What type of collector are you?

[tenderheartbear]

From the many posts on this board, there seems to be a wide variety of collectors for Steelbooks.

Some buy 2 of each title, 1 to watch and 1 to keep sealed.
Some buy titles just for the Steelbook regardless of whether they like the movie or not.
Some buy 1 of each title to watch, but keep the J-cards and put into protective bags/cases.
Some buy every edition going, or the most expensive/valuable version.
Some simply open them to watch, throw away the extra stuff and sling it on the shelf.

Obviously there are numerous options for collecting. I buy one of each title, only for movies I want to watch and keep. I go for the easiest/cheapest version to get, throw the J-cards away and put them on the shelf (unprotected).

But what do you do?

 

[naelst]

It depends, really. I usually buy one, but if the steel comes with a good full slip and a lenti, I'll probably get one of each.
I always open them, remove the J-card and put them in sleeves. I think J-cards are pointless and hides the beauty of a steelbook, but I keep them stored in a box just in case I am to sell a steel and someone wants it.
I have gotten two of some extra valuable steels that I keep sealed because I intend to trade or sell them.

 

[crazytaxinext]

I open mine and throw the j-cards, they're all lined up alphabetically in a drawer looking nice and tidy. I'm firmly of the view that unless your looking to sell sealed mint copies in the short to mid-term your ultimately looking at eventual pennies worth paperweights as I don't think 99.9% of these will ultimately maintain their value when the media world moves on from Blu-Ray so I don't feel any drive to keep sealed ones or be too on it in terms of marks etc. I've got a couple of more expensive ones as some of them do look lovely but they're all opened too so the film could be watched.

 

[milo]

I buy one of each title, only for movies I want to watch and keep too. I go for the easiest/cheapest version to get too or whith the french inside. My exception is for super hero steelbook and for animated movie or cartoon (except disney, I have all of them on dvd and my wife doesn't accept I take it on steelbook) I take one (sometimes two for selling) just as the movie is good or not. Iopen all of them to watch it and I protect them after.

 

[William]

I don't think I necessarily fit in any of them categories...

90% of the films I buy are blindbuys. I know that some people don't buy any blindbuys. I do have many steelbooks and other limited editions of films that I have already seen. I usually prefer the Korean stuff (PlainArchive, Kimchi and Nova), but if they are cheap enough and after a time they always are, I will go for the steelbooks from zavvi.
I know that it is weird, but I prefer blindbuys as this way if the film is good, I have a great edition to accompany it, and if the film is bad then I can always sell it. Although I haven't actually sold one yet, that is always an option.

In terms of how I keep them, I always open them, and keep the j-cards and anything else. I also always watch them and never buy more than one or buy any to sell on.

 

[BradG1984]

Went through a stage of buying loads of steels but now I only buy Marvel's, Batman's and the occassional film that I judge to be "steelworthy" but ONLY if the steelbook is amazing, if the steel is rubbish then I'd rather pay a few quid for an amaray copy on eBAY instead.

It's amazing how quickly this hobby can take over your head and before you know it, you've spent £1,000+ in a few months! I don't even get round to watching a lot of the films I buy these days, got at least 8 steels that I've not watched lol

 

[chunk]

Great question, I'll be interested in reading this thread.

I only buy the movies I like.. i open them all and keep all the j cards in shoe boxes. I don't buy everything specific companies release to keep a full collection of all their releases, for example kimchi and blufans (I'm thankful they release films i'm not too interested in cos I couldn't afford to buy them all)I don't mind the cost when its something I really want though. . For example I bought (at ebay prices) wreck it ralph, up, monsters inc and university, and T2 cos I love the movies and the steelbooks were awesome). I do like to buy the whole sets of films eg: all four indianna jones steels and it does frustrate me when they only bring out one of something, like Rocky, still waiting for the rest of the films (they should have just stuck to poster art with all rocky releases then more people may have been interested).
I've become more picky about what I buy now, and I think, is the artwork nice enough for me to want to display it at some point?, if the answer is yes, I will buy it.. and also if the movie is one of my all time favourites then I'll pay out for the steel.. and if there is a new release i haven't seen but want to, I'll buy that too as it doesn't cost much more than the plastic case.
I have been tempted in the past to buy steelbooks just because of the artwork and finish but I try very hard to resist that temptation, one buy springs to mind, ES forbidden planet, I still haven't watched the film but I don't regret buying it as its one of my favorite steelbooks.. and I got it for just £9.99.
I don't think I could fit many more into my home now so that's another good reason to be picky.

