Star Wars Guy

So as I'm making the move to Blu-ray and selling off a bunch of my standard DVDs, I've noticed an alarming number of movies that either I've bought over the past few years or were given as gifts (that I asked for), but never got around to watching. The realization struck me that, though I think it's a good movie and it was probably for a very good price, I just never had the desire to sit and watch it over any of the others in my 450+ collection. There were also movies that I decided to sell off for the same reason, though I had already watched it at least once.

When buying DVDs my thought process was that when I'm in the mood for a certain movie, it's at my finger tips and I can watch it then and there. But I've come to the conclusion that more often then not, there's something else I have that I'd rather watch at that time, even if it's one I've seen a million times more than the unwatched one.

When I moved from VHS to DVD, I went through this on a much smaller scale (as I didn't have nearly the VHS collection as I do DVDs now), and either had forgotten that as I was buying DVDs, or it just really didn't sink in.

My mindset now while buying Blu-rays is to ask if it's a movie I think I'm going to watch over and over again, do I think it has the staying power to be picked over something else, etc. before I buy.

Surely I'm not the only one who has gotten to this point, am I?

Cheato

Magic 8-Ball (and the other dozen virtually identical threads that have been in this forum over the last year) says no.

mdnitoil

It would appear that you are not alone. Perhaps there is a reason the home video industry has been shrinking for the last 4 years.

LosingMyMind

When money is no object, this isn't a concern. It's good being rich

JJE-187

Im by no means rich but I regulary spend at most $200 a month on DVDs and usually walk away with around 50 DVDs, I only buy used and when sales are going on. I don't mind waiting 4 months for a movie to drop to under $10 used and buy it

tonyc3742

Please feel free to join us in the Unwatched Movie/DVD Pile threads
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/57...arch-10-a.html

Interesting point about movies you will watch over and over again. Maybe it's that I let my collection get too big, but that would bother me. Very rarely will I watch a DVD I own that I've already watched. (There are exceptions - movies I want to share with somebody, kid's flicks, etc). For what I've paid for most of my titles, if/when I watch them once, I've gotten my money's worth.

I didn't have enough of a VHS collection to have a real pattern with my watching.
I don't mind waiting for titles, although sometimes you can get great deals on new releases during Week 1; but the good deals on TV series are usually a little later. I've also slowed way down on my buying. Of course I just rejoined Netflix, so now I've got the "gotta watch something or I'm wasting money" thoughts.

dkedvd

Yea I hear ya. I have 4000 tiles and a few hundred of them are unwatched. I used to buy every cheap title that I thought looked good but this year decided to cut back on that. So far this year I've only been buying titles I really want to watch, not that I just think sound interesting because I read the cover. And its been paying off. It's nice to look at the list of movie I've bought this year and see some great titles I've wanted to own for some time now instead of a lot of filler. And my goal this year is to finally watch all those unwatched movies (sequels/prequels excluded for now).

calhoun07

No, I am there as well. However, I am not dumping my DVD collection and never will.

When I used to buy VHS, it was for a rare, special title I knew I would want to own and watch repeatedly. I didn't buy a lot of tapes to watch just once and forget about it.

For some reason, I bought DVD much the same way as you did. I know early on it was because you couldn't find it for rental anywhere so it was buy or never see it.

But I plan on getting back to my VHS buying habits with Blu-Ray...special titles only. Maybe just a handful of titles each year.

The only thing I have a problem with reeling in are TV shows on DVD/Blu-Ray because that's still the best/only way to revisit some favorite shows. And I have a lot of favorite shows.

orangerunner

Yes, I hear you. I came to same conclusion when I switched from VHS to DVD. I swore I would just buy the movies I wanted to watch over and over.

My DVD collection is at about 100 right now. It's relatively small compared to most, but looking through it I don't have any real regretful buys or excess I don't want.

My VHS collection was about 300 tapes.

One thing I learned with VHS is just because a film is "great" doesn't mean I want to watch it again and again.

JFK, Dances With Wolves, Schindler's List, The Deer Hunter etc. All indisputably great films but, oddly, the re-watch factor is nil.

Yet I can watch Friday the 13th, The Road Warrior, Risky Business, Fast Times at Ridgemont High over and over even though they are not as good or considered classics.

Sometimes I'll want to just watch an older film I haven't seen before and found it's cheaper to buy it for $3 than to rent it for $4. This makes up part of my collection as well.

Chicken Warrior

I don't rewatch most titles, but I do find myself going back to older titles to revisit select scenes, special features or to reference a particular actor/shot/technique.

I'm kind of the opposite of most here, I guess. I used to only buy my very favorite films, but what I eventually found was that I was remembering a lot of titles that I wanted to revisit but where increasingly hard to find. Therefore, my buying strategy is to pick up a) titles that I love and b) titles that sound/look intersting and are apt to disappear or go OOP in a hurry. Most of the latter are documentaries and Canadian films.

