I am going through a similar situation with my CDs right now, but my DVD collection have grown over 500. Couple questions

1) How big are some of the other collections out there?

2) What, if any, catalog tool/software do you recommend (I am using one now and not that happy with it)?

3) Where do you find is the best place to sell your excess DVDs?

quote:

Originally posted by jlmace:
1) How big are some of the other collections out there?

Currently, I'm at 736. I was up to 785, but I decided to clear out the clutter and got rid of the ones that I didn't really watch and I finally got the wife to get rid of some of her more annoying ones! To get an idea of how often I buy movies, I got my first DVD player in November of 2000. I had nearly 400 VHS tapes (I had only been buying them since '96) and wanted to replace as many as I could, so I set a goal of 100 movies a year to speed up the process. To this day, I've only replaced about 200 of 'em. Last year, I somehow bought over 200 DVDs. Don't ask me how I pulled that one off!

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2) What, if any, catalog tool/software do you recommend (I am using one now and not that happy with it)?

I only use my desktop notebook to keep track of 'em. Here's a quick sample of how I list 'em:

736 Total Movies & T.V. Seasons
----------------------
WS= WideScreen FS= FullScreen D= Dolby Surround DD= Dolby Digital DTS= Digital Theater Surround
HTM= Home Theater Mix C= Commentary F= Featurette(s) &/or Documentaries DS= Deleted Scenes
D-R= DVD-ROM WL= Web Links MV= Music Video T= Theatrical Trailer

-ACTION-

Adventures of Indiana Jones, The
Raiders of the Lost Ark, The PG 115 min. WS 5.1 DD F, WL
Temple of Doom, The PG 118 min. WS 5.1 DD F, WL
Last Crusade, The PG-13 126 min. WS 5.1 DD F, WL
Apocalypto R 138 min. WS 5.1 DTS C, F, DS
Assassins R 133 min. WS 5.1 DD
Bad Boys R 119 min. WS 5.1 DD C, F, MV, T
Beverly Hills Cop R 105 min. WS 5.1 DD C, F, T
Big Hit, The R 91 min. WS 5.1 DD C, DS, T
Bourne Identity, The (2004)
(Theatrical Version) PG-13 119 min. WS 5.1 DD
(Extended Cut) PG-13 127 min. WS 5.1 DD F, DS, D-R
Chase, The (1994) PG-13 88 min. WS 4.0 D T
Chill Factor R 102 min. WS 5.1 DD F, D-R, T
Caught Up R 98 min. WS 5.1 DD C, MV, T
Commando R 90 min. WS 2.0 D T
Con Air (Extended Edition) Unrated 122 min. WS 5.1 DD T
Congo PG-13 108 min. WS 5.1 DD T
Darkman R 96 min. WS 2.0 D
Daylight PG-13 115 min. WS 5.1 DD C, F, MV, T
Dead Presidents R 119 min. WS 2.0 D
Deep Blue Sea R 105 min. WS 5.1 DD C, F, DS
Deep Rising R 106 min. WS 5.1 DD T
Desperado R 103 min. WS 5.1 DD C, F, T
Desperado II: Once Upon a Time in Mexico R 102 min. WS 5.1 DD C, F, DS, D-R, T
Die Hard Series
Die Hard R 132 min. WS 5.1 DTS C, F, DS, D-R, T
Die Harder R 124 min. WS 5.1 DTS C, F, DS, T
With a Vengeance R 131 min. WS 5.1 DTS C, F, T
Live Free or Die Hard Unrated 129 min. WS 5.1 DD C, F, MV, T
Drunken Master Unrated 111 min. WS 2.0 D, C, T
Enemy of the State (Extended Edition) Unrated 140 min. WS 5.1 DD F, DS, T
Face Off R 140 min. WS 5.1 DD T
Fast & the Furious, The PG-13 107 min. WS 5.1 DTS C, F, DS, D-R, MV, T
Forty-Eight Hrs. R 96 min. WS 5.1 DD T
Forty-Eight Hrs. II: Another 48 Hrs. R 95 min. WS 5.1 DD T
Fugitive, The (1993) PG-13 130 min. WS 5.1 DD C, F, T
Gladiator (1992) R 101 min. WS 2.0 D
Gladiator (2000)
(Theatrical Version) R 155 min. WS 5.1 DD
(Extended Editon) Unrated 171 min. 5.1 DD C, F, DS
Gone in Sixty Seconds
(1974) PG 98 min. WS 5.1 DTS C, F, D-R, T
(2000) (Director's Cut) Unrated 127 min. WS 5.1 DD F, MV, T
Grindhouse Unrated
Death Proof (Extended Cut) 113 min. WS 5.1 DD F, T
Planet Terror (Extended Cut) 105 min. WS 5.1 DD C, F, T
Etc., etc.

