5 Pet Peeves of DVD Collectors

No matter what it is that you’re collecting, there’s always going to be something about it that rubs you the wrong way. Comic book and sports card collectors will pick out the smallest imperfection they see and devalue an item to almost nothing, casual car collectors tend to dislike those who have a larger collection since they exude an air of superiority, and some coin collectors only care about misprints.

Then, there are those who collect movies, or DVDs, to be specific. Since DVDs can still be played easily on a seemingly endless range of devices, there isn’t a shortage of those who collect. Still, collectors have some things that are minor nuisances that they’ve revealed to the public over the years. Here are the five biggest pet peeves of DVD collectors.

Box Set Shapes

When you’re collecting an entire television series, you usually buy the box set one season at a time. In most cases, each season of the series will have a box with the same design and shape as the others. Then, there are the rare shows in which they switch it up every season and it can look like a mess on your shelves even though all of the boxes are for the same shows.

One of the most glaring examples of this is “The Simpsons”. The popular animated series started out with the same design for the first five seasons, featuring the family pictured on a couch within a television screen. Then, for the popular sixth season, the box was designed to emulate Homer Simpson’s head, making it larger and rounded at the top, sticking out like a sore thumb.

Spine Wrapping

To every company that has distributed DVDs, the entire collector’s community wants you to know that when you put shrink wrap over a DVD case, the overlap where it’s opened should be where the DVD case itself opens. There are too many instances in which the shrink wrap ends and begins on the spine of the DVD, and it leaves a sticky residue and ruins the aesthetic.

Those who collect DVDs have been complaining about this since the very first DVD was released, and no company has seemed to take notice despite the outcry. Even stores with used DVDs place the price tags on the spine, which also leaves an annoying residue that ruins the look, and it needs to stop.

Reviews on the Box

Collectors love a good clean cover, and in the same way in which people feel about movie posters, they feel about DVD boxes. Think of some of the best movie posters that you’ve ever seen. Not many of them have a line from a movie critic front and center, and the same applies to DVD covers. The movie has already been purchased, there’s no need for a critic’s quote.

Also, the review scores on the covers have to go. Owners don’t care if the movie is ‘certified fresh’ on Rotten Tomatoes. It just makes the case look tacky and too busy.  

An example of a good DVD cover is “Ghostbusters”. When it was released in disc format, it had the instantly recognizable slime in the background and the Ghostbusters logo dead center. The title of the film was large enough, and the only other text on the cover was reserved for the stars and the director. It’s clean, you know what it is from far away, and it’s appealing.

Sleeves

Your DVD disc is already well protected within the case, so there’s really no need for additional protection outside of wanting to stand out. There have been countless DVD cases that have come with a sleeve on the outside of the box. You then have to slip it out, and it can be hard to do it without damaging the sleeve.

Sure, it looks nice on a shelf, but it’s more of an inconvenience than anything. We’ve all had one of these DVDs where we slowly poke out the case from the top and hope to not damage the outside. It’s a lot of work just to get your movie into the player.

Multiple Discs in One Case

If there is going to be more than one DVD as part of a collection, then they should be in separate cases. Sure, there is less plastic involved when you’re using one case, but it makes for an awkward DVD experience.

You’ll know if there is more than one DVD in a case by the way it makes that strange rattling whenever you pick it up. The insert that holds the extra disc can often come unhinged and do more harm than good. To sum it up, a trilogy (looking at you “Spider-Man”) should be in three cases.