JamesDFarrow

I also stopped buying a lot of DVDs just for the sake of "I want/need to have this". It was a mindset that you had to buy certain movies or TV series as it seemed the right thing to do. To have a nice collection? Or a subconcious gratification that I now own these? Or... Not sure why.

And most I would watch just once, if at all (like most people I have a lot of unwatched as well).

Lately I try to really think hard before buying. Will I watch this more than once. Do I really need to have it. I find a good trick is to decide to buy something, then force yourself to wait and think about it for a few days. Many times I find that I, after reflection, decide I don't really need it. It's difficult though to avoid that "impulse" buying habit that many of us have developed over the years.

Another strange habit I have is that, even though I have something on DVD, maybe even unwatched, if it comes on TV I will watch it there (even with commercials) rather that pop the DVD in. I have no idea why I do this. I am not a lazy person so it can't be that but I still do it.

Anyway, I am really trying to buy only those DVDs that I know/feel that I will watch numerous times. It's not always the case but I am getting better at it.

James

calhoun07

There's always going to be the random title that comes out that I really want to see but can't rent it to check it out first so it's either buy or pass up. I think much of the extra titles in my collection come from that.

But in retrospect there are actually very few titles I have buyer's regret. There are some (the Rush Hour movies, for example...what the hell was I thinking? I know I am never going to watch those.) but I say the stuff in my collection I would never buy if I could do it all over again is maybe just about 1% of my entire collection.

There are several I rented over the years that I was tempted to buy blind that I am VERY glad I rented first because the movie just wasn't what I expected it to be and I would never want to watch it again. As long as movies come out that catch my eye that I can't rent, I will continue to buy titles that may or may not work out for me. Thankfully, for the most part, I have been lucky on my blind buys.

drmar35mm

Since last fall I've encountered a number of opportunities to buy DVDs (new and used) for $3/disk or less--Black Friday at Wal Mart, Big Lots, Dollar Tree, Half Price, Blockbuster used etc. When prices of interesting movies and TV shows drop that low, they cost just a little more than a Netflix disk. So I stock up on titles I know and want to own (found a lot of those at Big Lots this winter); and titles I want to try. In the latter case, I'm betting I might like it and keep it. If not, out it goes. But higher than $3-4, I'll only buy sure things. I'm meandering here, but I guess what I'm trying to say is: If something costs close to a rental and interests you, why not buy? Worst case is you see a dreadful movie (A Guy Thing, for example) but have a decent chance to get your $1 back or lose a dollar or two. Even if I only watch these bargain disks a few more times before I die, they'll have been worth it. And as a lifetime collector, I just like having these entertainment resources at hand. The day may come when even $3 DVDs (or blurays for that matter) will cost too much. But I've got plenty to watch for years to come.

mmyersisgod

I found a lot of movies I realized I would not watch any time soon and I sold them. I regret it.

Star Wars Guy

My wife was saying almost that same thing - that she doesn't want me to regret selling a portion of my collection off. I've limited it to mainly titles that I can rebuy or get as gifts on BD down the road cheap. Those that either aren't on BD yet or have transfers that are no better than the DVDs, I don't sell, unless it's one that I've had for years and still haven't watched or had the desire to watch.

What I really have learned as to the rewatch factor - my habits tend to be almost 100% in either the Comedy or Action genre. Dramas I tend to watch once and then will never end up picking it up and watching it again. I guess it's because those are really story driven (and I usually will get them from Redbox (for free with the codes)) and usually when I look for something to watch, I either want to laugh or see shit blow up. ;-)

Trevor

Many think I'm silly to own ~5,000 titles, but I don't think I'll ever regret it.

The main justification for me is the low cost. Even factoring in the ~250 blu-rays and ~1,000 TV sets, I've paid maybe $5 per title, less than what some people paid to rent.

And while I do rent some, overall I just think that renting is way too limiting, at least for the way my mind works. With renting, except for on demand, you have to plan now what you will watch later. This doesn't work for me. I could add titles that I really want to see to my Netflix queue right now, but even if they arrived in my home tonight, I doubt I'd end up watching it. something else has come up that I'd rather watch or do. Without the instant streaming feature I'd cancel Netflix.

But with multiple thousand titles covering all genres, there is always something I want to watch at home. I imagine that my collection will keep growing, and that I'll always have an unwatched collection of at least 100, but that's fine by me.

I occasionally sell or mainly give away titles that I either upgrade or decide that I'll never watch again, but I plan to keep at least 95% of what I buy.

Skyclad01

You're not the only one. I do this as well often times for some strange reason. I cant seem to figure out why that is.



