Will rare and OOP DVD's go up in value?
 

Over the years I mean. I want to understand the logic behind some of these rare and OOP titles. I have some. They are in mint condition, not sealed, but wondering if they will be worth more and more in the future, the same or even less? A couple I paid top for and ones I just had.

I have what I consider a nice collection and just wanted a few that have some real monetary value, plus they are movies I really enjoy just to add a little umph to the collection as a whole if that makes sense.

So I am just wondering if I ever decide years from now to sell these rarities will they be quite a bit more than what I paid for them or if DVD's go the way of the dinosaur will they be completely worthless?

Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

My guess is that it will depend on if new editions are ever offered. The thing that makes something like a DVD valuable is its scarcity. How difficult is it to get your hands on one. If something is OOP, that doesn't mean that there won't be any more made ever, just that there aren't any more being made now.

I guess this also has to do with who published the DVDs you have. There are some publishers who will never produce more of whatever because they have lost their rights over time.

i understand that and good points. but won't the originals be worth more than a re-issue of the exact same material from the exact same publisher or no?

like the Criterions for instance.
if i have The Killer now and it is re-issued by them sometime in the future and looks similar but obviously is upgraded wouldn't the old still hold value?

There is no inherent value in the DVD itself, only the content. If a film is reissued with similar or identical features and documentaries, expect the value to crash. A perfect example is the Halloween and Army of Darkness Limited edition sets from Anchor Bay. Shortly after they sold out, it was fairly easy to swap one for a Killer or Salo, whatever. Now, you'd be lucky to get $15 for it.

After a temporary set-back, my 8-track tape collection is steadily increasing in value :)

Seriously though, unless there is special tin version or something, I don't see a dvd becoming collectible if there is a newer version released with the same content. On the other hand, take a look at the Silence of the Lambs CC or Spinal Tap DVDs. They still fetches good money even though there are newer version in print with better transfers. This is probably due to the excellent supplements/commentary and the highly valued CC spine number.

By the way, you can all thank me for the Charade CC coming back into print as I just bought it at ebay prices as a birthday gift.

Titles like <i>They Live</i> sold for ridiculous prices while it was OOP - but I don't think there's any real value to that first release now that a new one has appeared.

Almost anything in your collection that is currently OOP could suddenly reappear in a new release, so please don't plan on financing your college tuition or new home or retirement on DVDs.

I don't exactly get your point on this..please explain, swap Halloween for The Killer as an even exchange? and get $15 for Halloween now?

so then a Swamp Thing (uncut) and alt. ending Little Shop of Horrors will be worthless in the future if it comes out again? then I guess the question is will it ever...

The perceived value of Halloween and AOD used to be close to $100 each - around the same time the perceived values of The Killer and Salo were around $100. After several rereleases, the perceived value of AOD and Halloween is <$15 while the other two have kept going up.

If a movie is rereleased with the same features and equal or better transfer quality, the original becomes worthless. End of story. The only reason CC titles retain at least some of their value is because they rarely license their featurettes and people like the numbers. For anything else released by any other studio, you have no hope.

Look at what happened when the Tati Criterions were rereleased. Exact same material and the eBay prices dropped back down to normal.

so what about a "Swamp Thing" (uncut) and alt. ending "Little Shop of Horrors" will they be worthless in the future? then I guess the question is will it ever come out again...

There's no way to tell if they will be released again. If they were to be re-released, the current versions definitely wouldn't hold their premium value. The bottom line is that dvds don't make good investments since most OOP titles are usually re-released at some point.

Great thread. I'll tell you what will become valuable: television box sets. Of course, not all of them. For example, there's too many Simpsons and Friends sets floating about. But for other shows, their limited production runs are based on sales. If the demand isn't what was expected, manufacturers kill the product. Box sets also have a limited window of mass production economic viability. While I'm not saying that Paris Hilton's The Simple Life will necessarily go up in value, Fox will probably quit producing the product once her 15 minutes is over (which is very soon). At some point in the future, somebody somewhere will want to have a mint copy of The Simple Life and if the supply is low at that given time, voila, the price goes up.

