My Life in DVD: No-Personality

[Deleted]

So, I've been thinking- you know how we both follow Brendan "the hoarder" Mitchell's DVD buying videos? Well, that's inspired me to do this "My Life in DVD" project. Where, I basically trace back through my 12 years of DVD purchasing (has it been longer for you guys?) and track every single DVD I ever bought to the best of my memory... Turns out, I have a pretty solid memory.

I used to have a bag full of receipts to help me get some of the Exact Dates right but I can't find it for some reason. (I'm also missing a backup pair of rechargeable batteries for my camera so these are all the pictures I've taken for now.) What follows are pictures of the DVD's I bought / received and when and where I got them. (So, it's kind of like you see them live...) To the best of my memory.

So, my first DVD's ever were given to me by my parents for Christmas in 2001, when I was in my 4th and final year of high school:


This pic is a little deceptive. 6 of these were actually wrapped, as gifts, under the tree. The 2 others were bought at Wal-Mart on the day my Dad and brother were returning / switching gifts (a family tradition since around 1997). The 2 I bought at Wal-Mart were Heathers and Nothing but Trouble. As you can see here, I bought the Red Heather Chandler / Kim Walker cover for Heathers. You might not remember but there were 5 separate collectible covers: Blue for Winona Ryder, Black for Christian Slater, Green for Shannen Doherty / Heather Duke, Yellow for Lisanne Falk / Heather McNamara, and Red for Kim Walker / Heather Chandler. I wanted the bitchiest, so I got Red.

Now, the next few years will be a little sketchy since I don't know where the receipts are but my records are still okay for what they are. What I did for the next few months was basically buy a few random DVD's from Wal-Mart's bargain bin if I saw something I really wanted and bugged my parents to get it (it was a different time). Here are the random/loose purchases from January to March:


There's a DVD missing here, it's The Net (1995), starring Sandra Bullock. My parents took my copy thinking it was theirs (they actually bought a copy too and got mine and theirs mixed up together, putting them both in different sections of their own collection, so now I don't have it anymore). The prices vary here- the Columbia-TriStar DVD's were $10, the Warner snapcases you see there were all cheaper. And Salem's Lot was around $7.88. I think. It could have been 10, it was a long time ago. But I remember very vividly that I spent $10 total to get both The Net and Final Analysis together. This is kind of how I remember things: by association. And I'm also shockingly good at remembering prices.

Now we're in the spring of 2002 and around April or May, my Dad and I were just hanging out and he was often very generous and I saw some stuff I really wanted. I was just starting to get into message boards, especially horror boards, and I was getting jealous that I didn't have any of the big horror movie special editions that were starting to come out. So, I saw a few between our traveling to Wal-Mart and I believe Strawberry's (I think that store is no-more), if not there, then it was Coconut's. They were both in the same lot in the town nearest by us. So, here's what I bought:


I got Evil Dead first, at Wal-Mart. Then, Phantasm and Gremlins at Strawberry's. Now, as for Absolutely Fabulous, I actually had to order that from a store closer to my actual parents' home called The Music Shop, which closed a long time ago (the town where Strawberry's was was over an hour away). My Dad picked that up weeks later.

Now we're basically into the summer, and I got a few at Blockbuster (still on my parents' dime) over the course of a few months or so. These are also about the Only DVD's I ever bought at Blockbuster, they had the WORST prices anywhere I've ever shopped for DVD's:


I got Legally Blonde (which if you remember my reviews, I never liked as a movie but it was a blind buy) with a gift card from my my mother's sister and her husband (they've split since) which was $20, but in a way I don't regret buying it since this is the Special Edition and MGM just one day completely stripped the bonus features and stuck it back in stores. They did the same thing with Jeepers Creepers and Valley Girl. Anyway, Fatal Attraction was also $20...now you can get it in the Wal-Mart bins for $5. (ARG!) I guess you learn your lesson as a DVD consumer in your first few years. Freeway also wound up in the bins for $5, I got it here for $10. No wonder you went out of business, you jackass of a store!

Anyway, now we're coming up on my Birthday. I moved out of my parents' house in 2004 but we still buy each other stuff (I live only about 47 minutes away if you drive fast). I can't figure out when I bought what I bought but I do remember where I bought it from. Wal-Mart put out some horror DVD's early for Halloween, so I think I got the first 2 on top in September, then we (my Dad and I) went back in October and bought the bottom 2: (Again, I remember things in pairs. But that's how I usually buy.)


Now, I know for a fact that Halloween was $14.99. In 2003, MGM discs not labeled "Special Edition" were all $9.99. (Unless they were for new movies released that year.) I'm pretty sure they were also $10 in 2002, so Last House and Living Dead were probably 10. No idea how much Sleepy Hollow was. Now, around this time I also made an order on either BestBuy.com or Barnes & Noble.com (can't remember which). Also for my Birthday. I can't remember which I got first, these 4 or this next 4:


As for how much these cost, I know Cecil B. Demented was the only $10 one of the bunch. I believe Hellraiser and The Stuff were likely a respectable $12.99 for each, maybe a couple bucks more. However, Phenomena was probably about $25. Certain Argento titles were just extremely expensive back in the day.

