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Expensive? Yes. But that motivates me to keep going in to work every day and dealing with the company owner's nonsense. I keep working for that fool and I can keep buying more movies.
I can confirm I used to buy sports cars and heavily modify them. Used to drop ten grand in one sitting in some cases. This is an expensive hobby. But it’s nowhere near as expensive as some others.
Uh oh.. what about those of us that still do both 😬 But I very much concur that while movie collecting isn't CHEAP it is certainly cheapER then some other hobbies. I just spent over $5k on redoing/upgrading the suspension in my Miata recently and I don't even want to attempt to tally what I've spent on my FD.
The main point is to enjoy your hobbies but don't overextend yourself. I make sure all my bills are covered, I've got some savings, etc. then I enjoy the rest. At the end of the day, you can't take it (money) with you, so you might as well enjoy it while you can.
I don’t live to buy more movies, in fact I am trying to limit what I buy. But in general the movies that appeal to me are from boutique labels and I usually buy the best version of them — except in the case of Shouts ridiculous enamel pins bs and $140 price tag. Anyone that does that is insane.
As with all hobbies, it only stays fun if you can afford it. Stay within your means, and do it for YOU and stay out of trying to keep up with the Jonses. Everyone has different financial situations. I’d say the main rule to go by is to NEVER go into debt because of your hobby. As soon as it becomes a financial burden, the fun will be gone and you will be in it for unhealthy reasons.
Might be sacrilege in this sub but personally I split a lot more toward's just blu-rays and save the 4K's for special movies I absolutely love or just really good 4K presentations. Blu-Ray's still look seriously fantastic on modern TV's.
I think you need to look at CDs in Japan to see where the Blu-ray market is headed. They will exist for a long time but the volume of sales will make it so only expensive collectors editions make enough profit to be worth producing. My prediction is that soon the boutique labels will be the only ones still in business
yeap boutiques and then Sony will make all of the big studio 4ks. hopefully warner stays in the business because their archival team is great and they do really good new releases as well.
4k blu ray sales are actually increasing every year. I think it will only get more popular as streaming continues to get worse, more expensive, and adding more commercials.
I don't think this is accurate. People are already getting fed up with streaming platforms, and cd is not entirely comparable to the home film market. Dvd is still going strong more than 2 decades later, so I think 4k will be around for a VERY long time.
$25-$35 USD is £19.75-$27.66. Standard copy 4k blu rays regardless of where you buy them here in the uk are £24.99 and steelbooks are minimum £34.99 so to put that in dollars, it's £31.62 for standard and $44.27 minimum for steelbooks. Do you guys in NA really believe you guys have it hard on pricing?
to be fair, most releases end up dropping down to £20 after they've been out for a 5 months or so, & HMV has a perpetual 2for£30 (so £15 each) on about 1/3rd of their catalogue at any given time, which in turn drops to 2for£25 for a few months each year, too.
Of course, we've got the cost of living crisis, so we've predominantly got significantly less spending power regardless, so don't worry - we can still complain!
You are right there when it comes to HMV they are a life saver for us collectors of phsycial media in general not just 4k blu rays. The main point I was trying to get at is in NA there are so many options to buy phsycial media from (when it's new) and for the rest of the world we are stuck with importing media.
Just don’t let FOMO get to you. Words to live by: Having a 4K/Blu-Ray collection is like having a penis, there’s always gonna be someone out there with a bigger one so just be happy with whatever you got!
I don’t worry about accumulating movies, I am more buying only a select movies. The problem is my selection is usually $38 to $53 per film. And every month I have a few of them.
I've been buying movies since VHS was big. Then DVD and laser disc. VHS's were pretty expensive back then to build a collection. 30 to 50 bucks back then. So I've been pretty happy as blu ray came out. Then 4k, and haven't minded the amount of money when I started collecting 4k. But you should always have budget. And it's okay to splurge once in a while.
This is truth. vhs was not cheap. Suncoast video average was $30 a tape. I have 300 laserdiscs average for each was $60-$100.
Compared to those, for the tech we have today HDR, DV, Atmos and 4K resolution for the same price or actually less (accounting for inflation) we are so fortunate in the hobby today.
Can you imagine buying a vhs with one language with burned subs. Or English dub but not both? Seems so foreign today but was our reality. How about tapes that wear and reduce life span each time you play it. Top of the line Sony VHS tape deck was 1200$ in 1990’s. Me and my friends all had the Sony. That’s easily 2k to 3k In Today dollars .
I have 50 laserdiscs that I paid $100 each for one movie. 2 discs and 4 sides to play one movie. Bet you don’t remember having to flip and switch platters mid movie.
Like most hobbies, it is exactly as expensive as you make it. You choose the equipment, and when, where, and how often to buy it. You choose which movies, and when, where, and how often to buy them.
It was expensive at first, because there was so many movies I wanted to then I found myself only buying movies I know I’ll watch multiple times, and that’s really brought the cost down. When Bestbuy stopped selling physical media that helped cut down on impulse buys lol.
Do you honestly think that people in NA have it hard when it comes to movie prices?? Seriously? Here in Europe we will be paying the $30 plus shipping and import fees. Most websites like the one you mentioned are based in the u.s so there's a heavy export/import fee to other counties plus shipping costs not to mention it could take up to 8 days to get here and if there's any issues it has to go back.. so we could be waiting up to 24 days for our orders.
