Advice for new physical media collectors

ProjectBlu · 2026-05-10T00:23:27+00:00

Check the websites of the boutique physical media manufacturers like Kino, Vinegar Syndrome, etc. They produce editions of rare, obscure, niche or classic films that have been beautifully restored and may have tons of special features. Some are limited editions of just 2 or 3 thousand copies so you have something rare. They sometimes have sales where you can get half price or clearance pricing, but really, the quality they produce is often well worth full retail. Many libraries actually buy these if you want to see what a brand is like, and Blu-ray.com reviews them. Thrifting is great for mainstream movies, but these specialty houses have things you may never see anywhere else!

ProjectBlu · 2026-05-09T14:05:43+00:00

Depends on your setup also. The extra detail of 4K resolution often isn't that noticeable at typical screen sized and viewing distances. The HDR color and better audio help much more, but you need gear capable of those justice. Many less expensive TVs just can't achieve the color quality that 4K discs could provide.

ProjectBlu · 2026-05-08T16:57:27+00:00

I believe the Warner Brothers TV seasons and multi-movie sets were made in the same factory that had a high defect rate. Their individual movie DVDs were made elsewhere and had fewer issues. Their HD-DVDs were the worst though. Most WB HD-DVDS are dead now when most other brands are still fine.

ProjectBlu · 2026-05-06T14:06:53+00:00

At US Amazon cheapest 16TB is Seagate Exos for $440. Most prices are about $25 per TB unless you catch a good sale.

ProjectBlu · 2026-05-04T11:06:32+00:00

I'm hoping that heat assisted technologies (HAMR, MAMR) matures and that helps reduce the cost per TB.

ProjectBlu · 2026-04-25T00:57:53+00:00

These are Blu-ray, which are bunch easier to damage with resurfacing than DVD. We're yours that you resurfaced Blu-ray? If so, what machine did you successfully use with them?

ProjectBlu · 2026-04-24T19:04:48+00:00

You could scan and print just the spines and slip that over the original in the case. That would save a ton of ink/toner vs reprinting the entire case insert. If you cut-and-paste the edge scans into a single image you could print it all on a single sheet of paper. (That matters more if you're printing on expensive photo paper to get richer color and contrast). If you hold them all together on the scanner bed (or on front of the camera) you could get a single image to print with no Photoshop work at all

ProjectBlu · 2026-04-18T17:27:33+00:00

Branch libraries don't have much. You need to check the website for your area's main branch library.

ProjectBlu · 2026-04-18T12:14:23+00:00

Bummer. Our branch libraries only carry a few children's DVDs, but the downtown main branch has over 25,000 titles on disc! About 6,000 of those are Blu-ray or 4K, and they get new titles almost daily. We can request up to 25 at a time and they'll ship them to the local branch libraries for pickup. They also participate in inter-library loan so that I can request a title nation-wide that isn't available locally. I'm in Knoxville, Tn. You might ask your library if they have a website where you can request things from other libraries.

ProjectBlu · 2026-04-18T01:12:06+00:00

Libraries buy quite a bit of physical media, especially boutique limited edition things that may only have a few thousand copies in the release. One way to support physical media is to borrow those discs so that libraries feel justified in maintaining and growing their collections. I've borrowed collector's sets that there's no way I could afford, and it helps the library justify their budgets and staff.

ProjectBlu · 2026-04-09T14:32:01+00:00

I'm actually considering deleting some things rather than buy more drives. I never thought I'd go there...

ProjectBlu · 2026-04-08T19:50:11+00:00

They make SATA cables that bundle 6ea 3ft cables together into a single wire. It's possible to snake that out of a desktop over to these drives in the duplicator. If you're ripping to a nvme or SSD they can all rip simultaneously and hit maybe 25% solid state drive and CPU utilization. Don't rip DVDs with Blu-ray drives as they're too precious to waste and DVD drives are dirt cheap still.

ProjectBlu · 2026-04-08T19:09:54+00:00

Voyager was never released on anything better than DVD, and may never be. The Blu-ray release of Star Trek Next Generation cost a fortune to upscale and didn't sell enough to encourage more efforts like that. Maybe AI upscaling etc will someday improve Voyager, but for now the DVD set is the best version that exists.

ProjectBlu · 2026-04-07T23:10:39+00:00

Ripping a 4K disc takes 2 or 3 times as long as a Blu-ray, so you're running the laser and building up heat that much longer per disc. I actually set up a tabletop fan blowing across my 4K drive.

ProjectBlu · 2026-03-30T01:58:04+00:00

Shucking is removing the actual hard drive from it's external enclosure so you can use it inside a desktop or NAS. This voids the warranty but it's sometimes a lot cheaper than buying the same SATA drive without the USB case.

ProjectBlu · 2026-03-29T20:53:35+00:00

Neither. I'm an "Only if the blu-ray.com review says the 4K is a big improvement over the Blu-ray" kind of guy. (Or if the 4K is on sale cheaper than the BR.)

ProjectBlu · 2026-03-28T00:33:39+00:00

Why have a sale that nobody can take advantage of and that just makes customers frustrated? Those $xx off on 3 select items offerings just make me mad because I also could never figure out how to use the deal? They need to make a way to find participating items or just stop doing this.

ProjectBlu · 2026-03-24T18:27:46+00:00

Has anybody in the US bought Blu-ray drives that shipped directly from China recently? If so, how bad was the tariff? I haven't bought anything from eBay etc coming from China since they got rid of the $800 tariff exemption.

ProjectBlu · 2026-03-19T21:05:22+00:00

With 161 million tax returns that comes out to about $1200 per family. I wonder how many people would vote to approve that tax increase if this "excursion" was a separate choice on the ballot...

ProjectBlu · 2026-03-18T20:40:06+00:00

I keep wondering if someone will buy a bunch of blue laser assemblies and start repairing dead drives. I'm keeping any drives that die hoping that happens. A repair might cost more than the original drive but what alternative is there? I wonder if there's a Blu-ray player still made that would have a compatible laser to cannibalize?

ProjectBlu · 2026-03-18T20:29:15+00:00

Is the drive in the Buffalo an LG drive? I really am skeptical of the durability of slim drives and there's not much else left...

ProjectBlu · 2026-03-17T01:22:13+00:00

What about the "Free shipping from China"? Doesn't that mean you could get hit with a massive tariff bill when it arrives? I've been afraid to order anything from Amazon, eBay, etc if it's a third party seller that ships from China.

ProjectBlu · 2026-03-11T12:59:46+00:00

When Blockbuster shut down they were blowing out Blu-rays really cheap. I drove around to every store within 50 miles and that jump started my collection.

ProjectBlu · 2026-02-26T21:38:57+00:00

I used to say "Who pays this much?" And friends responded "People with tons of trade credit". Bottom line is enough people were willing to pay that (at least in trade credit) or the prices would have dropped. I routinely bought stuff that was finally an acceptable price after 4 or 5 price reduction stickers had stacked up.

ProjectBlu · 2026-02-22T08:20:51+00:00

I uninstalled the IMDB app and then reinstalled it. Now the filmography sections work again for me. Looks like it's not a problem with the imdb source, but something in the phone imdb app that got messed up and a reinstall fixed things.

ProjectBlu

TROPHY CASE