Have you guys seen this DVD/LD collection?
He has over 7000 DVDs and LDs.
This isn't mine.
Mine is much smaller.

Who's is this? WHOA!

Hello, we are packing to move and since we store DVDs in books now (if we didn't it would look a lot like the above picture) we no longer need the cases. Let me know if you'd like any. They all have cover art in them so if there is anything specific you need I'll check to see if we have it. Some also have the slipcovers. E-mail me for the quickest response.

Great thread!!!

I was just thinking about moving my collection to binders or something similar...

I like this sleeve:




The DiscSox DVD Pro Sleeves are very nice but at $1 per dvd, I'll pass...


Any other ideas or solutions?

I'm not sure if this is the thread (we've had so many threads like this one) where I posted pictures of the binders I was using.

They are small, just about DVD sized, black, hold 18 sleeves, and three of them fit into a brown slipcase. I had 25 of these sets, able to hold 1350 discs total. This held all of my movie DVDs, but I had to keep all my TV shows, music DVDs, sports, and other non-movies on separate shelves. Also, I had little room for growth in those binders, and the binders/cases are likely out of print. I found them on clearance at K-mart years ago, paid maybe $10-15 for each set.

These 25 binder/slipcase sets were neatly stacked on top of two bookcases, labeled A thru Z. It looked ok, and saved me a lot of space, as the space they took up would only hold perhaps a third of my movie collection. It took me several weekends to pull all my DVDs out of their cases, organize them into these binders, and take the old cases to storage.

But I finally decided to scrap that system. The above limitations, combined with the simple fact of not being able to see my collection, the chance of more damage from sleeves scratching or sticking to DVDs, and other reasons; forced me to spend another couple weekends changing everything.

I bought some Elfa shelving at the container store, installed it in my first ever use of power tools (only a slight exaggeration), and now have a wall of DVD cases, 84 inches wide, and 84 inches high. Ten shelves, maybe 135 cases per shelf. So all my "movie" DVDs fit with room for a little growth (but not much, I'll have to start selling some of the clunkers).

I'll take pictures when I get home if I remember. I'm quite proud of it, although it pales in comparison to some set-ups I've seen.

Definitely post some shots and show off your work!

Ok, just a 2 mp camera, and no room to show angles I wanted, but here goes. I'm sorry, but I forgot to rotate them before I uploaded them, but just wanted to quickly get this up here before I went to bed. Here is my old setup. You see two bookcases with all my TV show DVDs, and the 25 or so binder sets on top. They are empty now, not sure what I'll end up doing with them.


And here is my new shelving, now over 90% full of my "movie" DVDs.

Next question is:

Once I goto binders, what sort of numbering system can I use to incorperate my exsisting dvds and my future buys?

I was thinking: 01-0010 then 01-0020 so on and that would leave 9 empty #'s for new dvds...

Any better ideas?

It depends on what type of binders you use. And how do you want them organized, by genre, alphabetically?

For me, the binders were 18 each w/ 3 binders to a case. When I put them all in alphabetical order, I left approximately one binder between every letter.

Looks good!

My DVD collection is hidden...

...behind some action figures. And even MORE DVDs.

I have a small collection of just under 450 DVD's so far. My job requires me to move twice a year, so I went with a portable solution to storage.

I throw the plastic cases away, and keep the discs in these aluminum cases from Meritline...





They are sorted alphabetically and by genre. Each disk is labeled with a code that allows me to find it fast without looking at the artwork on each disc. The box art is stored in a binder with the same code and organization...





I have all of the deluxe boxset packages in storage should I ever want them. I just scan the art for big boxsets and print out a copy at the size I need it for the binder. It was a lot of work at first getting everything sorted, but now I have templates for all the labels and I can file a DVD away in about two minutes. As for someone stealing my DVD's, I am not worried about it. I would rather have a thief waste time carrying off my DVD's than find some of the other stuff I have.

I know a few people that do this so it doesn't come as a shock to me but I would never be able to throw away the original packaging because that is also what your paying for too not just the movie itself so it's like throwing away some of the money in the toilet and flushing it.

Just found this site in search of storage solutions.
Excellent ideas here!
My collection is well over 1000 disks and I don't care to display them out in the open as many of you do.

At the moment they are all in standard slim CD/DVD cases and stored in cardboard "letter/legal storage boxes" that I cut down to just over the height of a standard CD case. (about 6 and a half inches in height) This makes them easy to stack or transport. And it's not something most thieves will bother with.

