Ultimate Otaku Fall Cleanup...
After reading a report on the Anime News Network about a contest to show off our otaku pride, I realized that my comfy little corner of the universe needed a bit of attention...Seven Seas Entertainment, in cooperation with Square Enix, are hosting an "Are You an Otaku?" contest to promote the upcoming American release of Jiro Suzuki's manga series "I, Otaku: Struggle in Akihabara." Entrants are requested to submit two photos revealing the extent of their anime/manga collection. The grand prize winner will receive an original color illustration from artist Jiro Suzuki and ten Seven Seas manga. Runners up will receive a copy of the first "I, Otaku" manga...
I seriously considered entering the contest, but, my collection really isn't in the kind of shape that I'd like to show off to the whole world. I did have a few small pics out on the web, but, that was more of the general video collection, rather than just the anime.
I started to consider the possibility of reorganizing the collection with more of a focus on anime. But, the reality is that there's just too much stuff to keep. I haven't decided, yet, what I'm going to do with the majority of my VHS collection, but, I envision setting a big cardboard box (or rather several small cardboard boxes) out on the curb. By the way, I'm looking to get rid of something on the order of a 1000 to 1500 VHS tapes.
I'm definitely going to keep the obscure items that I either can't get on DVD or haven't yet replaced with DVD. I'm going to go through my anime on VHS and toss anything that I've already replaced with DVD. Good candidates to start with would be the 37 VHS volumes of Urusei Yatsura; the 33 volumes of Starblazers (in the black and gold Kidmark packaging); the 8 volumes of the Irresponsible Captain Tylor TV series; the 13 volumes of the Neon Genesis Evangelion set; and the 11 volumes of the original Tenchi Muyo OVA series including an import untranslated version of episode 9 - "Hello Baby".
October 15, 2007
Preparation Phase
I do like to record the occasional TV show, so, in anticipation of getting rid of my VCR, I picked up a DVD recorder and after a bit of fumbling with wires and cables, I've managed to get the recorder hooked up. I selected a candidate for conversion from VHS to DVD, just to see how the process would work. The transfer itself isn't all that complicated and the entire process is fairly intuitive.The first VHS candidate was actually my grandfather's 25th wedding anniversary tape. After his wife's death, my grandfather invited his favorite grandchildren and great-grandchildren over to clean out the house and help themselves to whatever they might want. I discovered this video tape and decided to keep it. I gave the DVD to my mother and as it turns out, she didn't know that there was a wedding anniversary -- she wasn't invited. She was pleased to see people that she remembered who are no longer with us, but, was deeply hurt by not having been invited. I did, however, manage to create a fairly decent DVD cover.
October 17, 2007
#1-100
About 20 years ago, I implemented an inventory control system to keep track of the VHS tapes in my library. All of the VHS tapes in my library have a unique four-digit number. As I sift through the piles of VHS tapes, I'll be going in order by inventory control number. The contest that triggered all this is now over, but, the ultimate otaku fall cleanup has started. I'm not using rewritable discs, so, there are essentially no do-overs. I can hide titles and chapters, but, basically once data is written to the disc, it's there to stay. Then, there's the fun of trying to find images for each thumbnail in the menu.I pulled the first 100 of an estimated 2000 VHS tapes off the shelf and sifted through the items. I picked out about a dozen that I'm going to keep and either transfer to DVD or replace with legitimate DVDs. I found a handful of rare gems that have not been released on DVD that I'll have to transfer to DVD. I'll keep the original VHS in the archive. Among the dearly departed was one volume of Robotech and Defenders of the Vortex. I've found two prospective homes for the newly orphaned VHS tapes. The people in question will pick over the remains and whatever they don't want will be picked up on the next trash day. It's a sad day. On the bright side, I've rediscovered a couple episodes of Captain Future that I'm going to keep.
October 18, 2007
#101-200
I've picked through the remains of another 100 VHS tapes. This batch saw the departure of Space Warriors: Battle for Earth Station S-1. I've decided to let go of my Thundercats and War of the Worlds TV archives. Another neighbor emerged from hiding to discover piles of VHS tapes sitting unclaimed on my porch, so, he stopped by and claimed them -- approximately 100-150 or so tapes. I've decided that I'll keep a handful of the VHS tapes until I can repurchase legitimate DVD versions. Once I have legitimate DVD versions, in most cases, I'll let the VHS version go.
October 20, 2007
#201-400
I've picked through the remnants of another 200 tapes. I kept about 50 titles in this batch. Even though I let a handful of anime go, I think that I'll keep most of the anime on VHS in this batch.I've also decided that any DVDs that do not have covers, will get a regular DVD case and have a custom slip sheet inserted into the case. Initially, the slip sheet will be printed in black and white because I don't have any color ink in my printer. The title will be clearly printed on the spine and face of each slip sheet and a description of the title will appear on the back of the slip sheet.
