With the exception of some titles that have been on my 'must have' list that will be released in the next month or 2, I'm happy to say I'll be saving a lot of money on DVDs. I just found out the media portion of one of our libraries (I go to University of Florida) has over 150 films from Criterion, along with a number of other movies, and a suprisingly large collection of horror, sci-fi, exploitation and B-films, all for free check out :)

Tell me about it. I was long-removed from the hobby by that time, but during my peak years of collecting, I think virtually every spare buck I had (which wasn't a LOT, since I was still a kid) when towards it, not to mention plenty of my mom's cash, too. If we went grocery stopping, I ALWAYS had to get a pack of cards since they were there in the checkout line taunting me. And I just had to go to the local card shops at least once every two weeks the minimum, and the thought of leaving with nothing was taboo.

I've still got all of them and quite a few are worth something, although I wouldn't know where to unload them since eBay is death valley for sports cards that aren't insanely rare or haven't been professionally graded.

Well, I am good to my guests in that we have two guests rooms each with their own bathroom and a 27" TV with satellite (and DVD), but that's not what I was talking about. I want to have a large selection of DVD's for them to pick from when we watch movies together in my home theater room on our 126" screen. I don't like to tell guests what movie we'll be watching. Instead, they walk in and I tell them to pick something out they'd like to watch.



Stew

I was just messing with ya, I think that's a pretty cool idea. If I had the funds and as many people visiting as you, I'd do something similar.

No one forgave me for having 87 in my backlog:(
*Crys*

it's ok, I forgive you -biggrin-

It was just last February that I had about 525 in my backlog (out of under 1000). I did think that was excessive, but I didn't just buy to buy--I had the intention of watching them all, just not the time. For the last year, though, I've been making the time, and I'm down to 152 (about 70 of these are TV sets though, so those will take longer to watch). I thought it would be kind of a chore to get it down, but it's not, and I've seen some great movies. Trying to get the unwatched down has caused me to think a bit harder about new purchases, so that's a side benefit.

I used to do that, but I stopped my RANDOM DVD purchasing with Netflix and Blockbuster.com now. I usually rent first. I guess that's what happens when your budget is limited too with buying a house, new car, and getting married.

I probably only have a FEW movies that I have not watched at least once, but I'm trying to catch up on that now.

I think most of us will admit to a backlog, at least I will. Some of that is natural, just because you purchase a film doesn't mean that you are in the mood for it. Or it might be that you want to watch it with friends so you postpone viewing it until that can happen. Other films fall more in the category of just being continually bypassed because another film (and then another) take priority. Then was it a mistake to purchase the disc? Sometimes ... yes.

The TV boxset thing puzzles me the most. I understand the urge to purchase TV shows that were flat out favorites or made quite an impression on one's formative youth. I've got the Dick Van Dyke first two sets and 1st year Twilight Zone (each made an impression on me growing up) and first four Simpsons Sets (that my boys watch rather than current TV stuff).

However, these hour long dramas that people are buying ... assuming 22 episodes in a season and 40 minute long episodes that's 880 minutes of viewing for just one season (not counting any special features)! I don't even see how anyone with any semblance of a life could keep up with them let alone actually ever watch them twice. Quite puzzling to me.

880 hours? You mean 880 minutes.

Yep, I'm seriously reconsidering the way I purchase TV sets now. I usually buy older ones for the nostalgia factor alone, but upon finally getting to view them, I find that some of the shows just plain suck (e.g. Charlie's Angels, Knight Rider) and it's doubtful that I'll even want to watch them all the way through now. I'm gonna try to be much more descriminating, especially since these basically end up being $40+ blind buys.

:blush: ... yup... corrected.

I was afraid when tv sets first started coming out I'd be like that, but I basically wound up making a list of shows to buy, and I will not stray from. Only 6 or 7 shows in total, and luckily, for $$ sake, a few are under 5 seasons.

I agree with the sentiment about TV sets. I think the only sets I have that fall under the one-hour show category would be Dawson's Creek and Freaks & Geeks. The rewatchability factor for the former is slim, but great for the latter.

I find that the other TV sets are pretty easy to breeze through. They basically work out to 22 minutes a show, so you could conceivably get through half of a TV set in the time it would take for you to watch your basic two-hour film.

I used to be a crazy collector, but I've thinned out my collection a lot in the past couple of months and now just buy/keep stuff that I've seen and know I'll watch a lot.

