alright, i think that most of the people here on the forum or collectors of the LD format
started after they stoped selling LDs and players.

i think if anyone has MSRP or actual prices of players when you could go into the ole electronics
shop and buy one.

lots of people here are paying very little for players, which is fine.
but when you receive your 60.00 player with shipping and it's broken don't forget that the low end player you have may have cost 800 or more new.

so if you pay 60 bucks and have to pay 200 to get it running for a total of 260, you still have a
player that is cheaper than the new price and it's been setup to play correctly without any of the
crosstalk or other issues that you all seem to have.

Really? I never thought of that. That would explain a lot of the, IMO, extremely bizarre buying habits, i.e.: people getting really excited and paying big money for discs and then never watching them. Being more excited about some weird aspect of the disc's format (DTS, year of release, whatever) and not seeming to notice that the movie is not that great. I mean, Titan AE? You guys know that movie is like...not good, right?



Is this a question or a statement?



I don't know about that. There really never was an "entry level" deck until the early 90s when they started trying harder to get the prices down and by then $800 would have been a mid to high range player's price. I paid $370 for my CLD-S201 at Fretter, for example. Some people I know who got into LD after I did bought the CLD-S104 when it came out (an even crappier player) for $299. The S104 might have been the cheapest player they ever made. At this time decks like the D604 were twice that.



Yeah, I agree with this. Its SUCH a buyers market. When I was in my 20s I could only afford an LD every other month. Yesterday I just got 43 of them, mostly all Disney animated stuff, and a barely broken D503 for $45. Its...crazy.

titan ae is actually a pretty good movie, but yeah i agree it seams some discs are bought just because there rare or where made in limited quantities, and not because there good movies.. south park comes to mind..

my 2 players were entry level players i know that a ldv2200 only costed like 400 or 500 i think and my cld1080 i think was like 700? anyways they were cheap back in the day for a reason lol i really need to get a new player

The LDV2200 was not a cheap player at all. It was probably a couple thousand.

a couple thousand? i dont think so. An elite 97 or 99 would have been a couple thousand. the 2200 was sold to high schools they wouldn't pay that much money for a player lol

Stuff aimed at professional or educational use is not cheap.

The 2200 is a pro deck. Its built like a tank, which is why most of them are still working and vibrate less than many players did right out of the box. None of the "V" decks were cheap. Furthermore, the 2200 is really old, from back when no player was cheap. The barcode reader accessories (the reason for getting a 2200, usually) were $150 or so by themselves.

what i'm saying about prices is that the MSRP would be sometimes a few hundred more than actual cost at
the wiz or where you could buy players before bust buy.

i know that some new back in the late 80s would have been around 750-1500
so if you are paying 60-75 bucks and it's broken, don't whine pay 200 get it serviced enjoy films and have some wine!!

I bought my first player in 1990. It had a 1500 msrp on it. It was a pretty good player for the time and it worked great. I got my second player for 200 dollars a decade later. They were not cheap ever when they first came out. I mean you could get a vcr for next to nothing and these things were a mint. That being said, I enjoyed my player for 10 years. I was lucky, I got it at Montgomery wards. They had it at 1/2 off because it was a floor model. Then it was another 50 percent off as it had no remote and I got another 50 percent off because it was a sale weekend. The same player next to it was 1500. I got mine for like 200 bucks out the door. I had the warranty and everything.

thats probably how much the store payed for the player!

I think the "list price" on my CLD-S201 was $599.99. MSRP was probably $400. I paid a bit less, possibly because it was going out...or maybe because Fretter was going out of business around then.

Hello and good day guys,

I enjoyed reading all of the post's

I Started out as an AV enthusiast in April 1998, I invested heavily into the Laserdisc hardware side of things, and worked many many hours every week to get hold of the Players that caught my eye.

An independant AV install & retail outlet in London was charging £1,800 for the Pioneer Elite DVL-91, I challenged their prices and said that they were not an official Pioneer Elite importer.
I then told them that I could purchase one for £1,100 From ''The Disc Emporium in Knebworth'' With a stepdown transformer thrown in. . . . . . Lets just say they did'nt like it.

I cannot be done with people who blatantly rip people off, and then stand by their justification as though there not wrong.
I said to them why would I purchase from yourselves when I could save myself £700 purchasing from the other guy, who I might add always did a fair price with the $ to £ exchange rate + he was sociable, gave me coffee and, even paid for breakfast.

I purchased a brand new Pioneer CLD-925 for £400's from B&B HiFi and tried to haggle further, with trying to get a good scart to s-Video cable thrown in, the seller then said don't push your luck, to which I replied by saying, if you don't try or ask you don't get
The retail price for the CLD-925 was £800+

I purchased Pioneers DVL-909 and 919 for £800 each and the prices for these were steady.