Now, this next bunch is where my memory starts to blur. A lot. I didn't keep these receipts but I didn't have a hotmail E-mail address back then so I have no idea how to log in to the website to check when I bought them. Or, how much they were. Also, not sure if they were Barnes & Noble or BestBuy. But, these were bought somewhere between October and early 2003 (when I started getting into buying online, after my Birthday):


What I do remember is that these were all bought separately, except for Basket Case and Deranged / Motel Hell which I bought together. Most of these DVD's were all $14.99 or less. I don't think any of them were more expensive than that.

Finally, here's what my parents got me for Christmas, 2002:



Since I can't find my other batteries, I have to charge the ones I used to take these. Another post will follow this as soon as they've finished charging.

Total DVD's by end of this post: 39

[Deleted]

At the start of 2003, my father had a humongous tax return/rebate and he just flat-out gave me about $240. Here's what I bought in DVD's (all from BestBuy.com if I'm correct):


Now, we have an Argento up there, 2 Sony Classics titles (which were over $20 a piece), Psycho Beach Party (which was about $30, I think), and An American Werewolf in London, which was $21 back then. Not sure how much the John Waters double was but this order was very expensive and set me back quite a bit. The only cheap ones were MGM's double feature (about $10) and Office Killer (which was about $12.99).

This next lot represents another extremely hazy phase of my memory:


I know I ordered Troll and Voodoo Academy together (from Barnes & Noble, I believe) and I had to have ordered it in either August or September, because I literally waited for the Troll set to be released officially- I was checking online info every day counting down for this one. The horror boards I used to go to always had a lot of info about when companies were working on new horror re-releases. The Tingler I have no idea when I ordered it but I did get it online. Suspiria and Masque of the Red Death / Premature Burial I remember like it was yesterday. My Dad and I went to Best Buy the store and it was July and sweltering hot!! I bought the Limited Edition of Suspiria for $22.99 and the double feature for $9.99. For some reason, my Dad was in that store or another and I stayed in the car, opened Suspiria, and sat in the A.C.'d car looking through the booklet and lobby cards that came with the set. See, the Limited Edition was a 3-disc set. Best Buy had both the standard edition (1 disc, just the movie and a few short bonuses) and 3-disc set. For only 3 dollars extra, you got the booklet (which is pretty substantial with pics and an interview, etc), about 10 or so lobby cards, and CD soundtrack. Anyway, I got the Mr. Bean set sometime in September, I believe. From some online site, I think.


Now we're into October, 2003, and my Birthday. These were all Wal-Mart buys and there were several trips to get all this. I don't remember how much Piranha was or exactly when I got it. I got the top 3 on the same day, all were exactly $9.99. The Fog was about $14.99 and that might have been bought in November- I know I got that later than the other things. Ghost World I got on the same day as:


The Scream trilogy boxset. Which I think was less than $25 total, I remember thinking it was an excellent price.

Now, we're at Christmas, 2003:



Great year. The Sleepaway Camp movies of course came in a boxset. You might remember that the boxset was released in 2 different versions. The first one was recalled due to controversy over copyright infringement from the Red Cross or something. The artwork on the cover looked too much like the actual symbol of their organization, or something. There's also another version with a bonus disc including footage from a "lost" 4th film called Sleepaway Camp: The Survivor. I got the standard 3-disc.

Now we're somewhere in winter-spring of 2004:


The first DVD up there is the Alien: 2-Disc Collector's Edition, the cover was ruined during the summer of 2005 when it was so friggin' hot that the glue on the inside of the digipack or whatever you call that fold-out clear plastic book set-up slipped and it was a big mess. Anyway, I bought it at Wal-Mart as soon as I heard 20th Century Fox were releasing the films separately. I don't care about the franchise as a whole, so I never bought that giant Quadrilogy boxset. Which might have been worth it for some people but it was like $100 or more and I only wanted to own the first film and I heard the only version to get was the 2 discs for it in the big box, so Fox released them separately. As well as the other 4 movies (in 2-disc sets) in January, 2004. Not sure how much it cost. I think it was $14.99. It wasn't too expensive. The Amityville Horror was in Best Buy, I think. I was visiting my best friend who lived in the town my brother worked when he had a job at some electronics store. One day, I just asked him to get me the DVD, it was $9.99 and I didn't know a few years later MGM would do a big remastering, 5.1, interviews and all that. ARG! Anyway, he did. That was Jan or February.

