How on earth did this interview ever come about?
Well in January this year I got an email out of the blue from Cararte just asking my opinion on something laserdisc related. One thing led to another and we got chatting about how he ever got started with the laserdisc format.
I was aware from previous research online that he had a long history with the format and was one of the very first people to own a very extensive range of high end LD players and many rare titles in his time. Who could forget classic online threads composed many years ago by Cararte with memorable titles like HLD-X9 goes to war with HLD-X0! He was a legend in laserdisc circles - no question about it.
I also knew he had been a very successful seller for sometime but that his reputation had been damaged a few years back. In more recent times I had decided to give him a chance and buy some items from him. I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly all the transactions went. He seemed like an easy guy to do business with and the quality of what he was selling was top notch and his packaging as good as it gets.
When I asked why he had not tried to defend his reputation he mentioned he didn't want to wash his dirty laundry in public and it was all in the past. I suggested that may have been his downfall since it had contributed to a lot of speculation and rumours in the absence of any concrete facts.
It seemed to me there was a lot of criticism being directed at him with very little justification behind it if you took the time to speak with him. One thing that was crystal clear very early on was Cararte still has a huge passion for the format. Another thing that emerged was he liked collecting a lot of the same titles I do but had done it years before me. We also had both had the misfortune of dealing with Mr. 'yellow sticker' man which some of you may know if you collect MUSE titles.
So I eventually came up with the crazy idea of doing an informal interview with him based on laserdisc related questions. To my surprise he seemed happy to oblige and answered every single question I asked, even the thorny ones that you might not expect him to!
So what follows is our interview which he gave full permission to be posted. I hope it gives people a little more insight into 'Cararte' and they see beyond the infamous character portrayed online which has become more of a myth than a reality.
When did you first start collecting LDs?I started in 1998.
What was your first laserdisc? Poltergeit LetterBox Factory Sealed and costed me $12.99
then i got a few more...but i had no player and tried to sell them locally but few were interested
so one day i said to myself, i will continue my journey and wont sell....
What was your first laserdisc player?It was a Sony MDP-650 PAL/NTSC, it arrived from an UK seller so badly packed, came broken inside.
I took it to Sony Portugal back in the days (June of 1998) and they fixed the "tracks" according to them...
What is your favourite player?In terms of players I would also take anytime an LD-X1 over the X9 and for Muse I prefer the X0.
The X9 has a gorgeous gold look but the picture is not as pure as those mentioned, has a very digital look...
What was the best player you have ever owned and why?I would say it was the Pioneer HLD-X0, nothing equals to it in smoothness and picture quality.
[Cararte's favourite player - the HLD-X0 - a good choice by anyone's standards]
What is your everyday player...an HLD-X9?Well, it was a Panasonic LX-600, but now the X9 is back, and can't wait to put it working...
What is your favourite laserdisc title and why?My favorite Laserdisc title of all time is Back to the Future Trilogy (and i will consider the 3 here)
because i LOVE the artwork, specially of Back to the Future Part. II..
[These were originally owned by Cararte - he later sold them to me]
Where did you buy most of yor laserdiscs from?Well, many places, but mostly in Japan, from Nicolas Santini and some other seller's...
What attracted you to purchase many MUSE hi-vision titles originally?Well, i was very attracted by the Editions themselves, it's the most luxurious format in the World right?
The detail of the manufacturing is amazing, and curiously i think there are prototypes of movies that were never released and they will show up someday...
How big did your collection grow before you sold most of it? my collection went up to 1500
Why did you sell most of your collection? To fund other things more important at the time.
You were one of the first people I ever knew to own multiple high end players and rare titles.
Was the goal to buy them to sell on, or did you plan originally to keep them?When i bought the players i never had any intention of selling them, life circumstances made me sell, as well as for the software. I am a Collector and love to keep the things.
I remember you posted online "laserdisc would return again".
It was a fascinating topic that got many people talking. What did you mean?I meant to say what you read in all sense of the word "return", because the format was not "well-killed" if we can say like this. The death of Laserdisc was a financial death, not a miss of sucess.
The potential was there, and still is...the proof is for everybody to see, Disney is making now the "Big Sleeves Edition", of the size of an LP (like most say)....
Do you have contacts who know where working equipment still exists? Yes i have a few, but all plants stopped and i don't have a clue where the equipment is.
How do you store your laserdiscs?I put them in a vertical position, and not too much stuck together, in plastic sleeves.
What are your reasons for starting to buy LDs again?It's an addiction... LOL
What got you started again? Well because i love the format and realized that the market still offers good discs and good players, so decided to grab a few while i can.
Do you buy any PAL LDs? No, i don't, i will not buy or intend to.
Do you have any friends in Portugal who also collect laserdiscs?Yes i do, but never took it so serious as i do.
How do you rate the picture quality of a laserdisc with today's technology?Picture of today is superior, but the "film-like" quality isn't there...or better saying, is there, at the eyes of a New Generation of film lovers,
but in out time (i am 38) we are used to a soft picture with a special motion touch.
Why do you think some people still prefer laserdisc to more recent formats?I actually do prefer, i prefer to watch a Classic movie like Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Casablanca, Lawrence of Arabia on Laserdisc,
but newer releses i prefer Blu Ray or 4k, never was a fan of the DVD (despite some editions, like the Nightmare on Elm Street Box Set).
What types of laserdiscs interest you most?Classics....i love Horror like Halloween Collection, Nightmare on Elm Street Collection, Friday the 13th Collection, Indiana Jones,
Back to the Future Trilogy, Star Wars....B-Action movies like War movies, Ninja movies, and those kind of movies....
