Zillenials are building DVD & VHS Collections

This has been going on for awhile. The prices of used VCRs at estate sales and online have quadrupled in the last five years.

I get wanting to own physical media, but buying VHS tapes is pure idiocy (and yes, I have VHS tapes).

Almost all movies on VHS are 4:3 and look terrible on modern televisions. If you have a CRT TV to match (and a VHS player - I have a DVD/VHS player that still works), knock yourself out.

OP, everyone is doing it regardless of age.

They really should start making VCRs again. They brought back cassette players and audio cassettes. Cassettes are now outselling CDs.

I still have DVDs and CDs, and on new shows/movies I'll buy those if available.

I do have some VHS tapes for shows that never were issued on DVD. Kinda hope new VHS and DVD machines come out as mine aren't trustworthy.

R7 you can find good ones on ebay

R7 they still make new ones just google shopping search or Amazon

There really is something to be said for owning your favorite movies and knowing that nobody can take it offline or edit it. I continue to build my physical media movie collection too, and when I upgrade my DVDs and blu-rays to 4K UHD, I’m amazed at what I can get for them on eBay. Recently, I’ve purchased a few CDs as well, just to support my favorite artists and get the bonus tracks that are frequently only on the physical disc. It’s fun and takes me back to the era of listening to albums, and not just singles. But, I ditched VHS long ago: resolution is crap, many films are cropped, and they degrade over time. We’re not talking about a joys of vinyl situation here.

How much do used dvds and cds sell for? I’ve got a bunch I’d love to unload. $.50 a cd? $2 a dvd? Should I have a yard sale? Do the youth go to yard sales?

I actually enjoy watching old youtube videos on my TV. I miss video and film.

Digitial is too pristine and perfect, something's just missing from it. The lushness and warmness just isn't there. It's very sterile and cold.

I have an external hard drive with about 700 movies on it and 40 complete TV series. It would take up a vast amount of space if I wanted all of that in DVD form. No thanks.

R13 that’s a lot of porn

I own hundreds of DVDs. The benefit of DVDs is that they include extras - cast commentary, director cuts, etc. - not available on streaming services.

i cant accept this argument about “warmth” and “richness” produced by magnetic tape - audio or visual. vinyl and celluloid - of course yes

when fox revealed that future streaming versions of The French Connection will delete or redub Gene Hackman uttering the N word....

that is plenty motivation for collectors to collect DVD/VHS copies

The sound quality of CDs and vinyl is night and day compared to streaming

They should bring back quaaludes, too.

Uh, CDs never went anywhere. Cassette tapes are all the rage and 99% of new releases come with cassette editions.

R16, the warmth thing was always attached to vinyl, not tape.

I’ve been buying DVDs and gave a few VHS tapes.

I also have one of those VHS and DVD player combos. It’s old AF as I got it when VHS tapes were on the outs and everyone was switching to DVD.

It plays both.

DVDs I can understand, but VHS is an absolutely miserable format.

Lately I have contemplated buying a multiregion DVD player and rebuilding some small part of a collection I once had of perhaps 200 titles. There's a relative handful of titles that are favorites or that I'm curious to see for the first time that are simply elusive/unavailable on streaming platforms.

I should look into the availability of DVDs of those titles and proceed from there.

Using the VHS is tactile and nostalgic, not sterile like pressing a button on remote

Sometimes we like to enjoy things the way we did as we originally encountered them

VHS tapes degrade and wear out. DVD is the way to go.

At least the tape will still run when you put it in the player after years and years, unlike a disc

The whole tactile nostalgia is something I definitely understand.

There's also the tyranny of choice we have to deal with now that everything is streamed. I know that my brain gets overwhelmed by how much stuff is there at my fingertips, and I browse and browse and browse until I sometimes just go watch something dumb on YouTube instead!

There was something about Blockbuster days (and all video/DVD stores) that whittled that down nicely. You took home 2-3 movies, and those were the ones you watched. It made us stick with a movie, too, most of the time and there wasn't the "FOMO" (as the kids say) that you could/should be watching something better.

VHS sucks. It was a technology that became outmoded long ago.

R28 is right. I have big collection of VHS tapes which I recorded from TV, which I have been gradually digitizing and putting on DVD. But the quality is awful by comparison with DVDs (always was, even before they deteriorated). Every time you copy them it gets worse, unlike digital media.

