Collector here. I didn't start buying movies and music because I wanted to be a collector, I was simply getting the things I loved. 2014 I was watching RU-vid and they were talking about being a physical media collector. I'd never heard the term but as I was watching, I glanced up and panned the room and I had just as much as this collector so from that point forth I really started to purchase. Almost 10 years in and no regrets. I love my collection.
Back in 2013 when I got my first job. I started collecting my favorites on dvd and got up to 300 titles...most I bought were cheap like $1-$3 a title. I slowed down quite a lot because of streaming. I ended up selling my collection in 2019, & started upgrading my movies to 4k, but regretted it during the pandemic as the tv shows I had went out of print & after seeing things being taken down off of streaming & services like vudu. I am now rebuying those same tv shows had at a huge cost. This year I made a commitment to go back to physical and staying that way.
I'm gonna be real with you, I enjoyed hearing somebody just speak passionately about something they love. I don't even collect movies or anything but I watched the whole thing 🙏
Thanks for sharing your story of why you started collecting physical media. You’re right about opening up a package and it feeling like Christmas. It amazing to be able to hold a copy of a movie you love. Hopefully physical media never dies. We’re in a golden age at the moment so let’s enjoy it.
I feel ya! My first DVD was "Charlie's Angels" (2000) which I bought when I was living in Japan and- yes- I still have it. I now have maybe 4,000 blurays/DVDs and keep buying 'em (I very rarely buy 4Ks though). I call it "my library." People think I'm nuts... meanwhile their favourite titles are disappearing from streaming sites or being censored.
Japan 🇯🇵 is number 1 for physical media the cds 💿 are really popular over there and Dobt like streaming and have a lot of music stores 🏬 even tower records exist over there
The funny thing I do. Whenever I get a new blu-Ray or a new Omnibus, once I get home I actually hold it up to the sky and make a “ding” sound. Sort of like in Lion King when the cub is held up to the sky. Yeah…I know I’m crazy, but I always do it. 😂🤷
I am 50 years old and have been collecting physical media since I was a teenager. Early on I always appreciated the feeling of ownership where anything I want to watch is right there at my fingertips. Now with streaming and everything I appreciate my collection even more. I never have to worry about streaming platforms not carrying something I want to watch or when they do have to deal with commercials and censorship.
I collect it as well, but I only live in an RV, so I'm literally swimming in em. Lol. Glad to see I'm not the only one. My family calls me 'The Living Blockbuster Store' 🔥🤘🔥
BECAUSE THE DVD IS YOURS! | I am always surprised when people TRUST corporations to care about them as clients, and then are surprised when the corporation deletes their favourite, special films. because "few people watch" those special films.
My Father just passed a week ago. He was a movie buff since he was a little boy. I kept his favorite movie on DVD to add to my collection. BTW, it is The Last Samurai. I just watched it this weekend. I miss you Dad.
I am a ebay reseller for 20+ years. Last year I started listing a lot of DVDs (500+ listings now). It's amazing the value some have - all because of true-hearted collectors.
That basement flooding story, man I feel for ya. Also, I'm scared that the days of in store movie browsing are nearly over😔. My best buy doesn't carry movies, I don't bother with Walmart or Target because they never have anything good, so B&N is my last remaining physical media in person shopping option during the Criterion sale. I fear my B&N will soon get rid of their Criterion section. I miss the old days. Great video!
That is why I am glad to have an amazing buy-sell-trade store near me. Most of their stuff looks like it was only watched once or twice. It's almost brand new, at less than half the price.
That story about the flooding ruining part of your collection is why if I want to preserve something I prefer trying to get a source file like an mp4 for movies or roms for games, then make sure I have those backed up in a couple different places. Unfortunately, in order to get those the easiest way is through piracy :(
I agree totally with your reasoning. I still collect, DVDs, Blurays, and even VHS. I still buy a VUDU title occasionally when on sale. Goodwill is where I find a lot of great deals. I've bought several 3D bluray titles for almost nothing.