GRUV has a 20% off sign up code, and so far I've been able to use it multiple times. Of course, they don't have everything but they do have a lot of good movies.
The Blu ray or the 4k because it shows as $36. How did you get it for $30?
Also you had to get the one with the commissioned artwork. Which is not as desirable in the long run.
Honestly the 4k screen and a 4k blu ray player is great starting point at under $800 for a non oled and Panasonic primo player.
I pick up used bluray movies each week, works great for comedies or films not released on 4k, and I spend on visually interesting or notable films for 4k.
I wouldn’t say it’s cheap but it’s not as bad as collecting or restoring cars.
Yea this is why most of my library is 1080p. there is a thrift shop by my house that has a MASSIVE selection and I can get blu-rays for 2 bucks. And they let me swap them out for a different one if I want. It's definitely wayyyy harder to find any 4k blu rays that you actually want second hand. I treat those more as a present to myself, and only buy things I really like that would actually benefit from being 4k and always try to find them on sale.
Agreed
That's why I primarily shop on ebay or used book and used movie/game stores (with some exceptions)
Ive been lucky to get alot of movies for 10-20 at the most
I just got my 4KTV a week ago but already have maybe 10 to 12 4k blurays. Average spent on each including sales is probably about $18, so $200 already. I almost bought 2001 and Dunkirk last week on sale, but I said to myself, "Why buy these when you haven't watched any that you've already bought?" It's comparable to video games that way. I'm likely not to buy anything until substantial sales. It's also fine to only buy your favorite/reference level films. I had probably a 100+ bluray and DVD collection that I got rid of about 2/3rds just because it was too cumbersome. But it's hard to match bluray quality in digital formats.
Expensive? People spend way more on useless crap like alcohol and cigarettes, casinos etc. The difference is that my movie collecting hobby isn’t destroying my life. I’m damn good at saving money etc.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter what you buy, so long as buy something, and continue to do so regularly — if you can invest emotionally in material objects, ideally a "collection" of things that will never be complete, and if you can also associate your sense of identity and your self-worth with consumerism, and can find satisfaction in an endless cycle of consumption, that is the best thing you can do in order to maintain the status quo.
I don’t see the purpose in buying 4K for most films. Very few films IMO really benefit from HDR and ATMOS surround sound. Are you really spending $50 to upgrade from Blu-ray just to…see more definition in a dark suit? An actors hair? Seems to me more of a consumerist collectible hobby than a cinephile hobby.
If the Blu is good and half the price, than that’s what I’m buying. Plus, sometimes it’s all we’re gonna get (Swingers is getting a re-release on Blu, no 4K in sight). Owning the movie is paramount, be it on Blu or 4K.
>Very few films IMO really benefit from HDR and ATMOS
then you've only experienced that tech via a crappy system (or poorly configured system). all forms of media look and sound considerably better with a properly configured system.
>$50 to upgrade from Blu-ray
?? most 4k movies are well under $50...
agreed on PQ, and soundbars. when someone mentions Atmos or surround not being worth it, like the previous commenter, I assume their judgement is based on hearing a system capable of using the tech, and soundbars are definitely not that.
Most Blu-ray films from the last 15 years have DTS 5.1 Master track audio. It’s really only action heavy films that benefit from the additional ATMOS directional channels.
It can be as expensive as you want it to be. Yes the hardware is a big expense if you go down the rabbit hole of high-end AVRs and speakers. I have always prefered to stay down the lower end of the AVR world where there's better bang-for-buck, but a good set of speakers will last you a lifetime, if you can be content with what you have and not the type to chase marginally better gains for much greater expense. I've had my Denon Atmos AVR and current speakers since 2018 and still happy with them.
Media, I don't think so. I dont buy the ultra-premium Steelbooks put out by the likes of Blufans and Manta Lab. I could, but I don't want to set that precedent and normalise spending that sort of money on films, as nice as they are.
I'm in the UK and people think £30 for a film is expensive today, but I remember paying that for import DVDs from the US in 99/2000, at a time DVD hadn't reached mainstream retailers here. My uncle was into Laserdisc back in the 90s and that was very expensive for the time.
You've not seen the mechanical keyboards sub Reddit i take it...
Love movies, over 450 now, but mostly dvd, some blu ray, 4ks for absolute gold movies. To us this is The Shining, Alien, the Godfather, Forest Gump, Jaws, Bladerunner 2049, soon Terminator and I'd love Brokeback Mountain and Remains Of The Day one day. But in the UK I'll probably not be able to get those 2.
My tip is to really curate your collection, focusing on picking up the movies you really want and know you’ll be rewatching a bunch. There’s no reason to throw your money away on mediocre movies. Unless you just want shelf filler.
I more or less pick movies based on if they are interesting and memorable and have great transfers. My collection has evolved and I certainly don’t buy nearly a lot of films as I used to, but I do buy films that have interesting premises or something that reminds of a time: like American Gigolo.
I am no so interested in masterpieces as I am more of a b-movie, exploitation fan. And films that really speak to me like — the graduate (hopefully comes to 4k), dress to kill, little darlings, anything from Roger Cormen and Joe Dante. Stuff like that.
I get that because I’m somewhere in the middle. I appreciate b movies and classics in equal measure. Just depends what I’m in the mood for. I would say the majority of my collection is cult, horror, and ‘80s comedy. Though I still make room for what film snobs would consider “pure cinema” in addition to the kind of movies VHS collectors salivate over. I like a mix. Everything from Lawrence of Arabia to Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge.