I am definitely still adding to my purchased DVD collection whenever there is something I love AND that goes to DVD. A lot of streaming shows don't. But stuff is disappearing from streaming services all the time, and a lot of movies still can't be found there. If you want to be able to access the movie or show you want whenever you want, you'd better have tactile storage.

One warning: if you want to record from TV and store the result on a DVD, that's getting really hard. PVRs will record to their hard drive, but last time I researched this there was no way to transfer the contents to another hard drive or any other form of storage, meaning that when the machine dies so does your library. It's difficult to buy a DVR. They will record to their hard drive and then transfer to a DVD disc for storage with minimal quality loss.

What are we, chopped liver?

[quote]Using the VHS is tactile and nostalgic, not sterile like pressing a button on remote

How nostalgically ridiculous.

It's not the worst idea to keep physical copies of media you like. The streaming sites have gotten into the habit of removing entire shows without warning, and/or making it impossible to find them anywhere.

[quote]What are we, chopped liver?

[quote]—8-tracks and CDs

Yes.

I talk about this with people younger than me: the idea that Gen X and above (and maybe Millennials, too) remember when there was no streaming (music or movies) and so the idea of having the item itself is still important. We don't trust that these services will always have everything there available to us.

Gen Z doesn't seem to have that "fear" as much as generations who [italic]didn't[/italic] grow up with the internet as a given do.

Anyone have Betamax tapes?

[quote] Pete Davidson is trying to get rich selling old VHS tapes

Smart move considering he has zero talent as a performer.

The only VHS tapes I'm holding on to are films that were never issued on DVD. Except I did buy an old Star Wars VHS because I don't like how Lucas went back in and CGId everything. I wanted something closer to what I saw in the theater when it came out.

All the stuff I recorded to disc years ago doesn’t work anymore. The stuff on VHS is all still there - crappy picture quality but there

[quote]Gen Z doesn't seem to have that "fear" as much as generations who didn't grow up with the internet as a given do.

They didn't live through multiple generations of new media technology, each cancelling out the previous format. It's unlikely that they have the tech anxiety that can be witnessed on DL, with posters fretting about the archival standards and permanence of their Dynasty box set (1981-), or Magnum, P.I. tapes from 1980, or their home recordings of I, Claudius from 1976. They are less likely to have first-hand nostalgia for something from when they were young because they are still young

NY TIMES 7/ 13 / 2025

When Streaming Won’t Cut It and You Need the DVD

Streaming is dominant for movies and TV shows. But some fans still insist on physical media.

Aww how cute. The older I get I realize sometimes less is more when it comes to entertainment and dining options.

I've been a lifelong movie nerd and have a large collection of Blu-rays that I've amassed over the years. It's one of my hobbies, but I'm selective and have specific tastes. I won't buy just anything. I'd say about 70% of them are horror films, which I've been a big fan of my entire life, but I have a lot of classics and other genre films too.

I came of age during the late '90s/early 2000s and my weekends from adolescence onward were often spent going to the video store to rent horror movies. DVDs were the rage at that time, so I did build a collection of those from my teen years and into my twenties, but I've since upgraded a lot of the films to Blu-ray and gotten rid of the DVDs. There actually are a LOT of great streaming options these days (free ones, too), even for the most obscure stuff, but streaming is ultimately ephemeral and I enjoy having physical copies of things. The bonus features you get are a big draw as well—they don't matter to some people, but I like having access to behind-the-scenes stuff and information on the history of the film.

As far as VHS goes, I have a small collection of them, mostly obscure and rare videos. My dad kept one of the TV-VHS sets we had in his basement and he let me have it a couple of years ago. It still works, and I've watched some movies on it. I've become so acclimated to discs/streaming that it feels somewhat strange playing a videotape, but there is a nostalgia about it that is appealing. I think the oldest tape I own is the first print of the original "Friday the 13th" (distinct for having a gatefold-style box) and it still plays perfectly fine. The picture quality is what you'd expect (i.e. not great) but it's watchable.

Problem is that with streaming channels, they either stop showing something, or the show it censored. That's why with programs that I care about (Monty Python and Faulty Towers), I made sure I bought the DVDs.

This doesn't exactly surprise me. When I was a kid, I also was fascinated by the technology of the past and things that my parents grew up with. Millennials started the vinyl resurgence craze which seems to have carried on to gen Z as well.

