Physical Media Collecting

[Wandrer]

Hey everyone. I'm gonna start a thread about physical media collecting hobby (not sure if we already have one, I wasn't to find one).

Lets share what others are collecting be it music, movies, games, etc.

What physical media do you have or want to add to your collection?

What are your prized possessions?

As a collector I know some items come with stories, let's share those here too.

 

[Wandrer]

I am personally a big time CD collector (some cassettes too). I started collecting as a kid in the 90's. I collect mostly music I like, not necessarily something rare. I have just under 200 CDs at the moment. My collection ranges from Trance, Rock, Emo, Drum & Bass, Jazz, Bossa Nova, Pop, Japanese City Pop and Shibuya Kei and various other genres.

Some of my prized passions are Grand Theft Auto Vice City Official Soundtracks.

It has taken me, literally, 15 years to find them all. I made a mistake of not buying the boxed set when I had the opportunity. It took this long because I was looking for either new or mint condition items. Right now I have all 7 volumes and Greatest Hits Volume (not in this photo).

In my personal opinion, Vice City was the best Grand Theft Auto game and it had the best soundtrack. I think most of the music is classic on these CDs. It's basically the best of 1980s. San Andreas also had a good soundtrack, but I think vice city was better. Also, the physical release of the San Andreas soundtrack was pretty poorly done. It was missing the best IMO station, SFUR. It also didn't have DJ artwork.

 

[☉Kud]

Been collecting cassettes since last winter break. I've always wanted to build up a music collection of some sort because I'd like to archive something rare I could find one day, especially that of music.

My most wanted cassette would be one of Aphex Twin's albums from the 90s, but HOLY SHIT they go for hundreds on Discogs! It might be due to these albums not often getting stable cassette releases.

 

[RisingThumb]

Similar threads about collecting
For games collecting
For books and bookshelves
For music

This said, one thing not mentioned much there and of general interest to me, is if there's any good software for cataloguing in an item-agnostic way collections? For books there's librarything

 

[Wandrer]

View attachment 114722

Been collecting cassettes since last winter break. I've always wanted to build up a music collection of some sort because I'd like to archive something rare I could find one day, especially that of music.

My most wanted cassette would be one of Aphex Twin's albums from the 90s, but HOLY SHIT they go for hundreds on Discogs! It might be due to these albums not often getting stable cassette releases.

Nice! Two Walkmans! I got Dave Brubeck's Take Five as well, on CD though.

Discogs is becoming very expensive lately, the prices are being inflated on most items now.

Places like Goodwill and Value Village have a lot of rare cassettes and CDs for chump change. but you never know what you are gonna get there. Hit and miss. Usually people w/o any knowledge of the true value of items donate those there.

Ebay is OK... but prices are inflated too though.

I think a lot more people are collecting now, thus prices are increasing.

 

[Wandrer]

Similar threads about collecting
For games collecting
For books and bookshelves
For music

This said, one thing not mentioned much there and of general interest to me, is if there's any good software for cataloguing in an item-agnostic way collections? For books there's librarything

That's a good question. I am not sure. An Excel sheet might be most flexible and least pleasant way of cataloguing.

 

[☉Kud]

Nice! Two Walkmans! I got Dave Brubeck's Take Five as well, on CD though.

Discogs is becoming very expensive lately, the prices are being inflated on most items now.

Places like Goodwill and Value Village have a lot of rare cassettes and CDs for chump change. but you never know what you are gonna get there. Hit and miss. Usually people w/o any knowledge of the true value of items donate those there.

Ebay is OK... but prices are inflated too though.

I think a lot more people are collecting now, thus prices are increasing.

The one on the left is a real Walkman from the 90s. The other one beside it is a cheap Chinese Amazon knockoff but I kept it because it has a speaker. (And setting up a tape deck with speakers can be very expensive anyway.)

If I ever have a particular kind of cassette I'd like to get, it'd be on Ebay. I'll try going to Goodwill to find some cassettes, but for the most part, its usually been CDs and Vinyls that get sold there.

 

[Captain]

View attachment 114722

Been collecting cassettes since last winter break. I've always wanted to build up a music collection of some sort because I'd like to archive something rare I could find one day, especially that of music.

My most wanted cassette would be one of Aphex Twin's albums from the 90s, but HOLY SHIT they go for hundreds on Discogs! It might be due to these albums not often getting stable cassette releases.

Had that Sony when it was new back in the day. It was a great player. I think the modern belts are made different as the same players have too much wow and flutter compared to when they were new and when you could get official Sony belts.

 

[☉Kud]

Had that Sony when it was new back in the day. It was a great player. I think the modern belts are made different as the same players have too much wow and flutter compared to when they were new and when you could get official Sony belts.

Yeah, the thing to keep in mind when having an old Walkman model or portable cassette player in this day and age are the belts. Luckily with the 90s models like this one in particular, it's much more easier to fix because of how easy it is to pry open the insides as there's no screws securing it in place.

 

[Bad Vibes Forever]

Hey guys. So excited about these items that finally came in!

