The death of the anime collector.

08-13-2010, 02:03 AM

The recent ANNcast talked about how people who collect physical media such as DVD's or Bluray are a "dying breed." With the increasing availability and ease of digital distribution of anime do you worry that physical media might become rarer, if not outright disappear. While I think there will always be people who collect, I do worry that it could become harder to do so. As someone who has always been a collector, I prefer being able to have a physical object like a book or DVD to information on my hard drive. Please note that this is not intended as a debate about fansubs.

08-13-2010, 02:16 AM

I'm probably quite a bit younger than most people around these parts, and I've actually just begun collecting earlier this year. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon, seeing as actually owning something as opposed to watching it over the internet(legally or otherwise) just never really appealed to me.

Apparently, I'm one of the few people who are just getting into collecting, since others are now getting out of it. Though the number of collectors may very well be on the fall, I don't think they'll ever die out. I mean, I don't ever plan on stopping now that I've started, and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

08-13-2010, 09:54 AM

Well, I'm one of the older posters here (52) and I would much prefer to download my anime. I happily paid $2 per episode of Eve No Jikan but that was a one-off option.

It now seems that on-line providers of content and software want customers to pay a subscription fee, rather than fee per product or service. Shame about that.

08-13-2010, 01:15 PM

I just turned 27, and have a sizable DVD collection and can't imagine any other way to really collect anime. I hardly think of people without physical media as anime fans, because if they like it so much, they should have it in some physical form. I'm always about the actual media. Wasting money on things like figures and such escapes my interest most of the time. Why buy figures when I could be buying the actual anime I like?

Maybe I'm old-fashioned. I like having those boxsets in my hands, the smell of the new ones, the library of titles in my room, a cornucopia of animated awesomeness. Downloading, streaming, that's just to warm up the engine. The DVDs are the drive.

08-13-2010, 09:14 PM

I'm on the younger side and I HATE digital downloads :S it seems like a rip off to me. I refuse to buy digital downloads or subscription to sites like crunchy roll. (unlike my brother, who has a sub on crunchy roll that he lets me mooch off of. I was fine with SD though since it was free. But hey if he lets me use his account why not? :S) And I felt kind of burned when i lost all my music when my computer was infected with a virus and i didn't have my library backed up :S it was then i felt like i had wasted so much money on itunes, since then i started replacing the music with actually CDs.

And You know how people who refuse to buy dvd say "why pay for it when i can get it free on line". I feel that sentiment should apply even greater to digital downloads. :S Since it's really is basically the same thing as fansubs, unlike DVDs where you get a physical product for you money.

It's pretty much that i've been buying anime DVD since the 5th grade so I'm stuck in my ways and don't want to change. And that if I'm going to spend money, i want a physical product that i can feel, touch, just pop in the DVD player. Also Perhaps since my computer can't handle 720p+, and barely hands 480 all that well that i also have that against digital.

yep, that's just how i feel. :S I'm probably thinking like an old dinosaur. But I'm just really frustrated with the trend to go t words digital. I want Physical product, artbox, and quality. And I'm will to pay for it.

08-14-2010, 01:28 AM

I do not believe that physical media will ever die out in it's entirety. There is something about owning the DVD's that is very satisfying. A DVD collection isn't just the media recorded on it it's a statement about you're tastes and a decoration in the room to a certain extent. People like to own things in a manner that they can see and touch. I am one such person and I can say 100% that digital ownership would never give me the same satisfaction as seeing my collection all neatly arranged on a shelf

I know I know that makes me a bit of a geek but hey that's who I am. XD

On the other hand I definatley CAN see physical media becoming alot rarer. Some people just want to contribute to the industry and don't care about DVD ownership these people will use digital media. Not only that but it will probably get some money out of some people who where 100% fansub if it's economical at all. So I can definately see digital ownership and sales becoming a big part of the Industry. But the death of solid media? That's a long way off if it's ever gonna happen.

08-14-2010, 08:39 AM

I could see it being a case that, within a few short years, physical media will not be available for the more obscure animes out there.

However, the most heavily hyped and popular animes still tend to sell well on physical media, and probably turn a nice tidy profit for the anime industry.

As such, I don't see physical media dying out completely for a very long time.

08-14-2010, 08:52 AM

I don't quite understand why the colector is a dieing breed, well I am what almost 20 and I really only just started colecting it last year and I want to continue, I mean I quite enjoy haveing my physical collection. I hear maybe people say that it is expensive, it would probably get cheeper if people bought it instead of just digital downloads, personally I refuse to actualy to any downloading of episodes. Though as it is even though I haven't spent as much as I should think I am doing my share.

08-14-2010, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by penguintruth

Maybe I'm old-fashioned. I like having those boxsets in my hands, the smell of the new ones, the library of titles in my room, a cornucopia of animated awesomeness.

These sentiments are most probably echoed by many.
Unfortunately, nearly every collector of physical media will have to accept the unavailability of the titles that fall out of print or fail to be licensed in their language. In effect, most collections will always be incomplete in the eyes of their owners.

If and when the latest optical format ousts DVDs as the primary medium of choice within the anime industries, it is quite probable that numerous titles shan't be re-released through the more modern disc type, and shall thereby be confined to used auctions. Such a phenomenon might add to the frustration of current and future collectors.

**jaymie** · 08-14-2010, 06:35 PM

It doesn't really matter to me whether I have it physically or not because the actual content is the same either way.

Manga, on the other hand, is a totally different experience when you have it in your own two hands, so I primarily focus on collecting that rather than Anime.

I also don't like how the medium is constantly changing. I have a mix of VHS, DVDs, and Blu Ray discs for Anime, but the manga I've had for ten years goes perfectly well with the manga I've bought a few hours ago.