Since the debacle with “The French Connection” it’s not only the quality of the movies on physical media that’s superior, it’s the fact they haven’t been butchered by the streaming services! This could be the beginning of not being sure if this is the movie you first watched when streaming. I’m looking forward this week to watching my Blu-Ray collectors edition (with poster and cards and badges )Of John wick 4. Another win for physical media (Collectable tat :-) 👍
Thats crazy, Deep Blue Sea was my first DVD also, came bundled with the player. To this day I have yet to purchase a digital stand alone movie. I sometimes looked at Netflix as my 'digital movie shelf', then i learned that movies get removed... So that was out😂
I thoroughly enjoyed this video sir. Just hearing about movies and owning them physically is a treat. I had to start my collection over just last year since my place was burglarized. It’s sad too that Best Buy is ending their physical run. It’s heartbreaking.
Genuinely sorry to hear about the loss of your collection. That really spikes the OCD side of our reptile dna. Having a barter system with some relatives / friends is a nice way to really expand access to grow your collection. We all are restricted to the amount of space we have, so we have to consider that aspect. But if you have friends or family with different tastes, and you barter or share your collections, this allows you to have access to a larger selection than what a single person can usually store.
I have a similar story and I took advantage of Blockbuster as they had bulk rental deals. Every week I was renting 10-20 movies as there was a Blockbuster right beside where I worked. I amassed a very large collection of duplicated movies: I had the entire store inventory! I switched to DVD's as well. Now I am a digital collector storing on my server(s). I still have all of my DVDs and Bluerays though
I considered storing my digital “collection” on servers, but, alas, my childhood wouldn’t allow me. 😂😂😂Gotta have it in my hands. 😅. But, yeah, nothing beats going into Blockbuster and coming home with 2+ bags of rentals. 😂😂
I think it’s genuinely the best option if your lifestyle can afford it. A lot of people travel too often so streaming is the go to. What I fear is disc rot, VHS also experience entropy just like anything in this model of the universe. Enjoy them while you have them, don’t wait for a “perfect” time to watch em all! It’s also worth it to buy a 2 TB USB thumb stick and digitize your collection before entropy or flood/fire makes it not an option!!
That's exactly how I started collecting! Going to the video store and wanting to have the movie at all times!! That sucks about your collection! Voodoo 😳 Weekend at Johnny's 2 😂 You're totally right, were not hurting anyone! 🙄 Special editions!! Special packaging!! I love it!! Keep on, collecting on!!
Flooded basement is my biggest future fear. If I ever inherit a family home you bet the money will be spent to seal that underground tighter than a crab's buttocks... then Flex Seal over it! For the past decade my biggest issue to keep under control was/is excessive humidity which is a silent (and gradually smelly) assassin by itself.
Hey just found your channel. My story is almost the same as yours. My older brother took me to see Star Wars in 78 . Going to the movies was big in my family. Being we live in NYC I saw movies either in those old majestic theaters and the 42nd street grindhouse theaters . Bought a used vhs of Return of the Jedi in 87 and have been a collector ever since. Now I’m going to check out your past videos. You got a new subscriber
I did that to from about 10 years old I was recording movies we rented vhs to vhs, at first we had a betamax lol, anyway I like physical copies of media for the same reasons Vudu already stole a movie I bought from them, I was scrolling through my library one day and noticed the movie the weight of water was missing and I looked in my purchase history and they even somehow removed it from there as well to cover their tracks for stealing it from me then they're asking me for a receipt or proof, I told them I bought it months ago and don't save old emails for months on end, I explained to them the movie is still on thir site but the purchase button is gone and you can only stare at the page or put the movie on your "list" isn't that strange i adked, I said you must have somthin showing I bought it in your records but they just put it back on me with trying to prove it, so at anytime all these streaming services with all the movies we buy can just disappear in the blink of an eye, they'll eventually do somthin to screw us totally over you watch!! So I'm all about physical copies, alot of people are putting their eggs in one basket going all streaming thinkin their cool but when the internet is down or they just steal all your movies back you'll be sorry lol on Vudu you can dl the movie you own so I was doing that then guess what, if your not online the movie won't play and it'll say you have no internet access, that's rich I tell ya.
