Technology awe.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Laserdiscs were also easy to copy.

y'know, cuz VHS wasn't.

[fuzzyoctopus]

It compares pretty well to DVD, I think.  And the discs WERE horrifically expensive, but now that laserdisc is  a dead format you can buy them for ridiculously cheap prices used.

For example, the Toy Story set supposedly retailed for $150 when it was new.  We bought it on half.com for just under  $15.

[Spriggan]

DVD's are better then laserdisks just because they can hold more so you see better digitial copys of the movies.  Though LD were nice, and better then VHS, even if most TV's weren't digital back in the LD day.  But I have to say it was realy annoying to have to flip the disk halfway through a movie.

They were huge in Japan when I was there, DVD's realy didn't take off in Japan until the PS2 came out.

[fuzzyoctopus]

oh, our LD player flips itself.  But it's annoying to have to put a new disc in.

Come on though people, I married the guy who has 21 video game systems - we had to have it if only to flesh out our collection of electronics.

[Oldie Black Witch]

Fuzzy,

If you ever want to borrow a LD, let me know. My husband has quite a collection: everything from the original Star Wars to Sense and Sensibility.
I'm just jealous that your player flips itself. Ours is over 20 flipping years old. But then again, those flipping breaks are good for something: getting snacks.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Oooooooh, I may have to take you up on that. What other discs do you have?

[Oldie Black Witch]

Consider this an abridged list:

Ladyhawke
Little Man Tate
Apollo 13
The Prisoner: The Arrival and Chimes of Big Ben
Twister
My Fair Lady
Groundhog Day
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
I.Q.
The Hudsucker Proxy
Father of the Bride
Quiz Show
To Live (Zhang Yimou)
North by Northwest (Mmm. Cary Grant and Hitchcock)
Ben Hur
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Mmm. Alan Rickman)
The Crucible
It's a Wonderful Life
The Rocketeer
Memphis Belle
Sneakers
Enchanted April
Ren and Stimpy
Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein
Star Trek IV and VI
Babe
Golden Age of Looney Toons (kind of an anthology)

I've got more if you're interested.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

hey, that's a pretty good list. I'd enjoy almost everything on it. You must have good taste.

[Oldie Black Witch]

I blame the taste on my husband. He was the collector, and most of these I inherited by marrying him.

I just wish we had a better place to keep them than on the top shelf of the wall-mounted book shelves. They aren't as pretty as books--the spines are too small.