Stuff that I haven't seen before (that would have been a blind buy in the past) or stuff that I only would watch once every couple of years, I now just NetFlix.

I'm confused by your math. A season set usually has around 22 to 24 episodes. Assuming 22, half of the season would be 11, and 11 episodes multiplied by 22 minutes is 242 minutes -- double the length of a two-hour film. ???

This happened with me with THE A-TEAM. Seemed like the best show ever when I was a kid, but it's unwatchable for me now. Still love the confrontations between B.A. and Murdock, but alas those are fewer and farther between than what I remembered.

I've been coming here daily for well over a year now, which would make one assume i've got a large dvd collection like you folks. In reality, i've got something around 21-22 movies on dvd. WHY you ask?! I only buy things i feel i would want to watch more than once a year. It could also be the financial aspect of dvd collecting... whatever it is, lately i've been starting to want titles i really like, but know i probably won't want to watch again for a while. I hope i don't fall into the trap...

Don't worry, I didn't crunch any numbers, so there's no reason to be confused. My point was just that you could knock off a TV set in the time it'd take to watch a few movies.

As an aside, while I get caught up in watching some of my favorite sets within a few days of purchase, there's nothing wrong with watching them spread out over a period of time. When I was polishing off the Mary Tyler Moore set, I watched two episodes a night and before I knew it, I had gone through the whole set in what seemed like little time.

<i>The A-Team</i> was another 80's series I was dying to get, but held off after the <i>Knight Rider</i> disappointment. I used to LOVE these shows when I was a kid, but just seem too repetitive now (I feared A-Team may have been even moreso). I have to say I am enjoying <i>Magnum P.I.</i> and am looking forward to continuing that collection, as well as high hopes for <i>Miami Vice</i>. I guess it boils down to the ability to explore broader plot lines, without having to solely rely on a gimmick (a talking car for example) to revolve the story around.

I'm having much better luck with the half-hour comedies as well (Good Times, What's Happening!, Sledge Hammer!) :up:

One thing you might consider when wondering if an old show will hold up over time is... "What were the demographics when the show was first released?"

"Knight Rider" was mostly geared toward teens. The "A-Team" OTOH, seemed to be targeted to an older audience. I think that "Miami Vice" would hold up well for the same reason. I remember the production quality of MV as "film-like"... not your typical series.

On the other end of the spectrum is "The Love Boat". That show was geared toward the AARP set... and now that I'm closer than ever to that magical age, The Love Boat seems to be BETTER than it was back then. :lol:

I don't know why I buy DVDs only to watch them 6 or 7 months...sometimes years later.

What's especially a pain is when I discover a defect on the disk much later and the receipt is long gone.

I buy more than 21-22 DVDs in a month :eek:

I have lots of DVDs I have yet to see (I am always hesitant to talk about quantities...sort of like comparing salaries). But to call it a "backlog," or talk about "finally getting through them" makes it sound like a job! :) What I have is a treasured list of video entertainment awaiting to pleasure me at my leisure. I have a couple of titles in almost every genre I may find myself in the mood for available to step up and and take their turn at bat. I am thankful for having a list of DVDs I want to see but haven't yet. Sort of like knowing that slice of pie is in the fridge if the mood should strike. But would I buy one I know I'll never watch? Not intentionally.

I buy items I might not otherwise because I have basically stopped seeing them in the theater. I can own the DVD for little or nothing more than it costs to see (in fact much less if I am taking the kids), especially considering I can always unload it to a used store if it is bad enough.

I also have loved sharing "older" titles from my youth that I adored with my kids (or neighbors and friends) now that they are getting to the same age I was when I discovered them. Maybe I would not have watched them alone again, but watching with a new viewer has a revitalizing effect for me. I occasionally get some odd stares when I talk about what a great movie this is, but to see my kids devour Indiana Jones, or the original Star Wars movies after they saw EP I and EP II and were not all that impressed, or more recently Laurel & Hardy, has been worth every penny.

I have also been selective about which TV series I buy. I think that helps budget and time-wise. I mostly pick up BBC titles, because they are so hit and miss in the US. For instance The Office was a fantastic blind buy.

that pie won't look too good after about 2 years....but the dvd will look just fine, like the day you bought it.:D

I finally have a backlog now....purchased 9 films/dvds in the last 2 days. meanwhile, my wife, a real slave-driver, has booked about 60 hours worth of jobs this week alone, so it looks like I'm now in the normal club.-wink-