One of the greatest collector origin stories I heard, you came to it honestly, I like your stories and your reason for collecting is legit, I had a rather large music collection when Rhapsody got sold to Napster, songs I had bought was gone, probably several thousand dollars worth since I had a habbit of buying full Album catalogs for artists I liked. I dont have space for a huge collection since we do not have basements here in Florida.
Damn, I never knew Floridians don’t have basements. I never really liked “cherry-picking” music. Buy the whole album because you might find a song on there that maybe people don’t like, but it strikes a chord with you on a deeper level.
Florida is too close to sea level. For the majority of homes, a basement would flood near constantly. There are some homes with basements, but those are in the few elevated areas of the state or on a rare hill. They are the exception.
Thanks for sharing Johnny! I love hearing people's stories about how their collection got started and why it stuck with them. Look forward to seeing more content on your channel.
I feel the same way had a similar childhood and always collected physical media, but when everyone started pushing Netflix I dug my heels in and bought more movies every month.
Looking at my collection is like watching a movie 🎥😎✨ Always keep the movies where you live - basements, attics, & garages are a no go unless fully furnished It's only a problem when you collect things you don't truly love
Awesome video My family was never really big into the drive-in theater. We had this really really cheap. Rundown cinema by my house that was literally $2 per person. It was one of the most disgusting but fun movie theaters because it was just vintage. And that is the very first movie theater my father took me to to go see teenage mutant Ninja turtles. Plus my daddy used to do the same thing. We would rent movies from Blockbuster or Hollywood video and we would record them on one of those 6-hour or 8-hour blank tapes. We would have three to four movies per tape. And then when our basement got flooded it all went away😢 unfortunately after that my dad stopped collecting and I started.
Since you mentioned not being interested in Laserdisc, I was interested in Laserdisc throughout the 1990s but I couldn't afford to buy a Laserdisc player until 1997, when I went on a bit of a Laserdisc buying spree. I think it was roughly between March or April 1997, when I first got the player, and the Christmas season of 1997 when I could walk into any music or video sales store and buy any recent Hollywood movie I wanted on Laserdisc. Just after Christmas 1997/New Year's 1998 was when stores in Montreal all started liquidating their Laserdisc selections and it was pretty much all gone by September 1998, when one local Montreal video store got precisely one new movie on Laserdisc, that being Titanic, and that was only since James Cameron was still skeptical about DVD. I think Titanic was the last new Laserdisc I ever saw for sale anywhere locally. I knew about DVD at the time I got my Laserdisc player, I just didn't think it would kill off Laserdisc so quickly. In defence of Laserdisc, a lot of Japanese anime, which I was already into in the 1990s, looked much better on Laserdisc than it did on DVD since the video compression on most early anime DVDs left a lot to be desired. Alas, a good number of my anime Laserdiscs succumbed to glue rot so I eventually had to replace them with DVDs anyway.
Great video Johnny! We had some similar experiences it seems growing up. That sucks about the flood! So glad you came back to physical media side as well!
I have been collecting pyhsical horror and games since I was just a young boy....I share your passion and have a better selection then any place I know!
We pretty much have the same story as far as how we got started collecting. I've been doing so since the days of VHS, working at Blockbuster for years throughout my teens and 20s.