I have boxes and boxes of DVDs and CDs that I want to get rid of. I'm downsizing. Any suggestions as to where I can dump them and maybe make a few bucks.

You don't need a DVD or VHS to have your own copy of a movie. I have thousands of movies as digital files. well backed up.

R46 Yes we know we know. Somethings just are cool. Having your own place right after college and what not and having a collection of vinyls. Cool. The Beatles- cool. Miles Davis- cool. Somethings just are.

Caveat Emptor, kids: It's now apparent that DVDs manufactured at a plant in Olyphant, PA for Warner Brothers Home Video between 2006 and 2008 have "rotted." At least 200 titles, in box sets and as individual DVDs, are affected. Basically, the data on the disc has disappeared and the discs are unplayable. So, even owning a hard copy isn't a guarantee of permanent entertainment on your shelf.

You can't find any new VHS players on Amazon and even the "renewed" ones cost an arm and a leg. I wouldn't trust something that old.

you can find used VHS players on Facebook marketplace / craigslist in my southwestern burg.

R45

[quote] I have boxes and boxes of DVDs and CDs that I want to get rid of. I'm downsizing. Any suggestions as to where I can dump them and maybe make a few bucks.

Ebay. There are lots a DVDs for sale on there.

Younger people also are resurrecting cassettes and CDs.

CDs I get, I went totally over to MP3s but CDs are cheap and I get why they'd be appealing. But cassettes always sounded like shit and got unspooled easily. Just no.

I’m not actively collecting these media, but have kept the movies I like and bought previously.

It amuses me how many thought streaming was going to be the be all end all. Now that it's going the way of cable (which was blatantly obvious from the beginning) you hear A LOT of quiet on those fronts.

Shit, there were people who thought Nextflix was it. Crickets now.

[quote]I get wanting to own physical media, but buying VHS tapes is pure idiocy (and yes, I have VHS tapes).

There are movies that have never made it to DVD or streaming but are on VHS. VHS is also (to my knowledge) the only format where the ORIGINAL Star Wars movies can still be viewed.

How Hollywood’s Favorite Video Store Outlived Blockbuster

Vidiots, a holdover from the golden age of VHS, is staging a comeback as a community hub.

non paywall link below

I don't get why anyone would want VHS tapes. I used to tape old Hollywood movies off various cable stations. If I taped them in SP, they looked better than what you could buy. But I would much rather watch a DVD, or blu ray or higher upgrade.

I wouldn't mind having a VHS recorder-player to tape things, though. Like if I want to record a podcast off YouTube, on my TV.

But towards the end, VCR quality really went downhill. My first one (I think, a Magnavox, or maybe Motorola) was excellent. My last one, a Sony, was shit.

this is the website of community revival movie house / video store that reopened in LA in 2023 I believe

I believe it is an effort to bring fans back into the movie house as an audience / and keep alive the video store as a retail experience

I have a lot of DVDs and blu rays, many, many bought before there was streaming. I always said why would you want to pay to watch something once, when you can own it and watch it whenever you want? Now they have some of these movies on free streaming services, but with all those commercial breaks--not like the old TV stations, where they actually tried to have the commercial at the end of a scene, or a fade-out.

I threw out all my VHS tapes, though. Most weren't bought, just taped off TV.

I'm hearing that VHS tapes are becoming highly collectible due to their growing scarcity. Most other physical media formats are limited to 4K and Blu-ray releases—DVDs aren’t as popular anymore. And while vinyl is still going strong, CDs aren't really selling.

I assume someone has mentioned this, but when you “buy” a series or movie on platforms like prime, they may take it away.

Anyone who buys a 4K TV isn't getting the full experience through streaming alone. Not only is the selection limited on most streaming services, but you also miss out on the full visual and audio quality your TV is capable of. For the best performance, Blu-rays and 4K discs are the way to go.

I used to have about 600 CD's and 100-150 DVD's or so, have thinned that out enormously to maybe 10-15 CD's I cant find on streaming and the same number of DVD's. I need the space more than I need the collections. I stream all my music and the vast majority of movies/TV, not looking back. Having all my music in my phone is brilliant

Streaming music quality is dogshit

I think VHS collecting stems from the whole video store experience of the 80s.