posted on March 15, 2007 10:45:11 AM new
Hi, all. I'm technologically challenged and I have a question. Today at a thrift store are these large items, which I thought were LP records in large jackets, very colorful. However, the man in charge said (I think) that they're movies on laser discs. He said you have to have what is now an obsolete player to play them because they've been replaced with the DVDs. Did he have the terminology correct as to what these things are? If they're cheap enough, I might take a chance with some of them on eBay (after searching eBay, of course).
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"You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time." --Dave Barry
posted on March 15, 2007 12:14:09 PM new
Road-yes there are movies on laser disc.I have a laser disc player myself.To watch one of these,you obviously need a laser disc player,as they wont play on dvd players.If you want to watch these,I've seen laser disc players on Ebay.The quality is excellent,better then
vhs. To be truthful the only reason you would buy one of these is to get a movie that is not available on dvd-those are few are far between.
The reason I got one was I have gotten about 15 rock concerts not available on dvd yet.If you want to just sell these,there is a seperate section for just laser discs.You might want to check that section and see what they are getting for the movies.I imagine not much,because most movies are available on dvd which is about the same quality.Also laser discs are larger then LP's and are cumbersome.Another thing is, laser discs are subject to "laser rot".These are spots on the laser disc which as far as I know, not repairable,which makes it useless.
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[ edited by classicrock000 on Mar 15, 2007 12:18 PM ]
posted on March 15, 2007 12:22:27 PM new
Although laser discs have become very scarce, most people consider them too large to be collectible. Nevermind the fact that they are obsolete, like 8-track tapes.
Ones related to rock music should be sellable though, if the covers are in displayable condition.
posted on March 15, 2007 12:43:11 PM new
Thanks, y'all. These in the thrift shop look brand new, some still in shrinkwrap, so I'll check to see if there are some rock concerts in the group.
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"You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time." --Dave Barry
posted on March 15, 2007 12:43:37 PM new
If you are at all interested in any of the titles, make sure that they are laser discs.
RCA had their own version of disc, that slightly pre-dates the laser discs. Their version played on a different player. If I remember correctly, their player worked more like a record player. Quality was nowhere near laser disc quality.
posted on March 16, 2007 05:50:31 PM new
These are CED Videodiscs - They were a format that was around for a short time in the 1980's, before laserdiscs. Unlike laserdiscs which are digital, these are analog like a video tape...in fact, the quality is quite comparable. The cases are hard plastic, and are very nice, like album covers. You have to have a videodisc player to play them, and basically it removes a record like item that is encased in the hard plastic. It was a smart way to protect them from being damaged!
Videodiscs never really caught on. This was a time when Beta was challenging VHS, so the VHS format was not as strong as it became by the late 1980's - The other problem was the size (video tapes are so much more compact) and the retail price was high. Of course, at the time, retail price on vhs movies was also very high, I don't think people realize that anymore - You used to pay $100 for a video, which is why people rented them. I think ultimately, it was the video stores that determined this as much as the consumers. Unlike vhs, you could not record on videodisc. For the mom and pop video stores (before blockbuster) they didn't want to lay out a lot of money for different formats, so they didn't. It never reach critical mass, and was discontinued.
There are some titles that are worth money. Some are rare, and many are common. There are actually websites dedicated to this, and will have a list of what is rare and what isn't. I once purchased a collection from an OSD estate sale - The guy had 6 players, and hundreds of movies. Picked it up for almost nothing. The players were the best part of the deal, I sold those easily for about $50 to $100 each. I did sell some movies on ebay, most went for $4 or $5, but some went for $30 or more. I still have a bunch that are very common, eventually I will get rid of them somehow. If you resell these, you really need to make it clear to buyers that this is NOT a laserdisc. That was my biggest problem. I put in very large bold letters but I still got laserdisc owners buying stuff. Good luck!
posted on March 16, 2007 06:12:31 PM new
Ebayvet: I went back to the thrift store today; there were no rock music discs. All movies. Wish I could tell which are valuable; some are still in shrinkwrap and very attractive! There must be 40 or so. Do you know where the sites are where people actually talk about them?
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"You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time." --Dave Barry
posted on March 17, 2007 11:03:33 AM new
Certain laser discs are still valuable. I sold my husband's copy of Star Wars trilogy boxed set for $400. I think it was more of a Star Wars purchase than LD.