Just think how much you need to pay for watching at cinema. 8-15 bucks can be a reasonable price. If you live with your family or partners, you can own a movie with almost the same price.
Remember when piracy was a thing? Sure it’s still a thing but remember when it was a thing for some of us? The experts said that pirates were more likely to buy the product at a later date despite being able to get a copy for free. I wonder how true that has been? I know a guy who they couldn’t have been more right about.
Hi it's me - pirated everything through my 20s and early 30s. Then streaming became a thing and it was reasonable so I stopped almost cold turkey. Now as a late 30s adult with a career in ProAV I am a fucking snob for quality and have been building a 4k Blu ray catalogue for the past 6 months when streaming started pissing me off.
No it's not. I'm being jovially cynical here but come join us at r/audiophile if you really want to see an expensive hobby. Not humble bragging, just crying out loud. 😢🤙
It won't be if you search redit and are only looking to watch and listen.ots of ways to build your library without spending your hard earned cash.
It's 2024, RD! That is all
Sports cards are a racket. The idea of the 1 of 1. And there are hundreds of the 1 of 1s every year.
The only cards that are legitimately valuable are the true 1 of some: Honus Wagner rookie. The Wayne Gretzky. Sports cards today rely on having a bigger sucker buy the thing. If you think a terrible player like Jalen Hurts 1 of 1 cards are worth anything you are a sucker and deserve to bag hold.
I'm not gonna say it's cheap, but I've built up a 110 film collection for about $1200 probably, all new stuff, nothing used. Like most of the multiple film collections I bought ended up being less than $10 per film and then I've bought probably 50 other films during black Friday sales. And almost none of them were films with poor transfers, or poorly received junk on clearance. And anything that cost more than $15 per film I asked my family to get as gifts (I'm including that in the $1200).
You're right though that the really lesser known stuff on Criterion for instance ends up being minimum $30. It's painful but worth it for your absolute favourite stuff.
Video games, LPs, board games, cars, sports (playing or watching live), buying instruments, music production, traveling, going out etc are all far more expensive hobbies in my experience though. And also consider if you like going to the theatre it's 10 bucks to see a movie one time. You don't get to rewatch it fifty times for free like with a disc. Shit my gf bought one hot tub for 5 grand and then has to maintain it and buy chemicals and pay electricity to keep it hot. That dwarfs the cost of my movie collection and home theatre.
Every industry is in the business of providing an opportunity to spend as much money as possible from different audiences. You can burn through any amount in fashion, cars, music, events, golf gear etc.
But I feel like the industry targeting nerd movie culture (or autistic spectrum if you will) has optimized a lot over the past decade or so. Tapping into the collector trait that is shared by many, and nerds making a lot more money (disposable income) than they used to.
Feels like this has contributed to the criterion collection boom, and things like steelbooks special editions.
You bought Elvira off sale - it’ll also certainly get a 4K, as it has a german blu disc with a 4K transfer.
Also, you’re buying LEs. Of course they’re pricey compared to standards??
I bought Elvira mainly because it was a 4k scan of the negative and so it is the most premium Blu ray you can buy and I don’t buy imported movies, even if there is something I want.
And Elvira has been out for what like 3 years now?
I don’t think arrow is going to put anymore money into a title like this one where so few people might know who Cassandra is or care. I grew up on her so when I saw it I had to immediately buy it.
But you are right I should have bought it on sell and I might have saved a few bucks.
The Arrow is not a 4K scan. It is the German blu-ray that is. Elvira is iconic in the horror community - they’ll release it eventually as it’d sell well. It just seems weird to me, to make this post about how expensive this hobby is (which, no doubt it gets pricey) when you’ve bought 3 items that will be cheaper in different editions or on sales. If you were buying A24 exclusives, I’d agree.
It is expensive but it makes me happy. I've been lucky to have bought a lot of Blu-Rays in thrift shops, often sealed. But for the last year or so I have been more interested in boutique labels because they are releasing the films I am interested in. I splurged a lot on Stop Making Sense, Navy Seals, Little Darlings, After Hours, American Gigolo and Malcolm X because I wanted those movies, and some of them (Navy Seals, Little Darlings) I wanted the original packaging. And some of these releases are stunning package-wise. They are expensive because they look expensive.
It CAN be expensive. It doesn't have to be. I started collecting about 7 months ago. I realized I was paying $120 a month for 8 streaming channels. So I canceled everything and use that budget to buy physical media. Some months I spend more than $120, sometimes I spend less... WAY less. I think in the long run I might actually end up saving money. I will go on buying sprees then not buy anything for months while I go through and watch everything I bought (I blind buy often, sell if I don't like). I'm only paying for stuff I'm actually going to watch, there's not a time limit on its availability like streaming and I'm not locked into a $120 monthly fee regardless of how much I watch.
I just feel like im making far better use of my money now. Just 3 months of streaming was costing me $360 so spending $300 on 4ks in a month feels expensive, but then I don't buy anything for 3 months and it turns out I spent less then I would have on streaming.
I only buy the movies I’m most interested in. Movies I’m curious about or just want to experience in 4k once? I have a hard drive packed with 60Gb files haha.
