Laserdisc Marketplace

Laserdisc of Arsenic and Old Lace starring Cary Grant in a pristene video transfer by Criterion Collection. Click on image to see entire list.

Laserdisc of Arsenic and Old Lace starring Cary Grant in a pristene video transfer by Criterion Collection. Click on image to see entire list.

Go back in your time machine to the middle 1980s. VHS tape rentals were all the rage for home entertainment. Few people purchased pre-recorded movies on tape because they were “priced for rental,” costing $90 or more to purchase. The pricing was designed to discourage consumers from owning. The rental stores would buy them and then rent them to us for 3 or 4 bucks. Before Blockbuster ran them out of business, there were Ma and Pa video rental stores in every neighborhood.

In this environment a niche market developed for aficionados of video that wanted to own quality copies of movies, concert videos, and TV shows. Backed mainly by Pioneer Electronics, the large format LaserDisc (LD) gave the collector what they craved. Twelve inches across, shiny silver but heavier than a CD, and packaged similarly to vinyl LP records, LDs were available for purchase from specialty stores for prices of $25 to $50 in most cases, much lower than lower quality VHS tapes of the same titles.

So, my wife and I dove in head first and became obsessed with LDs, buying over 500 of them in a 10 year period. Then the DVD came out and suddenly the era of LDs was over. In the decade since then our focus changed, and we no longer watch pre-recorded video as we used to. We would love to move our LDs into households where people would like to enjoy them.

The problem is that there really is not a proper marketplace for these items. So, if anyone has landed on this page and has an interest in LaserDiscs, please view or download my .pdf list and make me an offer on any that appeal to you. Click on this link to view or download my current list:

Laserdiscs2010-0512.pdf

Then, email me at dave@windycityroadwarrior.com with any questions about condition and what you would be willing to pay. Most single or double LDs will ship Media Mail at the 2 pound rate, or the 2 pound rate for Priority Mail. Sets with bonus books or more than 2 discs would weigh more.

I would love to find new homes for these high-quality Laserdiscs! Please take a look and drop me a line!

Dave Clark