Giggles

There're many types of DVDs I wouldn't buy myself. But it doesn't mean I can't understand those who would. Even with wrestling and anime (both are beyond me) - I just realize some people are into it. Well, every one of us is into something.

mikelowry

Never in my wildest dream will I purchase wrestling DVDs but I don't think those who collects this sort of stuff doesn't owe us any explaination.

MovieExchange

And there's the answer that always successfully shuts down the wrestling bashers.

And just to stay on topic -

1. Sequels that the person hates, but gets it just because "the run has to be complete." Sorry, but you know what? Halloween 3 will never be seen on my movie shelf. Well, maybe if someone gives it to me.... but odds are I'd just sell it off in my store instead.

2. HD / Blu-Ray re-releases of older movies that don't merit the upgrade. You do know your HD / Blu-Ray player plays older DVD's, right? So did you really need to go out and pay $25 for Lost in Translation on HD when you could buy a new regular DVD copy for $10?

3. Criterions. As described in an earlier post, this whole "gotta have every spine number" thing is nuts, especially when you look at the price of the average release.


That all being said, I know I have a lot of buying habits that would make people question my sanity.

1. Double / triple dips, and keeping the original. If there's a new commentary track on a film I like, guess what? I'm buying it. If there's a special feature that was removed from the earlier edition, I'll keep it as well.

2. Wrestling DVD's. I buy the occasional WWE or TNA PPV when it's very cheap and I know that there's one or two matches I like on there. However... Ring of Honor, an indy company out of the NE, puts on great shows with well-written storylines. Thus I collect every DVD of theirs that I can, and have over 150 of their shows.

3. Over-sized collections where many titles are still sealed / unviewed. I have about 1500 titles in my collection, and I'd say at least 800 of them have never been opened. I'd also say that out of the entire collection, there are at least 700 that I've never seen before in any way. For example, I have seasons 1-4 of Smallville, 1-9 of Stargate: Atlantis, and many other TV series that I've never watched an episode of. My rationale is (1) I own a DVD store, thus I can get things cheap and want to get them at the best price now and (2) if I blind buy something and don't like it, I can always put it in my store to get rid of it.


In the end, it all comes down to what the great George Carlin said when it comes to personal differences - "Live and let live, that's my motto. Anyone that can't go along with that, take 'em outside and shoot the motherf**ker."

Yakuza Bengoshi

Okay I understand this part, but except for Dark Shadows, soap operas aren't much released on DVD. Any thoughts on why wrestling has succeeded on DVD when most soap operas have failed. Is it merely a matter of demographics (e.g., males 12-50 vs. females 18-60) with men more likely to buy DVDs than women or is something else at work?

MovieExchange

Because actual soap operas are 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, whereas wrestling PPV's are 12-15 a year, depending on what company you watch.

I'd also say that the demographic does have an impact.

Then there's the "historical" factor. You don't go away from an episode of a soap opera going "wow, that actor really hit it in that episode!" In wrestling, though, get the right performers and you could walk away saying "Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle just put on an astounding match!" or "That one-year storyline of BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs was amazingly well-written" or even "hey, I was at that show and I want to see if I was on camera" (I've attended several live Ring of Honor shows, and am always front row for them).

Yakuza Bengoshi

This is very helpful, thanks! I didn't know that wrestling was only 12-15 times a year per company. I'd imagined 26-52 eps. a year, plus 12-24 PPVs per company. One final question, how many companies are there?

macnorton

I would like to respond to a few of the comments here:

1. I am a wrestling fan, and it is pure entertainment. But when you are a kid, it is a lot like a magic trick, you want to believe but in the end, it isn't real. However, anyone who says these guys (and girls) are not athletes, that is really insulting to them. But back to the topic, I collect DVD's of my favorite wrestlers, since I grew up with it. And occasionally, they come around an I can meet them, which is always cool. But I am not rabid like some of these guys, and more power to them. I just want to collect the ones I want, no need for multiple copies.

2. On the point of multiple copies, I do own a few of these, however my collection has the original cut of a film and then a director's cut. In some cases, the two are drastically different (Daredevil) and some have some really awesome extras. But for me, if there is an unrated cut and a theratical cut with the same extras (like The 40 Year Old Virgin...before the re-release) I will take the unrated. Outside of that, no reason to own two.

3. As a Criterion fan, this is an easy one. Most of my exposure to foreign films (IE stuff outside of the US...don't laugh some people think foreign means not by a major studio...no joke, really) is through Criterion. And yes granted some of the disc have little replay value, but I never buy something I know I am only going to watch once. If I have doubts, I will borrow it or rent it. But yeah, some people do get a little crazy.

macnorton

I will field that one. In reality there are hundreds out there. But there are only two you need to know, WWE and TNA.

There are a lot of regional companies, that cover certain "territories", but they also tour. Of those, the biggest is ROH (Ring of Honor).