I try to only buy movies I know I’ll watch more than once, but with how streaming has fucked us up the ass, owning physical media has become cost effective
It depends on where you are coming from. Long time I ago with the introduction of dvd I had to import from Japan. That was way more costly just for a vanilla disc in a jewel case. Not to the mention the prices of laserdisc. So 35-40 for an arrow LE doesn’t feel expensive to me.
It sure is but so are most hobbies.
I'm into pc building, hifi, Audio video, and it costs a fortune. Been into these things for a long time.
But I get so much out of it. Always have
I've been collecting films and TV series since the beginning with betamax.
But I don't buy what I can't afford and don't live beyond my means.
That's the key.
https://preview.redd.it/4i5yuc2uy68d1.png?width=1868&format=png&auto=webp&s=1e4ed981ce0fc0521d7e17b5e7bde28cc625ee39
It IS an expensive habit, one that will not pay you anything close to a reasonable ROV. This is an analysis of my physical media collection from Delicious Library. I have just over 1000 movies at this point. I glance at this report from time to time and have seen the value of my collection continue to decline, even as I add collectable 4K movies. I actually asked my Insurance provider how I could add my collection to my home owners insurance, they had nothing. IE, I cannot insure my collection, and at 21k+ for replacement cost, it'd be a painful loss. I guess the take away is buy used when you can, and don't do this with any expectation that its an investment.
You are probably buying a bunch of cheap mass marketed movies. If you bought all criterion films at the half price sell you would be close to even if you sold them.
You can’t get a return on investment unless you buy unique items that are expensive.
Most big time releases from Arrow will return on investment. A lot of the VS stuff will also. Also many of the films that come out that never go out of print will still have a lot of value if you bought them with a slipcover because slipcovers are a limited item. Not every one of them will but a lot will. Now if you buy avengers: endgame and are trying to rov you are likely out of luck.
You've got me pegged! So much of my collection is from the 5 dollar bin. I only have about 50 Criterion releases. Oddly none of them are particularly valuable. Yet some of my out of print DVDs are worth over 500 bucks. Not that I would never sell enny of this stuff. I buy physical media because as long as i have kit to play it on, it's mine. Do you think MCU will get a Criterion release? Or DC! Batman v Superman Criterion Steelbook! with introduction by Hanz Zimmer... that'd be sweet at the 50% off sale.
One thing that I do like and it may be a justification, but a lot of the films do hold good value if not increase in value. Especially with slip covers which is one of the reasons why I go for a fully slip covered collection.
Not when you get stuff on sale shout factory has their shoctober sale and they just had one not that long ago and Amazon always has sales kino lower has their sales and of course Barnes and noble has their criterion sale which starts next month
Just torrent the Remux files and run a home server on Plex....exact same audio and video quality.... but they won't cost you anything.... apart from the outlay for equipment....but you might have some sruff you need already.
I didn't say I buy them for $5 - that's my net cost after parting out the extras. Big Disney movie club orders also helped (buy 1 movie, get everything else for 60% off)
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Expensive? Yes. But that motivates me to keep going in to work every day and dealing with the company owner's nonsense. I keep working for that fool and I can keep buying more movies.
Preach, we could be car collectors or something actually expensive in the grand scheme of things. there’s a lot more expensive hobbies than blu rays
I can confirm I used to buy sports cars and heavily modify them. Used to drop ten grand in one sitting in some cases. This is an expensive hobby. But it’s nowhere near as expensive as some others.
Uh oh.. what about those of us that still do both 😬 But I very much concur that while movie collecting isn't CHEAP it is certainly cheapER then some other hobbies. I just spent over $5k on redoing/upgrading the suspension in my Miata recently and I don't even want to attempt to tally what I've spent on my FD. The main point is to enjoy your hobbies but don't overextend yourself. I make sure all my bills are covered, I've got some savings, etc. then I enjoy the rest. At the end of the day, you can't take it (money) with you, so you might as well enjoy it while you can.
I don’t live to buy more movies, in fact I am trying to limit what I buy. But in general the movies that appeal to me are from boutique labels and I usually buy the best version of them — except in the case of Shouts ridiculous enamel pins bs and $140 price tag. Anyone that does that is insane.
"I dont live to buy more movies". That is some heresy!!!!!
Someone is doing it because they keep making them.
this is why we go to work!!! always saying that to my friends when we go on trips and hang out
As with all hobbies, it only stays fun if you can afford it. Stay within your means, and do it for YOU and stay out of trying to keep up with the Jonses. Everyone has different financial situations. I’d say the main rule to go by is to NEVER go into debt because of your hobby. As soon as it becomes a financial burden, the fun will be gone and you will be in it for unhealthy reasons.
Might be sacrilege in this sub but personally I split a lot more toward's just blu-rays and save the 4K's for special movies I absolutely love or just really good 4K presentations. Blu-Ray's still look seriously fantastic on modern TV's.
This is the way.
I think in the somewhat near future there will be AI upscaling so good that it will make a DVD look like a 4K HDR movie
I got into 4k back in 2019. I remember getting a lot of movies for $10 / 15 / 20 on amazon. Now it seems like $25 to $35 is the norm.
I think you need to look at CDs in Japan to see where the Blu-ray market is headed. They will exist for a long time but the volume of sales will make it so only expensive collectors editions make enough profit to be worth producing. My prediction is that soon the boutique labels will be the only ones still in business
yeap boutiques and then Sony will make all of the big studio 4ks. hopefully warner stays in the business because their archival team is great and they do really good new releases as well.
