Any thoughts of having a laserdisc convention sometime?

ohreally · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 06:38

firehorse_44 wrote:

What a great idea....
Surprised that this has not already been manifested .....
Trekkies have been doing that sort of thing awhile....
Would love to see some form of convention take root over time....

I love the idea of a LD convention and took a look at the concentration of members on the LDDb. The largest is in the US followed by the UK making one of these the logical locations for such an event...
Logistically I don't see this happening as persons from other locations would not only have to pay for themselves to fly but also shipping cost for LD players and discs for the buy,sell and trade.
I can only see something like this happening on a local level as much as I hate to be negative...

Perhaps setting up at local sci-fi or comic conventions?

firehorse_44 · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 08:55

Yea,logistics would be a bear.
I can see booths with only the creme of the crop offerings.
Mediocre titles would just need to stay home !

Would have to take all possible steps to avoid the event being a "dud".
Being creative would be key to avoid a bad turnout scenario.

SOME IDEAS:

-Possibly a few scheduled exclusive "Epic" title showings that may draw the "curious" uninitiated as well as Adept Collectors.

-Special Guest Speakers.
Open Question:
Who would be on the list of guest speakers to create more draw?
Leonard Nimoy just hung up his hat for the trekkie convention circuit. So he is out !!!
(Unless we can talk him into a rare appearance for LD-Con !!!) LoL

-Autograph signing is a big part of the comic-con scene.
Wonder if that gimmick would work for an LD type Con.....
Open question:
Who would LD fans like to see signing autographs ?

Hope this helps a bit to get the creative ideas flowing !!!

Another Great Thread- Thanks all for weighing in !

elahrairrah · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 13:43

rein-o wrote:

never heard of "laserland" they would never have had a bigger selection than tower video at the time.

HMV also had a large selection of LDs and import LDs, they had the godzilla chronicles box set for around $600.00

i hate to say it but anything that wasn't in manhattan during that time would have been a real small niche store.
and it wouldn't have lasted very long, i remember a store on the lower east side that did VHS and LD rentals, but the store was only around for about 3 years if i remember correctly.

as for a convention or gathering place, it would be cool BUT i don't think there is enough from the 12 of us or so to make any money or cover costs of space rental :thumbdown:

i think that we would rather just spend that money on more of our collection than traveling to meet up and?

I remember seeing ads for Laserland in The Laserdisc Newsletter. Never got the chance to head up to NY to check them out though before DVD took over.

I've also read about Laser Craze in Boston that reportedly was an enormous Laserdisc store. As described by this one LD enthusiast:

Quote:

It was in this era that I regularly visited what I considered the New England mecca for laserdiscs - Boston's Laser Craze! Granted, Tower records had a reasonably beefy supply of discs, and I never made it to Sight & Sound (also in Mass.), but the one place I adored above all others was the Laser Craze multilevel megastore on Newbury Street. They had a great selection of used discs and a wallet draining smorgasbord of Japanese imports.

Where else could you find Rush's Exit Stage Left on LD? Or the European cut of Ridley Scott's Legend with the original Jerry Goldsmith score? Or maybe even the insanely beautiful Japanese boxed sets of David Lynch's TV masterpiece Twin Peaks? If you were really cool (like Fonzie), you shelled out over a hundred clams for the import disc of Pulp Fiction while it was still playing in theaters here in the states. Laser Craze had it all, and everytime you walked in there you'd wish you had ten times the amount of money in your pocket.

Unfortunately, I can find little other information on the place.

remington · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 15:23

Looks like few letters burned out but what a flashback. I remember walking through those doors and feeling content.

