I could show you a picture of my living room and you all would think I was nuts. over 15 square feet is dedicated to laserdiscs. I have yet to figure out a place to put them all and am moving in a week to a bigger house. I am going to set up a dedicated area just to them that dont take up that much room. For all of you that are interested, 15 square feet of laserdiscs is approximately 2500 discs. Give or take. That does not include the 500 at my computer desk that I am working on. That being said, when are you considered insane? I think I passed that a while ago. You also have to admit to how many players you have - 8. And how many of those players presently work 3 and how many you are working on - 2. and how many are dead but you just cant find it in your heart to throw out 3. Lol

Collecting laserdiscs can be a very addictive, expensive and obsessive hobby.
I can certainly testify to that as I probably could have bought a second house (and a good one at that) if I had directed by funds elsewhere!
The rate at which you accumulate discs is many times faster than you could ever sell them so a house can become cluttered very quickly. They are also bulky and very heavy so require specialist storage. Not just any old chipboard shelf will suffice. They need to be stored in a dry ventilated environment otherwise the covers deteriorate rapidly.

I suspect there are very few minimalist houses out there whose occupants are laserdisc collectors as the two things just don't mix. Probably as early as 6 months after I started collecting laserdiscs I knew I would either have to stop or come up with an efficient storage plan for the future. I opted to have solid oak shelving custom built in my lounge which not only looks attractive but has provided me with perfect storage for the last 6 years. I am just reaching the stage where I might need to have some more shelving constructed and luckily I have plenty of space to put it but it isn't a cheap option. The fact is most houses were never designed for storing large collections of any sort.

On more than one occasion I really did experience the 'am I going crazy' syndrome myself when collecting laserdiscs so you are not alone! It is a hobby you can get into so deeply than it feels like it there is no going back and that can be scary at times. I can almost appreciate why some people simply list a massive set of discs on Ebay to sell them quickly even if it means they get very little for them because in their eyes it is just clutter which they are really glad to get rid of.

As a few folks on this forum have pointed out already Ebay can be a very addictive place to hang out. With so many discs on offer, there is almost never a day when something of interest does not crop up so you need to strike a balance between obsessive collecting and enjoying your hobby. For a time I switched to selling only rather than buying to eliminate some of my duplicates I had accumulated and I have to say it was like a breath of fresh air. Not only did I manage to eliminate lots of clutter but I also recouped a significant amount of money that I had invested in the format to help justify starting in the first place. In other words sellling (hard though it is for a collector to admit) really can be more fun than buying!

How Dare You Sir!

2500 LD(s) Hard for me to imagine owning that many. I own about 180 give or take ... probably about as many DVD(s) 2 Blu Rays ... 10 VHS.

I watch movies every day ... but most movies IMHO are essentially "rentals" vrs keepers. The movies that I own ... are viewed on average once a year (at the most).

I think your a "crazy collector" if you have a forum account on lddb!

Lol, we wont even go into HDDVD, Blue Ray or DVD. I think there are another 1000 there. You know it is bad when there are players all over the house. If I can get a picture up I will, it is pretty funny looking. What is even funnier looking is the fact I have swords hanging around the discs. Included in the lot of stuff is another 100 or 200 nes, snes, atari, intellivision and colecovision games. As soon as I move I am starting a business called High Tech Antiques

Yes we need some pictures to certify if you are genuinely bonkers or have just started to exhibit the first signs of collector madness.

im a little scared myself, ive only been into it for about 6 months now, and ive already spent hundreds of dollars on it, sometimes when im on ebay i have to stop myself but its hard!

pics would certianly be helpful.

even talking about laserdiscs your probably a crazy collector.

I have to go get some batteries for my camera today, I take so many pictures of the discs I go through them like candy. Though I will get some up today.
Chris

A lot of that disc clutter can come from buying a group of many discs just to get one or a few.

You kinda have to immediately pick out the one or ones you want and put the lot back up for sale, even if it's not for much. Then you'll help to reduce your clutter and excess colection.

I totally agree with that. It doesn't take a mathematician to work out that if you are buying discs in batches of 100+ at a time to get a 'few keepers' you are going to run into storage problems almost immediately. If you want to sell them one at a time afterwards it could take years to find the perfect buyer so very quickly turns a hobby into a living hell!

One method I've seen used to get rid of many titles quickly is to list a long batch to pick from. Buyer can choose one or more titles at a fixed price - e.g 1 for price A, 2 for price B etc... - perhaps up to a max of 10 discs for reasons of practicality due to shipping cost etc. Once specific discs are sold remove them from the list (or better still add some more!). It gives the buyer the illusion of being able to cherry pick the best titles. The reality is none of the titles are probably much good but don't tell the buyer that!

Another method is give the buyer no choice at all - just list a batch of 5 or so related titles like 5 horrors or 5 music LDs which will appeal particularly to a new collector.
Use this as a great spring cleaning opportunity to dispose of the hundredth spare of Aliens, Jurassic Park or Independence Day you have!

My problem is I have gotten rid of all of what I consider junk. Though I still have some titles, I dont have many. What I have mostly are titles that are valued solidly at 10 dollars or more. So, this puts a damper on that. I sell discs in lots of 50 to a bunch of dealers, it just happens that I keep upping the value of my collection by culling the lower priced items and will probably head to discs that are 15 or more.

When I first became a AV Enthusiast in April of 1998.

I got hooked onto the Laserdisc format, and this has been my main collecting ever since.

I still have shelf space for about another 200 LD's, but lack of funds prevents me from any new purchases, at least for the next three months.

You never know It may be sooner, but I am looking at making my next deposit by mid March for an order of 24 LD titles.

Crazy collector? Yes! LD's Definately

Anyone ever had a laserdisc related dream? I had one the other night, seems like a sign I might need to calm down on this hobby a bit.

Probably when you have doubles and triples of all the blockbuster films released on the format. I've seen collectors amass that type of collection but usually unintentionally. Fortunately I stick to a different approach but have had my share of blunders.. I keep my LDs stored flat and piled high on a concrete basement floor next to a water pipe- LOL! No!

Good day ucfmatt,

When I read your post yesterday afternoon I thought ........IS THIS GUY SERIOUS!

Look stop counting Laserdisc's to make you sleep and get back to counting Sheep zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Keep us informed of any further episodes, or progress for that matter. LoL

Sincere Regards