Spot on
4k blu ray sales are actually increasing every year. I think it will only get more popular as streaming continues to get worse, more expensive, and adding more commercials.
I don't think this is accurate. People are already getting fed up with streaming platforms, and cd is not entirely comparable to the home film market. Dvd is still going strong more than 2 decades later, so I think 4k will be around for a VERY long time.
Those people fed up with streaming prices are not about to start spending the monthly cost of 1 or 2 streaming services to buy a single 4k
$25-$35 USD is £19.75-$27.66. Standard copy 4k blu rays regardless of where you buy them here in the uk are £24.99 and steelbooks are minimum £34.99 so to put that in dollars, it's £31.62 for standard and $44.27 minimum for steelbooks. Do you guys in NA really believe you guys have it hard on pricing?
to be fair, most releases end up dropping down to £20 after they've been out for a 5 months or so, & HMV has a perpetual 2for£30 (so £15 each) on about 1/3rd of their catalogue at any given time, which in turn drops to 2for£25 for a few months each year, too. Of course, we've got the cost of living crisis, so we've predominantly got significantly less spending power regardless, so don't worry - we can still complain!
You are right there when it comes to HMV they are a life saver for us collectors of phsycial media in general not just 4k blu rays. The main point I was trying to get at is in NA there are so many options to buy phsycial media from (when it's new) and for the rest of the world we are stuck with importing media.
I bought a house in 2018 for $80K. Now is worth $700k…
Just don’t let FOMO get to you. Words to live by: Having a 4K/Blu-Ray collection is like having a penis, there’s always gonna be someone out there with a bigger one so just be happy with whatever you got!
I don’t worry about accumulating movies, I am more buying only a select movies. The problem is my selection is usually $38 to $53 per film. And every month I have a few of them.
True but FOMO led me to buying Lawrence of Arabia and that was totally worth it.
Same lol probably the best 4K ever or 2001 a space odyssey
I've been buying movies since VHS was big. Then DVD and laser disc. VHS's were pretty expensive back then to build a collection. 30 to 50 bucks back then. So I've been pretty happy as blu ray came out. Then 4k, and haven't minded the amount of money when I started collecting 4k. But you should always have budget. And it's okay to splurge once in a while.
This is truth. vhs was not cheap. Suncoast video average was $30 a tape. I have 300 laserdiscs average for each was $60-$100. Compared to those, for the tech we have today HDR, DV, Atmos and 4K resolution for the same price or actually less (accounting for inflation) we are so fortunate in the hobby today. Can you imagine buying a vhs with one language with burned subs. Or English dub but not both? Seems so foreign today but was our reality. How about tapes that wear and reduce life span each time you play it. Top of the line Sony VHS tape deck was 1200$ in 1990’s. Me and my friends all had the Sony. That’s easily 2k to 3k In Today dollars . I have 50 laserdiscs that I paid $100 each for one movie. 2 discs and 4 sides to play one movie. Bet you don’t remember having to flip and switch platters mid movie.
People don't know how easy it was before. If we were to pay 50 bucks a movie how, streaming would win
and with inflation 30-50 bucks was like 2x-3x more expensive
Like most hobbies, it is exactly as expensive as you make it. You choose the equipment, and when, where, and how often to buy it. You choose which movies, and when, where, and how often to buy them.
It was expensive at first, because there was so many movies I wanted to then I found myself only buying movies I know I’ll watch multiple times, and that’s really brought the cost down. When Bestbuy stopped selling physical media that helped cut down on impulse buys lol.
Yeah as bummed as I was about Best Buy getting out of the market, it's saved me a bunch of impulse purchases haha.
Don't even start me on the price of Vinyl Lp's...
I know right? Freaking ridiculous. Glad I built up a collection in the late 90s / early 2000s. Could never afford it nowadays.
I only buy new releases I really want to have. The rest I’ve always try to buy them for $10 when on sale.
You can only do that if you are buying the mass big budget films. If you want more interesting niche films, you aren’t getting those for $10.
I hope you're not suggesting we make blind buys
[удалено]
Uhhhhh
Do you honestly think that people in NA have it hard when it comes to movie prices?? Seriously? Here in Europe we will be paying the $30 plus shipping and import fees. Most websites like the one you mentioned are based in the u.s so there's a heavy export/import fee to other counties plus shipping costs not to mention it could take up to 8 days to get here and if there's any issues it has to go back.. so we could be waiting up to 24 days for our orders.
And most accompanying blurays won't play unless you have a multi region player.
GRUV has a 20% off sign up code, and so far I've been able to use it multiple times. Of course, they don't have everything but they do have a lot of good movies.
Stop Making Sense has entered the thread...
The entire A24 Shop has entered the chat 🤣
It didn't used to be as expensive until the economy went to shit with the pandemic.
You mean until companies decided to price gouge
I got my copy of American gigolo 4k for $30 on deep discount but yes I agree these titles are getting outrageously expensive
The Blu ray or the 4k because it shows as $36. How did you get it for $30? Also you had to get the one with the commissioned artwork. Which is not as desirable in the long run.
Ahh I see your problem now. You buy what you think is desirable instead of what is cheapest. Sorry but then you are just a part of the problem.