[the sorts of titles Cararte collected]
Do you think laserdiscs will become more collectible as times go by or do you think the format has peaked already?It will become more and more of course, and we see day by day, new generations to be cuirous about the format and collecting discs. Of course, not at the level some take, but they collect.
In my time and your time, we use to care about a "corner wear", a "split" etc...new generations i see them handle the discs like a piece of plastic on youtube...LOL
Why did you change your username so often on LDDB.com?Stupidity i guess...
You sometimes did not complete transactions you started on LDDB.com.....from your perspective what were the reasons why?Life since 2008 wasn't easy for me, i went working to Dubai and in 2 years i lost alot of money (almost all) and things got a bit out of control, but never had any intention on non-paying.
At one point you were the go to guy in Europe for high end laserdiscs players then suddenly that stopped. What happened?
Yes, i was and probably i will be soon again. I sold a Mcintosh MLD7020 once to a member (i prefer not to talk about) and the player came to him serviced from Mcintosh, and double boxed.
After 8 or 10 days of receving it (i cannot say well) he told me the player was broken and so and so...
So i told him: Fix the player there and i pay (despite the fact it was a strange conversation, considering all that time), it's so easy to blame your seller...
He started to speak bad about me all over the web, right now many people know me as a "scammer", when they don't have a clue of what i am and what i do in my sales.
Even today i sold 6 Muse Hi-Vision movies to a well known and respectable Collector.
I sold many players and never had a single problem, not a single broken player...
Who was the best seller you ever dealt with? I got a few, but i think DADON
Who was the worst seller you ever dealt with?Well i would prefer not to talk about it...LOL I would have to mention names and i prefer not to. LOL
Did you ever have any dealing with seller Japanese King on LDDB.com - the guy who puts yellow stickers on everything?[example MUSE title for sale by Japanese King complete with fake yellow stickers]
Unfortunately i was a victim of that guy in the past. He sold me some rubbish....
If i remember well i had them shipped but with a very big delay, it was a nightmare with him.
I always respect my buyers as i would like to be respected. I hate when discs arrive with damage from bad packing.
Yes yellow fake stickers
does he makes those on his printer?
I kept them at the time just to avoid the work of sending them back....
What are your plans for the future with laserdisc? Collect the titles i want and keep them forever.
Will it be a central part of your Home Cinema system? I wouldnt's say central, but very important yes.
Blu Ray and 4k attracts me.
If i find one day a collector selling a full collection with mint titles i can spend a couple of thousands...
It's a big passion, and it really cannot go away easily, even with Blu Ray, 4k, it's something amazing....
I love and collect all formats but LD is the special one. Do you agree?True, indeed, it will always be to me also.
Are you going to build back up your MUSE collection again? Ahhh maybe not, it's too much cash, i will prefer those extra ones i have really.
But i don't have rush, despite the fact i have one guy from Germany sending me emails and maybe it will be negotiated soon.
What type of collection are you going for this time? At this time is a bit of a start again, and i hope i get into to it very fast,
i've bought good titles already and going on...i like almost every genre of film,
but i don't value too much the late releases (i believe i mention this before to you), intead i like old editions and classic movies.
Do you open all these sealed LDs you've been buying recently? What sealed LD's? The ones i had before? No almost none of them, i like to keep many of them sealed in the past and i sold almost eveything.
90% of them (the best) are in the hands of a friend.
Someone on the forum mentioned you were buying a lot of duplicate LDs? You are a Collector as i am and don't you have duplicates yourself?
About the duplicates i remember few time ago i bought some Back to the Future early editions fullscreen and Star Wars and all that stuff Factory Selaed from one guy that bought a lot of an old store...
i bought quite alot from him...but those were not only for me, it was for me and 2 friends, i don't have duplicates.
Those editions are the ones i value....
What size of collection are you going for?Only time will tell, i am in negotiations for a huge dare I say "Perfect" collection from a friend,
i cannot say the quantity but around 1600 titles, he is like me keeps everything perfect and many of them sealed,
let's see.... he is in Europe near me, and i will travel soon and take my Van in case we agree
Do you plan to collect the late release movies ever again?At the moment prices are prohibitive and its just too exhausting for me to do that again.
I will focus on older discs just for memory.
I actually give more value to older releases. I don't give too much value to late releases....
I like the classics.
When I was into LD always give more value to classic action adventure and Sci fi movies.
You had a large collection of MUSE that you also sold. Will you buy those again?As for Muse I sold almost all of them so I will not put in my mind to collect them anymore....i want just to sell the final ones.
Are you assembling another fleet of HLD-X9's ?No, the friend that took my NTSC Laserdiscs bought this X9, and it is in fact new,
but since it didn't work for many years, few months ago when he was assembling it to his setup,
it gived ERROR P5. It wants to start spindle but then it doesn't...maybe the spindle has damaged because it never worked. The player is new and loks new inside as it is.
I tried to help him and replaced the rubbers but still is the same.
I've decided to take it for the same price i sold to him and now i am trying to get a spindle (hopefully i am lucky)
Have you noticed how many HLD-X9's have been appearing on Ebay in recent years?Well it seams that many guys just dont care anymore about the format....or they are selling the tired players that soon need parts...
Your icon on Ebay originaly looked like a Ferrari or Lamborghini....do you own one in real life?I could own one, with the money i've spent in discs and players...ahahahahaha
Finally - where did the name Cararte come from ?Well Cararte came, as i am connected to the car industry, and i like to deal in special cars, so a Car for me is a piece of Art...