Holly E. Ordway

There are lots of threads about how big everyone's collection is... I'm wondering if anyone else has actively cut down theirs. I'm not talking about people who have decided to quit having DVDs entirely, or who had to sell for financial reasons - I mean, just choosing to have a smaller collection.

This week, I (and my husband) did a MAJOR culling of our DVD collection - from about 300 DVDs, we cut back to a bit over 100. Why? Well, for a while we'd been experiencing "DVD overload" whenever it was time to choose a DVD to watch. There were lots of fun movies, but were they really movies we'd watch over and over again? We'd actually culled 50 or so from the collection a few months ago, getting rid of the ones that clearly were one-shot-views, but it still felt overwhelming.

Then there was the question... why do we have a collection? Why do we own a DVD? The answer, for us, was 1) if it's a movie that's an absolute favorite, one that will get watched many times (like The Big Lebowski). TV shows actually have greater re-watchability for us than movies, since they're short and easy to watch during dinner or if we don't have time for a full movie. Reason 2) is if it's a movie that is very distinctive and unique; many of our foreign movies fall into this category. These are also ones that would be hard to rent.

But that left a LOT of movies that were OK, fun to watch, but not mind-blowing, and also easy to rent. Why own Forrest Gump when it's not one of our favorites and it's likely easy to rent if we should happen to want to see it again? (Or heck, we can always buy it again if need be.) So we did a major re-thinking of the collection. Instead of pulling out movies that we didn't want to keep, we decided which ones we DID want to keep, and pulled out all the rest. The result: we kept about 30%.

It was useful to remember: Just because we liked a movie, doesn't mean we have to own it.

It was actually really easy to make the call of keep/no keep. And the collection is much more manageable... it's no longer overwhelmingly big, and it's clearly the "creme de la creme" of stuff we like. I definitely have a strong "collector" impulse, so this was not an easy decision to make, but once I took the leap, it was refreshing.

One somewhat unique influence on my situation is that since I review DVDs, I have a constant influx of new DVDs to watch - I'm not just viewing stuff out of my collection. But the same effect could be had if I rented a lot of movies. I know that I'll be adding to my collection over time, but now I'm going to be much, much more thoughtful about what stays and what just gets watched and then goes out the door.

So... anybody else have this kind of radical, even heretical experience?

Chew

Between X-Mas and New Years I cut down the collection by selling them off on Half.com. Got rid of Alien Legacy (it was replaced with Quad), a couple unwanted discs and my entire Star Trek Original Series collection (40 discs--which were bought on the cheap with plenty of Reel.com coupons. I actually made money on those). They're coming out in boxsets at some point and I wanted to upgrade.

So, I am reducing: but it's only to make room for the replacements.

EPKJ

I only reduce my collection to remove discs which have been upgraded. Anything I buy is something I will watch multiple times or have purchased for its obscure or unique qualities.

Geofferson

Every so often, I sell a few on eBay. Probably get rid of 2-4 discs every 3 months.

flix1

I too have been slowly reducing over the past couple of months, even though I continue to buy some.

My 2 reasons for reductions:

1) $$$ (Money)
For some DVD's (especially OOP versions) there is just a TON of demand. At one point in time, I was definitely a "DVD collector", I purchased many DVD's per week, most of which I have never watched. Many of those DVD's are now OOP, and some are quite rare. I regularly check Ebay for those DVD's that are getting lots of money, and if I have them and rarely, if ever, watch them, I dump them there.

2) New versions available
Many early DVD releases were bare-bones or non-anamorphic. The studios are starting to replace the older releases with better versions. Since widescreen TV's are becoming the norm, having the Anamorphic DVD's is a must.

I have sold 18 DVD's (a few of those were box sets) over the past few months. I have made about $1000 (that is AFTER subtracting original purchase price and fees from Ebay and Paypal). Granted, I sold 1 DVD for $725, for which I had paid $15 a few years ago. I have a box of about 50-60 DVD's that I plan on selling, but most won't fetch much, as they are the ones with newer releases.

Using the money I get from selling, I further support my habit, although I am much better than I was in the past.

JuJue

reduce??? who speaks such blasphemy

Kerborus

Wow, these people have lost their way...

Reasons to GET RID OF DVD?

Not on this forum... lol!

I only sell them when better editions come out. The reason I own a DVD library is so that at any given time, I or my guests can watch any movie they feel is palatable at that moment.

sataniko

There are some bad blind buys in my collection that I'll never watch again, but I still prefer to have them there than to trade/give/sell away. Even if they are worth a ton of money, like the $725 flix1 sold on Ebay. So in other words, I guess I won't be 'reducing' anytime soon.

Pointyskull

I'm always in "reduce" mode. I'd much rather have quality over quantity.

