What a wonderful idea. I hope I can convince myself to steal it. I have an ever expanding DVD collection (both purchased and transferred from commercial-free tv) and I’ve been wondering what sort of shelving to get to enable me. This looks like a great solution. Can you recommend a supplier for the binders?

My recommendation to you would be to pick a binder into which you can add extra pages. I thought the ones I got had that feature but they don’t so I’ve been spending a lot of time reshuffling and it’s a pain. Still and all, I’m very happy with my Targus DVD holders, into which you can pack 320 discs. Very affordable from Amazon.com.

We did this a couple of years ago. We have three 500 slot binders separated as comedy, drama, animation, etc. The only problem? Every time you get a new dvd, you have to either move every dvd down a slot to keep things alphabetized or abandon that completely and just stick movies at the end of the binder. In any case, as much as I like packaging and putting things on shelves, it saves a ton of room to put them in binders.

I’m not a hoarder, but my hubby is. I have slowly been bringing him around to a way of thinking alien to him but vital to keeping our condo livable. As regards DVDs, do we really need to own that or would one viewing be sufficient? We have an excellent library and Facets Multimedia in town to fulfill our needs. As regards anything else – if you bring something in, something else needs to go away. It’s not a perfect system, but it helps.

That said, I’d never let that coffin box go!

An excellent and timely piece, as the winnowing of packaging begins…it is easy to get rid of a lot of it, but those Warner Archive discs with the original art, oh…well, I can look at them online…

“There are definitely a lot of titles that I will revisit now that they’re closer at hand (and, in some cases, liberated from their truly awful packaging, which can create a subliminal prejudice against a particular film), so I look forward to doing what one should with a movie collection — watching it!”

I will repeat this, again and again and again, until “finished,” not that this work is ever done. It just kind of abates for a spell…

That said, I’d never let that coffin box go!

I haven’t!

You are a man after my own heart – well, you already have it, as you know! I feel exactly the same way about VAMPYR, and I need to load up on some more albums for my DVDs. I separate the discs by genre: the first three albums on the shelf hold Horror/SciFi/Fantasy, with includes sections for Stephen King films and the Val Lewtons, even if they don’t contain truly supernatural plots (BEDLAM, THE LEOPARD MAN, etc.). The Psycho Thillers/Suspense albums include a special Hitchcock section. Then I’ve got Theatre/Musical/Performance, and Comedies. I am looking at finally getting rid of the LDs and the player, which will give me space for the new DVD albums I need. Sorting is such sweet sorrow!

I got rid of my few remaining tapes but still have 200 LDs and a working player. That the LDs have been in my father’s garage probably means they’re not working too well, but last time I checked a few they played fine. Be sad to see them go; talk about packaging, and some fine supplements that never made the leap to DVD/Blu.

BD I like because it’s smaller and thinner packaging, but not thin enough. I want slimline thin, dammit!

Yeah, Bob, all those supplements which never got ported over from LD to DVD! Sigh! At 53, I’m considering that I will not have time to fire up the LD player again and watch all the interviews on the boxed LD of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS (and wasn’t it a joke on me when, years after buying it, I sat down to watch it and found that one disc was warped and wouldn’t play)! I’ve had a friend burn me one DVD of the extremely long cut of the 1776 on LD, one of my first sets, and another with the commentary playing (the standard DVD of that title does reinstate a number, as you know, and a few bits here and there, but not everything the LD did).

I’ve adopted pretty much the same solution- though at four 400 disc binders, buying the binders is itself getting expensive- but I save the empty cases in the attic- otherwise, you kick yourself when the blu-ray comes out and you want to sell the DVD.

Criterion and Masters of Cinema cases still stay in the living room, though, they’re too beautiful to put away.

I regularly have to go through my binders and move every single one of them to put new ones in (meaning I never do it until I have ten or twenty new ones)- I keep my movies are alphabetical by director or by spine number where there is one.

I have a companion piece to this I have not yet written. Maybe now I will. Basically, you’ve covered most of it, but I just don’t give a damn anymore about owning DVDs. I’ve got every movie I want to see a mere Roku/Apple TV/Netflix Instant click away on my big tv downstairs. No loading, no waiting for previews, no overblown menus, no crappy packaging!

But, as you say, there are some I have just for the packaging and those will be with me for a long, long time. I’m no big fan of Disney but when they released their Tomorrowland episodes of the fifties tv show a few years back in a limited edition tin with the signed this and that and program and the whole nine yards, I had to buy it. And the Citizen Kane fiftieth anniversary (which is now 20 years old!) VHS box set, complete with 8x10s, a full book on the movie, the poster, etc. That was awesome!

