How Many of you Still Have Laserdiscs?
 

What's up everyone! I was just curious if ther are any AKers who still have their Laserdiscs? I have been collecting them since they quit pressing them in 1998. My Collection spans over 1000 so far. I have loved the sound and picture through my Widescreen 1080i Samsung HDTV. Especially the later ones where they really cleaned up the picture. And I also love the fact that NONE of them have any previews or other junk before you get to the movie.

I have a small collection, and good Pioneer LD player. But I haven't watched one in a couple years at least.

I picked up a nice Pioneer LD player and about 28 classic LD's and met a fellow AK'r at a garage sale last fall.

I know keep my eyes out for LD titles I'd like to have.

I've got a few karaoke LDs, but still waiting for a nice player to come my way..

I have about 6 players by various companies,and about 40 disc.I have some disc of Ray Harryhausen's great special effects (the Sinbad movies and others) that I cherish allot.I also have a rare Pioneer Laseractive player with the Genesis pack....wouldn't mind having the TurboGrafx one someday. Rob

i have about 80 discs, over half of them Anime(japanese animation) the balance being some of my favorite movies,including all the original star trek films,and a PIONEER CLD-3030 laserdisc player with remote&manual. between it all, i'd say i have around $200 invested in it all. i am a rather recent but very passionate laserphile, being fascinated by laserdisc technlogy for only about five years now, and i believe that 1980's era laserdisc players are some of the most beautiful audio/video equipment ever conceived. below is the actual image of my CLD-3030 when i first ran across it on ebay.(it's actually far cleaner, and in much better condition than that pic would indicate.)(BTW,i am on the beat for one of those CLD-A100 units with the SEGA GENESIS module, and i'm always game for more japanese anime, asian popstar and karaoke discs...)
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...-3030IRISH.jpg

I want to buy another CLD-M90 (mine died when I was 11) and some more LD's. I just love the idea of that kind of format existing, and I have seen it once, and I remember it being superior to anything I had ever seen before or since, in the home.....

I have a Pioneer CLD-S201 in the living room. My brother has a Pioneer CLD-700 in his bedroom. He is the laserdisc collector. He has around 25 movies. He mostly buys DVD's now, but he has movies in VHS, Laserdisk and DVD format. I notice laserdisks play CD's very good, including my worst CD-R disks.

I still have one hooked up.Used it as my main CDP till I bought a Marantz CDP.Only have about a dozen titles.

LDs? Yep, got 'em, still get 'em, love 'em! I don't like the amount of space that they occupy, but I like having covers that can contain a lot of info which can still be read without a magnifying glass. I like their sturdy almost-indestructibility (compared to most formats), the high-precision, high-velocity nature of their play (that is, the quality of the transports used), the fact that they are analog (=no digital artifacts), the way they look almost identical to movie theater visuals when projected, the fact that their sound is CD-quality (better than DVDs!). I like the way the players, with their higher speeds and narrower lasers, can read CDs better than most CD players (and with direct out capability and a good DAC, can equal or exceed all but the best audiophile CD players, at a fraction of the cost... but sssshhh, don't tell anyone!).

I have half a dozen players, including three Pioneer (Elite) LD-X1 players (one main, one spare, and one for parts) and two of another Pioneer Japan-market-only model that has Pioneer's then-best CD player built into it, as well. Also one Denon player, just because it matches a full Denon stack I have (champagne-gold fronts, wooden end panels). Still looking for that ultimate X9 player (=the best LD player ever made), though. Had a shot at one once but didn't get it. Sort of regret it, but the X1 is a very, very impressive performer already (almost the equal of the X9), so I do enjoy the LDs.

As for discs, I now have a few hundred, but don't know the exact count. There are places here in Hong Kong that regularly have boxes of them to sift through, so sometimes I go pick out a few more to add. Just earlier today I added "Cinema Paradiso" to the collection, and recently added the Widescreen "Definitive Collection" black boxed set of the original Star Wars trilogy from a thrift shop. The set even came with a hardbound book by George Lucas, a guidebook to the discs, and even an original ad/brochure for it slipped inside. That had to be one of my best LD "scores" to date, as people say it is the absolute best-ever (quality) version of the original release (without the CGI stuff added later) ever released.