I loved your video. Thank you very much. I have been collecting DVDs and Blurays since 1998, they are part of my life, they were very important in the time my daughter and I spent together before she became independent, we spent hours and hours watching all the films from Walt Disney, Ghibli Studios, and little by little all the others. Disney had the enormous inelegance of removing the Portuguese subtitles (we are from Portugal) from all European Union editions, which I think was a huge lack of respect for all the Portuguese collectors who supported the industry over 25 years by purchasing the original editions. I far prefer the physical editions, for everything you mentioned and also because of the extras, the aesthetics, the pleasure of looking at the films on the shelves! Hugs and thanks.
I relate heavily to this story so much, to owning a Ps2, everything... and I feel that way about my first dvd purchase from a little over 20 years ago..and it was a Bruce Li movie, not Bruce Lee, Bruce Li lol.. it was Exit the Dragon Enter the Tiger and I'll always keep that.
Couldn’t have said it better the idea of it being yours and internet or no you can watch it. Don’t have to worry about if it’s streaming or not and the ability to borrow it to your friends
Great video. I can relate to so much of what you said. I've recently set up a home theater for the first time and am fortunate to have a Kaleidescape system with about 200 movies so far - mostly 4K but also some Blue Ray and even HD quality. It is awesome lossless audio and perfect video. But I miss holding and looking at DVDs and then popping them into the dvd player knowing that I actually own it. So I'm starting a physical collection literally from a small older collection of about 100 titles. Your video was spot on and I really appreciate your honesty. I don't comment a whole lot but I just wanted you to know that I appreciate you. I've subscribed. Keep up the great work!
Thanks. I really appreciate it. It’s about film preservation. Without people like us keeping physical media alive, there’s a chance people won’t be able to see great films due to some licensing issue.
Nice video about your collecting journey. I'm sorry you lost so many titles from a flood. That sounds awful! I'm glad you decided to get back into collection physical copies, though. It's interesting that you mentioned supporting HD DVD over Blu-ray in the beginning. I also picked up a HD DVD player before I purchased a Blu-ray disc player (it wasn't because I preferred HD DVD, I was rooting for Blu-ray - but the entry price-point was much lower on the HD DVD player I bought and I wanted access to high-definition movies sooner rather than later at the time). I always thought Blu-ray was a better format (higher bit-rates, bigger disc storage sizes - BD50 etc, scratch resistant coating). I feel like I dodged numerous "bullets" (so to speak) by not being alive during the laserdisc era and for never developing a huge VHS collection. I only ever owned 20 or so VHS tapes personally (my family had a bit more but my collection was pretty small). I only started collecting on DVD and it wasn't until Blu-ray that my collection became significantly bigger (though I had a bunch of DVD's too). Personally, beyond ownership/access, I always feel one of the best reasons to own Blu-ray releases is to support film preservation. Most of these classics films being restored in 2K/4K and presented in nice quality Blu-ray editions are the result of boutique labels restoring classics for home media. Not for streaming services. Even if said restoration ever shows up on a streaming service, the work being done was prepared for Blu-ray/4K UHD and these classics wouldn't be properly preserved without the home media ecosystem. All the popular streaming services are catering to people seeking new content predominately and not to classic film fans.
Really liked your story!! I am mostly into Blu-ray 3D :) I am a digital collector of a different sort lol, I back up all of my discs to the computer in case they get scratched or destroyed.
I collected vhs tapes and recording off the tv. Then bought dvds Then blu rays. I had so many movies i threw my cases away and bought cd cases for my movies. I love movies and old tv shows.
I think it's important to have both, not just for collection but preservation. I had the foresight to know that space will always be a factor and compressed audio will always be a hinderance. I waited. fighting fomo for many years until 4k media came out. I now have adult money and a budget that allows me to build up my 4k collection. I know it wont be better than Zappi or Kaleidescape for a technical reasons but at least it's physical.
