Managing a Physical Media Collection

[Aikouka]

I know it may seem a bit odd in this day and age, but I have a fairly decent amount of physical media. The vast majority of this media is comprised of Blu-ray videos, but there are some DVDs, UHD Blu-rays ("UHDs"), and CDs in the mix. So, my question for anyone else with a modest collection... how do you manage it without it taking up too much space?

I originally kept my movies in two 6-foot bookshelves. I ended up with so many that I had to craft some extra shelves out of scrap wood and sometimes get creative with spacers to ensure I had enough room. I ended up removing everything but UHDs, which allowed me to go down to only half a bookshelf. (I'm thinking of switching this to a wall-mounted shelf setup as it's getting rather full.) Right now, the rest of the movies are all in plastic carriers, which work fine, but don't really solve the storage conundrum. (I think I have somewhere around 16-20 of those carriers right now.)

I've been tempted to move the movies into binders, and put the cases into storage, which would drastically reduce the amount of space required. Although, I read some remarks on the Bluray.com forum about how the coating on Blu-rays is actually a bit soft and malleable -- I guess like vinyl wraps on cars? -- and putting too much pressure on it can cause it to indent based upon the surface of what it's up against. Although, they also mentioned that the disc's coating will "self-heal" just like the aforementioned vinyl wraps will. Has anyone been using disc wallets for media storage? I was thinking about going with this Case Logic unit as it seems well rated.

 

[nakedfrog]

I'm just planning to use shelves, I had actually put all my CDs in Case Logic binders from the last 90s up until the last few years. Now I'm glad that I kept the jewel cases, because I'm planning to go back to having them out somewhere. I don't plan to keep them in the same room as the TV, too much clutter that way. I pared down my DVD collection quite a bit, and I'm more judicious about purchases now.

 

[IronWing]

I have a couple of the Case Logic 72 disc cases. They are well made and work fine but I decided that I prefer to have all the CDs in the original cases with album art and liner notes. When I moved CDs to the zip cases I saved the liner notes and I ended up putting some of the albums back into CD cases later on.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I have like 15 feet of floor to cieling shelving full of cds, dvds, bluray ... as well as a couple bookcases of cds (i ripped all my music to mp3, so, dont need them to be as accessible as movies)

That said, I dont really buy movies any more, and music I'm just as likely to buy digital copies from bandcamp ... still probably buy like 100 or so albums per year.

EDIT, this isnt exactly the same, I put my stuff up like 10ish years ago, but its kinda like havign about 3 of these https://www.amazon.com/Leslie-CDV-1500-Capacity-Multimedia-Cabinet/dp/B0015SBPVY/

its in my little theater room in the basement.

 

[sdifox]

I built custom shelves. Will take a photo later. I have not put my HT back together since the move in 2011 x(




Two 1"*2"*4' forms the shelf, angled to have gravity hold it in place. Each unit has 8 tiers. It held my 1200 dvds plus whatever hd-dvds, blurays, cds, dvd-audio fine.

The sides are 1"*6"*6' I think.

 

[nakedfrog]

I built custom shelves. Will take a photo later. I have not put my HT back together since the move in 2011 x(

View attachment 30590View attachment 30591


Two 1"*2"*4' forms the shelf, angled to have gravity hold it in place. Each unit has 8 tiers. It held my 1200 dvds plus whatever hd-dvds, blurays, cds, dvd-audio fine.

The sides are 1"*6"*6' I think.

Nice.

Also, that's some dedication to procrastination right there. Aiming for the 10 year moving anniversary?

 

[Aikouka]

I'm just planning to use shelves, I had actually put all my CDs in Case Logic binders from the last 90s up until the last few years. Now I'm glad that I kept the jewel cases, because I'm planning to go back to having them out somewhere. I don't plan to keep them in the same room as the TV, too much clutter that way. I pared down my DVD collection quite a bit, and I'm more judicious about purchases now.

I debated getting rid of the cases for my media and just putting them in binders, but it didn't seem like the greatest idea. I'm leaning toward just putting the discs in binders and the cases in storage bins, and putting those in my crawlspace. It's a fairly tall crawlspace (I can stand up in between joists) that's encapsulated and dehumidified.

Although, I've been thinking about it, and part of my "I need space!" issue might just stem from working on projects that are disrupting areas. For example, my movie bookshelves used to be located in front of a wall whose drywall has been removed to access some electrical. (The bookshelf has been repurposed for board games now.) There's also just a bunch of stuff that I'm planning on selling due to no longer using it, and it's taking up a bunch of space.

As for being a bit more judicious about buying new media... Black Friday is usually my bane when it comes to that.