The way I see it, is with the Walmart $5 bins, the Big Lots $3 & $5 bins, and good used deals along the way, why pay the same price just to rent a movie, watch it and then have return it when for the same price you can find the movie at one of those stores, buy it, keep it and watch it whenever you want for as many times as you want. Even if its a movie you don't like your first time watching, often times some movies take a while to grow on you. So instead of paying once more to rent it again, or to spend added money to buy it, you can buy it at one of the said places, have it and save money in the long run.

(sorry if some of that doesn't make too much sense. Ive been up way too long and should get to sleep)

JuryDuty

I totally agree. This is an epiphany I had a while back with my own collection. I had to ask myself why I was keeping DVDs that I hadn't watched in years--why let them take up mind and shelf space? I had a collection of nearly 400 DVDs and whittled it down to about 50.

Now I keep only DVDs that I'll watch more than twice, or especially mean something. Anything else, I can usually rent for a buck, and that's better than paying several dollars for it and letting it sit around unopened.

As I eventually make the move to Blu-ray, I plan to be even more discerning. I'll probably upgrade the titles that really "mean something" on Blu-ray, like Lord of the Rings, and let other titles, like romantic comedies or TV shows just stay on DVD. After all, I can't imagine the Blu-ray version of Fools Rush In to be much of an improvement over the DVD.

tylergfoster

I usually find that I regret selling around half of the movies I sell. I could probably earn back about $500 undoing several "buy-sell-buy again" processes that took place over several years, and maybe another $500 or so not purchasing discs I never watched, because I upgraded them to a new edition or Blu-Ray before I had a chance to watch them. (And don't even get me started on magically delaying some of my "sell"s until the DVDs went OOP...urgh).

I imagine I'd sell more if I left DVDs unopened.

I think my epiphany, especially since I became a DVD reviewer, is that I care more about special features in theory than I do in execution.

That'sAllFolks

I wonder how many DVDs most of us would own if we did not get all these deals. How many times how we bought something simply because it was listed as a bargain on the forum or someone said it was good. I can think back on Big Lots purchases I've made because there were 2 or 3 members who were anxiously looking for that title and saying how good a movie it was.

That's probably true with most people. Being a collector they want the best version available, but in reality rarely watch the special features more than once or ever listen to a commentary. I used to force myself to watch special features and listen to commentaries, but now rarely even look at deleted scenes. I think I've only listened to one full commentary in the last year or so. (on Recount -- very informative and entertaining from Danny Strong of Buffy fame) I've often passed on great movies at Big Lots because there was a better version though. So sue me.

Fist of Doom

My philosophy: As long as you pay your bills and sock away money for retirement (and take care of your kids, if you have any), there's no reason to regret anything you spend your discretionary income on. If you like collecting DVDs just for the hell of it, or you want to vacation in Hawaii or go to a fancy restaurant, do it. That's what fun money is for - to have fun. Find the best deal you can and then spend it on whatever makes you happy.

I collect TV series more than movies, and I like being able to watch a show anytime I want, or being able to do a marathon without waiting to get the next DVD in the mail from Netflix. I don't feel remorse about any of my DVD purchases.

Hendersonfan

I am the exact opposite of this. If I see a movie on TV, I'll pop in the DVD to watch it, as TV usually edits the good parts or to just skip the commercials.

Trevor

I think you may have meant the below quote, and I think you did butcher it pretty badly.

mike07

I agree one hundred percent.

Zbu

I agree about having mad money (you do work for a reason besides survival), but recently I had an epiphany about my huge DVD collection. Or rather, I'm running out of space in my dwelling and I found out that a lot of stuff I had was still in its shrinkwrap and had been for at least five years. And that if they were in that condition, I was never going to watch them anyway. So, I've been selling off ones on Amazon, returning a few that I could, and trading some in for Amazon Credit simply to clear my archives. There are some that are really popular that I might clear off with a garage sale.

My motto now is to get DVDs I want to watch. I used to splurge and buy some that I might want to watch one day, but the amount of money that takes to fully utilize is extreme and I could be getting out of debt faster if I didn't. I don't want to say I'm becoming more thrifty, but I'm definitely realizing the value of a dollar as it compares to my happiness. DVDs make me happy, but the ones I buy and forget about (which has happened a few more times than I would have cared for in the last month that I've been culling the collection) is more than enough to realize that it's silly. On top of that, I've had some running pre-orders for discs that I cancelled because the time I would get around to watching them, they would be discounted!

In short, I love my hobby. I really do. But its size is negating the joy. If I don't remember getting them, then what is the point? At a certain point, it gets out of hand.

Still, it is good to know that my DVD fund is alive and well through trade-ins. It's pretty cool.