Haha, boo, physical media 4 life right here. Digital means either you are just stealing like crazy or you are giving up half of what has made watching movies at home pleasant for the last ten years- commentaries and other extras, total control over where you are in the movie (particularly a problem with Netflix Instant), visual quality (generally 720p at best for digital, and much much lower bitrates), booklets, much deeper list of titles available, and a more reliable storage medium.

Have put most of my discs in binders and with special artwork or booklets, I just scanned them into my computer and if I need to read it or look at it, just a couple of mouse clicks and it is there. For things like the FORD AT FOX or MURNAU, BORZAGE AND FOX tombstone boxes, I put the discs into special binders, Bro-Darted the Ford book and put the books on my bookshelves and got rid of the rest.

However, I will not part with my BIG LEBOWSKI bowling ball or my ARMY OF DARKNESS “skin” book-no way, no how, no time.

Not for me. I love seeing them lined up neatly on the shelves. If I need to make another trip to IKEA, so be it.

You are a man after my own heart

Oh, no – no new collections!

Thanks for nothing, buddy.

My husband’s been trying to get me to do something similar for years but I’ve blown him off. Lately I’ve started begging him to build me a library shed in our backyard. Now? Anytime I bring that up he’ll just laugh at me and remind me of your post.

And I’ve got to say, as fun as those “coffin boxes” were when they were originally released, they (as well as other DVD novelty boxes like the Wicker Man wood box) became a real pain after a few years. How do you file them? They take up half a shelf on their own! And mine were always falling apart or not closing properly. The idea’s great but the novelty wore off quickly for me.

THANK YOU! People have been saying for years that I am crazy for doing this! I feel validated!

A very good idea. but I don’t think I could give up most of the packagings and cover art && notes & menus…In fact, I make my own covers for downloaded films, dupes, etc.–blank cases with downloaded poster art, stills, etc.
VAMPYR–yes!Other astonishing restorations include THE GHOUL, NOSFERATU, THE BLACK CAMEL, REEFER MADNESS…

Since Vampyr keeps coming up- the Region 2 Masters of Cinema one has all the same features plus an amazing commentary from Guillermo del Toro, which is just awesome.

No way. I can’t do it.

I wish I had known you were doing this. I would have asked if you would ship me your cases and inserts for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Natural (if you have them). Those damn seals never came completely off so I have sticky residue on each. I guess I have no luck with Redford movies.

Greg- My Citizen Kane 50th is still sitting on my shelf too, right next to my It’s a Wonderful Life 50th and Enter the Dragon 25th anniversary editions.

Duke, I never owned those movies, so there’s some small consolation for you!

I still have my 1993 VHS of King Kong commemorating the film’s 60th anniversary. That’s the edition with the microchip in Kong’s chest that, when pressed, roars.

Thanks anyway. Sigh…

That King Kong VHS was awesome, but the chip didn’t last very long, probably from everybody pressing the buttons and wearing them out.

My chip still roars… Kong lives!

You moved the comment over. Curses!

Binders are in my future – I have stacks on stacks right now (you know, first one after the other on the floor then stacked on top of that), but it’s going to be brutal to weed those covers out! Never mind the coffin box, I’ll keep that, those noir discs are gonna draw tears! Funny, the ones that will be really hard to part with are the Alpha dvds, the films were often in rough shape but I love those covers. VAMPIRE’S NIGHT ORGY where is thy sting?

There are DVD binders available with one large pocket to a page for storing inserts. ArtisanDeco produces the binders. Check on Amazon.

Those thousand plastic DVD cases can be recycled-if you tear them in half they take up less space for you to carry away and for the recycler to deal with.
I like the idea someone had of scanning the covers to keep the information. Sigh-too late now.

The information about the movie exists in books. The information about the DVD exists online. Make room, make room!

I agree with Cadavra. There is something neat for me to see all the dvds lined up on shelves, too. Ikea it is!

I am probably the only one wondering this – but how did Vayda get her name? Is it from a movie?

Jenni – I have too much movie stuff in my home, including books, music, posters and collectibles, to want to add a DVD wall to the decor. I’m happy to tuck my movies away and let my books take focus.

Al – Vayda’s name is one my wife heard in passing and liked, although the spelling is our invention. We used to say that Veda is Sanskrit for wise but Vayda is English for wise-ass. Before she was born, I Googled the name “Vayda Jane” and got nothing. Since then, I’ve seen the name “Vayda Jane” in lists of good baby names for a girl and it is also the name of a series of Christian kids’ books. Thieves!

Greg- My Citizen Kane 50th is still sitting on my shelf too, right next to my It’s a Wonderful Life 50th and Enter the Dragon 25th anniversary editions.

It was a pretty good, well-researched book, too. One of the most impressive collector’s edition box sets I’ve ever bought.

I absolutely agree.