I have a couple of the Case Logic 72 disc cases. They are well made and work fine but I decided that I prefer to have all the CDs in the original cases with album art and liner notes. When I moved CDs to the zip cases I saved the liner notes and I ended up putting some of the albums back into CD cases later on.

I did see pictures of some people putting the CD booklet into the binder beside the disc itself. You do lose the rest of the inserts, so that may not be great.

 

[sdifox]

Nice.

Also, that's some dedication to procrastination right there. Aiming for the 10 year moving anniversary?

I do have two six year old twins on top of a 16 year old teenager...

Want to move up to 4K projector and new pre/pro. My HT and media pile.

 

[CZroe]

I've got eight Atlantic Oskar 1080 media shelves for my collection, each able to hold 1,080 CDs (hence the name), damn-near 600 Blu-Ray discs, or 504 DVDs (slightly taller). Most of mine are holding my videogame collection but I do have a bunch of CDs and DVDs in the living room.

The rest are in the basement but everything got re-jiggered after a hot water leak and I haven't gotten it all back in place. Here's a pic from the old place when I had three on one wall and a couple more on the opposite wall...

There are smaller shelves in the Oskar line if these are a bit too extreme.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'd put them on Craigslist for $1 each for the ones you'll never willingly watch again and move on. Tubi and Prime Video and Hulu and others all have lots of free options and that stuff is going to collect dust and further lose value (to you and the rest of the world).

 

[CZroe]

I'd put them on Craigslist for $1 each for the ones you'll never willingly watch again and move on. Tubi and Prime Video and Hulu and others all have lots of free options and that stuff is going to collect dust and further lose value (to you and the rest of the world).

Prime and Hulu aren't free and even if they had the odd free episode here and there that would not be enough to characterize them as having "lots of free" content. Besides, the people who continue to seek out physical media are , of course, perfectly aware of streaming services and piracy but obviously value something they can't get from those, like permanence and bitrate. Telling them about streaming services isn't going to trigger an epiphany. It isn't something they failed to consider until you came along and opened their eyes.

Point is, your post is dangerously close in tone to the smarmy know-it-all who brags that he could get everything free from The Pirate Bay when he learns that you just paid for it. Yeah? Big whoop. Anyone can. Nothing to brag about.

People ditching physical media for streaming has been a goldmine for people who still care about physical media. Example: two of my Atlantic Oskar 1080 shelves are the older, thicker, heavier, and deeper version because some dude on Facebook was practically giving them away back in 2016. His post explicitly stated he was ditching his collection to go with streaming. Even two of the cheaper versions still in stores would've been ~$275 after tax and shipping.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Prime and Hulu aren't free and even if they had the odd free episode here and there that would not be enough to characterize them as having "lots of free" content. Besides, the people who continue to seek out physical media are , of course, perfectly aware of streaming services and piracy but obviously value something they can't get from those, like permanence and bitrate. Telling them about streaming services isn't going to trigger an epiphany. It isn't something they failed to consider until you came along and opened their eyes.

Point is, your post is dangerously close in tone to the smarmy know-it-all who brags that he could get everything free from The Pirate Bay when he learns that you just paid for it. Yeah? Big whoop. Anyone can. Nothing to brag about.

People ditching physical media for streaming has been a goldmine for people who still care about physical media. Example: two of my Atlantic Oskar 1080 shelves are the older, thicker, heavier, and deeper version because some dude on Facebook was practically giving them away back in 2016. His post explicitly stated he was ditching his collection to go with streaming. Even two of the cheaper versions still in stores would've been ~$275 after tax and shipping.

You're reading me wrong, bro. I get what you're saying. I pay for Prime like many people do and get the $6/month Hulu for free through Sprint. There are other companies with similar deals that give it away. I don't download anything illegally anymore (Napster/Warez stuff stopped for me around 2000/2001).

Simply put, my valuation of video content has dropped significantly over the years. I can't remember the last time there was a movie I had to see or one I wanted to waste time watching...especially more than once. I have plenty of DVDs, but I have my physical media boxed up at a cabin where I never watch them. My latest computer case doesn't even have a cutout for a DVD drive....it'd have to be external unless I swapped the case. But I can stream movies on my PC while I'm working. I have smart TVs too that all light up now that I turned the internet on at home this year (was dark since 2015 other than our cellphones).

If you want the collection, that's cool. I just hit 40 and am starting to get to that place where all I want to do is streamline and downsize my belongings. (not that I own that much) I just used to have boxes and boxes of computer parts, old PC games, consoles, movies, cds.... I went back and realized I'd been holding onto that stuff long enough that even if it had value to someone else, it meant little or nothing to me. Less is more...I'd rather sell what I can, clean up the space, grab the cash, and use it to take a trip.