I just have enough disposable income to warrent buying any disc I deem valuable to myself. I have never sold a disc I bought, unless I double dipped for a better version.

I was simply commenting on a trend I'd begun noticing on this board -- not speaking about you personally, wfujosh. Clearly I don't pretend to know your motives (and I should have made that more clear; my apologies); still, I CAN say with absolute certainty that the tone I've picked up on over a series of similar-themed posts suggests to me the very attitude of self-congratulations I describe in my earlier post (I'm absolutely certain of this, by the way, because it is MY impression at issue) -- the idea being that less necessarily means more refined. Just as bigger doesn't necessarily mean better, less doesn't necessarily mean more discerning. That's all I was trying to say.

Regardless, my "vision" for my library remains as it always has: I hold onto films I want to have ready access to, either for pure entertainment or for filling some other need (teaching material, research, etc.) . I do often make "blind" buys (albeit buys based upon the recommendation of someone whose tastes I trust), but if I don't like the film, or don't think I'll revisit it, I sell it off on eBay.

Re: Re: Re: Has your "vision" of your DVD collection changed recently?
 

Well you can add another one to the "minority" then. I would be very surprised to find more than a handful of people who collect DVD's for the "numbers game" here. I have no goals towards getting my DVD collection into the 1000's and could care less whether or not people look at my lists. I have them for two reasons: 1) as a convenient way for friends, family, and myself to view my collection for selection purposes and 2) because people in here seem to be interested in what films other people like/watch/own.

Imagine that . . .

In a DVD forum . . . :whofart:

Cherish? Who says anything has to do with cherishing? I, at a minimum, like all of the movies in my collection. They are there because I have enjoyed them in the past and/or anticipate enjoying them in the future. Of course there are some in there that I do "cherish", but hardly all of them. Who does?

As for displaying them . . . mine are in a converted coat closet whose door would be shut if I didn't go in there as much as I do.



I've got to agree with Yakuza and celluloid . . . it was a pretty presumptious statement and, whether or not you actually feel this way or intended it to come of this way, it made you sound very defensive.



To answer your original question . . . in fact, yes, but not exactly in the way you were describing. I realized that there were a number of types of movies that I used to watch in college, that I wished that I had more of. Specifically, "artsy" films (things like The City Of Lost Children, George Washinton, etc.) and classic, older movies (The Dirty Dozen, Lord Of The Flies, etc.). So my focus has changed towards filling in those gaps.

My view of the DVD has not changed, however, my view of a DVD collection has changed tremendously. This past summer I began to sell of the DVDs that I did not like, and now I only keep the ones that I enjoy viewing. I am also buying less in order to get the ones that I will most certainly enjoy, but I still makw occasional mistakes.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Has your "vision" of your DVD collection changed recently?
 

My main reason for having a list (and mine's just a crappy self made html page I started for CD's back in high school and added a DVD version) is for insurance. It's a good idea to have an offsite list in case of fire etc.

Re: Re: Has your "vision" of your DVD collection changed recently?
 

A lot of people do that...most of them don't even realize it.

From day-1 my DVD collection has always been about obtaining films that were important to me. (and one look at my collection and you'll know that is true since there are quite a few titles on it that no one but me would want. :lol:)

But it is easy for people who regularly follow this forum to get caught-up in the weekly excitement of upcoming releases... suddenly those discs that were "nice-to-have" are now "Must-have", and titles that were "eh" are now "nice-to-have".

I have an upper limit in my mind. Because even with the best intentions, I am guilty of buying a few discs that were a "good deal" even though I had "mild" interest in them. Those will be the first to go.

I come from a time before DVDs, before LaserDiscs, before VHS, before Beta, heck, before cable TV... where the only way to watch a film was to wait for one of the local stations to air it.

It is THAT mentality that fuels and guides my collection... what films do I really want to be able to watch "on-demand"?

I'll take equal responsibility by stating that perhaps I should have been more clear and stated that my intentions in the post was to find others who wanted to, I guess the best word would be, "focus" their collections.

I should have made the additional point that NetFlix recently built a large facility 10 minutes from my front door. This means to me at least that if I feel like watching a movie, I'll have it tommorrow (or perhaps even the same day if I order it first thing in the morning).

So to me, that makes a difference in what I forsaw myself buying. Rather than just "cut off" the collection, I thought it might be better to "focus" it.

I must reiterate, I think it's excellent that there are people out here who actually know enough about film to have a large collection. It's just not for me anymore.

Another point to make - when I started the "buying spree" as it were, I reconsiled it by saying "when I watch them, I'll sell them", but it turns out that I have too many others (and not enough time!) to do it. That's when I realized that *I* felt it was an endeavor I no longer wished to continue.