This is the Carle Place location--worst parking ever. EDIT- Ah, the other location was Syosset NY.

rein-o · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 16:10

WOW cool

elahrairrah · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 17:01

Back to the convention thing, it would be prudent to get all the major LD sellers these days on board, like Duff, DaDon, LaserdiscVault, etc. (since it would make them money)

Or maybe parner up with some existing convention with similar interests, like a Sci-Fi or Horror convention.

flcl4evr · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 17:12

I know LaserdiscVault is in New York state somewhere, so a convention in the Northeastern US would probably be best for him

remington · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 17:27

elahrairrah is right about using a sci-fi or horror convention. It just fits. You could have a huge area devoted to LD with displayed jackets (like comics) and booths promoting players. The housing and pro-mos already exist, it just a matter of insertion (of ld). It's time to network with convention "junkies" and organizers.

ratkins · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 17:39

The San Diego Comic-Con started with a few guys sitting in a basement talking about comics. Humble beginnings. Of course with the internet that's kinda what we already do here. But maybe a "get-together" in a big city where we could all go drive around to any stores that still carry discs after the conversation has died down.

Ron

rein-o · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 22:13

also why would someone who is selling 15-30 thousand worth of discs on the internet lug them to a show just for someone to ding the edges :thumbdown:

elahrairrah · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 22:33

rein-o wrote:

also why would someone who is selling 15-30 thousand worth of discs on the internet lug them to a show just for someone to ding the edges :thumbdown:

You can say the same for any retailer bringing their product to a convention. Anyone can find the stuff they're selling on the internet, but they still bring them to the conventions and people still buy them.

There are several reasons why:

1) they get to look at and actually handle what they're buying, it's always a plus
2) no shipping costs
3) haggling - kind of hard to haggle for a stack of discs over the internet. Much easier to do it face to face

That's just a few. I'm sure there are more reasons.

rein-o · Posted: 23 Feb 2012, 23:59

yazorin · Posted: 24 Feb 2012, 00:52

flcl4evr wrote:

I know LaserdiscVault is in New York state somewhere, so a convention in the Northeastern US would probably be best for him

im in ct so i would def be down for that

Guest · Posted: 24 Feb 2012, 06:03

flcl4evr wrote:

I say everyone should just come to Rochester so I don't have to drive anywhere, being that I'm only 17, lol

just for saying that, we're now going to host it in Corpus Christi, Texas, that way you have to drive at least 1500 miles (assuming you mean Rochester New York)

flcl4evr · Posted: 24 Feb 2012, 06:28

I do in fact mean Rochester New York. Jerk.

mikeystoyz · Posted: 24 Feb 2012, 07:19

Heck no, anaheim cali!

remington · Posted: 24 Feb 2012, 15:10

The Bermuda Triangle - love to find where some discs went.

elahrairrah · Posted: 24 Feb 2012, 16:48

If we're going to go with Cali, then it should be somewhere close to where LD was born. Wasn't the first Discovision plant in Torrance, CA?

elahrairrah · Posted: 24 Feb 2012, 16:55

rein-o wrote:

yes, there are many more reasons. but i've been buying everything for the past 14 years off of the internet, i can only get it cheaper in person if the seller dosn't know what they have :thumbup:

i know all the reasons and have heard all the reason, but when it comes down to it you can get a cheaper price without having to pay for the sellers booth space and travel time.

Sellers will do shows because they are all but guaranteed a lot of sales in a short amount of time. So they definitely believe it's worth the effort, booth price or no.

Buyers do it for the reasons I posted before. Plus, sure you might be able to get it cheaper online, but there's nothing like plunking your money down right then and there and walking away with what you wanted and not having to wait for it to be shipped to you or even worse, damaged in transit! Ontop of paying for shipping (which often cancels out your online savings.)

rein-o wrote:

i'm all for some type of show thing, but i believe like posted before it will have to be at an already running show, someone or all of us will post that we will be there and meet up do trades, sell etc.

Yup, it's best to be partnered up with another show, like a Horror or Sci-Fi convention like I mentioned before. Hell, it might spark some interest from the other con-goers when they see all that awesome jacket art (then we'll have more people fighting us on ebay for auctions!)

flcl4evr · Posted: 24 Feb 2012, 19:07

Its too bad all the big conventions aren't held near Rochester, sigh

Any thoughts of having a laserdisc convention sometime?

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