Over the years I have picked up more than a few double dips of favorite flicks that came out in "new and improved" versions, and while I traded some of the old versions in for the new, often I wanted to keep the old one as well because it had exclusive extras (e.g., trailers, isolated soundtrack, a different documentary, etc.). You know the story. Also, I became less and less impressed with what stores were willing to pay on trade-ins of older titles. So, doubles began to appear on my shelves.

As someone with finite shelf space, this became a bit of a problem. I needed a way to cull the older versions but still have them accessible.

What I did was to take all of the older versions with me over Christmas when I visited my parents and jump started their own home DVD library. My parents were thrilled. Also, while they are off my shelves, they are still "within reach," as it were.

It will be nice to already have a library of DVD's that I like at home when I visit. Also, I will probably be even more motivated to catch up on any features I missed while I am there since I know I will have limited access to them.

Anyway, this has worked out so well I thought I'd pass along the idea.

I've done this with a title here or there. Gave my mom my old North by Northwest when I bought Hitchcock box from Warner, gave my cousin my single-disc Divimax Dawn of the Dead when I finally sprang for the Ultimate Edition. You're right, it's nice. Especially since neither my mom nor my cousin is likely to buy DVDs on their own, but they each love those respective movies, so it kind of worked out perfectly.

The thing is, I just give it to them in a "here, I know you like this movie and I happen to have an extra one lying around" kind of way. I think it's kind of tacky to give it as a formal Christmas/birthday/what-have-you gift (not saying this is what you did, doesn't seem like it; I've just seen others mention doing this).

No, it was not their Christmas gift, just a nice bonus. After today, they'll soon be getting the prior versions of Ferris Bueller and The Magnificent Seven.

I've given away several older versions of movies after I doubledip, especially if a pal mentions this title or that and I know I have the title sitting gathering dust.

I do this when I see incredible deals come up. Like I got my parents the Claude Chabrol box set for $20. And I gave them Amelie when I mistakenly ordered it twice.

I let them borrow Winged Migration and when I go to get it back they put their "Property of..." sticker because they thought it was Fly Away Home. And then they did the same thing with Last Samurai because they thought it was their copy of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

I gave my sisters family alot of doubles I had this year and have found several more. Some I'am not so sure of as the extras on the old version might be different from the new but then I doubt I would ever re-visit the old versions just for the extras and I'am to lazy to check them out.

My redundant discs go the other way - to my son, a college student of limited means. He knows he can check out the features on the newer version when he visits, if he's interested.

I look forward to the day when he has enough money to be giving me his extra stuff!

RichC

Another option. Get a larger capacity keepcase that has the same dimensions of the regular case and put the all the discs in it and use the insert from the new release or create a custom one which includes info from both releases.