For custom DVDs, I've also decided to simply write the title on the actual DVD rather than using printable DVDs or DVD labels that are applied to the DVDs. The printable DVD media has to be ordered. It's not available in significant quantities from my local sources. In addition, I'd need a special printer to use the printable DVDs. My previous experience with VHS labels suggests that the DVD labels will probably begin to fall off after a number of years anyway. So, why go to the added expense of creating labels, if they're simply going to fall off?
October 22, 2007
#401-600
In a stunning turn of events, it has been decided that only a hundred or so DVDs will be left out for general access. Everything else will be moved back into the space once occupied by VHS tapes. After a great deal of shifting, though, we realized that the 1000+ VHS tapes whose fate remains to be decided, are in the way. So, for now, the shift will have to wait. I kept all of the anime in this batch of titles except for Fist of the North Star. Four bags, representing about 125 VHS tapes, will go to the neighbor across the street and another 15 will go to various other people.
October 23, 2007
#601-800
I've now assessed the fate of another 200 VHS tapes. All of the anime stayed. There were also about 20 or so mainstream titles that stayed. This batch of 200 VHS tapes were almost entirely store-bought as opposed to much of the earlier items, which contained a significant amount of TV/Cable programming.As usual, the neighbor across the street will get the majority of the items. It's been decided that the poorer quality items -- those recorded from TV/Cable should be thrown out rather than giving them away. A number of Star Trek and Babylon 5 collections -- all of which have been replaced with legitimate DVDs -- were thrown out.
Our next door neighbor has been completely overwhelmed with tapes -- not the least was the entire Civil War documentary by Ken Burns. I had purchased the set years ago, but, they've been sitting on the topmost shelf collecting dust. My next door neighbor happened to mention an interest in the Civil War documentary, so, now the set has a home where it will be appreciated.
I've come to the heart-wrenching decision to not keep the Something Is Out There TV series. The Something Is Out There mini-series has held a special place in my heart for a while and I decided to keep the mini-series, but, the same can't be said of the TV series. I took the time to preserve the TV series on VHS, but, almost twenty years later, I've found that the series has not aged well at all.
Other TV shows, like Werewolf and American Chronicles and such animated gems as Bettlejuice, Peter Pan and the Pirates and Pirates of Dark Water are still entertaining and I will keep them for the time being.
Up to this point, the focus of my attention has been to sift through the VHS titles and determine which items to keep and to further define which will be repurchased on DVD. Now, that I've completely emptied an entire bank of shelves, the time has come to decide what to do with all of the newly acquired space. I spent some time adjusting the shelves to accommodate DVD. The shelves were originally spaced to allow for the occasional clam-shell box. DVD media rarely comes in over-sized containers, so, now that the space is available, I can consolidate the shelving a bit.
Sammy called and I had to tell him that his VHS privileges have been revoked. He was in shock, but, once he comes home, I'll bring him kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
October 24, 2007
#801-1300
There was a major push to get through the last thousand VHS tapes in the next few days. Eight bags of tapes are going to the neighbor across the street along with a spare VCR from the living room. I'm tossing a couple of trash bags full of VHS tapes. There are a lot of Babylon 5, Crusade and Star Trek episodes that have been replaced with DVD. There are about 25 or so tapes with unidentified content. Among them is one episode of Anthony Bourdain in Beirut.With all the exciting things going on, Charlie, my 26-pound kitty, was feeling a bit excluded. And, with piles of VHS tapes blocking his view, he decided to climb onto one of the newly emptied shelves for a better view of the events. He got himself into the 7-inch high span and tried to crawl from one end of the shelf to the other. He got stuck on one of the shelf brackets -- which reduced the available height to about 6 inches -- and couldn't get any traction on the smooth surface of the shelf. I watched his paws slipping and sliding as he tried to get himself unstuck. After a few awkward moments, Charlie got himself unstuck and actually turned around on the shelf so he could readily observe the carnage. After a couple minutes, though, Charlie decided to make a tactical withdrawal to the relative safety of the hallway. The horror of stuffing unloved VHS tapes into trash bags -- or more likely the sound -- proved a bit too much for Charlie to bear.
October 25, 2007
#1301-2500
After one last push, the fate of all of the VHS tapes has been decided. The neighbor across the street snapped up 7 bags full of tapes and snagged an extra DVD player that my grandfather no longer had a use for. I've kept all of the anime in the vain hope that I might find a good home for them. I've made an appeal to a local group of anime enthusiasts to take the tapes off my hands. I'll just have to see if there's any interest.By the way, although the inventory control numbers go up to 2500, there are some gaps in the actual count. For instance, the inventory control numbers for the DVDs start at 2100 and the box sets and large clam-shell boxes have inventory control numbers that start at 2400. I don't really know exactly how many VHS tapes I had, but, according to the inventory control numbers that I've used for VHS tapes, I had about 2150 VHS tapes.