I know I don't really need that copy of Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood taking up precious shelf space.

DVD Smurf

Reduce the films that I do not want in my collection due to space, before that I tried to keep them all.

Chew

Ok, I want to know two things: what DVD was this and why would anybody pay that much???

TheKing

I could see myself getting rid of a few discs in my collection, but I'm talking maybe 10 out of 450 titles. But these would be movies I would never watch again.

I don't understand the logic of getting rid of DVD's you would have any interest in seeing again. Too many DVD's to choose between? Isn't that the point?

I have a collection so that I never have to rent a movie. If I want to see something, I watch from my collection.

If it's a money issue, I can understand. Sell off old discs to buy new ones. I get that. But to make a collection more manageable? No, that seems foreign to me.

GuessWho

I've been asked "Why do you want to BUY movies and have a collection?"


The funny part is, I was asked this by a woman who has a wall-sized bookshelf of hardcover books at home.

"Same thing as your books," I explained. They have the same amount of re-usability but DVDs are cheaper than your typical $25 hardcover.

C Roberts

Holly you aren't the only one who's done that. I've reduced my collection to get rid of the fat in the past too. I may have a lot less DVD's, but I've always been a quality over quantity type of person anyway. I'm also not a collector as I believe since about 95% of DVD's go down in value that they aren't a very good investment.

The best part for me was afterwards I stopped doing impulse buys and blind buys so much. I became more careful about what I'd add to my library in the first place. Of course being a reviewer you probably won't get that benefit.

mtucker

Periodically I go through my collection and try to weed out movies that I could probably do without owning, mostly for space limitations.

milo bloom

I've thinned the herd from time to time, but I rather like the idea of having my own library. Even if I don't watch it a lot, if the mood hits me, I'd rather it be on my shelf than have to drive to the video store.

Plus, I buy a lot used to save money, and I rarely buy "totally" blind buys. I do some research on the net on people's opinions of the movies.

darkside

I sold about 30 DVDs during the holidays. Mostly to raise cash for more DVDs, but also because some of the DVDs were just bad purchases on my part. I'm finding that with most of the new movies that are released I watch them once and then never watch them again. Its only the classic films and TV boxsets like the Simpsons, South Park, etc that I watch over and over.

retihsuhnt

Congrats, Holly on the job well done. Im in a similar situation, mind you I only own 126 DVDs. Ive found myself wanting to thin the library and focus on films/movies that I really enjoy and will watch over and over again (there are a couple in my library simply because of the film itself, but only a couple).

The thing to me is that while I worked in video stores for three (3) years and really love movies, I only owned at max 30 VHS tapes (of the movies that I could watch repeatedly without a second thought). Everything else I would rent, or while working at a store rent for free.

EPKJ

Being a collector, I don't understand this thread. Why would any collector want a smaller collection. I want to never need to rent and to have resources to entertain myself and my friends available at any moment. I may not watch a film for two years, but when I want to watch it, I want it on my shelf.

movieking

I have gone from about 170 at one point to about 80 now. Biggest reasons are a lack of time to watch them, wanting to replace some of the older ones with newer editions, and the guilt of having hundreds of dollars of DVDs rotting away on my bookcase never to be used again. I will continue to buy ones that I think that I will rewatch again and again, but I am also much more picky than I was a few months ago. Helps to finance other toy purchases as well, without feeling guilty since the money really is already spent.

necros

I'm a collector, but sometimes I collect something that I decide I don't want later on down the road. Maybe it's a movie that I bought when it was new and ended up seeing way too many times on cable after that, but there's also a lot of movies that I really like when I first see it... but as time goes on I just lose interest in it. Like Jurassic Park 2 & 3 for instance. I kept the first one and got rid of the other 2. Some movies I like but not enough to watch a lot, but I keep em any because I know sooner or later I'll eventually pop it in again or at least someone visiting may want to watch it (aka Forest Gump or disney stuff). I have a pretty good used cd & dvd store nearby that pays pretty good for movies (sometimes as much as $10 depending on their stock). I buy stuff at best buy when it's new and like $15.99, if I can sell it again for $10 it's like a rental almost with no late fee

QuiGonJosh

About 6 months ago I sold about 60 of my discs...this is something I think I am gonna do every year in order to keep my collection tight and clean with no crap ya know...but I've been thinking of selling off a large chunk...but I dont know...

Yakuza Bengoshi

The majority of DVDs I buy are "blind buys." If after watching the DVD I don't think it's something I'm going to want to watch again I sell it. To date, I've sold 389 DVDs.

QuiGonJosh

Damn dude...wouldnt it just be easier to rent?

illennium

I'm in the exact same boat. Just thinned my collection from 170 to 140 with about 30 more to go. I'd really like to get below 100 but I don't think that is likely to happen.