Laserdisc Discussion/Appreciation Thread

[zackisthewalrus]

From Wikipedia.org:

The Laserdisc (LD) is a home video disc format, and was the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially marketed as Discovision in 1978, the technology was licensed and sold as Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Videodisc, Laservision, Disco-Vision, DiscoVision, and MCA DiscoVision until Pioneer Electronics purchased the majority stake in the format and marketed LaserDisc in the mid to late 1980s.
While LaserDisc produced a consistently higher quality image than its rivals, the VHS and Betamax systems, the laserdisc never obtained more than a niche market with videophiles in America. In Europe, it remained largely an obscure format. It was, however, much more popular in Japan and in the more affluent regions of South East Asia, such as Hong Kong and Singapore. Laserdisc was the prevalent rental video medium in Hong Kong during the 1990s.
The technology and concepts provided with the Laserdisc would become the forerunner to Compact Discs and DVDs.

A discussion about LDs started in the "Walt Disney Treasures Wave X" Discussion on the Disney Forum, so I'm moving it here. So, I started collecting Laserdiscs in January of this year. I think they're great collectors items. The sleeves are beautiful. The discs are very shiny, and shiny things are always fun. I think I have about 15 LDs. I'd like to continue collecting. I'll post my list of LDs later. What do you all think of Laserdisc, and do you/have you own/owned any?

[ajmrowland]

I was never even aware of the format until about 2 years ago. Suffice to say, I'd like to invest in it soon, but haven't yet.

A player must be pretty expensive, considering general collector's item status.

[SpringHeelJack]

I honestly had never heard about laserdisc players until I was at a friend's house probably eight or so years ago and he showed me his. It was bizarre, to say the least, especially considering how I was already into DVDs. I recall the idea that you had to flip a disc over to finish the movie was particularly odd to me. While I envy that there are many excellent bonus features that have yet to be ported over and some excellent presentations (my college has a copy of a "Snow White" in excellent condition with some gorgeous artwork), I can't see myself ever buying any. It just doesn't make sense for me to go backward and forward at the same time.

[DarthPrime]

I remember Laserdiscs, but never owned one.

ajmrowland I think you can pickup some players fairly inexpensive on eBay, etc... Although I'm not sure which players you should look at/avoid.

I always thought Laserdiscs were nice, but never wanted any. I was happy with VHS, and then later DVDs. I didn't start really collecting/buying movies until DVD (and now Blu-ray), so the lack of being able to easily rent a movie on Laserdisc also turned me away from the format.