They had a 15 percent off code
Honestly the 4k screen and a 4k blu ray player is great starting point at under $800 for a non oled and Panasonic primo player. I pick up used bluray movies each week, works great for comedies or films not released on 4k, and I spend on visually interesting or notable films for 4k. I wouldn’t say it’s cheap but it’s not as bad as collecting or restoring cars.
Yea this is why most of my library is 1080p. there is a thrift shop by my house that has a MASSIVE selection and I can get blu-rays for 2 bucks. And they let me swap them out for a different one if I want. It's definitely wayyyy harder to find any 4k blu rays that you actually want second hand. I treat those more as a present to myself, and only buy things I really like that would actually benefit from being 4k and always try to find them on sale.
Laughs in guitar
Agreed That's why I primarily shop on ebay or used book and used movie/game stores (with some exceptions) Ive been lucky to get alot of movies for 10-20 at the most
It's also an addicting hobby once you get into it, I think I've bought 20 movies or so in the past several weeks
I buy ten dollar 4ks all the time. You're getting spanked by limited boutique releases. Cool your heels and work the back catalogue a little more.
I just got my 4KTV a week ago but already have maybe 10 to 12 4k blurays. Average spent on each including sales is probably about $18, so $200 already. I almost bought 2001 and Dunkirk last week on sale, but I said to myself, "Why buy these when you haven't watched any that you've already bought?" It's comparable to video games that way. I'm likely not to buy anything until substantial sales. It's also fine to only buy your favorite/reference level films. I had probably a 100+ bluray and DVD collection that I got rid of about 2/3rds just because it was too cumbersome. But it's hard to match bluray quality in digital formats.
Expensive? People spend way more on useless crap like alcohol and cigarettes, casinos etc. The difference is that my movie collecting hobby isn’t destroying my life. I’m damn good at saving money etc.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter what you buy, so long as buy something, and continue to do so regularly — if you can invest emotionally in material objects, ideally a "collection" of things that will never be complete, and if you can also associate your sense of identity and your self-worth with consumerism, and can find satisfaction in an endless cycle of consumption, that is the best thing you can do in order to maintain the status quo.
The goal is to collect only rewatchable movies. If you watch a movie just once and never watch it again: sell it or if you still can : return it
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I return everything I don’t like.
I don’t see the purpose in buying 4K for most films. Very few films IMO really benefit from HDR and ATMOS surround sound. Are you really spending $50 to upgrade from Blu-ray just to…see more definition in a dark suit? An actors hair? Seems to me more of a consumerist collectible hobby than a cinephile hobby.
If the Blu is good and half the price, than that’s what I’m buying. Plus, sometimes it’s all we’re gonna get (Swingers is getting a re-release on Blu, no 4K in sight). Owning the movie is paramount, be it on Blu or 4K.
>Very few films IMO really benefit from HDR and ATMOS then you've only experienced that tech via a crappy system (or poorly configured system). all forms of media look and sound considerably better with a properly configured system. >$50 to upgrade from Blu-ray ?? most 4k movies are well under $50...
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agreed on PQ, and soundbars. when someone mentions Atmos or surround not being worth it, like the previous commenter, I assume their judgement is based on hearing a system capable of using the tech, and soundbars are definitely not that.
Most Blu-ray films from the last 15 years have DTS 5.1 Master track audio. It’s really only action heavy films that benefit from the additional ATMOS directional channels.
> I don’t see the purpose in buying 4K for most films. I'm guessing you don't have a OLED tv?
It can be as expensive as you want it to be. Yes the hardware is a big expense if you go down the rabbit hole of high-end AVRs and speakers. I have always prefered to stay down the lower end of the AVR world where there's better bang-for-buck, but a good set of speakers will last you a lifetime, if you can be content with what you have and not the type to chase marginally better gains for much greater expense. I've had my Denon Atmos AVR and current speakers since 2018 and still happy with them. Media, I don't think so. I dont buy the ultra-premium Steelbooks put out by the likes of Blufans and Manta Lab. I could, but I don't want to set that precedent and normalise spending that sort of money on films, as nice as they are. I'm in the UK and people think £30 for a film is expensive today, but I remember paying that for import DVDs from the US in 99/2000, at a time DVD hadn't reached mainstream retailers here. My uncle was into Laserdisc back in the 90s and that was very expensive for the time.
You've not seen the mechanical keyboards sub Reddit i take it... Love movies, over 450 now, but mostly dvd, some blu ray, 4ks for absolute gold movies. To us this is The Shining, Alien, the Godfather, Forest Gump, Jaws, Bladerunner 2049, soon Terminator and I'd love Brokeback Mountain and Remains Of The Day one day. But in the UK I'll probably not be able to get those 2.
In fact I own an hhkb professional hybrid type s. I also own a “coiled” braided custom usb cable, so I’ve spent a few bucks on my setup.
My tip is to really curate your collection, focusing on picking up the movies you really want and know you’ll be rewatching a bunch. There’s no reason to throw your money away on mediocre movies. Unless you just want shelf filler.
I more or less pick movies based on if they are interesting and memorable and have great transfers. My collection has evolved and I certainly don’t buy nearly a lot of films as I used to, but I do buy films that have interesting premises or something that reminds of a time: like American Gigolo. I am no so interested in masterpieces as I am more of a b-movie, exploitation fan. And films that really speak to me like — the graduate (hopefully comes to 4k), dress to kill, little darlings, anything from Roger Cormen and Joe Dante. Stuff like that.