@@whatsjohnnywatching So I was looking at my amazon orders from last year. I spent 423$ on 4k movies and box sets. All had digital codes with them. And a few were movies that I had already owned but loved them more in 4k. This year I spent up to 130$ and still waiting for the newer releases like John wick, evil dead and Mario. I'm a DINK. (double income no kids)
@@AzraelIgnis I keep my digital codes and use them on Vudu for my parents to be able to watch what I have. If not for that, I’d probably just give them away. Lol
I remember seeing Robin Williams in Popeye at the drive-in when i was a kid. I remember different things from the handful of movie theaters around my town. I remember the final movie i saw at the twin screen theater by the mall, Braveheart. I remember the first dvd i bought, Caddyshack. I still have a bunch of physical media for movies. I also still have binders full of my cd collection.
I’m very similar to you mate. Collected on and off from a young age and now getting back into it. Got my first 4K player a year ago and really enjoying the experience. Watched Ghoulies (1984) on 4k recently and loved the movie and the bonus features - long live physical media 👍🏻👍🏻
After 2021 Family Video close down for good in my area. So I started buying physical media because I didn't trust the streaming services or the government. Also, it definitely brings back that nostalgia when you're opening it up or going to the store.
I was trying to find a cd and could get what I wanted… I from the time if you like an album I’ll buy the cd for my collection… now everything is digital download… Movies… I miss buying dvds.. you could watch it when you want. I see old movies that are 20 years old and they want you to rent it.. We use to be able to watch old movies for free. Plus at anytime they could decide not to have content on certain platforms and then you can’t see it. I’m glad I still have my old cds and dvds.. I still enjoy going through it.. I just said I got rid of my vhs tapes
I used to manage a video store, so I built a decent VHS collection from my years there. Bought movies used as we transferred them from the New Release shelves to the general library. Got rid of most of them. Only have a few VHS, DVDs, and Blu-rays today. The only media I still collect are video games. Tons of nostalgia there for me. Becoming much more difficult to find new games in physical form. Many games are digital only these days. And in most instances when you get a physical disc of a game there's nothing on them. Just the license to be able to download them. The disc itself is barely anything more than a coaster. Sad time for collectors.
this video is treasure! 😄subs! also, even though movies may still up in those streaming platforms, we've seen more and more tampering with movies. changing some parts, censoring stuff, changing music, etc...
Thanks for sharing good sir. I have that 2nd Sight Dawn of the Dead as well, and it is awesome! I also have the OG Ultimate Edition of Dawn on dvd that has the same cuts from Anchor Bay.
Yeah, Bought 'Apocalypse Now' on VHS in the 80's, got the laserdisc. Got the DVD, then got 'redux' on DVD, Got the bluray, then got the 2 versions on bluray. That's 6 times I bought the film! Coppola owes me a beer!
You’re not alone. I’ve been collecting physical for 30 years now. The sound and video is way batter than streaming. Especially on a OLED TV. You don’t own the digital copies. Studios can take it away from us for any reason. Watching mission impossible dead reckoning this weekend.
Cool video. Yeah the catch up is hard, I also stopped for around 10 years. I'm getting there, though all these 4k limited edition titles are beautiful yet pricey.
Great video man! We have quite a few similarities in our collecting journey. Some of my favorite movie memories are going to the drive-in theater growing up. We would always meet up with a bunch of our family to hang out at them. Our’s would usually do a triple feature where it started with a rated G movie, then go to PG/PG-13, then end with R. We would usually try to pretend we were asleep so our parents would stay for the last one and we would try and watch.
Absolutely. Most of the time, my parents would just throw out a blanket for us and they would go back to the car. Never did figure out what they were doing. 😂😂😂
Steaming services are now censoring older movies. Physical Media is literally our only hope. I would say the sailing the high seas is, but some of the censored streaming versions are now the only available high seas options...
@@whatsjohnnywatching Yeah.. It also sucks HD-DVD lost the media race. Myself as well was backing HD-DVD. Blu-Ray was such a catastrophe of HD physical media. As sony owns the format and require license fee for printing on the format. It's a major reason we wont see a HD version of a lot of titles is because its not financially worth it to print those for some companies. Only major titles and cult following ones will see blu-ray releases. Such a shame, I wish people resurrected HD-DVD purely for freedom of press on releasing titles like DVD was. Because the technology is not lost to time or anything. In fact with so many titles that people want but cant get a HD version, it almost seems easy to just start it up again and allow anyone to print on that format.