In around 2005 I purchased a Pioneer ELITE CLD-99 from a friend, with around 200 Laserdisc's for £500 (am currently waiting for spare belts and grip rings from the US for all of my US players.)

I purchased another CLD-99 in 2008 approx for £600 off ebay of which is in top quality.

In 2007 I travelled around an 800mile journey, to purchase an HLD X9 In south shields (near Newcastle.) for £1,500
of which included around 50 Laserdisc's with hardware accesories.

In April 2008 I spent around 18months discussing and agreeing on a price, for a Brand new unopened Pioneer CLD-97 £2300 shipping included approx price, and then got hammered by UK customs for £332 (I have an AC-3 mod kit £50 euros.)

The last player will be an HLD X0 currently reserved with a seller, along with around 27 Laserdisc Titles.

During all of this time I have worked at times, up to & more than 84hrs a week.

Make no mistake about this I have struggled to get all that I wanted over the years, and have still to connect my amp and Pre-amp with 7 Balanced cables, of which cost around £220 each, so this will not be up and running before the year is out.

So my view is this: Weather you spend a lot or a little, for the Hardware is irrelevant other factors come into play, like what one sacrifices, or gives up for what you want, and how hard one is will to wait for such things.

Enjoy your movies guys and take good care of yourselves.

Regards

this is starting to be a great post.
i want new people, or old to remember if you get a player on the bay or from someone.
even if packed well there may be damage, but don't forget that you got a deal and can pay a little to get it
fine tuned and still pay less than 3/4 of the original value.

i think lots of people get messed up with prices of DVD players at local stores for 30 bucks.
keep up the prices if you have any or remember any.

i remember the CLD-3070 was around 750-800 new back in 89, i know there was an elite at the time that may
have been around 1800?

First player I ever bought back in 1995, an Asian (not Japanese as it had a voltage selector) Pioneer dual sided player (don't remember the number as I only had it for a month before I returned it since it was broken) was somewhere between $500-600 at the Exchange (I was in the Navy at the time.) I believe it was akin to a D406 as it had no digital frame memory or AC-3 output.

Second player was a Sony MDP-A3 in 1995. That was $629 at the Exchange.

Third player was DVL-919 bought in 1998. I believe the MSRP on that was $1999, but I got it for $999 from the Navy Exchange online (clearance sale.)

Couldn't really tell you about too many other players.

I've read that the McIntosh MLD-7020 MSRP'd for $3200 and the Pioneer D704 was $1499, but can't confirm that.

In the review on this page, they hint that the CLD-99 was $2400.

The list price maybe have been $1999, but I never saw a 909/919 for more than $1200. Most people I know payed $999 when they first came out, a year later they were $699.

FYI: "List Price" is something people rarely pay. For example, car parts have a list price, but you on;y pay that price when shops install the parts. Over the counter you pay retail price. It was the norm for magazines like Stereo Review to list the Lost Price when reviewing a product. I could never afford to collect AV gear if the stuff actually cost anywhere near there.

yes, list price or MSRP is something that is a starting point for companies.

i'm glad some are posting original costs, so when you get that "deal" on the bay and get the possible risk of damage you know you paid 50-100 for something that originally cost 1000 or more.

so you put some time if you can fix it yourself or some money and send it to laserdiscservice or kabar and get it back in tip top to enjoy.
thanks everybody

You also have to remember most of the players you get on ebay for 30 to 50 bucks are low end or broken. Most of the decent ones start at 100 dollars. And when you go to a pawn shop or used electronics store the 30 dollar players are once again low end.

Wasnt the original MSRP on the LD-S2 something like $3500? It's a nice player and all but sheesh.

yes, this is true.
most lower priced players are low end.
but i really wanted to start this topic for people like you, who sold a player for some money.
if it was the top loader that i saw on ebay then it was around 100-120 with shipping?
but anyway if someone buys a player, even packed well and it gets damaged that has to be taken into consideration of price.

pay a lower price that you may have to put into a really great vintage home electronic device and get everything cleaned up and ready for many years of enjoyment.

I've 18 laserdiscs players currently which were all bought second hand on Ebay over a 6 year period (2006 - 2011).
They are all later 90's machines like the CLD-2950, CLD-925, DVL-909, DVL-919, HLD-X9 etc.
Most look in beautiful condition, almost indistinguishable from new in fact with only 1 showing some wear on the outside.
I've tried to stick to the same basic models as I can cannibalise them for spares in the future.
Total spend on all 18 was about £2500.
Relatively speaking these seem like something of a bargain today given their prices when new.

A few arrived with minor shipping damage but as I got them at a great price I sent them back to Pioneer to get them repaired so they are like new now. It was easily economic to do this. I hope to keep my current fleet of machines operational for many years to come and would certainly be willing to try repairing them myself if I can get the parts.