My Journey to Building a Movie Collection

Building a movie collection has been a fulfilling and enriching hobby for many film enthusiasts. My own journey began about a year ago with the aim of maintaining a library of movies I could watch repeatedly. However, the accumulation seems to have a mind of its own, quickly reaching a count of 50 Blu-rays. While this collection includes only those movies I truly love, I often find myself hesitating to watch some due to the familiar stories they tell.

These Blu-rays cost me about $1000 total. Each title varies in price, ranging from $10 to $25, and I acquire a mix of 4K and regular Blu-rays, with some rare editions hitting the $25 mark for the Blu-ray alone.

Expanding the Collection

My movie collection has expanded significantly over the years. Originally, I had around 1700 purchases, mostly acquired in the past few years as prices dropped. Recently, I have been more selective, with approximately 3000 on DVDs and a few obscure titles such as Ed Wood's Take It Out in Trade on VHS. Even though I haven't bought many films on DVD lately, I have found ample content available on platforms like YouTube, Kanopy, Internet Archive, and other online sources.

Recording TV Shows and Films for Archival

While building a collection primarily through purchase, I also enjoy archiving films and TV shows recorded from TV. Most of my recordings are in PAL resolution, capturing a variety of television movies and documentaries. Occasionally, I find these gems on YouTube. All of my recordings and purchased movies collectively amount to around 14 TB of data, which I carefully organize on my NAS (Network-Attached Storage) device, which I affectionately call Ulfflix.

VHS, DVDs, Blu-rays: A Comprehensive Collection

For a more complete overview, the cumulative count of movies across VHS, DVDs, and Blu-rays, considering only retail releases, stands at about 550 films. It is a mix of both new and old titles, with a focus on classics and my favorite actors, which I often relish during my downtime. As for the cleanup process, I now rely on digital entertainment services like Vudu and my processed Kodi library to streamline my viewing experience. Any downloaded movies are deleted after a single viewing, leaving my current collection to consist of a mere 35 films on my laptop.

Current Movie Collection Stats

My current collection totals about 808 movies. Out of these, 336 are on Blu-ray, 454 on DVD, and 18 solely on Ultra Violet. Of all my movies, 407, including the 18 Ultra Violet titles, are also stored in my Vudu account, providing an easy way to access and enjoy my cherished collections from anywhere.

In conclusion, building a movie collection is not just about the quantity or the price but about creating a personal library of films that bring joy and comfort. Whether it is through purchase, archiving, or downloading, my collection continues to evolve, tailored to my tastes and preferences.