The Great 2010 DVD Purge

While a lot of people like to brag about the thousands of DVDs they own, show off photos of their setups online, I finally realized I just had way too many DVDs.

I had stacks and stacks of DVDs that I had never seen. It had gotten to the point that I don't even watch the DVDs I WANT to see because I feel guilty neglecting those I haven't seen. I had to stop this, and focus on what I WANTED to see.

I have one cabinet that is filled with DVDs, while the rest of my collection (which I never counted but had to be well over a thousand, if not in the thousands) was stored in boxes, and boxes, and boxes stacked in various corners. I try to be an organized person, but being a movie fan, and having very little space, this was how it had to be.

It got to be too overwhelming.

So, I figured it was about time to get rid of a lot of my collection.

As I've mentioned in the past, I was a big fan of the old TV series CLEAN SWEEP, where organizers come in, take all your clutter, and force you to go through it. That is what I did.

I started off going through my boxes of DVDS, sorting them into three different areas, KEEP, GIVE AWAY / TRADE IN TO AMAZON (as I didn't want to worry about the hassle of selling), and TOSS.

This may come off as a sacrilege to many DVD fans but yes, I did throw away DVDs (although I wish I had waited as I found out about Amazon's trade in program after throwing dozens, maybe over a hundred, away). Mostly they were DVDs bought five to ten or more years ago. If a DVD was non-anamorphic or full screen and has since been upgraded? Goodbye. If it was a DVD I bought just to see in the days before I joined Netflix (or Netflix had it as a VERY LONG WAIT) and then realized it was no good? Into the trash it goes. All those poor quality public domain DVDs bought at the dollar store? They are gone too.

For the rest, I got a few hundred dollars worth of credit at Amazon trading others in. For those that I couldn't trade in (review copies, etc), I passed them along to family members.

I have to admit though, I have been getting obsessed with this process. I am now constantly going through my collection, looking for titles to get rid of. I WANT to find DVDs to go.

My policy now is, for each new DVD I get, I have to get rid of two.

The sad thing is, when going through my DVDs, do you realize how many are still sealed? How I never even watched I'd say 80-90% of what I had? This has become a very depressing process. If only I had kept the money that I had spent on these DVDs.

All the DVDs I bought thinking "Oh, this will be fun to watch sometime." That time never comes. The DVDs stack up and, before you know it, you are days away from appearing on an episode of HOARDERS.

There were genres or stars or directors that I would buy their films, only to lose interest in them over the years and wonder why I had all these films that I didn't even really like in the first place.

So, what did I keep? Surprisingly, a lot of TV on DVD. These are probably some of the most rewatchable of my DVDs. I think that will mainly be the focus of my DVD collection now. I'm not one to watch films multiple times. But I've seen some episodes of TV shows 20 to 30 or more times.

Along with my DVDs, I also went through my VHS and Laserdiscs.

Of the VHS, 95% of them are gone. I haven't hooked up my VHS player since I got a new TV, so what is the point of holding on to them? There are a few titles I am holding on to, but I may just end up getting rid of them in the not too distant future. And in looking at them, from the way they have been stored over the years, several have deteriorated, with the tape inside turning white. Even a few I would have wanted to keep ending up going because they were in such bad shape.

And, as much as I hate to say it, 99% of my laserdiscs are gone. I sold off most of my collection years ago. But what I had left, I couldn't even give away. So, while it was fun while it lasted, they had to go. I haven't hooked up my laserdisc player (if it even still works) in at least five years.

My advice to others, don't wait ten years to do this. Every year, go through your DVDs and clear out what you won't / don't watch.

You will feel a lot better when you do.