Anyone in the marketplace for Laserdiscs?

[Brad2600]

The goodwill in my area has a laserdisc player and several laserdiscs ranging from Star Wars to Rocky to Gremlins....$165 for all the laserdiscs(about 10-15) and the player.

 

If anyone's interested, let me know. I could do some investigation for you and possibly even get ahold of them. I don't have the money to buy all the stuff myself.

 

Also, there's a C-64 monitor at the same Goodwill for $9.99.

 

Let me know in PM if you are interested and I can see about getting ahold of the goods for you.

 

Just a thought.

[Albert]

Ahhh, Laserdiscs. At one point I had a Laserdisc player and a bunch of discs, but I got into it somewhat late and DVD was already around the corner, so I didn't go full bore on it like some people I know. There were some stores in Austin that rented Laserdiscs, so that's generally what I'd do, rather than buying the discs, as they were often quite expensive (especially compared to VHS at the time). Once DVD hit the scene, I bought a DVD player and never looked back.

 

I think it's a more interesting format to "collect" for, if you're into that sort of thing. Because of the size of the discs, the packaging allows for much larger artwork (although due to its square nature, modified from original movie posters), booklets, etc, and some of the special releases were extremely well done.

 

..Al

[Inky]

Which commie monitor?

[Brad2600]

1702

 

Not sure if it works but it's got the A/V inputs in front and back.

 

I already own one and the one at Goodwill is in good shape but I'd have to pick it up and test it to be sure.

[video game addict]

$165 may not be bad if it was the Definitive Collection Star Wars Trilogy. That set alone goes for over $100 And some players may bring over $100 by themselves. I bought one a couple months back for $80 basically brand new still in the box at a pawn shop. The same model goes for over $300 on ebay. But alot of the older players aren't worth a whole lot, and most movies can be had fairly cheap nowadays, so that might be a bit more than it's worth.

[Brad2600]

Laserdisc Player:

 

Well it looks like an older model..with a flip dial for turning it on and I think it's a GE model..I don't remember the name. Looks like something from the late 70's- early 80's.

 

Laserdiscs:

 

There is Star Wars and Star Wars:Return of the Jedi(2 discs).

 

There's also Rocky 1-3, Gremlins, The Terminator and several other movies.

 

The woman said she would let them go individually but it would cost $5-$10 each which would still be expensive for me. My original intention was to buy them and sell on EBay..unless they were worth a lot.

[Shannon]

I might be interested in that monitor, although I'm sure the shipping would kill me. I need a monitor for my new "game room" that I'm putting together.

 

Too bad there is no way to tell if it works or what kinda shape it is in.

[gulag picture radio]

When I was in film school, we used LD's a lot since it was the higest quality at the time, and you could do frame by frame analysis of edits. I got a really nice LD back then, and bought a couple of $80 movie titles, but not too many. At one point an antique store bought a huge LD collection - a guy had bought out a whole store's worth of LD's to watch in his retirement then he died...

 

When DVD's came out, I figured that the quality wouldn't match up to LD's because of all the compression. I was dead wrong. Well compressed DVD's look way better - especially animation. It's also nice that nearly every DVD comes with the kinds of extras that used to only come with expensive collector LD's.

 

The advantage to still having an LD is that I've gotten tons of discs for free from people who have moved to DVD. I also occasionalyl find them in the record bin at the thrift. I bought the deluxe boxed sets of several Cameron movies for $1 each.

 

There are also a number of titles released only on LD that I have that will likely never be released on DVD. Though I may digitize them to DVD myself...

[walter_J64bit]

The advantage to still having an LD is that I've gotten tons of discs for free from people who have moved to DVD. I also occasionalyl find them in the record bin at the thrift. I bought the deluxe boxed sets of several Cameron movies for $1 each.

 

I dont have that luck here I did have a good find, Original Star Trek for $5.00 a pop at a flea market! Ive got episode 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and The Menagerie part 1 & 2 I dont think I going to part with my LD I dont want, to buy the all the movies I have again

[gulag picture radio]

Yeah, my thinking is to keep it around for when I get movies for really cheap - it's pretty cool getting an LD for less than the price of a movie rental. I also don't like being part of the idea that whenever a new format comes along, you have to re-buy all your faves. I guess peopel on an Atari BB are going to be prety familiar with that concept.

 

A couple of the LD's that I have that are kinda fun are a series that were made to use as college recruitment material. High schools would get these LD's with promo videos from various colleges. It's kind of interesting in that they are snapshots of squeaky-clean college life in the 80's.

 

I've also got several other titles that use the random access nature of LD for training or fun... well, not a lot of fun mind you... I have a kid's disc that was supposed to be part of a subscription program that mercifully never materialized. Even better is an LD that is a Pioneer demo for the LD format - and their "deluxe" demo model is the one that I've got!

 

The weird thing is how suckered into DVD's people are. Even my technicallyu literate friends can't believe it when I bust out an LD to watch. They laugh and act like it's a 16mm film (I have plenty of those too...). It's not all THAT long ago that LD's were the best thing. I've also got four Super VHS decks that I still use.

 

DVD's are compelling because of all the extra stuff that's in there sometimes, but if I can find the same movie for a buck and a half, it's an easy choice for me.

[Tempest]

I have a few LD's I got with my Laseractive unit off ebay (not to mention a minty copy of Snatcher for the Sega CD). I haven't actively gone out to go buy LD's although I have seen then at flea markets (I did pick up the Secret of Nihm though for $5 just because). The only title I actively went out and searched for was the Star Wars Definitive collection. And yes it does go for over $100. Well worth it though, until the DVD's come out in 2006 with bonus footage of Jar Jar in every scene.

 

Oh and in this one, Han shoots first.

 

Tempest

[Albert]

The weird thing is how suckered into DVD's people are.  Even my technicallyu literate friends can't believe it when I bust out an LD to watch.  They laugh and act like it's a 16mm film (I have plenty of those too...).  It's not all THAT long ago that LD's were the best thing.  I've also got four Super VHS decks that I still use.

 

Keep in mind that LDs were never really popular, so most people aren't very familiar with them. Even when they were at the height of their existence, when I showed people LDs they would look at them with some sort of bewilderment. I think it partly has to do with the fact that the discs are so huge, as well as the fact that they resemble albums and most everyone recognizes those to be pretty old tech by now.

 

One advantage of DVDs is they are easier to store (you don't need tall or deep shelving), and another is the spines are much easier to read so you can more easily pick out a film when you're searching for one.

 

..Al

[Keir]

My advice to anyone who likes video games and is interested in getting a laserdisc player: get a Laseractive!

 

I'd like to get some movies for mine, but only if I stumble across them at a thrift or something. Haven't seen any yet, though I found some CED movies the other day.