Yes, they are catagorized and alphabetized. How else would I expect to find a friggin' movie?!
I list all of the special features and technical details for quick comparison purposes whenever they release a "better" DVD for the film so I can make sure I really am getting a better deal.

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3) Where do you find is the best place to sell your excess DVDs?

Most pawn shops take 'em, but the best places are those BUY/SELL/TRADE spots like F.Y.E., CD Warehouse, or Vintage Stock. I head to one of those places EVERYTIME they release a "SPECIAL LIMITED DIRECTOR'S CUT EDITION" of a movie I already own. It saves me at least 5 bucks... and sometimes even more!

Holy cow! 736 DVDs? There can't possibly be that much stuff worth owning. Do you have like thirty spinning dvd racks in your living room. You could open your own rental place. I'm curious, how many DVD players have you went through?
I have almost 200 dvds and I can't even think of anything to buy next, except things that are more of a joke rather than something i would actually watch.

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Originally posted by mymindsblank:
Holy cow! 736 DVDs? There can't possibly be that much stuff worth owning.

You'd be surprised! I didn't think there were that many movies out there that I'd WANT to own, but it turns out I like quite a few, indeed.

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Do you have like thirty spinning dvd racks in your living room. You could open your own rental place.

I have four shelves that range from being able to hold around 150-250 lining the back wall of The Den. My 4th shelf is half full at the moment and I have no clue where I'm gonna stick my next shelf. The Den is gettin' mighty cramped! Funny that you mention I could open my own rental store, that's what I am to my friends and family! At least once a week, I have someone comin' over to trade in what they borrowed the last week. The only rule I have is:
If you scratch it, or otherwise harm the DVD in any way, you buy me a new one. If ya don't wanna replace it, NOBODY can "rent" any again!

I've found that if you punish the lot for the actions of 1, they get together and force that 1 to do what needs to be done! It happened only once. After they could see I was serious, they immediatly replaced DVDs they ruined. Even if only the case was damaged they bought me a new one!

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I have almost 200 dvds and I can't even think of anything to buy next, except things that are more of a joke rather than something i would actually watch.

Ya know, I'm pretty much in that same boat right now. There was a time I'd go DVD shopping and would get overwhelmed because there were soooooo many that I just had to have, but now, I walk around the store several times trying to figure out what's actually worth buying. There are several times I've walked out with nothing.

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I'm curious, how many DVD players have you went through?

At least 5. I'm gonna have to replace my 5-disc changer pretty soon. That darn thing is getting so that it doesn't read a few of my movies. Like, the director's cut of "The Frighteners". For some reason the movie plays fine on any other DVD player, but my current one always freezes up at the part when the reaper is trying to kill Michael J. Fox's girlfriend in the jail. I actually exchanged it several times before I realized it was the player, not the DVD. I'm holding out for next year before I get a new one. My income tax refund is SCREAMING "Get a blu-ray player, ya putz!"

I've never really understood the point of buying DVDs. With the possible exception of The Wizard of Oz, what movies is a person going to watch so many times that it justifies the expenditure? Even if I picked some of my favourite movies of all time -- Chinatown, Donnie Darko, Fargo -- I can't really imagine watching them more then a few more times in my life, and certainly some of those times will be 20 years from now when the current DVD technology is obsolete. It costs $4 to rent a DVD, or order it off a movie channel -- I could do these 3, 4, 5 times before buying the DVD makes sense.

Yes, DVDs have extras, but the rental ones do too. But most extras are lousy, and who has time to watch them anyway. I can appreciate that the audio commentary by a director might once in a while be interesting, but I can't imagine regularly spending two hours to get through it.

I see people in line at the store buying DVDs of Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell movies for $25 bucks and it just seems insane.

Music is different -- one can listen to a good album over and over so the cost is justified. And I can imagine watching a music DVD enough times to, perhaps, justify the cost.

I know lots of people out there will say they watch their favourite movies 10 or more times, and owning beats the hassle of going to the video store. But I have bought DVDs with that intention and in fact I have only watched 95% of them once, or maybe twice.

So I guess I am curious as to whether people HONESTLY feel that their DVD purchases have been worth it. The only movie I have watched 3 times or more in the past 15 years is Donnie Darko, so out of the 20 or so DVDs I own, I can say that that one was worth it. All the rest -- waste of money.

You just have to be a BIG fan, Peewee. I have medical problems out the yin-yang. So I really don't do much BUT watch movies (and hang out in Metacritic forums). If I didn't have a large assortment of movies to go through (or folks to talk about 'em with), I'd get bored rather quickly.

I make a point to only get ones I KNOW I'll wanna watch more than once.

That makes perfect sense. But what are other people's excuses?