 

[Agent_DVD]

Some buy 2 of each title, 1 to watch and 1 to keep sealed. --> I just did this for some of the KimchiDVD and Nova Media exclusives but normally no. I do however buy some steels that I already own a standard bluray version so no need to open the steelbook.

Some buy titles just for the Steelbook regardless of whether they like the movie or not. --> Yes some real beautiful artwork out there makes the steel a piece of art regardless of the movie.

Some buy 1 of each title to watch, but keep the J-cards and put into protective bags/cases. --> Might consider this whenever I get my first J-card movies.

Some buy every edition going, or the most expensive/valuable version. --> Just did this for Guardians GP because I really love this movie, but this is super rare for me to do.

Some simply open them to watch, throw away the extra stuff and sling it on the shelf. --> I do this with regular blurays and some steelbooks, but I never throw away anything that it comes with.

 

[MrBMT]

Most of the time I fit in to category 3 - "Some buy 1 of each title to watch, but keep the J-cards and put into protective bags/cases."

Virtually every Steelbook I buy, I plan to open and watch. After I've opened one, I take the Steelbook, J-Card, etc. and place it in a protective wrapper to keep it mint.

However, lately because I have such a backlog of films to watch (I've obtained a collection of over 100 steelbooks since I started collecting just over 6 months ago), I've gotten into the habit of leaving them sealed until I get round to watching them.

Very occasionally, if it's a film or Steelbook I really love, I'll buy two copies, one to keep sealed, another opened.
Also, if it's a film or Steelbook I really like and I ended up with a non-mint copy, the majority of the time I'll order a replacement.

 

[leelee17]

i only buy movies i want, i open all steelbooks to view the discs, i do buy multiple releases for some movies and all steelbooks are bagged up afterwards.
i never buy to resell for profit and NEVER dispose of j-cards.

 

[deepee]

I wouldn't really consider myself a collector as I only buy steelbooks of the films I want to own and watch (my favourites), which isn't many at all. At the moment I think I own around 25 films, with 14 having a steelbook. Having a small collection means I can always afford to double dip if a better steelbook is released though.

I almost crossed the line into "collector" by buying the Gladiator tripack and filling it with 3 different releases. Decided against it in the end.

 

[tenderheartbear]

Some interesting answers there.

Just to add, although I covered it at the bottom, I'm not saying the options I selected, (the 'some people' bit) was a definitive list of options, and it's fun to see variations in peoples collecting habits.

I've replaced 2 movies in steelbooks. The first was Iron Man 2. I had the Korean version with the blue banner and replaced it with Play.com's version (after swapping over the plastic inner tray). The second was Zavvi's white Star Trek which I replaced with the black version. Yep, I really hate blue banners printed on steelbooks.

 

[deepee]

Yep, I really hate blue banners printed on steelbooks.

Same here. Once I replace my Gladiator play.com release with HDzeta that will be the last one gone.

Oh and as for your last option:

Some simply open them to watch, throw away the extra stuff and sling it on the shelf.

Another reason I don't really consider myself a collector is because I do indeed throw the other stuff away. If the art cards are something different (such as poster art) I'll keep them. But plain screenshots from the film - pointless. I also throw away slipcovers. I like to just pick up a steelbook off my shelf to look at, which is the main reason I buy them instead of amarays. I don't want to have to take it out of the protective case and then the slipcover just to ogle some embossing. (I do however keep slips on the amarays, as they just look better.) The only steelbook extras I keep are the numbered cards (if there is one) and the booklets, even if I can't read them as in the Plain Archive Wrestler - they're just cool.

