For years the media of choice was VHS tapes. Over the course of that time, I collected quite a few movies. Ones I loved that I could watch over and over again. I even had a few that I only watched when I was feeling pitiful--comfort movies.
When DVD became the new improved media of choice, I got a DVD/VHS combo unit and started collecting DVDs. But I still had the ability to play the old tapes. It might not seem important to some, but timing-wise all the high school athletics and shows I had for all three of my children was still in VHS format. How could I show other parents my kids' antics if I didn't have the ability to still play VHS tape?
Just recently, I popped in an old movie and got ... nothing. The VHS portion of the combo unit doesn't work any more. I looked at that mess of old video tapes and wondered what to do.
When we got the contract for the overseas job and had to really look at our household goods with a gimlet eye, I came up with an idea. I would donate my VHS collection to charity and just make a list of the titles I wanted to re-acquire in the new format... which, once again, has been eclipsed and is now BluRay.
So, today, I chunked the movies into a box and made a 'wish list' on Amazon of all the replacement DVD/BluRays. For any gift giving occasion, my kids and family will already know what I want or need. Some day, my movie collection will be whole again.
I don't have near as many as some folks do. I am more selective about the movies that I will watch over and over again. Some things are just better on the 'big screen' and some don't bear repeating. But there are a few that I can watch over and over again.
I even used a lot of them as examples in a class I taught on screenwriting techniques. It was easy to imagine the film I enjoyed and suss out the device to use for explanation.
What I never expected was to find that some of my VHS tapes were worth a bunch of money. That's right. Real money. Like $70 or $80 dollars. Some of the old films have never been moved to DVD, and apparently, that has affected the price of the now scarce VHS versions. Hard to believe, but there you go. Those VHS tapes, I delicately packed back into the sleeves and put them carefully away. Can I play them? No. Will I keep them? Yes. I'd rather have the movie on a version that's hard to play than not to own it at all. Crazy? Maybe. But I must have good taste.
--Sandee Wagner
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4 comments:
There's not really a point to buying DVDs or a new player while your overseas... they're encoded for certain regions and will only work in players that have the ability to read that format.
It might be worth buying a new DVD player *here* so that you can still watch them in Tunis.
I'm sure this is a side effect of working at video stores for so long, but I want to own almost every movie that I watch. Lucky for me, I also want to eat so I pass up the movies in favor of groceries... and then I forget all about owning those movies--go figure!
Emm,
I was thinking that I'd either buy a cheap DVD player overseas... or stick with Netflix and stream movies to my Wii while I was overseas. I'm thinking of all kinds of ways to keep it cheap!!!
I agree, I'd rather eat than watch movies. spw
If you buy a cheap player, make sure it will play region 1 movies!! Otherwise you'll just be wasting money... I think the newer ones will play all regions, but region 1 is all the movies you *already* own.
BTW, Chris is visiting this weekend!! If you guys can swing by on Sunday you'll get to see him--otherwise I'll just give hugs from you...
Emm,
Have a great time with Chris. Hug his neck for me. We'll be with the grandbabies in TX. Quickie visit before we blow this pop stand!! spw
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