My mind's dead again on when I got Opera and Inferno but I ordered them online. I'd bet it was Best Buy. And I remember the prices: $14.99 for Inferno, $22.99 for Opera- which was another Anchor Bay Limited Edition which came with a CD soundtrack. No booklet though. I think there wasn't a booklet. Shame. Opera could have been '03, but I know Inferno was '04. My memory tells me it was winter when I went up to the mailbox to get Opera. (Some things I remember like it was yesterday.) The entire bottom row I ordered from Barnes & Noble. I think it was around March of 2004. Maybe earlier. My best friend raved and raved about Donnie Darko and so I blind-bought it- actually that entire order were all blind buys. But I'd wanted Bad Taste for SO long. I caught some of Strange Invaders on AMC and was curious. It was a bit boring. Nothing too special. As for the price, I think Bad Taste was around $21. Maybe $22.99 again. It's another Anchor Bay Limited Edition with bonus disc. I technically have no idea when I bought Transylvania Twist. I want to say it was the first time I tried Deep Discount DVD which was very popular with a lot of my horror board friends for a long time. When they actually had criminally LOW prices and no shipping and handling. I think I bought this from them in April but they back ordered it and it took months for me to get it, so I said: "screw them!" (Until like 2008 when I bought from them again.)

This next one's gonna be fun... Okay, I bought A LOT of DVD's from Wal-Mart. I used to shop regularly there until I got pissed off with them (politically). So, I would look through their bargain bins at least once every few weeks or so. Every now and then, I had to buy something (like when I found Serial Mom which was OOP for just $5). I think I got a few good deals from them. These aren't *all* bargain bin pick-ups. Some were $7.50 in the racks. But I have no idea whether I bought them in 2003, 2004, or 2005. So, here's the first of 3 or so "Mega" loads:



As you can see, there are about 30 in this first orgy-sized lot. Army of Darkness I bought when I was with my parents. Someone put it in the bargain bin and, thinking it was $5- I couldn't pass up on it. Turns out it was $14.99. I didn't notice this until I got home and I was PISSED! Some piece of garbage took it off one of the more expensive racks and tossed it in the bargain bin. Where no Anchor Bay DVD ever goes. From that day on, any time I come across a disc in the bin that seems like it should be more expensive- I scan it. Every time. Anyway, The Howling up there is also $14.99 but I knew that before I bought it. Basic Instinct I got for about $10. House on Haunted Hill, Tales from the Hood, and Sugar & Spice were all about $7.50. They were in bins that were marked for being Rack prices. I also knew this before I bought them. UHF I got off the racks, for $7.50 as well. The rest were all $5.50 or less. Except for Girl, Interrupted which might have been $8-something. Oh yeah, and Gremlins 2 and Shredder were $7-something.

Now, we get to my Amazon.com purchases. In 2004. I went through their archives for exact dates:


Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Meet the Feebles I ordered on March 27th. Carnival of Souls I ordered on April 28th. This was an upgrade from a shitty "AMC Monsterfest: 4-Movie Cult Collection" set I got in the Wal-Mart bargain bin and the quality was so freaking bad that I won't put any of those sets in my collection. I leave them gathering dust where they belong. But, anyway, I got 2 and Carnival of Souls (which I was dying to see) was on one of them. Criterion's DVD was like $30... and it was worth every penny! What a wonderful movie, 2 remarkably different versions, exceptional picture quality, amazing bonus features!! If you don't have a copy, sucks to be you! Then I ordered the entire bottom row on May 21st.


This takes us from the summer to my Birthday. 2004 was a barren year for my B-day since I moved. The top row I ordered on August 15th. Ginger Snaps and Dentist were on the 20th of August. That last DVD had a slipcover but I don't keep slipcovers: it's the 2003 update of Bjork's Volumen music video collection. This has everything from "Human Behaviour" in 1993 to "Nature is Ancient" in 2002. More than 20 videos in total. All these DVD's were around $10 or less, except for Volumen which wasn't much. Maybe $14 or so. I think.

Christmas was also pretty anemic that year:



Total DVD's by end of this post: 136

[StevePulaski]

Holy shit, a post not by me. Cool to see your expansive collection, NP. It has been far too long.

[Deleted]

Mar 25, 2014 7:37:19 GMT -5 StevePulaski said:

Holy shit, a post not by me. Cool to see your expansive collection, NP. It has been far too long.

I needed the right project. Meanwhile, I can't log into my account on IE. Only on Chrome. If something happens and I'm logged out somehow, I'll have to create a new account or something. As for the collection, there are definitely a few regrets. Mostly the Disney bootlegs. But overall, I feel I've been pretty lucky. Anyway (great to be back, even for a short time), back to the "story" ...



