I was recently reflecting on the fact that my wife and I haven't bought nearly as many DVD's or CD's in the last year or so as we had been buying. Part of that, of course, has to do with funds dwindling and gas, etc. I have also concluded, though, that it partly is due to the fact that we've already got nearly everything that has ever been made that interests either of us.

Like many of you, I'm crazy enough to actually have an electronic list of titles in my library (I use an Excel spreadsheet these days), and looking over it I see that the number of titles bought from 2005 onward alone demonstrates a drastic decline in purchases. Now, I should point out that just because something was released in a certain year doesn't mean that's when we bought it; by the time I started inventorying (?) our library, knowing the actual purchase dates was hopeless. Still, here are the numbers:

65 2005 releases
51 2006 releases
20 2007 releases
03 2008 releases

Several of these purchases were '05+ DVD issues of older titles (for instance, I bought all four of the James Bond Ultimate Edition boxed sets, but I only counted each box as 1 purchase). A lot of these I readily confess we bought after its initial release, by the time it hit the discount bins at Circuit City or Wal-Mart, found it used at Half Price Books, etc. Still, it underscores a growing trend of not finding that many things that interest my wife or myself enough to buy in the last few years. Are we alone in this, or does anyone else find themselves buying fewer current-year releases?

I agree. Now that the "wave" of major releases has essentially passed, what's left for release isn't much. Sure, as an avid horror fan there are LOTS of films that I still want on DVD, but many of the "holy grails" are out already. There seem to be less announcements for catalog titles this year than ever. I've even purchased far fewer DVDs so far this year than any prior. I know there is still a lot out there that I'll want, but there aren't a lot of upcoming releases I'm insanely excited about.

There's always room for more TV on DVD releases, shows that have been abandoned and such. NYPD: Blue, Mad About You to name a couple.

Funny I was just looking at that today wrt my own collection. I agree in part it's because of the fact I already have most everything I'm interested in. Also w/ how quickly prices drop, and the plethora of re-releases, I'm a little hesitant to purchase a new release these days (unless it's something I really want) so I'm more likely to rent something and then wait to purchase it later (if at all).

FWIW here's my records, the "- X" is the number I give away to the library, which is what really started this since I just noticed I haven't given away anything this year so far even though I have a stack set aside for that purpose.


unknown 34
2008 55
2007 105 - 50 = 55
2006 123 - 20 = 103
2005 150 - 65 = 85
2004 122 - 52 = 70
2003 107
2002 141
2001 130
2000 158
1999 111

For me, I think it was more of an addiction to buy everything that interested me starting about a year after I got my DVD player. I still buy quite a bit every year. As someone else mentioned, there are still quite a few TV shows that I still buy on DVD. Otherwise, anything that I think has a chance of coming out on Blu-Ray, I will wait until the Blu-Ray release. The TV shows, coupled with a lot of still-to-come super-duper ultimate editions, I don't see a big drop off anytime soon.

My Numbers:
2000: 1 (I got my first DVD Christmas of 2000)
2001: 62
2002: 335(!) <--- This is the addiction phase I was talking about
2003: 267
2004: 216
2005: 187
2006: 140
2007: 140
2008: 106

As there is the DDD 20% off sale in November (assuming), I will probably hit another 140 this year. From this small statistical sample, it looks like I may maintain a healthy 100-140 a year for a while. Let's re-visit this next year.

Edit: DVD Profiler easily tells you how many one buys per year. Also, gas prices or any other financial consideration is not a factor in my purchasing habits.

That's kind of what this thread is for
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=521375

I have felt the same way, but am frustrated at the list of movies that is still 1000 long for needed release that the studios refuse to release. Where is Magnificent Ambersons? Where is African Queen? I could go on and on with tons of DVD's like this. I'm ready to buy, but they ain't releasin...

I bought and bought and bought from when I got my first DVD player (Christmas 1997 - man, was it really that long ago) until about early 2002. But then money became more of an issue and I bought very sporadically until the last 6 months. And now with a new job, more money and a Blu-ray player, I find that my purchases have gone up once again. Not too many new SD DVDs purchased lately, though.

I have a hard time getting too worked up over TV shows on DVD, mostly because I haven't been that excited about TV in years. The funny thing is, I find I enjoy watching a season set on DVD much more than on TV. Even when they run a marathon of a show I like, it's somehow more compelling on DVD. I suppose that's why the networks insist upon large, talking graphics popping up over the screen throughout the episode. (I'm really looking at you, Spike TV!)

The issue that I'm facing is that I just don't have alot of extra cash lying around to spend on DVD's. I used to bust out the credit and spends hundreds of dollars every Tuesday on mostly impulse purchases.

Now, I have to watch what I spend more closely as I had to buy a new car in April and have car payments in addition to my other expenses, which have gone up. Plus, I am trying to cut down on frivilous credit card purchases (alot went to DVD's) so that I can save money to go on a nice vacation next year.

Don't get me wrong, I still love DVD's and will buy a few here and there that I really want. However, I think things have changed for me now. I would much rather put away an extra $200-300 in the bank that I could spend on a nice vacation in Asia next year than use it on crap that will sit in my closet gathering dust.

Like most people my buying habits initially increased year to year until I felt like I had most everything I wanted, then it was mainly new releases or double dips for better copies.

However, in the past year I've stretched my viewing habits to a lot of older movies from the 30's through 50's and found a whole new excitement to movie watching. With the decline in prices and all the sales one can find I can now buy three to four movies for what one cost a few years ago.

In addition, since having the theater I really hadn't watched that much TV for the past six years. So now there are also a slew of TV shows I can watch and season prices of those have come down quite a bit too. I just suspended my NetFlix account because I have so much to watch without needing to rent.

So for me, my purchasing went up significantly over the last year and a half, but now it is going to go back down as I try to watch all my more recent purchases.

My wife and I talk every now and again about watching everything we have before buying anything new. It always sounds good, but while we share an interest in a certain number of our library titles, a lot of it is really hers or mine. So we'll watch a few things, and then the next thing we know, we're finding a sale at Half Price Books and spending $20 for nine more DVD's. I haven't really gotten to the point of canceling Netflix, but I have thought if it weren't for watching the Reds, I'd give up TV entirely and just rent season sets on DVD.