I was just telling someone the other day about getting the physical copies is actually you owning it. Rather than paying to stream a movie over the internet.
Exactly. If I own a physical copy of something, I can watch it whenever I feel like it. Don't have to worry about checking to see which streaming platform currently has it available.
I also duped vhs back in the day, usually 3-4 movies per tape. Favourites included Elm St 1-3, F13th 1-4, The Thing, The Blob and The Fly on one tape. Good times. Then DVD happened and it became easier to get banned movies (I'm in the UK) on disc as they got through customs easier! Now I have a massive dvd and bluray collection which will be taken from my cold dead hands!😂
I significantly reduced my physical media collection after moving to my dorm. I want to be able to travel so having a large library just is not feasible to move. I still collect blu-rays from time to time. And I have a small collection of VHS tapes, cassettes, and vinyl records. I still have quite a bit of CDs. And I have a small collection of Nintendo Switch and PS4 games. I had to sell my laserdisc player and collection as I needed the money. I do have a couple of wax cylinders. I still buy blu-rays from time to time.
I hate to say it but they keep going back and changing so much about old movies that it's almost a duty to preserve the old physical media so that you can be a custodian of actual real history in the film industry vs. Whatever they watered-down version we're going to get from the local or as some place down the road
There are many of us like you and it's growing. With Best Buy's current position, it means we got to get even more creative. That and not to mention majority of new stuff is crap. There are some new gems but as a whole modern entertainment is crap.
You are right, Target is a lost cause, you and I know why too. There is talk about them modifying books and "fixing" them when they reprint them or of you get a digital copy. So, not sure if you ever read 1984 but you should.
I definitely understand where you’re coming from!!! In answer to your question if it makes you happy definitely keep buying them life is short be happy. I love to have physical media for movies because I’m like you if I wanna watch something I wanna watch it. I’ve been building my movie collection since DVD first came out so I’m basically done with anything I like growing up now I only buy new releases. I think it’s streaming as a waste of money it would cost a fortune to pay for all the streaming services like Netflix HBO Disney+ Apple TV for a whole year (that adds up) compared to buying one or two movies a month I thought I do now. I only pay for Netflix in one month out of the year just to watch the new seasons of things like stranger things and cobra Kai
Yeah. I do keep some streaming because of the wife and to watch stuff before picking out what I might buy (I’ve been burned before when I would “blind buy” titles. 😂😂).
started buying Blu-ray and DVD's when Netflix released cutties. been buying multiple titles a week since. think I have a problem, A space problem, where to keep them all. I will always buy physical now, no steaming what-so-ever. All my disc's get ripped to my pc for easy watching.
I agree with many of your points about collecting physical media, especially the point about streaming services dropping episodes and entire movies. The other reason, and the main reason for me now, is the editing of existing movies. George Lucas’ edits to the Star Wars series are the most famous, obviously… But equally important are things like the replacing of guns with radios in E.T…. The censoring of “nudity” in anime with drawn-in swimsuits… The editing of dialogue in older shows and movies and so much more.
My ecnomic downfall was when dvd came out. Actually, dvds were pretty pricy in the late 90's and renting them back then was very expensive. Blockbusters had 24 hour rentals for 5 bucks and doubled on additional days.
I like physical media, I just think it often wound up looking like hoarding instead of a collection. I takes a lot of room to display properly. And movies in stacks on the floor just doesn't fill me with joy. I have settled for buying movies I wanna watch on iTunes, and only having them digitally. I have chosen iTunes as the one store, as movies comes with bonus content, and are upgraded to 4K for free. I don't have the space for displaying all those movies, so I prefer the digital shelf.