UGH! I bought this in 2002 and I made a note of it and everything. But, I literally didn't read the note correctly and this was left out of the 1st post where it was supposed to be. I bought it at the Barnes & Noble store sometime around May. I actually talked to one of my loose friends, Shanna, who still lives about 20 minutes from me, on the school bus way back in the day before I'd ever seen it and tried to get her grossed out by it. Anyway, this gets its own pic because I'm such a damn bonehead.


So, last we left off, it was January, 2005. My brother was arrested sometime in 2005-2006 and sent to a juvenile correctional / detention center (even though he was 21 at the time). Sometime before that, we did a DVD buy-swap-trade thing. I gave him my Frailty (which I fuckin' hated), and a fullscreen version of Wild Things which he technically bought from me for about $10. He gave me House of 1,000 Corpses which he'd only watched once and hated. I feel like I know I gave him something else, but can't remember what. On January 1, I bought Phantom of the Opera. I think it was about $20. On the 23rd, out of insane (and regretful) curiosity, I bought Shatter Dead (which is unwatchable). Cost $11. And on February 26th, I got a used copy of The Kiss. Which was spotless. For about $10. I think. This was all on Amazon.com.

Time for more I-have-no-idea-when-I-got-them Wal-Mart purchases (and one K-Mart):


Garfield was more than $5. Might have been closer to $10. Everything else was about $5-6, except for Bride of Chucky which I got at K-Mart. Somewhere, the rack said it was $12.99 marked down from $14.99. Then at the register/counter, the scanner read that it was reduced again from $12.99 to $9.99. So, that was one of the coolest buying moments I remember.

More Amazon.com purchases, all in April:


The disc with no cover is a music video compilation by Massive Attack. It's coverless because they gave people an option to choose their own cover from their website and print it out. I've never had a great printer so... That was on the 6th. The Living End was ordered on the 8th. No idea how much it was. The double features were both about $11 a piece, bought on the 12th. Candyman was used, hopefully cheap, and bought on the 30th.

Around this time, I took up a 2nd job catsitting for a woman who worked at a pet store with my mother. So, I got a lot of extra stuff in '05. Saved up and got some boxsets too.



Tremors and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama I bought on May 10th. Clownhouse was only $10, I got on May 18th. There was a very short window of time this year when it was circulating again and I snapped up a copy right away. Most other people are standing around wondering when Anyone ever had a chance to buy one. One of the few times I just plain got lucky. Little Shop of Horrors and Firestarter I bought on July 18th. And Rabid on the 19th. These were all under $15. Except for Rabid. All were Amazon.com buys. The Nightmare on Elm Street boxset was $61 and I got it on June 26th.


All Amazon.com buys, ranging from August 3rd to September 21st. The Demons discs were cheap, some of the only cheap Anchor Bay discs I ever purchased. Something like $7 a piece, $15 together with shipping and handling.

First wave of Birthday buys, 2005:


All Amazon.com buys, ranging from October 6th to the 14th. Exorcist and Stepford Wives were used and previous editions, so the price on both was about $20 a piece. The Stepford disc was in good condition, the Exorcist one had clearly been tossed around a few times.


Still all Amazon, all bought on the 16th. Everything was less than $15 except for The Fly and Videodrome. The former was less than $16 but the latter was more than $30. Which is never something to scream-for-joy over but this movie is really worth it. I hope everyone has a copy.


Comedy of Terrors / The Raven and Amityville: It's About Time were bought on the 25th of October. Haunted Palace / Tower of London was bought on November 2nd. The rom-com dummy twins were the 17th and 18th in the order you see / left to right. All were less than $13. And Amazonians. Shock of all shocks.

Christmas, 2005, from the whole family (my brother and I bought each other stuff too):



Started my all-too proud tradition of double-dipping and keeping both copies (Candyman). There's going to be A LOT of that in the years to come. Upgrading to better editions of movies I already have.

And last, but... last, is the inevitable next installment of Wal-Mart Random Pick-ups:


Hard Candy is probably the worst case of buying too soon, spending too much money in the history of my DVD-buying career. Bought it for $19.99 on September 27th (of 2006). Big Lots started selling it for $3.00 in 2009-2010. I'm not kidding. I wasted nearly $17.00. Devil's Rejects was $7.50, so I wasted only $7.50. Wal-Mart finally started lowering their standard $5.50 in the bargain bins to about $4.88 around this time. The Crush I got for about $3.20- that was awesome! I started my Alicia Silverstone Erotic-Thriller collection with that disc. Marathon Man and Barbarella are among 2 of my proudest bargain bin purchases. I think they were a flat $4.00 each. Anyway, this is finally where I actually started finding actual purchase dates (from DVDizzy.com where I posted on their forums). Working Girl and Swing Kids I bought on September 21st, 2005. Jennifer 8 was October 12th, same year. The Crush was January 3rd, 2006. Fahrenheit 911 was February 21st. Marathon Man and Barbarella were October 11th.

Total DVD's by end of this post: 222