Physical Media Collecting in a Digital Age

As just about every form of entertainment becomes more readily available in digital formats, I'm curious to see how many people here still manage to collect physical media for their entertainment of choice. If they do, what kinds of factors go into the decision to collect something (be it CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, vinyl records, or honest-to-Gawd paper books), despite the convenience of most digital formats. Is it the difference in sensory experience? A certain nostalgia factor? Bragging rights?

...

For me, I still maintain a pretty decently-sized library of VHS and DVD movies, despite the availability of streaming services and digital downloads. Part of this is because I grew up during the height of the age of video rental stores (a nearly extinct thing these days), and a nostalgia factor really does set in, especially for certain films. For instance, I seem to prefer watching my grainy, low-def VHS copy of the original "RoboCop" over a clean, digital copy. There's just something sort of familiar and soothing about the occasional static and poor tracking on an old VHS tape, which makes the experience totally different from watching the same movie on Blu-ray or on Netflix. Plus I like to occasionally find strange, little-known movies that never made it to DVD or Blu-ray, it can seriously feel like discovering some lost treasure of a bygone era (even if the movie itself may be crap).

Music, games, books... There's very little I'm willing to buy without physical media.

I always love having physical copies of books, and video games. Something about seeing those things on a shelf just soothes me.

I collect physical copies of books.
I follow certain rules: if it's licensed there and I want to read it, I'll most surely get it. One of the only exception is if I have not a single interest toward the serie.

so far the only series I've not collected but read is Naruto, I'd rather not read this shit again.

Another exception is hentai, as I'll blindly buy a hentai book. This sometime leads to disappointment but that's part of the fun.

I also import some books if I have a strong attachment to it.

Last exception is if the serie is out of print, I will end up reading the scans if it is too hard to find.

Im on the opinion if it only digital then i'll just torrent it. When there a physical aspect and i want it then i try for a physical. Plus i can rip a backup.

This

digital media is awesome, but i love books, and not like, words, i mean books. The weight, the smell, writing in the margins. Cant do that on a kindle

Anyone here collect really old media, not just DVDs or CDs, but such things as vinyl records, cassette tapes, VHS or Laserdisc movies, etc.? Or even a collection of older video game consoles and games?

I stated before that I have quite a few VHS tapes in my collection, but my roommate has a big vinyl record collection as well, which he's supremely proud of and which he adds to regularly. I also still have my old 8-bit NES with a couple dozen games, and some PS1 and PS2 games as well. Sadly, I had to sell off my Sega Genesis and Dreamcast consoles + games last year to pay some bills. I was desperate for cash, but I still really miss those games... ;_;

I still have my whole collection of SNES, Sega Megadrive, N64,GC, Wii, Wii U, PS1/2/3/4, Xbox 360, Gameboy, GBC, DS, 3DS and PSvita games. And I will probably never get rid of it because this is part of me you know, have grown with it. I like the physical thing, you can see it, you possess it for real and this is something you can't do with digital copies. I have "a few" games on Steam for exemple, and if it goes down so my games are, nothing I could do.
I'm still buying physical copies of my games when I can (and when not on PC 'cause you just get a Steam or Origin code which is not the same as the game) but not old games. They are expensive most of the time so it depends on the situation.

About VHS and DVD well, I have some but not buying it anymore, most of the time I just watch a serie or a movie once and that's it, still going for those I really like though.

And the books, well, I really like the sensation of a book. Holding it in your hand, felling its weight, its sent. I don't know, books have a mysterious attractive power that you can't just reproduce with digital. Will it be hentai, cartoons, manga, novels... I'm buying the ones I want, reading in shop those that are "a bit interesting" and reading online the ones I can't have (too old, serie not complete, not published anymore or not for an acceptable price, shipments even more expensive than the books....)

Oh and almost forgot, cassette tapes, I'm still using it in my car for long trips :D But I have unfortunately lost the ones with tales for children on it.

I think the digital copies of whatever you may have are something that build your environment, make your home (car, place at work...) yours. This is not about bragging, just about saying "Here, this is who I am".

Perfect answer!

I wouldn't be surprised if collectors planning to invest in their physical products in the future are pissed off at this digital age. Unless we're talking about figurines, the price people are willing to pay for physical media would probably dwindle since most of the stuff is already saved on a cloud/server. Investors only hope would be to collect special editions, otherwise it just wouldn't be worth the time to horde them in your home for all those years.

As for what I prefer, definitely digital. My room is small, so I just don't have the space to keep a bunch of games, manga, anime, etc.

I prefer physical books. Not a fan of e-books at all. I don't have much of a preference towards games but for music, only my favorite albums I own in physical form. Most of them are freakishly expensive to import but I'll get them all one day.

I have acquired quite a big CD collection over the years, but yeah, it could be so much bigger if it didn't cost as much. Or if I made more than barely over the minimum wage most months.

just the truth, also its easier to tap with a book than with a mouse in your left hand and your dick in your right. No one is that coordinated

I personally kindaaaa hate digital media (Because I am a collector and like being able to hold nice, hard solid things.) and usually only do it if I have no other choice. Usually. Sometimes I'll buy a digital port even if I have a physical version already but that's sometimes just for the purpose of supporting a port or for convenience.

Recently I been buying Blu-rays/HD Digital combo which are worthy for my collection.
This is what I have so far:


Convenience is the main selling point really.
I hate swapping disk tbh but I love owning the physical copy...
Oh these First world problems of mine :(

I have a love for buying old used games from the 90's and 2000's era for GCN, PS2, PS1, GBA, N64, you get the idea. I've only recently started foraying into the digital downloading arena because I had to for certain games. The concept of limited space (on 3DS for example) bugs me.

I might be the lone weirdo that loves digital media, especially music. The only thing that bugs me is the occasional DRM on products like movies, books, etc. If DRM wasn't an issue, I'd buy all of my manga, blu-rays, etc. all digitally. My family and I have moved very frequently, and the risk of damage, or simply space has always been an issue for me. With music, I either rip the CDs I have to a lossless format (So far it's always been FLAC) and convert to a smaller format my iPod can play, or I just purchase FLAC files. I back-up my important files to the cloud and to SD cards. Fakku! digital books are honestly the gold standard for me when it comes to digital distribution of manga/hentai/books.