Apparently I have developed a new hobby…this year, for the first time ever, I’ve been buying DVDs from the $5 DVD bin at Walmart.
A moment of clarity has stemmed from a deep home cleaning over the holidays and re-discovering my own bin of DVDs, most of them being over 20 years old at this point.
I’ve walked past that $5 DVD bin for decades without a thought about what might be in that seemingly endless barrel except for “C” level movies they were trying to get rid of. However, I walked past the bin on a random Monday and I was floored to see the movie Forrest Gump sitting on top of the pile. I vividly remember watching that classic as a kid.
I’d always assumed the bin was composed of nothing but movies nobody wants, so if Forrest Gump is in there, what other popular movies could’ve found their way into this utopia hidden in plain sight? I discovered the answer to that quickly, uncovering an alarming number of bangers over the course of several trips.
Ferris Bueller? Pretty In Pink? Shrek? Back when DVDs had replaced VHS as the primary form of media in the early 2000s, these movies would be a minimum of $20 each. And now here they are, all mine for the taking for the low price of $5.
Younger me would never have stopped at the $5 DVD bin. “Damn, your broke ass can’t afford the regular-priced DVDs?” is what I assumed everyone would say as they walked by with their judgmental stares. The inner voice now says “Damn, you’re still watching DVDs when we have streaming?” as they watch me pilfer through the unorganized pile, but the current version of me knows the joke is actually on them.
We currently live in an era where we’re being beaten down with subscriptions as companies shift more toward a world where we (the consumers) own nothing. Streaming was awesome when it first arrived, but now it’s become the monster it originally saved us from. And when it comes to media, we’re beholden to a handful of companies that dictate what we can watch. Once they decide a show or movie isn’t worth it, it disappears into the void (aka an offline server), never to be seen again.
I know it’s very soapbox-y to talk about media preservation, but I often think about various shows/movies from my childhood that no longer exist anywhere. It makes me wonder how much of what we consume now will still be available to watch 25 years from now. That’s also why I’ve bought DVDs of newer movies as well (no, they’re not $5).
Who knew they still made DVDs?!? I guess I’d assumed they stopped doing that once Best Buy announced they were no longer selling DVDs, but Wally World is still going strong. My personal favorites are the “collections” where they cram anywhere from 2 to 10+ movies on a single disc. Who doesn’t want to enjoy a double feature of viruses decimating society?
The crazy part is I haven’t even entered the world of yard sales or browsing through stores that sell used stuff yet. Yes, I’m basically 20 years late on collecting a thing that’s only a few steps away from becoming obsolete. But when the AI robots inevitably become sentient and take down the internet to cripple humanity, I’ll at least have the “Mark Wahlberg Collection” on DVD to keep me occupied.
YOU FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT? I HAVE WELL OVER THREE HUNDRED MOVIES , INCLUDING COMMANDO HARRY POTTER , ONE THROUGH EIGHT AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT , ANOTHER GOOD PLACE TO LOOK IS GOODWILL
I went to a discount store and asked if they sold dvd players, the cashier and my sister laughed! “Uh, I bought one here a few years ago”.. cashier says, “you might wanna try to buy one online.” My reply was, “then why are y’all still selling DVDs? I’m a Senior Warrior with my favorite minimal collection that I favor more than once in a while. I enjoyed your adventure.
Doc, I work at the library and we have tons of DVD’s to borrow for FREE. Also, the Friends of the Library have book sales and sell tons of DVD’s for a buck or two…..you could add to your collection without spending a small fortune. Just so you know the WM bin is not the only option. Thank you for all you do!
I too have an obsession with DVD’s, collecting them in general. I used to browse that Walmart $3 bin on occasion and find a hidden gem in there, but now I casually pass it up, sometimes longing to stop, but realize I have such a huge collection i don’t need anymore, or do I?
Recently however i was browsing Facebook Marketplace (Another dangerous pastime) and came across oodles of DVD’s at $2 each, displaying cult classics Army of Darkness, the Outsiders, the Fog, the Blob, and so many more. I messaged but couldn’t get out there for a couple weeks. I thought who would be buying DVD’s still? I arrived and every title I craved was gone, clearly telling me I missed my opportunity to snag some good ones at a great price.
I’ve recently been pulling my DVD collection out of the basement, cleaned up and reassembled my dusty DVD tower and have begun displaying them once again as I become ever frustrated with streaming and the amount of ads they are now throwing into movies, making this one of the biggest rackets of all time (maybe not), but still drives me mad!
Something that really cheeses me is i recently discovered one cannot stream Togo, a beautiful Disney movie with Willem Dafoe about the true story of the 1925 Diphtheria fever affecting many children in Nome, Alaska, and the brave sole and team of sled dogs who traveled in treacherous conditions to safely deliver the antitoxin. Balto took all the credit and the children’s animated movie came out in the 90’s, but Togo and Leonard Seppala were the real hero’s. Disney deleted it as part of a content purge to save money! What Disney!!!??? You’re not making enough money, you have to take our happiness? Disney is already too expensive to afford to travel to their theme parks for a family experience. I’m so frustrated and sadly it’s a movie i never bought. it didn’t come out until 2019 and I had started streaming. Seems you can only buy it in bootleg sales now, Super frustrating.
Well, I’ve clearly spent too much time writing this and am going to be late to work, but it was worth it to get my two cents in on Bob and Sheri and respond to this lovely article. Love you all and the content you share, thank you!
I was going to mention second hand places but that’s on your list. Buy another player or two while you can.
WE do this too; collect DVDS we also check out the local thrift shops when we go ‘treasure hunting’. You may have noticed a large collection can take up lots of space. We went from having 14 shelves of DVDs …yes really, to one shelve of notebook binders with sleeves that only took up one shelf! But recently we have gone a step further and we have our DVD collection in paper sleeves in a drawer, similar to the old style recipe boxes but bigger. We also keep have all the titles in an excel sheet on our computers and phone so we don’t rebuy !
I love my collection od DVDs.