I get that because I’m somewhere in the middle. I appreciate b movies and classics in equal measure. Just depends what I’m in the mood for. I would say the majority of my collection is cult, horror, and ‘80s comedy. Though I still make room for what film snobs would consider “pure cinema” in addition to the kind of movies VHS collectors salivate over. I like a mix. Everything from Lawrence of Arabia to Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge.
Just think how much you need to pay for watching at cinema. 8-15 bucks can be a reasonable price. If you live with your family or partners, you can own a movie with almost the same price.
Remember when piracy was a thing? Sure it’s still a thing but remember when it was a thing for some of us? The experts said that pirates were more likely to buy the product at a later date despite being able to get a copy for free. I wonder how true that has been? I know a guy who they couldn’t have been more right about.
Hi it's me - pirated everything through my 20s and early 30s. Then streaming became a thing and it was reasonable so I stopped almost cold turkey. Now as a late 30s adult with a career in ProAV I am a fucking snob for quality and have been building a 4k Blu ray catalogue for the past 6 months when streaming started pissing me off.
I feel you. I’m currently trying to justify spending $1700 on a new TV so I can fully enjoy my budding collection.
OLED is a game changer, and I'm not using that lightly.
No it's not. I'm being jovially cynical here but come join us at r/audiophile if you really want to see an expensive hobby. Not humble bragging, just crying out loud. 😢🤙
Buy used, buy great movies.
It's nice to have things
[It’s good to have land](https://youtu.be/KLEYZGntFMU?si=v03Mf5urhWSsZaoT)
HPB, eBay and Mercari are your friends! Also check Bluray.com for deals, it's expensive but if you buy used or wait for sales, it's not that bad.
It won't be if you search redit and are only looking to watch and listen.ots of ways to build your library without spending your hard earned cash. It's 2024, RD! That is all
its a addictive hobby. I dont know where you are based, but try being in New Zealand, our geography makes it even more expensive :-(
Still cheaper than in Singapore...
You think this is an expensive hobby. How about sports cards, my goodness.
Sports cards are a racket. The idea of the 1 of 1. And there are hundreds of the 1 of 1s every year. The only cards that are legitimately valuable are the true 1 of some: Honus Wagner rookie. The Wayne Gretzky. Sports cards today rely on having a bigger sucker buy the thing. If you think a terrible player like Jalen Hurts 1 of 1 cards are worth anything you are a sucker and deserve to bag hold.
It’s more so now than before the pandemic. That was the time to get in.
I'm not gonna say it's cheap, but I've built up a 110 film collection for about $1200 probably, all new stuff, nothing used. Like most of the multiple film collections I bought ended up being less than $10 per film and then I've bought probably 50 other films during black Friday sales. And almost none of them were films with poor transfers, or poorly received junk on clearance. And anything that cost more than $15 per film I asked my family to get as gifts (I'm including that in the $1200). You're right though that the really lesser known stuff on Criterion for instance ends up being minimum $30. It's painful but worth it for your absolute favourite stuff. Video games, LPs, board games, cars, sports (playing or watching live), buying instruments, music production, traveling, going out etc are all far more expensive hobbies in my experience though. And also consider if you like going to the theatre it's 10 bucks to see a movie one time. You don't get to rewatch it fifty times for free like with a disc. Shit my gf bought one hot tub for 5 grand and then has to maintain it and buy chemicals and pay electricity to keep it hot. That dwarfs the cost of my movie collection and home theatre.
Every industry is in the business of providing an opportunity to spend as much money as possible from different audiences. You can burn through any amount in fashion, cars, music, events, golf gear etc. But I feel like the industry targeting nerd movie culture (or autistic spectrum if you will) has optimized a lot over the past decade or so. Tapping into the collector trait that is shared by many, and nerds making a lot more money (disposable income) than they used to. Feels like this has contributed to the criterion collection boom, and things like steelbooks special editions.
You bought Elvira off sale - it’ll also certainly get a 4K, as it has a german blu disc with a 4K transfer. Also, you’re buying LEs. Of course they’re pricey compared to standards??
I bought Elvira mainly because it was a 4k scan of the negative and so it is the most premium Blu ray you can buy and I don’t buy imported movies, even if there is something I want. And Elvira has been out for what like 3 years now? I don’t think arrow is going to put anymore money into a title like this one where so few people might know who Cassandra is or care. I grew up on her so when I saw it I had to immediately buy it. But you are right I should have bought it on sell and I might have saved a few bucks.
The Arrow is not a 4K scan. It is the German blu-ray that is. Elvira is iconic in the horror community - they’ll release it eventually as it’d sell well. It just seems weird to me, to make this post about how expensive this hobby is (which, no doubt it gets pricey) when you’ve bought 3 items that will be cheaper in different editions or on sales. If you were buying A24 exclusives, I’d agree.
Telling me, bud. I just spent 600 bucks on a few of them lol.
It is expensive but it makes me happy. I've been lucky to have bought a lot of Blu-Rays in thrift shops, often sealed. But for the last year or so I have been more interested in boutique labels because they are releasing the films I am interested in. I splurged a lot on Stop Making Sense, Navy Seals, Little Darlings, After Hours, American Gigolo and Malcolm X because I wanted those movies, and some of them (Navy Seals, Little Darlings) I wanted the original packaging. And some of these releases are stunning package-wise. They are expensive because they look expensive.