I pick up most concert disks I find; I think it is one of the best uses of the format, because the sound is better than DVD. This is also good because many of them (like Simon & Garfunkle in Central Park) my wife likes, and any time I can increase the WAF of audio/AV stuff, it's good. :thmbsp:

I also grab most of the "moldy-oldie" classic movies I find, like Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, etc... Also a careful selection of decent movies from the LD era, like the Rambo series, Alien series, Godfather series, Jurassic Parks, etc...but there are a lot of shlocky movies out on the format that I don't like enough to keep. I do have a bunch of old horror movies (British Hammer films, War of the Worlds and Tales from the Crypt episodes and such) and sci-fi movies and TV shows including some Star Trek TV shows, the Prisoner, etc... (geeky, huh?!). The last category I look for are good foreign movies like "Once Were Warriors". I have a few "art films" like Koslowski's Blue, White, Red series (although I don't particularly like them), and some porno stuff (Japanese, Penthouse, Playboy). I don't go out of my way to get porno stuff, but sometimes it comes in bulk buys from the flea market, and I usually trade it for movies I want to see. There is one guy with a basement shop who trades LDs part-time, and he always gives me good trade-in credit for these things, as he has customers for them, but fewer customers for the English movies I want more. I also traded a whole boxful of Japanese Anime (cartoon-like) stuff I didn't want, along with some Japanese Popstar LDs. See a lot of them around and they have a market, but I don't like watching them; for me they are a waste of time, so when I get them I trade them off.

I blame Al Roker. After I'd designed and installed the AV and lighting systems in his NYC townhouse, he gave me his old LD player (Mits, I think, only played side "A") and collection (mostly sci-fi and animation, good stuff including the Star Wars box mentioned above). It's been all downhill from there. Other customers and co-workers have given or traded me their old players and disc collections. I've stuck with five of the Pioneer LD/DVD/CD combos just for consistency, and the other players (Pioneer, Mits, Marantz, etc.) have gone on to new homes.

Check out www.lddb.com, an easy way to catalog & share your collection. You can search mine under username "jdeavs".

je

I have a Zenith player I picked up at a GS last summer. I finally got it hooked up a few months ago. It worked great for a couple of days and then just stopped. Need to get it repaired I guess as I have about a 100 discs.

CLD-D504 and about 100 titles, lots of NASA stuff, classical / jazz videos from one collection I bought. Used to have the Urotsukidoji box set...scary.

sheesh! you guys are making me think maybe i should...ahh!! NOOOO!! get away from me, satan!!

Yes, a small collection.

The best in it is a Japanese pressing of the original, non-re-imagined Star Wars.

In other words, Solo shot first!

I have only one laserdisc - and I don't have a player.

:banana:
From a thrift store I ended up getting The Beatles A Hard Day's Night thinking it would be collectible. I spent two minutes looking on eBay. I was wrong. :no:

Oh well - still I think the cover looks good enough on a wall next to Beethoven (the composer, not the dog) :yes:

Oh no - I'm not going to get a player and start collecting.
I gotta draw a line somewhere - the cassette is on my side, the 8 track and laserdisc can stay on the other side... :D

get yourself a pioneer LDP. they are the best, bar none. look for models such as the LD-S1,LD-S2,CLD-3030,CLD-3070,CLD-91 and CLD-92.

How much would you want for the Blue, White, Red Trilogy? I like these films (white least of all).

I have a Pioneer Elite CLD 79, and a small assortment of discs. It was
recently refurbished, and I enjoy it, even if I don't use it too often.

My son has several players and several hundred discs; I have about six players,mostly Pioneer, and a couple of hundred discs. We still love most of them. #1 son sold some of his, locally to Rex among others. We are still spreading the word on Laserdiscs!! Came across an estate sale today where they were selling Laserdiscs mixed in with LPs at one dollar a pop!!

I've got about 250 disc's and a couple of midlevel pioneer players.

I do. I own around 20. I bought them all new at $50 a piece when they were trendy.

come on, join the dark side. we'll even give you some of our big-ass CDs...:deal:

I never collected Lasers but I've been starting to pick some up since I found a couple used players in the last year.

The GW here had dozens of them at one time but I only look for stuff not on DVD.

Lately there have been more used players showing up in the thrifts, also a zillion VCRs and late model DVD players, presumably replaced with BluRay or HDMI capable players??

I'm with you brother!

