I have been lurking this forum for at least 5 or 6 years. But I am lately jonesing for more vintage tech - probably inspired by my vintage Parker fountain pens.

And even though I am no doubt 6-8 years too late -- players are pricier now than they were when I last looked, and they were more common on craigslist -- it's time to start collecting LDs.

I am a child of the 80's. (graduated high school in '92) I admittedly miss VHS, and we never had the money to get into LD back in the day. I've sampled it off and on since then, and I loved it.

So, we shall see.

It's never too late.

Welcome & enjoy the forum now you have popped your head above the parapet.

Welcome

It is still possible to get into LD on the cheap, I only got my first player recently pretty much for the same reason you're looking at it now (I've become more fond of old tech as I get older). Haven't collected many LD releases but I'm not prepared to spend loads of money, I basically have what I wanted to get initially bar a really nice Star Wars OT box set and possibly a few other odd things.

I'm about the same age as you and yeah, LD wasn't for average income people over here. It was all VHS with a few Beta players scattered around.

Thanks!



Good to know. Makes me feel a little better. I have been "watching" a bunch of things on eBay, so I could definitely buy discs before I even get a machine. Maybe that's what a lot of folks do these days.

I dunno, I knew a few Vietnamese factory workers and kids of them who had hardcore LD karaoke setups in the late '80s/early '90s. My neighbor for instance. They weren't rich, just enjoyed life.

A karaoke LD setup wasn't for the average Australian family.
Honestly, the average income family was more likely to have multiple VHS decks and piles of pirated tapes.

pretty much the same here in the U.S. at least by way of everyone i ever knew growing up in those days.

most people over here are perpetual cheapskates, even many of the ones who actually can afford better...

At least where I grew up in Texas, in a middle class neighborhood, no one I knew except the richest families had Laserdisc. It was just this "out there" thing.

Yeah but it was all about priorities. Did you see the AV shops in Asian areas in the '80s and '90s in Australia? Asians with factory jobs bought plenty of laserdiscs with cash. They also tended to pool resources and live with extended family more than white Aussies.

Yeah in my white family we had a pretty basic National VHS VCR and tapes. We also had a 5 bedroom house and a a swimming pool to a 4 person family on one wage.

My Vietnamese neighbors lived with their inlaws in a smaller house than ours, no pool and had the latest Japanese sports cars and serious AV gear, as well as bad a** seafood hot pot that they would invite us over for sometimes.

Welcome Noehat. I too lurked for a long time. I read so many threads and posts on this forum over the years. Due to a change at work I found myself with a lot more downtime, so I decided to start posting. Havent regretted it yet.

Posting may lead to costing more money!

Money spent on Laserdiscs is never wasted.

Basically no one in my area had it. KC is probably the closest where anyone had it.

One of my coolest finds was one of the LD players used at the first Karaoke joint in the midwest. Got an absolute load of karaoke discs too. Tons of memories in all of it, had a long talk with the founder of that place which is who I bought it from.

I've shared this story before, but it's buried and I love to tell it lol.

Welcome from New Zealand Neohat

Big welcome from the King of lurking !
Enjoy the forum!