 

[AusBlu]

I started collecting by accident about a year ago. Purchased a $5 Fast and Furious steelbook on clearance in a shop not knowing what it really was. Here in Aus not too many steelbooks. Loved the look of it and then looked around for the next which meant looking overseas. Got the bug, set a price limit and purchased heaps within that limit even movies i didn't like. Just liked the artwork. Then moved from that to try to collect sets, then moved onto exspensive steels like Blufans until it started to get out of hand. So now i am alot more selective.

But from the outset i have always opened up my steelbooks very carefully to admire them fully and watch the movie. Never throw away any backing cards or contents and always repack them back into the original shrinkwrap and then store them in purpose built shelving units. I have never purchased with any intent to sell at a later date, my kids can do that some time in the future when i am no longer walking the earth.

 

[thesource7]

I primarily collect the Marvel Cinematic Universe steelbooks. Once in a while, I will buy other steels that look great but my focus is still on MCU. It has the highest priority.
I keep all my steelbooks sealed, even if I have multiple copies of one version. I have the thought of opening those extra copies but I never really did.
I recently had this idea of buying a steelbook for my friends' birthday gifts. Those are steelbooks of movies that I probably don't like or watch but I will buy for them.

 

[Aw 83]

I buy two keep one sealed and one for viewing my favourite steelbooks are Blufans and the Taiwans with slips ... [emoji41]

 

[gaeljet]

i open them, sometimes watch the movies and display the steelbooks

 

[Ronnie3067]

I currently have 265 SteelBooks with 434 unopened and over 100 of them displayed, mostly my comic book ones. Every SteelBook is in a protective sleeve, even my amaray slipcovers are in baggies.

I have all the j-cards/data cards etc in polypockets, just cause I hate to have something incomplete.

 

[Actarus]

i need some sense drilled into me..it's definitely my ocd that's making me consider the FA sabotage, I have all the Arnie FA releases so far and feel like I should get them all. Also I'm thinking that I should give the film another go but with so many upcoming releases I will try to resist.
I don't really consider FA's steelbook's expensive for what you get with the whole package, although I don't think I would be able to buy many if they were to put their prices up. I view the price range of the FA releases somewhere in the middle. I'm glad they're doing so well and are getting some WEA too. I didn't like the zavvi dredd, and I doubt I'll go for the nova one ,so FA is good middle ground for me

I was really bad last year my OCD was off da roof, I still am in terms of conditions, but I did tell myself this year to minimize my multi dipping and also I only get steels that I love the movie that could be a ''rewatch'' or because I love the artwork so much. But if I do not like the movie, not matter how beautiful the artwork is, I usually pass and save some money for others... as Much as I love FAC, I have skipped some titles same as Blufans, I try to be more reasonable and even then it is expensive. For me I do have a multi dipping problem though still but it's better

 

[C.C. 95]

I was really bad last year my OCD was off da roof, I still am in terms of conditions, but I did tell myself this year to minimize my multi dipping and also I only get steels that I love the movie that could be a ''rewatch'' or because I love the artwork so much. But if I do not like the movie, not matter how beautiful the artwork is, I usually pass and save some money for others... as Much as I love FAC, I have skipped some titles same as Blufans, I try to be more reasonable and even then it is expensive. For me I do have a multi dipping problem though still but it's better

It is the only sane way @Actarus. Why collect a series of films by brand (FA, BLUFANS, KIMCHI) when the odds are that you are not going to like all the films that company produces? I refuse to buy a movie I don't like or want- no matter how pretty it is or the label.
I dare ANYONE to take the Criterion challenge: TRY to own all the Criterions!
It would probably cost the same as buying a new house!