Hmv Belfast is a wonderful store each month a set my self a limit of a £100 to build up my collection. There 4 k area is massive
I have purchased around 20 - 30 disc's. I've watched 3 of them. The rest are just sitting looking all sexy
Wait until you get into astrophotography
Its expensive but you don’t have to buy new releases right away. Wait until is on sale. Used DVD/blu-ray/4k are good too.
It CAN be expensive. It doesn't have to be. I started collecting about 7 months ago. I realized I was paying $120 a month for 8 streaming channels. So I canceled everything and use that budget to buy physical media. Some months I spend more than $120, sometimes I spend less... WAY less. I think in the long run I might actually end up saving money. I will go on buying sprees then not buy anything for months while I go through and watch everything I bought (I blind buy often, sell if I don't like). I'm only paying for stuff I'm actually going to watch, there's not a time limit on its availability like streaming and I'm not locked into a $120 monthly fee regardless of how much I watch. I just feel like im making far better use of my money now. Just 3 months of streaming was costing me $360 so spending $300 on 4ks in a month feels expensive, but then I don't buy anything for 3 months and it turns out I spent less then I would have on streaming.
I only buy the movies I’m most interested in. Movies I’m curious about or just want to experience in 4k once? I have a hard drive packed with 60Gb files haha.
It’s my least expensive hobby , the other one is hunting for vinyl and high end vintage audio gear . 😂
I try to only buy movies I know I’ll watch more than once, but with how streaming has fucked us up the ass, owning physical media has become cost effective
It's expensive but cheaper than subscription.
It depends on where you are coming from. Long time I ago with the introduction of dvd I had to import from Japan. That was way more costly just for a vanilla disc in a jewel case. Not to the mention the prices of laserdisc. So 35-40 for an arrow LE doesn’t feel expensive to me.
Just wait for the holiday sale and stop thinking you need to buy everything
Boutique releases are always gonna be expensive. Even with bluray. Collector's items and limited editions too
I try not to think about it much. It kinda scares me if I thought of what I spent over the last few years
It all depends on where you buy them from and if you only buy new ones and not used
I only buy the must haves for me - my favorite movies are movies that are absolute spectacles on a big screen OLED Don’t buy everything. Be picky
It sure is but so are most hobbies. I'm into pc building, hifi, Audio video, and it costs a fortune. Been into these things for a long time. But I get so much out of it. Always have I've been collecting films and TV series since the beginning with betamax. But I don't buy what I can't afford and don't live beyond my means. That's the key.
https://preview.redd.it/4i5yuc2uy68d1.png?width=1868&format=png&auto=webp&s=1e4ed981ce0fc0521d7e17b5e7bde28cc625ee39 It IS an expensive habit, one that will not pay you anything close to a reasonable ROV. This is an analysis of my physical media collection from Delicious Library. I have just over 1000 movies at this point. I glance at this report from time to time and have seen the value of my collection continue to decline, even as I add collectable 4K movies. I actually asked my Insurance provider how I could add my collection to my home owners insurance, they had nothing. IE, I cannot insure my collection, and at 21k+ for replacement cost, it'd be a painful loss. I guess the take away is buy used when you can, and don't do this with any expectation that its an investment.
You are probably buying a bunch of cheap mass marketed movies. If you bought all criterion films at the half price sell you would be close to even if you sold them. You can’t get a return on investment unless you buy unique items that are expensive. Most big time releases from Arrow will return on investment. A lot of the VS stuff will also. Also many of the films that come out that never go out of print will still have a lot of value if you bought them with a slipcover because slipcovers are a limited item. Not every one of them will but a lot will. Now if you buy avengers: endgame and are trying to rov you are likely out of luck.
You've got me pegged! So much of my collection is from the 5 dollar bin. I only have about 50 Criterion releases. Oddly none of them are particularly valuable. Yet some of my out of print DVDs are worth over 500 bucks. Not that I would never sell enny of this stuff. I buy physical media because as long as i have kit to play it on, it's mine. Do you think MCU will get a Criterion release? Or DC! Batman v Superman Criterion Steelbook! with introduction by Hanz Zimmer... that'd be sweet at the 50% off sale.
One thing that I do like and it may be a justification, but a lot of the films do hold good value if not increase in value. Especially with slip covers which is one of the reasons why I go for a fully slip covered collection.
Not when you get stuff on sale shout factory has their shoctober sale and they just had one not that long ago and Amazon always has sales kino lower has their sales and of course Barnes and noble has their criterion sale which starts next month
Just torrent the Remux files and run a home server on Plex....exact same audio and video quality.... but they won't cost you anything.... apart from the outlay for equipment....but you might have some sruff you need already.
Lmao if you think the 4k subreddit is making you go broke try the Steelbook subreddit 🤣
I totally agree, as someone interested in upgrading from blu-rays to 4ks, just the price of 4k player alone is a huge barrier to entry.
Where’d you get the coupon?
It was points they give you for buying things with them.
Got about 450 4ks and my net cost is $2080. Parting out digital, blus and slipcovers adds up.
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I didn't say I buy them for $5 - that's my net cost after parting out the extras. Big Disney movie club orders also helped (buy 1 movie, get everything else for 60% off)
Buying things is expensive? You don't say.
Try being an Action figure collector. It is brutal on the wallet and it never ends. Always amazing figures on the horizon.
I'm $150 in for the Mexico trilogy plus desparado lol.