Still think the three most creative collectors box sets for any format were:

-the MATRIX clear case with the tornado-like Neo on one side and the discs on the other

-the GETTYSBURG laserdisc collectors set with an actual Civil War bullet inside

-the BLADE RUNNER interreogation case with the metal origami sculpture inside.

My favorite packaging was the DVD release Criterion did of Videodrome, which was really elegantly designed to look like a bootleg Betamax- they even made the spine number look like it was written on a little piece of masking tape.

The Fear & Loathing set was beautiful too, with the Ralph Steadman landscape on the slipcover and the desert on the label, so you could take it on and off.

In both cases, unfortunately, the blu sort of loses the concept.

I have a collection of movies too. Mine pales in comparision to the one here. A tip for all you collectors, look for DVDs sold for 50 cents to $1. You can stock up with out breaking the bank!
If you have to spend more try not exceeding $20. That’s obsession on a budget. Bye.

Look at the packaging for the Criterion reboot for 1954′s Diabolique. Makes me want to put in on my bookshelf to show off!

An aside to R.H.Smith-I have a friend from Lithuania named Vaida-I guess it’s a common name there.

To Tom S-I also love that Criterion “Videodrome” package. Do you think the Wachowskis watched that film a few dozen times before coming up with “The Matrix”? I know-they also borrowed from “Dark City” but there you go.

You know, I’ve always thought the Matrix was pretty straightforwardly what you get if you combine John Woo gun ballet, William Gibson, and noir- for some reason, the noir element generally gets left out, but the rotting buildings, black cars, and blinking neon signs are a dead giveaway there.

If it took anything from Videodrome, I don’t think it came across well- Videodrome, and Cronenberg’s work generally, is much more willing to push into discomfort with violence, bodily destruction, and loss of identity. The Matrix glossed over those (and, in the first one at least, made a totally different kind of classic.)

I just did this myself. It was a long process (well over a month), but the reason I’m posting is to say I managed to store all of the sleeves as well–I was able to compact 1500 sleeves into just two accordion case files (the kind lawyers use)! Better still, these case files were only $5 apiece, and they take up about as much space as a piece of luggage would.

The reason I kept the sleeves is so that I had the option of unloading anything in my DVD collection that I eventually replaced with Blu-ray. It’s easy enough to order empty keepcases, but those sleeves are irreplaceable.

Dude, just sell the DVDs, packaging and all. Most movies, barring the rare ones, will be available in digital form somewhere. So why bother keeping the discs in some scratchy binder? Sell, donate, whatever, but don’t waste all those booklets and packages.

This may come way to late to help you but there is a company that makes “Disc Soxs” which are similar to the pages of those cd cases that you have pictured above. The advantage of these Disc Sox is that they fit the paper sleeve that is found in move dvds, [ya know, under the plastic of the "keep case"s]. Even the cardboard covers of the “snap case”s can be removed and stores in a Disc Soxs. Now, dvds like your Vampyre, with cases made of cardboard that are one solid piece you would still have to hold on to. I use Disc Sox and have found that for every dvd in a conventional case I can fit 4 or 5 Disc Soxs in the same amount of space. I have a shelf that fits 240 normal dvds and with Disc Soxs I can fit nearly, but not quite 1000 dvds. And each Disc Sox has a partitioned area for a second disc. It might be to late for you but if anyone else in looking to save space I recommend Googleing “DISC SOX”. Sorry to sound like an advertizement but CHECK EM OUT!

I could never do this. When I select a movie to watch, I look at the edge of the package to see what it is. For me, flipping through a book can be quite tedious. And although I agree that some film packaging is embarassingly put-together, much of the artwork is really beautiful and conjures up images of the film. That always makes me want to watch it more, rather than just seeing the disk which is so often plain and even more haphazardly labeled than the original packaging itself.

One of the biggest casualties of transitioning from original packaging to binders are boxed sets. Look at those Paramount sets for Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, and Mae West. The movies are already cramped two or three movies per disk. In a binder the movies become even more lost than they already are.

I’ll admit, I do keep binders. These are for the movies I’ve recorded from TV, or movies I’ve transferred from VHS to DVD. But these are not top quality and so they don’t get the top quality spot on the shelf with the movies with original packaging.

I do understand your need to conserve space, and I admire your ability to do so at the expense of your movies. I just can’t imagine having to do the same.

I never thought I could do it either… until the day came when it was the only realistic option. One of the great things about a collection is that it changes you as you accumulate it and you learn about yourself as it grows. At this age, as I said earlier, I don’t want a DVD wall – I find them, as gorgeous as some of the packaging may be, unattractive, even tacky. Maybe it’s because movies are my business, I’m elbow deep in them all day, so I need a break from that in my home. But whatever works, right?