Some people drink, take drugs, gamble, go on cruises ....but me I collect and watch old movies. Since I was a little kid watching movies was my escapism and way to relax. Old age haven’t changed that. At one time only “Movie moguls” could collect movies. Now everyone can. In fact, with streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime there are many who feel collecting media is old fashioned. Me, I like to have a library I can touch and organize and rearrange. In addition the streaming services don’t have all the great movie I love.
Before the fire I had a library of over 800 movies collected since DVDs became the standard in about 1997. I had never been happy with the picture quality of VHS but DVD and then Blu ray brought movie theater picture quality into the home. I bought special bookshelves just for DVDs and organized them in a system only I could appreciate. Janie and the kids never understood. For example, “John Wayne”movies were organized by release date from oldest to newest. “History/War” movies started with movies in Ancient Greece through Vietnam and on to Iraq and Afghanistan . For example all “Civil War Movies are together and so are World War II. “Drama/Comedy” are in order of when the story takes place. For example, American Graffiti is in 1962 when it occurred and not 1973 when the movie was made.
The fire destroyed them all in about 15 minutes and I was crushed. But then I found a silver lining. I could collect them again. A big part of collecting is “ the hunt”. After the insurance money came I made a list of about 40 movies that were essential and the rebuilding began. I knew I would never get to the 800+ but 200 was realistic. A second silver lining was it gave me something to do in retirement.
As an Amazon Prime member I can get free shipping of DVDs from Amazon. They have most movies that have been released at reasonable retail costs. However, I love a bargain and started to look at other avenues. eBay is good but their shipping is costly and slow. HalfPrice Books in Lexington has a good selection of used DVDs but can be pricy. The $5.00 bin at Walmart turns up some real gems but I love Antique Malls! There are a lot here in Kentucky and you can get some really great bargains as low at $1.25 each. Goodwill is always an option and Frankfort even has a shop that sells used DVD for $3.00 each or 7 for $10.00.
Every time I acquire a new or used DVD/Blu ray I catalog it on several internet sites. Janie always gave me a good natured kidding about my obsession in recording each acquisition but it came in handy for insurance purposes.
I’m now up about 155 DVDs and Blu ray. Like any addiction you have to ration yourself.