Vinyl: Burial - Untrue
Art Book: Samurai Champloo "Battle Cry"

 

[eeempe]

the last week i entered to an abandoned cinema
where i went being a child like 10-15 years ago.
we found old 35 mm from the movie projector

fungus films
epic?

 

[MySpace Tom]

I have a pretty big media collection. It includes books, CDs, records, VHS tapes, LaserDiscs, cassettes, magazines, and whatever else is interesting. Here's a preview:

LaserDisc

Nobody I've known has grown up with a LaserDisc player, but I have always been fascinated by them. I got a working player a few years ago and have acquired a small collection of interesting titles

My David Lynch LaserDisc collection
David Lynch is one of my favorite directors. He's also highly influential in Japan where LaserDiscs were the most popular, so it's only natural that I'd amass a collection of mostly-Japanese releases of his films

This picture includes:

• Industrial Symphony No. 1
• The Elephant Man
• Eraserhead
• On The Air
• Blue Velvet
• Twin Peaks

The Flying Luna Clipper
Why does this film exist? It's basically a collaboration between Sony and MSX Magazine that was animated almost entirely with 8-bit computers, and it was produced as a physical release. What an experiment. You can almost see the animators pushing pixels on their workstations while watching it. It feels like taking a vacation to a surrealist computer world alongside characters including anthropomorphic produce, a talking snowman, a cool duck, and others. I really wish we had more films like this, but at the same time, its uniqueness is a special quality

Records

This is the biggest of my record shelves

Aphex Twin's drukqs
Aphex Twin's most important album, and I have it

Windows96 - Enchanted Instrumentals and Whispers
One of my favorite floating-through-outer-space soundtracks. Also feels obligatory to post this here

VHS Tapes

This picture includes:

• Bullet Ballet promotional VHS, including interviews with cast members
• American Werewolves (Crucial Blast release, limited edition of 150)
• Serial Experiments: Lain bootleg (it really is the whole series on a single tape. The last episode inexplicably switches from Japanese to English, though it's probably because the bootlegger doesn't know how to find good rips)
• Angel's Egg bootleg

DVDs

This subset is mostly focused on music or band-related releases. It includes:

• 8-8-88 Church of Satan Mansonite Rally featuring Boyd Rice / NON (this is the first thing I ever bought on eBay)
• Pi
• The Legendary Pink Dots - Paris In The Fall
• Kill Your Idols documentary about the no wave and modern alt music scenes in New York
• Sympathy for the Devil documentary about The Process Church (more watered-down than I was hoping since it glossed over the cult's abuse, but still an interesting watch)
• Psychic TV's First Transmission
• Nine Inch Nails - Broken tape rip
• Skinny Puppy - Violent Shadows (includes live backing footage, music videos, and interviews)
• Zoetrope (indie sci-fi film scored by Lustmord. The score is about twice as long as the film itself and about a thousand times better than the film which is sadly very lame)
• David Lynch's Dumbland
• The Legendary Pink Dots - 9 Lives to Wonder
• Vampire Hunter D
• Sixteen Days in China: A Documentary by Martin Atkins (a movie about the owner of Invisible Records trying to sign Chinese musicians to his label while acting like he's uncovering an alien planet of Eastern musicians. Not a terribly compelling watch, but here it is)
• KMFDM (better than the best and stronger than the rest!)
  • Strum und Drang Tour 2002
  • 20th Anniversary World Tour 2004
  • Beat by Beat by Beat
• Skinny Puppy
  • Video Collection
  • The Greater Wrong of the Right Live
• KMFDM - WWIII Tour 2003
• Foetus - ¡MALE! Live DVD

Books
This does not include my large collection of banned or controversial texts, among others. The books are disheveled a bit because I recently sold some off

"The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed" by Racter

This is the first book that was written by a computer. The book itself is filled with cool collages that respond to the weird poems and prose inside of the book

Tapes
Mostly industrial and noise, but there are a couple of vaporwave ones in there

CDs

 

[eeempe]

I have a pretty big media collection. It includes books, CDs, records, VHS tapes, LaserDiscs, cassettes, magazines, and whatever else is interesting. Here's a preview:

LaserDisc
View attachment 114759 View attachment 114760 View attachment 114761


Nobody I've known has grown up with a LaserDisc player, but I have always been fascinated by them. I got a working player a few years ago and have acquired a small collection of interesting titles

My David Lynch LaserDisc collection
David Lynch is one of my favorite directors. He's also highly influential in Japan where LaserDiscs were the most popular, so it's only natural that I'd amass a collection of mostly-Japanese releases of his films
View attachment 114733
This picture includes:

• Industrial Symphony No. 1
• The Elephant Man
• Eraserhead
• On The Air
• Blue Velvet
• Twin Peaks

The Flying Luna Clipper
Why does this film exist? It's basically a collaboration between Sony and MSX Magazine that was animated almost entirely with 8-bit computers, and it was produced as a physical release. What an experiment. You can almost see the animators pushing pixels on their workstations while watching it. It feels like taking a vacation to a surrealist computer world alongside characters including anthropomorphic produce, a talking snowman, a cool duck, and others. I really wish we had more films like this, but at the same time, its uniqueness is a special quality

