As the Criterion sale wraps up, Kino Lorber continues their winter sale, and other labels continually pump out great releases, I’d like to say my piece on some “collecting” habits I’ve seen on this sub over time. I know we all love these boutique labels - why else would we be here? - but always remember the main reason why you started buying movies in the first place: movies. The packaging on these releases are great, but it's all just cardboard at the end of the day. The movies themselves are why you buy movies. In my time here, I’ve seen posts/comments that very clearly just fit the “can’t risk missing out” mentality rather than actually wanting the film. Every Kino Lorber 4K (still in plastic) sitting pretty on a shelf, comments saying “I won’t buy x release without it having a slipcover,” rushing to buy a movie you don’t care about just because it’s going OOP, the list goes on. This hobby doesn’t have to be a stressful money pit unless you make it one; I can’t believe I have to say this, but you do not have to buy every single release a label puts out just because of the label.

Before anyone comes at me with the whole “let people spend money how they want” spiel: yeah, spend your money how you want. Just remember that this hobby isn’t about blind buying random movies for fear of missing out on a precious slipcover, it’s about curating a collection that reflects you and your taste. Why have movies on your shelf that you don’t care about?

EDIT: To be sure, I'm not talking about regular blind buying. I don't know a single movie collector that ONLY buys movies they've seen before. My shelves have a number of films I haven't seen yet - but they're films I bought because I had an interest in them and they were somehow adjacent to films I like, not because of FOMO or packaging. Blind buying is a big part of the hobby! Just keep it all about the films themselves!