October 30, 2007
A final appeal to save the anime on VHS
I've made an appeal to a local group of anime enthusiasts to accept the burden of hundreds of anime on VHS. So far, they haven't exactly jumped at my offer. They have good reason to be reluctant -- technological considerations aside, removing the soon-to-be-departed anime from the shelves and combining them with the eight storage boxes full of anime formed a pile 5 feet tall, 3 feet wide and a foot deep!Over the past 25 years, I've assembled a fairly large anime collection. My collection includes several titles on hundreds of VHS tapes. I've held onto my anime on VHS for a long time and although I've enjoyed them, it's time for me to let them go. Rather than set them out on my sidewalk on trash day, I would really like to see these tapes go to an individual or group that would enjoy and appreciate them. All titles are from licensed U.S. sources and in original packaging. Most titles are subtitled. There are some dubbed anime, but, as a rule, I prefer to read my anime. All titles have numbered stickers applied to their spines. They've been loved and cared for, but, are being offered "as is". Also, not all multi-volume sets are complete. If I happened to lose interest in a series, chances are pretty good that I wouldn't bother to keep spending money on a series, just to finish the set. If by chance, there is someone willing to be burdened with hundreds of VHS tapes, please contact me at your earliest convenience...If my appeal falls on deaf ears, my brother has volunteered to pick over the remains and take a few items on Saturday (November 3rd). Trash day is the following Tuesday (November 6th). If I don't have a home for the anime by Monday (November 5th), the anime on VHS will be thrown out.
I've spent much of the day moving tapes and DVDs from one pile to another in an effort to squeeze as much material into the available space as possible. I moved most of the box sets to the topmost shelves, once occupied by VHS in oversized clam shell cases -- freeing up nearly an entire bank of shelves. All of the mainstream DVDs have been moved to an empty bank of shelves once occupied by anime on VHS. I plan to mix in a handful of mainstream VHS titles that will be replaced with DVD. I think that everything should fit with some room to spare.
Since there has been such an underwhelming show of support for the anime on VHS, I've decided to keep a few of the titles that are not available on DVD (i.e. Guyver Out of Control, Girl from Phantasia and the Rumik World series).
October 31, 2007
Another appeal...
In yet another hopeless attempt to dump a huge pile of antiquated technology on unsuspecting anime fans, I've made yet another appeal to another group of local anime enthusiasts. Personally, I don't think that they'll respond, as I'm sure that they've got their own pile of anime on VHS to deal with.
November 01, 2007
The fate of some classic titles has been decided...
I was actually quite surprised at the wealth of information that is available for some of the titles in my archive. I'll have to look into getting the Courage Season 1 DVD. As for the Mighty Ducks animated series and GeeKeR -- I don't believe they'll ever be available.There's a particular episode of Ed, Edd and Eddy where Ed puts on a monster disguise and terrorizes the neighborhood, which I want to keep in the archive. Also, I have a handful of Juniper Lee episodes that I want to keep. I haven't yet decided the fate of the X's, Duck Dogers, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Grossolgy, Growing Up Creepie and a handful of other fairly recent animated programs. I did, however, toss a few Star Trek specials including the behind-the-scenes documentary on the 40th Anniversary Christies Auction and the comedy/documentary How Star Trek Changed the Universe.
November 02, 2007
Preparing for the end of anime on VHS...
The utter silence regarding the soon-to-be-departed anime on VHS is profoundly deafening, but, not entirely unexpected given the technological issues and the sheer quantity of material.Today, I'm going to begin reviewing the DVDs I have on hand and revise my movie book. Oh, did I fail to mention that I have an actual book with all of the movies I own listed within? Even though, it just lists titles and categories, it's a major production at well in excess of 250 pages. I plan to put together a new book -- it'll be a true work of art. I'm not sure at this point exactly how many DVDs I have on hand, as accurate numbers haven't been available since 2002, but, I think it's safe to assume that I have well in excess of a thousand titles.
The neighbor across the street suggested that there may be some children in his family that might be interested in the anime on VHS. I was somewhat leery of his statements, so, I selected a couple candidates that might be suitable for younger viewers and may also discourage people who think that all anime is of the H variety -- the first volume of Gunsmith Cats and the first volume of Clamp School Detectives.
I haven't had a response from any of the anime enthusiasts, so, regardless of whether or not the neighbor across the street has any interest in the anime, -- and I really don't think he's at all interested in anything but H titles-- I'm going to bag up the anime on VHS and set it out on the curb. I replaced almost everything that I really liked to watch on VHS with DVD. There are a handful of titles that were never released on that I'll keep -- i.e.: Rumik World: Laughing Target and Guyver - Out of Control. And, I've made up a modest wish list of titles that I had on VHS and are now available as DVD box sets -- i.e.: Moldiver and Bastard!. There are also a tiny selection of titles that I've replaced with DVD, but still want to retain the VHS version -- i.e.: Appleseed and Castle of Cagliostro.