I've definitely noticed the Trek season sets start to dry up on the shelves.

At some point? Thats a joke. It will never be collectible - there is nothing in it that would appeal to collectors. Not a part of a series (which would draw completists) and not even a real "celebrity' Maybe in 100 years, but I doubt it.

You're missing the point, substitute any product that will have a limited production run with no chance of seeing a reissue. The Simple Life is just an example. Here's more from Wikipedia:

In general where goods are traded in a market, prices of goods tend to rise when the quantity demanded exceeds the quantity supplied at that price, leading to a shortage, and conversely that prices tend to fall when quantity supplied exceeds the quantity demanded. This causes the market to approach an equilibrium point at which quantity supplied is equal to the quantity demanded. Price is thus seen as a function of supply curves and demand curves.

No. I am not missing the point. Any product on this world has a "limited production run" You are using a mass produced widely available piece of media (Simple Life) that has a show that aired first on free TV, then was sold $12 in most outlets. It has little drawing value (actor?, director? or part of a series) that makes something of value in future years. Using your definition, any DVD would be worth more than it is now.

Maybe in 50 years it will be worth more than it is now, but only by a fraction.

DVD'S will never be worth that much as collectibles,its not like comick books or some other collectibles,for instance if you have action comics 1# in mint condition it is worth over a hundred thousand dollars,if they reprint an exact duplicate of action comics 1# your original is still worth over a hundred thousand dollars.

Now if you have something that is oop and is worth more than the retail price it will drop down to retail or less than retail when a new edition comes out(with rare exceptions) and a few years down the line when there is a new format out and that same movie gets released in it(like hd dvd) your formaly out of print title will probably even lessen in value

The problem with some new re-releases is that the quality may be equal or better than the original but the stupid studios released them as Fullscreen only whereas the original had both Widescreen and Fullscreen (e.g. Annie with Carol Burnette).

Given that.. wouldn't the older original release be worth more because of the fact it is Widescreen? It should be but I guess there are too many idiots out there who think the new release is just as good or still better than the original.

Sorry, but you're missing the point again. First, I said, "...at some point in the FUTURE, somebody somewhere will want to have a mint copy of The Simple Life and IF, the supply is low at that given time, voila, the price goes up." I didn't specify when in the future or how much they'll pay.

Second, I said, "(Television) box sets have a limited window of mass production economic viability." My point was that many of these are unlikely to ever be mass produced again due to high production costs and an ever increasing amount of products that continue to flood the shelves of retailers. Therefore, if there is demand in the future for an out of print product, a low supply will likely dictate higher prices.

Will they will never be re-released? Regardless, if demand outstrips supply, then your answer is yes. Check ebay.

What about Disney DVD's..why are some of them so expensive now? and will they be worth anything? if they do re-release, would they re-release the exact same thing? like will toy story toy box not be worth so much eventually?

DVDs are mass produced items. They will not be worth anymore than they are worth today, and if you think they are collectibles (in the monetary sense) you will have a long time to wait. A Simple Life will not be worth more (or have demand outstrip supply) for several years, if not decades. Better to put your money in a mutual fund, you will get better results.

I generally agree with chanster, DVDs are a poor investment vehicle.

However, some people do quite well selling mass produced items on ebay. We've all seen what some of those oop Criterions go for.

Exactly why DVDs like Simple Life are poor collectibles. Most of the criterions that do well have some kind of niche:

1.) Killer and Hard Boiled - Perhaps the greatest Hong Kong Action Films (at least the ones known in the U.S.) You've got John Woo fanatics, fans of the genre, etc

2.) Salo - Pretty much a one-trick pony. A pretty sick movie whose notoriety is more important than the actual film

3.) Robocop - Sells anywhere from $41-$60 on Ebay. Retail price was what $40 anyway. A pretty popular movie by Criterion standards that is the only place to get the unrated R1 release. When MGM finally gets around to releasing the full SE with both cuts, I would expect Criterion disc prices to fall

I kind of hope when the new Dawn of the Dead DVD comes out it'll drop the value of the Anniversary Edition down, because I've wanted a copy of that one for a while, just because.