot of others were of WB movies - e.g. movies starring Bette Davis (THE LETTER, etc.), or Humphrey Bogart (ACROSS THE PACIFIC, etc.)...

...when (if ever) will all or some of these appear on DVD...?... he asked, not entirely hopefully...

. . . . . .

Sosai X

I've begun collecting laserdiscs recently, however only movies that are not on retail DVD, so I can convert them to DVD on my own. I have so far:

Star Wars Trilogy THX
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Howard the Duck
Flight of the Navigator
D.A.R.Y.L.
Disney's Cinderella
Disney's Aladdin

Still looking for:

Bill Cosby Himself
Song of the South (this is available on P2P in Divx form)
Explorers

Jackskeleton

you should also look for pumping iron and many criterion collection titles.

El-Kabong

Is it this one:

That one is called the THX Wow! disc, and runs for about 30-40 bucks on a good day. It was never available to the public, only when you bought one of the first home theater systems - the THX setup.

It's a pretty cool disc - the opening THX promo, with all the Star Wars and Indy clips, is worth the 10 bucks I got mine for.

BigT

There was a day that the THX Wow! LD sold for over $200 on Ebay! Not anymore, by a long shot - $30-$40 is about right currently, as El-Kabong points out.

What are the Japanese Star Wars LD's worth? Depends on which ones you're talking about - there were several releases there also. Are you looking to sell or buy? If you're buying, stick with the USA versions, either the SE box set (5-disc) for the best picture/sound combo or the THX "Faces" versions if you can't stand Georges' modifications. The Definitive Collection is ok too but make certain that there's no rot and make certain that it contains the Leia welding scene (which somehow was cut from the first printing but later corrected - look at [i]Empire Strikes Back[.i], disc 2, side a - if you see Leia welding, you have the corrected version. It's only about 10-11 seconds but I want 'em!).

If you're looking to sell some Japanese Star Wars discs, I would need to know which ones before giving you my estimate of its worth.

babka

Thanks, guys . That is the THX disc I have. My book store had it for $1, which I bought of course. I dont have scans of the Japanese star wars discs, but they are pretty nice for $1 each too. I also bought Shine criterion laser for $1, as it includes a commentary not on the dvd. All are brand new & sealed.

Class316

Funnily enough, the most (I think) ever seen paid for a single piece of digital home media is an LD. It shouldn’t be too hard to guess which one. Song of the South HK version goes for $1000+. The Jap LD (which most GOOD bootleg DVDs are ripped off) goes for $300+. Besides these I don’t think very many LDs go for more than $100.

Even the most uncensored version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit on LD does not go for much (nor does the Rescuers nudie).

Spooky

Yeah, I have the CAV version of Roger Rabbit...would probably sell it if I didn't want to go through the hassle of putting it up on Ebay, finding a box to ship it in, etc...yeah, I'm lazy!

One laserdisc set I will NEVER sell though is the three letterboxed original Star Wars movies. We're going to have to wait until Lucas passes on and raid the Ranch to ever see those original versions again!

typecase

I feel like a schlub collecting Lasers now, but I just bought the Cinderella CAV boxed set. I also bought and paid a lot for Dracula Criterion, The Game: Criterion, among others that we won't see on DVD soon. I also paid more than I should have for Soylent Green last year around this time when the DVD didn't show any signs of materializing. Some of the Disney SEs don't have all the supplements the original lasers had so maybe this isn't too bad an idea. Alas, perhaps some of these will never make it to DVD or HD-DVD and I'll have a resonably good copy to enjoy the lost supplements.

F For Fake

I still watch and enjoy several of my lasers, and at the price they can be had ($5 and under for the most part, on eBay and at second-hand shops) it doesn't hurt to pick them up occasionally. When Ken Crane's had their laser blowout a couple of years ago, I picked up a ton of discs for $1 and $2 a piece. Some of them I was only slightly interested in, but that was cheaper than the price of a rental, and even if LD isn't as nice as DVD, it's still a hell of a lot better than VHS.

What galls me is seeing some of the discs I paid $60-$100 for selling for $10 and under. Sigh. Oh well, I enjoyed them at the time.