Chicken Warrior

There's been a lot of doom and gloom about the end of physical media, the death of DVD, the constant need to 'upgrade', the inevitable 'crash' of collectible value, etc, etc.

Maybe I'm just optimistic but I've noticed other trends that seem to go against this. Is it just me or are select VHSs already creeping up again in price? I've noticed more collection videos on youtube featuring large, proud, libraries of VHS movies, especially early horror flicks, films from Disney and foreign films. It's not as if these titles aren't on DVD...but people are collecting them on DVD and VHS. In some cases Blu and Laserdisc are also on that list. They have 2,3 even 4 copies of the exact same film. People are starting to take note of how many copies of each edition were released and ebay prices are reflecting that. These aren't seniors who haven't figured out the difference between a DVD and a coaster, they're collectors.

Another, similar, trend is people taking note of 'first printings', be they Beta, VHs or DVD. These early prints are often featureless and mediocre transfers, but they seem to hold some promise of value simply for being first editions. A little bit like the book world, movies are released almost enough times in enough formats to be kept just for the varying cover art and package designs.

I spoke to a fellow in future shop the other day who vowed not to sell any of his films because he got them all on or near launch and was convinced 'first printings' would only become more collectible over time (after initial, inevitable price dips). Perhaps more importantly, these early releases do have at least one thing to offer: Nostalgia. Especially in the case of Disney tapes in their bubbly white hollow cases, this isn't something to underestimate.

Certainly, the way new DVDs are packaged in flimsy eco-cases, often with no features and disposable digital copies, earlier releases are increasingly attractive if you can't afford to buy everything on Blu.

Any thoughts on this?

milo bloom

There's folks that have been doing this for a while. I believe Josh Z has every single home video release ever of BladeRunner. I'm sure there's others, though I have no interest in it of course. I gladly got rid of all my Star Trek VHS when they came out on DVD, and the few other VHS I had also. There's a reason Comic Book Guy had that used copy of the McDonald's comic book with the word jumble completed; he knew somebody, somewhere might be looking for that.

Trevor

Sorry to go sort of off-topic, but this thinking is partly why I am half-way to someday appearing on Hoarders.

I have thousands and thousands of things where I am pretty much ok with getting rid of it, but I know that someday someone will appreciate it like I once did, or like I appreciate the collectibles that I want to keep.

If I wasn't so lazy, I'm sure I could clear 50 boxes of stuff from my place by using ebay, craig's list, and freecycle. I don't even want the cash for any of it, I just want it to find a good home.

mdnitoil

Well, it's not surprising that there are collectors out there who are now trying to assign a pecking order to items in the collection. After all, that's what they do. Personally, it's of little or no interest to me. If someone actually want to pay extra to get a VHS original release of a movie, more power to them. I'm not going to be that guy.

izatright

People will collect anything. I don't think seeing them on lists makes them any more special than seeing them in thrift shops. More likely these obsolete formats, like VHS and Laserdisc, will go the way of 8-track and cassette tapes. The exceptions will always be rarities. If that VHS has an interview or substantial bonus feature never again released I have little doubt it'll become, and remain, collectible.

Spottedfeather

I think that I'd only get the VHS of a movie if it had extras that, for some reason, aren't on the dvd or blu-ray. For instance, the special edition VHS of the Bean movie has a bunch of really hilarious deleted scenes that aren't on the dvd. Also, I'd get the VHS if the movie isn't on dvd or may never be.

slowcloud

I sell DVDs on line frequently, many of them OOP thanks to my particular tastes. But I meet some crazy collectors this way. One guy bought the Roger Corman Piranha DVD with the maroon border around it a couple of times. As I noticed it went for pretty good money on Amazon, I bought it whenever I happened upon it used. This one repeat buyer of the same title asked me if I could lower the price (I think I was selling it online for about $40 or so). I asked if he was reselling it at higher prices. He sent me this long pleading email about his OCD, which he swore he was getting better about with meds and therapy, but he really needed to re-buy this DVD whenever he saw it online, no matter the price. He said something about that maroon border looked so much better than the all-white cover variant. Ever since then, I struck that one off of my for sale list because I could not in good conscience sell it on-line for fear this poor man would buy it.

My point it is, people who buy useless VHS tapes could be called somewhere as crazy as the guy above. I still buy vinyl LPs, but they can indeed sounds better than CD if produced right and in the right quality. 8-track tapes, on the other hand.... pointless.

izatright

Oh man, I'd take advantage of that guy like crazy! Incidentally, and purely for the sake of curiosity, what's his email address...

Chicken Warrior

Well that may finally be proof that a single person can significantly drive up the price of a disc. I think all collectors have a hint of ocd about them, but it takes a new form when the packaging is more important than the content. Which raises the question, what's the difference between someone who keeps steelbook dvds after buying blu and someone who keeps rare vhs after buying the same titles on dvd?

hindolio

meh we all know this aint nothing new though.