So basically, "focusing" your collection is what I was going for. To some, that could mean buying MORE. To me, it means buying more selectively :)

I have. Too many unwatched DVDs piling up. Need to enjoy what I have rather than buy some more just to save $3 or so.

:up: Couldn't have said it better....

These threads of late are interesting as is the presumption that "we are all into the numbers game." To be honest, I have around 325 right now and i'm kind of embarrassed about it....it just seems so, i don't know, bourgeois. about 200 or so are on a homemade shelf and the rest are stowed away in a cart with drawers that can be wheeled out. I'm in the process of putting in some In-wall shelving for books and dvds, and the dvd side will have room for 5 times what I have, so space will never again be an issue. But i'm honestly trying to decide If I'm going to put in some doors for the dvd shelving so that a) i can lock it when we're gone, and b) There isn't this giant ostentatious film library in the living room. No matter how I try, I just can't pare it down - they are all important to me one way or another. I just went through them once again and pulled *3* that I decided I didn't really need to own. the vast majority of my colllection are older films, I buy hardly any New Releases, so thought went into the purchase and it's something I genuinely want.

Netflix, however, has been a godsend in that it has allowed me to slow down on purchases, I cut them in half for 2003 compared to 2002, and hope to do the same this year. Pretty much the only titles I ever ditched were ones I bought blind just to see them because i had no other recourse. Living in a smallish town means I have to depend on Family Video, which isn't likely to get in Rules of the Game, Polanski's MacBeth, The Grand Illusion, or Ikiru anytime soon...but now, instead of having to blind buy dozens of new releases of older movies, I can rent all of those films I'd love to see and then keep those I liked on the wishlist for future purchases. Somehow or another, I can't seem to get the wishlist below 125 titles, even though it was at 140 when I owned 200. It's amazing really....

Anyway, I just wanted to echo the post i quoted above and give another vote as someone who doesn't buy by the numbers, but actually in spite of them sometimes. And no, i'm not catholic :)

I always got only what I wanted to own. Now, due to space considerations, and also partly due to a lack of desire to spend money, I've gotten more selective lately--sometimes, something comes out I would have bought before, and now I just rent it.

I am new to the whole dvd ownership thing :) I find that I have been buying stuff that I trully enjoy and really only after I rented it from Netflix or Greencine. I mostly enjoy foreign films and stuff my bf would call "high brow". Lol. Not that I dont enjoy the occasional popular film now and then. I like to think of my collection as artsy and not the stuff you would find at blockbuster. :) Oh and the occasional porn dvd too (sshh!)

the bulk of my collection is stuff that i love. i made a point from the start to not get sucked into the buying madness (back in the internet deals whirlwind).

beyond the dear films, i also do occasional Columbia House runs to stock up on films that i would rent anyway. in such cases, the $9 per CH average is only $4 and change more and you then OWN the film. so they might not be the best movies (The Hulk, T3), but they're well worth the price.

i also buy used DVDs at Blockbuster now and then, since they're also $10. same category of film as above.

unless the disc is under $10, i tend to pass on titles that have bare-bones extras. extras are getting so detailed that they alone can justify a purchase.

I'm glad to see there are a lot of Netflix users. I go to some of the other DVD forums and they are filled with "should I blind buy this DVD" threads. I mention Netflix and it is like I am speaking Turkish or something. They don't understand how you can save money on blind buys by renting from them first.

I've pretty much stopped blind buying and Netflixing all the new titles. Even for the titles I want to buy, I often Netflix them to see if they are really worth it. I've cut down a lot on bad buys that way.

My collection is somewhere between 500-1000. Unlike some, I don't buy to show them off. Heck, I keep most of them in boxes since I have no room for them. I tried doing DVD Profiler (although not posting it online) and when I got to the 500 mark, got too overwhelmed by it and stopped.

I've been trying to thin out my collection a lot, but too often, think of some reason why I should keep a certain title. Only been able to bring myself to sell around 10 so far.

I still have over 100 on my must buy list, some have been on the list so long they are now out of print.

There used to be a ton of those blind buy threads in this forum. There still are a good bit, people complained and they got moved into the DVD Reviews forum.

I find the "stuff-reducing" trend very refreshing. It goes against the message that has been hammered into us by mass media, and much of society every day of our lives. The ideas that we are what we own, that 'stuff' is the way to a happy life, and that 'new' and 'more' is always better.

It's surprising and exciting to see a show on television like TLC's 'Clean Sweep' that promotes the idea of simplification, even as it's ironically interrupted by commercials that profess the opposite. This show has actually changed the way some of my friends and family live their lives.