I'm not sure how many I own, but I think it's around 100. That said, I buy very few movies new, and the most of those I do buy new are on sale(<$10). Unless they're films I really love, I usually buy them pre-viewed from Netflix or the video store

I usually buy my DVDs used from a rental place and I raid the $5 bin at Wal-mart pretty regularly, just last time i picked up Escape from NY and Ghostbusters , both classics in my mind

I just got A History of Violence and Get Shorty for $2.96/ea. at Wal-Mart.

quote:

Originally posted by jlmace:
I am going through a similar situation with my CDs right now, but my DVD collection have grown over 500. Couple questions

1) How big are some of the other collections out there?

2) What, if any, catalog tool/software do you recommend (I am using one now and not that happy with it)?

3) Where do you find is the best place to sell your excess DVDs?

1) I have around 450 dvds. This year I sold a huge amount of dvds, most of them anime series that I was given as a gift. Not sure about videos, I also sold some recently that I replaced with dvds.

2) Notebook and a pen is how I catalog them.

3) A swap shop near Indianapolis gives the best trade value for dvds. My town- a college town- pays next to nothing for cds & dvds.

I have about 150 DVDs, and about 100 VCDs (which is an Asian exclusive format I think). Many of them are, like crazed, anime series (which were mostly bought on impulse.) I have quite a number of television series in my DVD collection as well, like Buffy, Angel, Entourage, Heroes, House, Veronica Mars, Friends, How I Met Your Mother and Battlestar Galactica, Six Feet Under, and a few live concert performances. I think I'm more a TV person than a movie person.

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:
2) Notebook and a pen is how I catalog them.

Good gravy, man! 450 DVDs and you keep track of them in a notebook! I did that until they were just over 300. I HAD to move my list to my computer. It took me long enough to write down over 300 flicks, I can imagine how much my hand would hurt after writing over 700! Do you buy a new notebook every year so you can re-alphabetize 'em (that's what I did) or do you just write them down like a list? Why is it you don't use your computer for a job this big?

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Originally posted by Monkey_Boy:

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:
2) Notebook and a pen is how I catalog them.

Good gravy, man! 450 DVDs and you keep track of them in a notebook! I did that until they were just over 300. I HAD to move my list to my computer. It took me long enough to write down over 300 flicks, I can imagine how much my hand would hurt after writing over 700! Do you buy a new notebook every year so you can re-alphabetize 'em (that's what I did) or do you just write them down like a list? Why is it you don't use your computer for a job this big?

The dvd list isn't a big deal for me. I write them down as I buy them. If I sell some, I white out the entries and enter new purchases when they occur. I also keep my cds by handwritten list and those are in multi-thousands. If I ever get Excel spreadsheet, maybe I'll transfer to computer.

Makes sense. With me letting folks borrow movies, I have to have a good system for keeping track of 'em. Back in 2002, I had someone steal 15 DVDs off of my shelf during a party. Without the list being in the same order as the DVDs that were on the shelf, it woulda took me a whooole lot longer than a few seconds to figure out what had been stolen. It's funny, when I shop for 'em, I always know what I already have, but when it comes to knowing what movie was between "Assassins" and "Beverly Hills Cop", I could stare for days and NEVER figure it out! Not until I wanted to watch it. Then I'd know!

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:

quote:

Originally posted by Monkey_Boy:

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:
2) Notebook and a pen is how I catalog them.

Good gravy, man! 450 DVDs and you keep track of them in a notebook! I did that until they were just over 300. I HAD to move my list to my computer. It took me long enough to write down over 300 flicks, I can imagine how much my hand would hurt after writing over 700! Do you buy a new notebook every year so you can re-alphabetize 'em (that's what I did) or do you just write them down like a list? Why is it you don't use your computer for a job this big?

The dvd list isn't a big deal for me. I write them down as I buy them. If I sell some, I white out the entries and enter new purchases when they occur. I also keep my cds by handwritten list and those are in multi-thousands. If I ever get Excel spreadsheet, maybe I'll transfer to computer.

There's some credence in my cynic friends assertions that the supposed enhancements that technology bring in life, the main one being convenience/efficiency, are illusory and that technology has only complicated or distracted where it was intended to simplify. However, I think this is one case where technology is highly warranted. You know you can set up charts in Word right... Just make sure to print out a hard copy and back up your data .

Also,

1) 20-30 (?), I don't really keep track. Most of my DVDs end up being borrowed by friends who rarely return them, or move to New Orleans or something. Free Netflix and Blockbuster online trials is how I get my annual fix (I move a lot and use (with their permission) other folks credit cards) .

2) Nothing - see above. Sometimes I write my thoughts about movies I rented in word, and I have a list of movies I've rented set up as a chart in word.