November 06, 2007
Missing -- Eight bags of anime on VHS...
I set eight bags of anime out on the sidewalk last night around 8:00pm along with the previous week's garbage -- then the rain came. In the morning at 6:30am, all eight bags of anime were gone, but, the garbage was still there -- the sanitation crew hadn't yet arrived. I have no idea who took them, where they went or precisely when they were taken. I didn't bother to tell the neighbor across the street that they were going into the trash, so, I doubt that he would have taken them or even bothered to have looked. There are any number of people that could have taken them -- particularly those looking for recyclables, scrap and anything else that could be of value in the resale market. I can only wonder what people who are probably not into anime are going make of eight bags of subtitled anime. I wish the anime on VHS well in their new life somewhere out there.
November 14, 2007
The final fate of the anime on VHS...
The truth has finally emerged regarding who took the anime on VHS. A neighbor from down the street, who had been observing the ultimate otaku fall cleanup from a distance, admitted to me that he had a hand in the fate of the anime on VHS.Early in the planning stages, he was given an opportunity to partake in some of the mainstream releases that would end up on the curb, but, his wife said "No". On the last day of the ultimate otaku fall cleanup, he saw eight bags of VHS tapes sitting out on the curb, his wife wasn't looking and he felt an overwhelming need to rescue the tapes. Unfortunately, he can't read and doesn't own a VHS player, so, he really had no way to know what to make of the tapes. It wasn't until today, as he and I began to talk, that I realized where the tapes went.
He asked if there was anything "good" in the bags. He was obviously only interested in mainstream releases, so, I told him that he had eight bags of subtitled Japanese animation. At that moment, a large question mark appeared on his face. I told him that the mainstream titles had already been snapped up by various neighbors and that what he had were obscure Japanese "cartoons" that no one else wanted.
Speaking of which, I spoke with one of the two groups of anime enthusiasts that were offered the anime on VHS, and they confirmed that they were having difficulties with their own pile of anime on VHS and couldn't find anyone interested in accepting anime on VHS.
I suspect that if my neighbor can't find an eager buyer, willing to relieve him of his newly-acquired burden or if his wife discovers the tapes, the anime on VHS will likely end up back on the curb.
November 15, 2007
Why I didn't put all of this stuff up for sale on EBay...
I've had my VHS library for 25 years and the decision to do away with the VHS tapes was not taken lightly. Although the collection was organized and fairly well documented, the fact was that it had become a burden to maintain. With the advent of DVD, I had been watching less VHS. Also, as my DVD library grew, I found it increasingly difficult to find a suitable place to store my DVDs. Almost all of my shelf space was full of VHS tapes, I had several storage boxes filled with VHS tapes and had resorted to piling DVDs on the floor. I left myself a narrow path that I could use to pass through the space, but, sooner or later, the piles would become so overwhelming that I couldn't even fit in the space.When I made the decision to rid myself of the VHS tapes, I wanted them gone as soon as possible. I had considered the possibility of taking the tapes to a garage sale or flea market or even EBay, but, each of those prospects would mean either maintaining the collection or involve an additional cost in time, effort or money. In addition, with inventory control labels on every VHS tape, the asking price per tape would have to be lower. A sizable portion of the collection would have to be sold in "fair" condition as opposed to "like new" or "good" and at least a few hundred couldn't be sold at all. Also, if I sold someone a tape and it didn't work, I didn't want to have to be responsible for guaranteeing the tape.
I could have taken the pile to a professional reseller, but, that would mean boxing up the tapes (rather than using trash bags), transporting them to the reseller, sifting through the pile for items of value and taking the unwanted items back. Even if the reseller was willing to come to see the pile, it would still mean boxing up the tapes and having them sit around while I wait for the reseller to arrive and still having to sift through the material.
There's a certain amount of expense involved in boxing up the tapes rather than stuffing them into trash bags. The best source for boxes in my immediate area would be the local U-Haul center. I would have to pay for the boxes up front. Even though each box isn't all that much, the sheer quantity of material would mean that I would need a lot of boxes. Having moved my library twice in the past 25 years, I know from experience, that I have to use smaller boxes rather than larger boxes. First, the larger boxes when filled, will be very heavy. Second, the larger boxes, will make it difficult for the buyer to actually see everything that he/she is buying. Essentially, you want a box that is shallow enough that a buyer can see all of the product without having to pull things out of the box.
All things considered, it was much easier to just stuff everything into trash bags and either give it away or throw it away.