I picked up a few LD a while back mostly as a novelty and because the jackets were really nice looking. I thought that it was a dead format like the RCA VideoDisc that used a stylus way back when. Now I read all this and :sigh: here we go again! :worried:

You guys... :headscrat

More than 3000...with a couple dozen players. You can almost see them if you look past the boxes of Selectavision discs. Yeah, I love my laserdiscs and still buy them on Craigslist now and then. Still, there is nothing quite as funky as having friends over and cueing up Star Wars on Selectavision!

Proud Owner of a Pioneer Elite CLD-79! Love that player.

Approx 110 disc's. Great sound and picture, most of my guests get a kick out of it.

Its funny when I happen to show them a THX mastered disc with AC-3 and tell them its from 1995. Most people had no idea you could get picture and sound this good back then.

The DD trailers on early discs are always a great suprise.

Haven't thought about it. Give me some time to watch 'em again, and I'll think about selling 'em. I picked them up with a bunch of others in a bulk buy, but I haven't watched them since getting them. I just remember watching those movies years ago (on rental LDs!) and thinking they were over-hyped and disappointing. Assuming I still feel that way, I'll be happy to get some cash for them, but I'd like to watch them once, first, since I don't remember them very well. Also, not sure what shipping would cost, since I live in Hong Kong. I'll check, and get back to you later. Hope that's okay.

I don't have an LD player. But I do have an RCA video disc player and about 5 discs. I guess this was the forerunner to the laser disc player. Anyone else have them?

Have a small collection (just under 100) and a half decent Pioneer player.
No complaints from the performance standpoint.

Laser was actually around for several years before the RCA system.

Hey thank You everyone for your feedback on my Laserdsic thread. Now I don't feel like the odd man out knowing that they STILL are da bomb! I will most likely NEVER give up any of mine. They still make you feel like you are part of the movie with the big jackets, gatefolds, artwork and literature that no DVD will ever match.

I think the LD was introduced in 79 making it older then the CD.

Hey Dynacoman
 

The Laserdisc format began life in 1977 under the name DiscoVision, by RCA and due to the poor conditions of the press room, and poor quality pressings Pioneer took over in 1979 and penned it LaserVision, then around 1987-88 it was called Laserdisc and stayed that until 1998. Japan continued the format for another 3 years, after the US dropped it in favor of the smaller, cheaper DVD, and in that short time they introduced a HD-LD. If you ever see a HD-LD listing pop up on ebay, you'd better be prepared for the outcome. The last one went for more than $500! :smoke:

I've been a participant with this format since the early 80's.My first player was an LD-700. Have gone through many Pioneer players since, including a CLD-3070,CLD-3090,LD-S1,CLD-97 and 2 CLD-95s. I've finally sold the LD-S1 ,1 of the CLD-95s and the CLD-97 but have kept the other 95.Just love this player.
Lots of discs over the years and,to be honest, I go in spurts as to watching them. They've always reminded me of shiny LPs and the jackets are way better than LP covers,IMO.
Even tho' the newer video formats provide better resolution, isn't it wonderful that you can start watching a movie or music video immediately vs. having to wade through menus and menutia to do the same for DVD and the rediculously slow Blu-Ray..Laserdisc was a videophile format,pure and simple,not to mention uncompressed audio.

The HD format in Japan was called "MUSE", and the players that handled it best include the HLD-X0 and HLD-X9, the latter being arguably the best LD player ever made, period. It's narrow red laser cuts through and reads most scratched and dirty disks, even, and its comb filtering and such was a technological breakthrough well beyond that in ordinary players.

Although I have three X1s (an almost-alike version was released as the S2 in the States), which are "almost" as good (and run circles around ordinary LD players), I still kick myself for passing up a shot at an X9. Maybe I'll get another chance one day...it really is the "holy grail" of the LD world.

I've got 5 laser disc players (some play both sides without removing the disc)and about 100 different titles...always looking out for more. I jumped on the band wagon when they came out and enjoy watching some of the odd titles.

yep still got 2 a sony mdp 333 (p.o.s) and a pioneer dvl 700, only have a few disc left though,mostly concert stuff that has not come out on dvd and the one movie that will probably never come out on dvd "Howard The Duck"!!!

Finally got the RF/AC3 out working, by picking up an H/K ADP303. Tested with Top Gun and True Lies, works great.

Watched the original Jaws today just for kicks.

je