I don't need to see the cover art along with the disks and have gone completely digital with them.
No need to scan them because you can download most of them already made at website like http://www.cdcovers.cc/

Someone mentioned that you can't put a label in the edge of a slimline case. It is possible and I have been doing this for years. Need good eyesight, though. Using standard Avery Laser label sheets. I print the labels in 6 point Arial type in Excel. Then use a metal straightedge ruler and Xacto knife to cut each label to the thickness of the case being careful not to cut all the way to the next label. This keeps them all on the page until you need them. (not cut out looking like spaghetti!) It's much faster than you can imagine once you get a system going. The trick is to print them in alphabetical order so it's easier to find the label you need.

I've used FileMaker Pro for a database for all my movies for over 10 years when I started collecting VHS and store everything in alphabetical order.

However, after reading everyones' comments and suggestions, I've decided to go to paper or Tyvek sleeves (to cut down the storage space and weight) and store everything based on a numerical order and let the database do the work. A simple numbering system instead of alphabetical order to simplify access. To find a movie, I would just look for its number in the database. And it's a lot faster for me to find and return something numbered 0495 than something alphabetical. New additions simply get the next highest number.

The problem with alphabetical order is that the collection will eventually overflow into other boxes. All the ones starting with "R" for example, would overflow into another box continuing the "R" section there. You would need to keep relabeling the box to something like "Rabid - Repo Man" and the next box as "Repulsion - RV". Until you get yet another movie that goes in the first box but there's no more room there.

With a numbering system and database, you eliminate the overflow problem and simply fill a box and go to the next one. The box label would not change once it's filled. And none of that constant reshuffling and sorting that seems endless. This might not work for everyone, but it'll be perfect for me.

Kinda off-topic, but binder related... I need HELP!

Has anyone seen a CD binder that only holds the booklets? I think it's by ALLSOP, and it's apparently made for people who have 100-CD changers, or multiple 100-CD changers. I know you can store booklets in any old CD binder, but most are made with a notch or hole to remove the disc, at least on the "disc" side of the page. This one was for booklets ONLY, so none of the pages had notches or holes where the bare artwork was exposed.

It's kind of faux-leather and the one that I saw was kind of a medium brown (I'd prefer black, though). It's definitely for CDs, and I apologize for the off-topicness, but binder people would probably have seen this, even if they don't use it. E-mail or PM me if anybody knows what I'm talking about and/or where to get one. The only place I saw one was an fye that used to be a Wherehouse Music, and they know nothing about it. Probably long-discontinued, but if there's something like it or a chance I could buy old stock off eBay I'd like to know some specifics about it. Thanks, everyone!

EDIT: If it helps at all, the front had a window cut in it so you could see the front-most booklet (or it could have been a separate pocket to display your favorite, I don't remember exactly). The overall size of the thing was around 6.5" by 5.5", and around 2 or 3 inches thick. Each page was just larger than a CD booklet, with a pocket on the front and the back to hold two booklets per page.

Cosmosguy, those cases and binders are GORGEOUS! Do you mind sharing your method for coming up with the codes? What is the significance of FASF-VV? Does it mean Fantasy/Science Fiction - "V for Vendetta"?

I'm a novice and not very well versed in the vernacular of this hobby so please do not flame me if I mis-speak


Here is a picture of the entertainment center I built for the great room, this was designed to hold 175 DVDs in each side column and 120 of our favorites in the front sections.





With the ability to house 450 DVDs I never imagined the need for additional storage but soon realized I was mistaken.

I have tried EVERYTHING and have come to the conclusion that a variety of storage methods will work best for us.

Below is the same picture but I annotated it with letters to help identify the storage method for the different needs of our collection..

A: This is currently set up to hold 175 standard DVDs in normal cases on each side. I am going to re-do these columns to hold our Favorites on one side and our "Box Set Binders(B)"on the other.

B: This is a "Box Set Binder" I don't care about keeping the style of these consistent, My only requirement is that they only hold 2 disks on each side of the page. This keeps them narrow and will allow then to fit in the side columns. I only use enough pages to hold the entire box set. I'm not concerned about the art work or inserts, all of that is kept with the original package and stored in our attic.

C: This is a large Ideastream CD / DVD Media Library Binder. At one time I wanted to store our entire collection in these but they had some issues. They are very heavy when filled with 200 DVDs. Flipping the pages doesn't "feel good". I would have to generate a list. Artwork-less discs are hard to identify since they love to print the title on the center hub in a #6 font. I decided to abandon these and plan to sell them for $25 each which would include 25 pages.


D: These 2 shallow areas were originally designed to hold up to 120 of our favorites. I'm going to remove the doors and shelves and install 4 drawers which will hold up to 1600 DVDs in the DiscSox DVD-2 Sleeves.

