The Old School Otaku Lounge

SteveH wrote:

Storing LDs is indeed an epic task. Jerry never really found a system he really liked.

Laser discs are like other people's children, they're fun to watch and to take care of for a day or so, but as a long-term commitment they involve a lot of expense and hassle.

Laserdiscs can be challenging to collect. LD is now dirt cheap in Japan, with the most lavish box sets going for nothing, but the space constraints over there must make collecting the big discs hard. On the other hand, importing cheap anime lasers to the U.S. from Japan makes for some brutal shipping costs. I would love a copy of the 50 disc Urusei Yatsura set (spread out over 2 25 disc boxes) for the great cover art if nothing else (covers here: http://uruseiyatsura.wikia.com/wiki/Cover_Collections ):



These are pretty rare outside Japan ($3k+ original cost = few imports back in the day) and shipping stuff like this is just $$$. The biggest set I have imported from Japan so far was a copy of the Dirty Pair box recently, and it was so nice that I just forgot about the expense . A copy of the Maison Ikkoku LD24 box found on eBay for a steal is one of my best LD finds, and domestic shipping made it all the better.

LD players are another issue altogether. The analog nature of LD means that expensive, exotic decks yield visibly better playback than lesser units. The Pioneer HLD-X0 is the 80 pound king of the LD hill, and still costs a staggering amount for those who want to squeeze the last iota of picture quality out of LD.

cosmosamurai wrote:The biggest set I have imported from Japan so far was a copy of the Dirty Pair box recently, and it was so nice that I just forgot about the expense .

Many years ago, I'd bought that same Dirty Pair LD box set off YAJ through ShoppingMallJapan.com. When they received it in their warehouse, they told me it was too heavy to ship. I just had them ship it to my in-laws' place and I picked it up on my next trip. was able to put it in my suitcase for my return trip. (This was before airlines started getting so picky about luggage weights.)

Having stuff shipped within Japan, however, is fantastic. Of all the prices of things people can complain about, manga and shipping costs are not among them. People in Japan ship everything domestically, and it is CHEAP. Thus, I am in a position where I don't need to be mindful about buying LDs and other heavy stuff. What I am concerned about, however, is the chance of laser rot...

Sorry (not sorry) to bump/necro a thread after 1 year but I saw this and had to comment.

cosmosamurai wrote:A copy of the Maison Ikkoku LD24 box found on eBay for a steal is one of my best LD finds, and domestic shipping made it all the better.

cosmosamurai wrote:LD is now dirt cheap in Japan, with the most lavish box sets going for nothing, but the space constraints over there must make collecting the big discs hard. On the other hand, importing cheap anime lasers to the U.S. from Japan makes for some brutal shipping costs.

Tell me about it - that same Maizon Ikkoku LD I quoted above I found on eBay back on 2008 for $50. Even at that time, most of the US DVDs were out of print so I snatched it up. I paid $150 in shipping it from Japan (and it still took like 6 weeks). I don't know what was worse, dumping 200 beans on an LD set or the fact that it was still cheaper than what some of those OOP DVDs were selling for...

But alas, I've probably mentioned it in another thread here (like the LaserDisc one most likely) but I think the days of cheap discs are past us. Over the past few years I've seen discs that used to sell for under $10 are now about $25 a piece, like someone let the cat out of the bag. When I was last in Japan, the only LDs I considered were a bit steep in price (3800JPY for Gundam ZZ) in addition to not really wanting to drag an additional 20kg on both remaining flights.

Not cheap on collections here either. The Batman (1966) TV series box set I just saw at Target is $299! At least I don't have to pay shipping and I can get 5% off if I use my Target Red Card...

What? Why the heck would a DVD box set of the Batman TV series be that much money?

greg wrote:What? Why the heck would a DVD box set of the Batman TV series be that much money?

If he's talking about the new set that just came out, it's a big ol' blu-ray box set, not DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LT1 ... UGEUMZW4YA

I've heard it's actually one of the nicest blu-ray sets out there right now. I'm not big on classic Batman, but it does look pretty cool.

It's a limited edition BD set, with a bunch of extras and other paraphernalia included (like a toy Batmobile)

I do want it, and I have fond memories of watching it when I was a kid. But I'll probably wait until they release season sets.

llj wrote:It's a limited edition BD set, with a bunch of extras and other paraphernalia included (like a toy Batmobile)

I do want it, and I have fond memories of watching it when I was a kid. But I'll probably wait until they release season sets.

They do have a non-limited set coming out in a few days: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PVB ... QTMZXBSZLC

Not entirely sure what the differences are, but it's slightly cheaper.

Yeah, I saw that. Think it's still too pricey for me now. I don't think I need to own the whole series, though. I'd be fine with only one or two seasons I can pop in occasionally when I get that Bat-West itch.