I don't know what anyone's collecting motives are here, but I know what it's like to collect stuff for the numbers. I did this in high school with cassette tapes, and I did it in college with action figures. Sure, you get a reaction from people when they walk into the room and see your collection, but those ten second reactions are hardly worth the thousands of dollars and effort it took to assemble the collection (and who knows what they're really thinking.) I would much rather that people be impressed by who I am as a person than by something I attained through multiple memberships to Columbia House.

It's not that I didn't enjoy my collections aside from the reactions... I took much pleasure in them. But I always acted on every chance I got to easily 'beef up' my numbers.

I'm like brizz in that I'm sometimes bothered by the DVDs I have accumulated. They are a growing presence in my home, and lately I've made more of an effort to control it. It's like Tyler Durden says on my Fight Club DVD: "The things you own end up owning you."

Kirk

I've always been fairly anti-consumerist, but the recent popularity of it is pretty annoyting as it seems to be spurred by Fight Club making it "cool" as you proved. ;)

Interesting. Me, I'd much rather not concern myself with what "impresses" people, but to each his own I guess ;) ... To paraphrase Tyler Durden, himself a neatly-packaged hipster paragon of pop-cultural pseudo philosophizing, "the people you try to impress end up owning you."

I know it. I hate it when my beliefs become cool because then I must immediately change them so that I can remain cool by having all uncool beliefs.
So please disregard my entire post. ;)

I do like it when I've made a positive impression on people because of who I am. In general, I like acceptance and affirmation. And sometimes I will even alter my behavior in hopes of achieving favor, like when I was dating my wife, or when I do a job for my boss. But impressing other people is not the ruling factor in my life.

And a philosophy is just as real even when it's uttered by a pop culture icon.
I mentioned Brad Pitt's character not because he taught me that way of thinking, but because it's kind of funny that in a sense, my own DVD is telling me not to buy DVDs.

My point was more that I think a lot of people spout off stuff like that after seeing the movie just because they thought it was cool, rather than it being something they fundamentally believe. "Coolness" has nothing to to with it.

While I have not organized my films by genre, I do store television separately. That seems to work well for me.

Well, who doesn't desire affirmation to some degree, hugo1000faces? Note that I said I'd rather not concern myself with what 'impresses' people, not that I am in fact unconcerned with such things.

And you're right: hipster icons can utter truths about consumerism, even if it costs consumers $9.00 a ticket to hear the lecture.

Personally though, I think "stuff" gets a bad rap. I mean, without the masses' love for "stuff," open space and the ascetic impulse might be considered bourgeois, and then we bourgeois drones would be stuck with nothing but lots of space and an unexplainable appreciation for minimalism. And you can't grow fat on minimalism.

No, I like things as they are. Viva la stuff.

Re: Re: Re: Has your "vision" of your DVD collection changed recently?
 

Most people post links to brag about what DVD's they have in their collections, not about how many DVD's they have. Of course I prominently display my collection. So what? That does not make it a numbers game. I am not suggesting that you should have a large collection. I am stating that I cannot understand buying things one does not value. I value every DVD I own for various reasons. I cannot imagine ever wanting to part with any of them. I am surprised that people don't consider the implications of purchases before making them. I am also surprised that people don't consider early on what type of collections they want. By the way, I am not in the minority on this. Most people have not even posted to this thread. If they did, I believe that the vast majority would share my dismay with regard to this matter.

This is exactly the reaction I had. I have noticed a trend in these threads as well, and I find it disturbing. They do seem to be self-congratulatory and to denigrate large collections. You stated this very well.

Re: Re: Re: Has your "vision" of your DVD collection changed recently?
 

those who know my posts on these types of issues may just want to stop reading now. you've heard it all before.

glad you dont speak for me. to brag? what a waste of time. my link serves two needs. a dvd/title tracker and the best way to share my taste in films. it's my taste that I'm proud of...at least in my own little world. as far as cherishing my titles, except for a few "wife" and "kid" titles...I cherish every one of 1,400 titles for different reasons. each title serves a purpose...as nuts as that reason may seem to someone else. I'll be adding another 600 or so and those too...will be adored. if not, I wouldnt buy them. I have very selective tastes and dont even come close to buying everything out there.

some people have a wider range of taste and have simply lived longer than others...and therefore might have a larger collection. some have minds a little more open or are more forgiving. I'm building a complete personal library and do not sell, trade or dump titles. I'm not one of those who buy tons of dvds, only to finally realize that they suck or are not worthy to be in the collection. thats a true waste of time and $. sounds to me like some people are not sure what they like...and just take chances. thats fine...do whatever.

to answer the question....has my vision changed? yes. it keeps getting wider. the only thing concerning me now is getting this next import order placed before 5pm so I can get them by the weekend!!:D