About 10 years ago, there were the big three WCW (owned by Ted Turner), ECW (hardcore wrestling out of Philly), WWF (before the lawsuit). Vince McMahon (owner of WWE) bought WCW and ECW, and WWE was the only one for a number of years. TNA started out as PPV (pay per view) only and then they got a TV contract from Spike.

toddly6666

Does anyone agree that the majority of Criterion films are pretty boring? The Criterion DVD covers tend to look more interesting than the actual film itself.

Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.

but the weekly shows aren't released on DVD, so you really can't have the complete storyline.


to answer the original question, it's definitely people who collect every criterion just because it is a criterion.

Yakuza Bengoshi

I enjoy the majority of the Criterions I've seen, but there's a lot that I have no interest in owning. Collecting them all has never made any sense to me. The Criterion Collection has become associated with high-quality releases of high-brow films, but this really is only partly true. Ever since the LD days, Criterion has released a range of films from Armageddon, to The Passion of Joan, to Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One. The quality of the releases have often been good, but rarely cutting edge with Criterion coming late to DVD, late to anamorphic releases, continuing even now to windowbox 1.33:1 releases, and it will no doubt also be late to BR. With such a range in genre from popcorn, to classic, to experimental, and with some better quality releases of Criterion Collection titles by foreign distributors, collecting them all can only be justified for reasons extrinsic to the content of the DVDs themselves.

macnorton

I personally have never understood the fascination with anime. Granted I have seen quite a few, but it seems like most of it is total garbage. However, I do personally like Cowboy Bebop, which was an awesome story with one of the best soundtracks ever. What is not to love? I also enjoyed Akira and a few others (I don't recall their names, but I know they were cool and my friend could easily answer that for me).

dhmac

Boredom is strictly in a person's mind.

cardaway

Nobody thinks less fo wrestling than me (most of my issues are them marketing that shit to kids) but I would never knock somebody's collection because it includes wresting DVDs. That kind of crap is whyt I don't put my DVD Profiler link in my sig. The last thing I need is somebody knocking me because they don't think I should have some of the lesser movies I have in my collection.

All that matters to me is the content on the DVD is fun, not the quality of the movie or show. I imagine this is true whether the person collects the AFI 100, the Golden Raspberry winners, or wrestling DVDs.

MovieExchange

There are weekly TV shows for the big 2. WWE puts on Raw (2 hours) ECW (1 hour) and Smackdown (2 hours) once a week. TNA puts on a 2-hour show each week. See my response to Lunatikk as to how that's covered.

The one that would be closest to what you were imagining is Ring of Honor, an indy company that has no weekly show but puts every live event out on DVD. That means there are about 3 or 4 shows per month to buy. However, the company has a lot of 30% off sales, as well as "buy 2 get 1 free" or even $10 sales on older titles.


Actually you do, since every important match on a PPV is started off with a video package highlighting the feud and how things came down to this match. Then pretty much all matches (except for throwaways with no backstory) will have the commentators talking about the events that lead to the match taking place.

macnorton

Way back when, wrestling was family entertainment. But things got edgier in the 90's. However I don't agree with your statement. I feel it is up to the parents to make the decision on what their children are watching. If WWE markets to kids, so what. The parents should know (there is this thing called Google) what it is all about, instead of complaining after the fact.

And I do agree, one should not knock someones collection in jest. I am always up for some playful mocking...since it is really all in fun. When you cross the line, that is not cool. People don't like my collection, no problem. Just don't go throwing out names because of it. But if you want to call me a dork for my action movies, that is cool.

rw2516

As a life-long collector of this, that or the other thing, I can appreciate any kind of collecting whether it appeals to me or not. Go for it!

darthdelegate

This is exactly what I've always said about wrestling. So many people scream, "But it's fake! How can you watch that?!"

Movies are fake. TV shows are fake. Are we not supposed to watch them either?

Ginwen

I would've said wrestling DVDs but this helped explain why people own so many.

chris_sc77

Ones I just dont understand

1. Wrestling/Sports DVD's
2. Disney DVD's
3. Anime DVD's

macnorton

Wow, excellent point.

On Disney DVD's, yeah there are some people who want everything, which I don't understand. For me, I have (are at least attempting to) all the classics on DVD and the Pixar films. I also collect the Treasures sets, but outside of that, no much else. There are a few live action films that are good and the wild life docs are cool (I remember them as a kid...thank you public school education), there is really no reason for me to buy anything else. I can also understand parents getting things for their kids, but does the world really need 3 Cinderella sequels?

The Eliminator

Anime, Wrestling, collections over 500, and Criterion completionists. Makes no sense to me.

Sweet Baby James

Porno. Renting them is one thing, but just how many times does one need to see Ron Jeremy blow his load in the same scene?

Trevor

Same here. I think that some people have the collecting gene, and some don't, and the one will never understand the other.

I love movies, but admit that my buying them is more due to my collecting habit than the movies themselves.

I love what I do, but if they made a pill to "cure" me, I'd take it.

Steve Phillips

DTV American Pie sequels, those horrible satires like "Date Movie" and so forth.