3) My friends, or at least the ones who pay. Half.com perhaps.

jesus christ, i thought i had a lot of DVDs, but i guess not by comparison. i probably have a bit over 100, maybe closer to 150 when TV shows are included... and do not keep track of them at all, save for in my head. which i guess would be kind of hard to do with 700; hell, it's not very effective as it is. for example, i lent out moulin rouge! last year, but i forgot who to, so... i'm never seeing that again, and now i've got to replace it.
i used to be pretty psychotic about people scratching the disks or the cases or whatnot, but i don't really have it in me to force my friends to buy me replacements unless they really screw it up bad. i've also started buying a lot of DVDs used from blockbuster for like 10 dollars each... that idea used to freak me out, but if you're picky about it, usually you can find a lot of DVDs in great shape. i guess saving money that way makes up for the ludicrously expensive criterion collection stuff, mostly foreign films i can't get in any other format (and wouldn't want to, to be honest).

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Originally posted by golden flea:
for example, i lent out moulin rouge! last year, but i forgot who to, so... i'm never seeing that again, and now i've got to replace it.

That's why I have a seperate notebook to keep track of who has what. At any given time I can have as many as 20 movies divided among several friends & family members. Trying to keep track of that mentally would be a daunting task, especially since people are "trading in" what they borrowed every few days.

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i used to be pretty psychotic about people scratching the disks or the cases or whatnot, but i don't really have it in me to force my friends to buy me replacements unless they really screw it up bad.

I'm not a BIG JERK about it. I do EVERYTHING to the DVD that I can before I say "You gotta buy me a new one." I have several ways to clean a disc and I have a DVD Dr. that I'll use if nothing else seems to work. I HAVE to make them somewhat responsible, otherwise why would they HAVE to take care of the movies I loan out? I punish the lot because I had an instance when my brother CRACKED a DVD and when I told him he had to buy another before he could borrow anymore, he just said, "Fine. I won't borrow anymore." Well, dag-nab-it, I wanted my friggin' movie replaced! So when others started showing up to "trade in", I told 'em I'm not doing it anymore because there's no guarantee nobody else would end up saying the same thing, leaving me feeling robbed. Upon learning this, they dogged him until he went out and bought me a brand new one. I AM being very generous by just letting folks borrow what they want with NO CHARGE or DUE DATE, whatsoever! Why shouldn't I hold them responsible?

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i've also started buying a lot of DVDs used from blockbuster for like 10 dollars each... that idea used to freak me out, but if you're picky about it, usually you can find a lot of DVDs in great shape. i guess saving money that way makes up for the ludicrously expensive criterion collection stuff, mostly foreign films i can't get in any other format (and wouldn't want to, to be honest).

I'm a member of Columbia House, so I've paid $10 or less for MOST of my DVDs through them. I also have a couple places that have 'buy 1, get 1 free' DVD sales year round. I rarely pay full price for a DVD, not unless I GOTTA HAVE IT NOW!

I quit buying from Blockbuster yeeeeeeaaars ago because I HATE their cases! What do they do with the actual cases the DVDs are sold in? Their cases can't hold the index card or booklet (nor do they even come with 'em) and they feel and look different than any of my other cases! They lost alotta business when they started doin' that. Not only from me, but from quite a few of my friends as well. I'm sure we aren't the only ones nerdy enough to feel this way.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Monkey_Boy,

quote:

Originally posted by Monkey_Boy:
I quit buying from Blockbuster yeeeeeeaaars ago because I HATE their cases! What do they do with the actual cases the DVDs are sold in? Their cases can't hold the index card or booklet (nor do they even come with 'em) and they feel and look different than any of my other cases! They lost alotta business when they started doin' that. Not only from me, but from quite a few of my friends as well. I'm sure we aren't the only ones nerdy enough to feel this way.

really? the blockbusters i've been to sell DVDs in their original case. no booklet or anything, but I'm generally cool with that for anything that's not special edition or something like that. i wouldn't buy anything from them either if they sold them here in the same cases they rent in.

IN OTHER NEWS... it's kind of weird that I made that post yesterday, because my house was broken into last night and my entire DVD collection stolen, save for Casablanca and The Lives of Others. So I have two very good films left, but I've lost the many many movies that I'd brought to school with me. In fact, i'm very very happy that I was lending out some stuff, because all three seasons of Arrested Development and the first two seasons of Lost are safely at a friend's house. soooo..... that's thousands of dollars worth of stuff that will take me until I have my BA to replace. which sucks. it sucks hard.

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Originally posted by golden flea:
IN OTHER NEWS... it's kind of weird that I made that post yesterday, because my house was broken into last night and my entire DVD collection stolen...

GOOD GRAVY!!!!! That is my worst nightmare! Over 10 years ago, I had a girlfriend living with me that NEVER locked the door whenever she left the apartment. I had a $900 VCR, a Sony Trinitron, a Playstation with several games and close to a hundred VHS tapes just sitting in my living room! One night, I called my house from work and she didn't answer. So my boss let me take a break to go check out what was goin' on. When I got to my apartment, the door was unlocked and she was gone. Then I had the GREA