E: This is a Priority Mail Flat rate box and it's currently holding 125 DVDs in DiscSox DVD-2 Sleeves. It could probably hold another 75. I bought 5 packs of the sleeves to test their usability and was very please with them. I would say that 90% of our collection will be stored alphabetically in these. It is very simple to insert new titles into the right place and browsing through them is easy.




So basically we will be utilizing 4 types of storage:

• Original Packaging for our favorites movies such as Disney PEs, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc
  
• Narrow Binders for our box sets
  
• DiscSox DVD-2 Sleeves for our the rest of our collection
  
• IdeaStream Binders for movies we really like but don't care about the packaging

It will take a few months to get everything sorted out but I'll post an update when I'm done.

I'll be glad to answer any questions or post addition images if requested.

I would also be open to any suggestions any of you may have.

Thanks

Nice pics and ideas there Boba!

Thanks

I wish I could get more feedback.

I would hate to get this all set up and find out there's an easier way to do it.

Well, the thing with collectors is that no two will probably ever fully agree when it comes to storage/display/organization.

You just have to pick what works and is affordable for you.

Personally, I have found that whatever system I pick I end up having at least slight regrets and usually end up changing it every few years.

I found this thread via Google and read through the whole thing.

My Husband and I bought a townhouse last year. Our entertainment room is also our living room and it basically all of our first floor in addition to the kitchen.

We combined our DVDs together and for single DVDs (not including his Simpsons/Family Guy sets and my Sex and The City/Sopronos sets), we have about 125 dvds. With our box sets, it would double it. Hardly a diehard dvd collection. lol

Anyway, at the moment we have them in our entertainment/living room area next to our sofa. I really HATE it there and would rather use that space for a sofa/console table. At first, I was considering getting one of those covered shelves to hide it. But it is bulky and expensive. Then I came across DiscSox when reading a magazine. It is kind of pricy and our collection is a small and I don’t think it would the right fit for us, but I’m looking for other economical options.

I loved reading this thread and got some ideas. I do like your organization Boba Debt . I also like the set up of Cosmosguy and might drop by Staples or Office max to see if they have those sleeves.

Another bump, resulting from my own experiences. Thanks to all the posters so far - it's been really helpful.

I moved past the issue of packaging storage, to just dealing with the DVDs themselves. The idea of ultra-efficient storage in wallets and/or boxes was very appealing. The big concern I had was for the DVD safety - I still hear differing opinions on how safe they are for DVDs for long-term storage. I tried out a Caseline wallet I bought from Best Buy first, and wasn't too happy with it. It just felt kind of clunky to me. To get a single DVD, I had to put a little stress on all the DVDs to find the place in the wallet. I know others are happy with this solution, but I wanted to try something else.

So I moved onto those aluminum storage boxes with the hanging sleeves (like Cosmoguy has pics of a few posts back). That looked appealing to me, and seemed like it would be really easy to index your collection. The hanging format looked like it would cause minimal stress to the DVD, although the concern with stratches from the sleeves remains. I ordered the very similar-looking Linkyo 600 DVD storage box from supermediastore (2 of them). And I had mixed results. One of the boxes was just perfect. But there was an odd problem with the second box - the sleeves were a few millimeters narrower. Instead of the DVDs fitting into the sleeve perfectly, you have to force it into the plastic a little. There are a couple of bad things that stem from this. First, since the plastic bulges out a little, 600 DVDs don't really fit anymore (more like 450-500). A bigger problem that I see is that now there's a constant force being exerted on the sides of all the DVDs - that can't be good. Unfortunately supermedia doesn't sell the sleeves separately for me to order a replacement pack (maybe I just got a bum one).

Cosmoguy's Meritline box looks almost the same (and the sleeve design looks identical). Meritline sells the hanging sleeves separately. But oddly enough, the sleeves cost much more than the box (which includes the same sleeves). Does that make sense? Meritline has a special (expiring today) for a 600 DVD case for $33. I ordered one to see if there's any difference between the Linkyo box.

If you guys are tossing your DVD cases give or sell them to me. I need a bunch of blank Amaray cases and 2 disc cases + others. Also need some inserts, cases, and slipcovers to complete my loose DVDs.

PG

If you go to your local Blockbuster store you can get crates full of DVD cases that they throw away every week. They usually do this just before the new releases are put on the shelves. You just need ask nicely.

I've got a collection of the Meritline boxes myself. Only one did I have to return because the rails were attached wrong. It's not extremely well made boxes, but well enough. I stumbled on this thread again just because I was looking to fill up the cases a bit more since some of them have a lot of extra room that could store more DVDs. But I've run into the exact same problem as you did, the cases WITH hanging sleeves cost less than the same amount of sleeves. Has anyone found any similar but cheaper sleeves?

Otherwise I like this solution better than trying the huge binders. The large binders seem to get too heavy.

Shawn