View attachment 114734
View attachment 114735

Records
View attachment 114762
This is the biggest of my record shelves

Aphex Twin's drukqs
Aphex Twin's most important album, and I have it
View attachment 114745


Windows96 - Enchanted Instrumentals and Whispers
One of my favorite floating-through-outer-space soundtracks. Also feels obligatory to post this here
View attachment 114746

VHS Tapes
View attachment 114747
This picture includes:

• Bullet Ballet promotional VHS, including interviews with cast members
• American Werewolves (Crucial Blast release, limited edition of 150)
• Serial Experiments: Lain bootleg (it really is the whole series on a single tape. The last episode inexplicably switches from Japanese to English, though it's probably because the bootlegger doesn't know how to find good rips)
• Angel's Egg bootleg

DVDs
View attachment 114748

This subset is mostly focused on music or band-related releases. It includes:

• 8-8-88 Church of Satan Mansonite Rally featuring Boyd Rice / NON (this is the first thing I ever bought on eBay)
• Pi
• The Legendary Pink Dots - Paris In The Fall
• Kill Your Idols documentary about the no wave and modern alt music scenes in New York
• Sympathy for the Devil documentary about The Process Church (more watered-down than I was hoping since it glossed over the cult's abuse, but still an interesting watch)
• Psychic TV's First Transmission
• Nine Inch Nails - Broken tape rip
• Skinny Puppy - Violent Shadows (includes live backing footage, music videos, and interviews)
• Zoetrope (indie sci-fi film scored by Lustmord. The score is about twice as long as the film itself and about a thousand times better than the film which is sadly very lame)
• David Lynch's Dumbland
• The Legendary Pink Dots - 9 Lives to Wonder
• Vampire Hunter D
• Sixteen Days in China: A Documentary by Martin Atkins (a movie about the owner of Invisible Records trying to sign Chinese musicians to his label while acting like he's uncovering an alien planet of Eastern musicians. Not a terribly compelling watch, but here it is)
• KMFDM (better than the best and stronger than the rest!)
  • Strum und Drang Tour 2002
  • 20th Anniversary World Tour 2004
  • Beat by Beat by Beat
• Skinny Puppy
  • Video Collection
  • The Greater Wrong of the Right Live
• KMFDM - WWIII Tour 2003
• Foetus - ¡MALE! Live DVD

Books
This does not include my large collection of banned or controversial texts, among others. The books are disheveled a bit because I recently sold some off
View attachment 114763 View attachment 114764
View attachment 114765

"The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed" by Racter
View attachment 114756 View attachment 114757

This is the first book that was written by a computer. The book itself is filled with cool collages that respond to the weird poems and prose inside of the book

Tapes
Mostly industrial and noise, but there are a couple of vaporwave ones in there
View attachment 114766
View attachment 114767
View attachment 114768

CDs
View attachment 114769
View attachment 114770
View attachment 114771

hell yeah-

 

[Andy Kaufman]

Nice collections.
You can see most of my physical colleciton here in the bookshelf thread. I have some Manga in another shelf but it's not much.
What prompted my BluRay collection was Netflix suddenly removing movies I still had on my watchlist. Back then I didn't know they'd just randomly drop movies from their service so I decided to just buy all movies I want to (re)watch.

 

[fiveXdollars]

I've been collecting comic books for the last 2-3 years and have amassed a small collection of ~70 ranging from the 1950s to 2024. Always read comics online or when I got collections but never got into collecting until recently which is bad because prices have never been so high (it's gotten better the past year). I collect for fun and reasons include cool covers, key issues, or just a book that I always wanted to have for personal reasons.

Favourite superhero is for sure Shazam and I have one book of his that is from 1953.

 

[Pluto]

Do they still even make laserdisc players?
What about VHS?

 

[Bad Vibes Forever]

I have a pretty big media collection. It includes books, CDs, records, VHS tapes, LaserDiscs, cassettes, magazines, and whatever else is interesting. Here's a preview:

Wow huge collection! I noticed you mentioned Industrial music. Do you like the subgenres like Harsh EBM?

 

[Wandrer]

The one on the left is a real Walkman from the 90s. The other one beside it is a cheap Chinese Amazon knockoff but I kept it because it has a speaker. (And setting up a tape deck with speakers can be very expensive anyway.)

If I ever have a particular kind of cassette I'd like to get, it'd be on Ebay. I'll try going to Goodwill to find some cassettes, but for the most part, its usually been CDs and Vinyls that get sold

I have a Marantz tape deck as part of my hi-fi. I got it brand new in 2018. It's one of the newer models and build quality isn't that great. Compared to the 90s cassette decks It's meh. The keys don't feel that solid. The doors are wobbly too. The white print on the keys is just awful.

For a device at this price I would expect more. I can only really recommend it to a person who's looking for a brand new tape deck.

 

[Wandrer]

Do they still even make laserdisc players?
What about VHS?

AFAIK they stopped making VHS players around 2014 or so

 

[Wandrer]

the last week i entered to an abandoned cinema
where i went being a child like 10-15 years ago.
we found old 35 mm from the movie projector
View attachment 114752View attachment 114753

fungus films
epic?

Are you gonna try to watch this? Digitize?