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How is your collection arranged?

post #1 of 44
12/15/05 at 4:51pm
Thread Starter 
Alphabetical by title? Alphabetical by director? Seperated into genres? Same kind of case together? Or some idiosyncratic system that nobody else could figure out?

I have a seperate shelf for TV shows, but other than that they're mostly stacked together based on the type of case, with all the horror movies together, and all the Tarantino titles together, and stream-of-consciousness connections that make sense to me. This works because it's a relatively small collection, but it's just starting to get to the point where I think I should work out more of a system.
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post #2 of 44
12/15/05 at 4:52pm
Genres. I don't know why, but I'll probably change it once I get my new shelving units up in my living room.
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post #3 of 44
12/15/05 at 5:03pm
Number of discs and quality of case.

Big sets first (Alien Quadrilogy, Ultimate Matrix Collection, Buffy Chosen Collection), then 4 discs (LOTR EEs, Dawn of the Dead Ultimate), then 3 (Hellboy DC, Brotherhood of the Wolf Canadian SE), then 2-discs, arranged from elaborate packaging (Ghost In The Shell SE, Eternal Sunshine SE) to plain old Amaray cases, then single discs, from the Metal T2 Ultimate disc down. Most of the old Warners snapcases are sitting in a crate
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post #4 of 44
12/15/05 at 5:04pm
Kid's DVDs on the lower shelves (though, still high enough that the kids can't reach them), and my DVDs on the higher shelves. LOTR, Star Wars, and Wes Anderson movies are grouped together. The rest are scattered.
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post #5 of 44
12/15/05 at 5:22pm
Scattered, Smothered, and Chunked. It's more of the older DVD's are in one cabinet, then the newer DVDs are in another. The only organization I have is that all the cartoon DVDs (mine and the kid's) are in one cabinet separate from the rest, although now that one is almost full as well.
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post #6 of 44
12/15/05 at 6:13pm
Alphabetically. The wife doesn't buy into that high-falutin' genre crap.
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post #7 of 44
12/15/05 at 6:58pm
Alphabetically by title. Although, I've been lazy and just stacking them by how recently I bought them.
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post #8 of 44
12/15/05 at 7:54pm
Alphabetical by director's last name, then ordered by year of release.
I have a different shelf for TV on DVD.
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post #9 of 44
12/15/05 at 8:08pm
First by genre, then by category, then alphabetical (i.e. - Horror section split up into Zombies, Vampires, etc).

Although the system is only good for a few weeks then with the borrowing and pulling out and putting back I usually have to reorganize about once every other month.

And I know it's totally anal and unnecessary - but I think it's fun and somewhat therapeutic if I've had a bad day.
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post #10 of 44
12/15/05 at 8:31pm
I've got all my TV boxsets and foreign DVDs in a locked cabinet that is just slightly harder to break into than an unlocked cabinet. The rest of my collection is on a storage shelf, for which my girlfriend is preparing to make a red velvet curtain so they are less exposed to dust and prying eyes. All are alphabetized. I need another shelf now though.
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post #11 of 44
12/15/05 at 8:34pm
My weird offbeat movies (Bubba Ho-Tep, Troma stuff etc.) are together, then my more arty foreign-language stuff and finally the mainstream movies. TV collections are also together, but I haven't got enough of those to warrant a whole shelf.
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post #12 of 44
12/15/05 at 8:50pm
My collection is arranged by genre. First is all girl, then boy-girl, then gang bang, then amateur blacktinas, then asian bukakke, then avant-garde non-narrative, then reality TV box sets, then gonzo horror, then propoganda, then silent musicals, and finally last but not least, bollywood.

* i haven't told a completely inappropriate offensive joke in a long time.
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post #13 of 44
12/15/05 at 9:08pm
Strange. I've never seen people claim their DVD's are sorted by size.

Mine are sorted primarily by genre, then directors, and movies in a series. So, I have foreign movies on one shelf. Some of them are war movies, so I have all the war movies there too. All the character dramas/comedies in one area, superhero movies, etc. Lately I just stack them up because I don't have any more room on my shelves and am just putting them on some cheap racks I bought.
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post #14 of 44
12/15/05 at 9:18pm

hmmmmm

Mine are all over the place, because I'M A GUY FOR CHRISSAKES!!!!!

And NO, you dont have to shower and wash your hair every day either - be men!!!

If you cant find it easily.....LOOK HARDER!!!!

mumblemumbledamnstinkinworldfulloffagsandhippiesmu mblemumble
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post #15 of 44
12/15/05 at 9:42pm
Man, anything more than alphabetical by title seems like sheer snobbery to me, like you don't want anyone besides yourself to find the movie they're looking for. Of course, that's what makes us film fans. Guess I'll go reorganize my collection autobiographically...
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post #16 of 44
12/15/05 at 10:45pm
box sets first inalphabetical order then comes all my other movies

Still debating on what to to with Dawn of the Dead. looks cool but out of place next to day
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post #17 of 44
12/15/05 at 10:46pm
Alphabetical for the most, with another bookcase for all my box sets, though I have a shelf set aside containing everything I haven't watched yet.
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post #18 of 44
12/15/05 at 10:49pm
Pretty much the most recently watched DVDs are on top, while the ones I haven't watched in months or years are at the bottom. However, I do have my DVD sets stacked on top of each other. My Twilight Zone, Batman: TAS, Star Wars, Scream, Indiana Jones, Friday The 13th, and Nightmare On Elm Street series, for instance, are all lined up in the same vicinity.
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post #19 of 44
12/15/05 at 11:12pm
Alphabetical, by Genre with everything together on the same shelf. I have alot of stuff floating around due to lack of space.
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post #20 of 44
12/15/05 at 11:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by steeef
Man, anything more than alphabetical by title seems like sheer snobbery to me, like you don't want anyone besides yourself to find the movie they're looking for. Of course, that's what makes us film fans. Guess I'll go reorganize my collection autobiographically...
Ha. I like to keep my in generally organized by genre of film. It makes it a lot easier to select through a bunch of dark movies if I'm in the mood for that, comedies, etc.
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post #21 of 44
12/16/05 at 12:26am
Basically, I have all my favorite single and double discs alphabetical on one double shelf. Then I have a DVD/CD case/shelf thingie full of my animation/music/TV shows, also in alphabetical. I have another of the same type of shelf full of pretty much everything else that wouldn't fit in the first batch, but not in any order. Last but not least is one more shelf with the big cases(from LOTR:EE and Indiana Jones to the Kubrick box set), and I've put any movies in snapper cases on that shelf as well.

Now that I think about it, this is madness. I either need to sell off some of the shit I rarely watch, or get one or two freaky big shelves. Damn DVDs. Well, it's better than the huge VHS collection I had. I've gotten rid of most of them now.
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post #22 of 44
12/16/05 at 12:51am
I've got around 800 movies, and I do the genre thing, with old VHS sleeves as section separators (it gives them something to do). For some reason, my friends love to come over and argue about what movies I've put in which sections. Also, some of my genres are a little odd. I've got a Monsters section and a Comics section. I also had to create a Cronenberg section, because he just doesn't fit any damn place. I may have to do the same for Gilliam.

Thus far, my Westerns section is pathetic, but I'm working on that. Comedy is still my biggest.
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post #23 of 44
12/16/05 at 12:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus-6
Now that I think about it, this is madness. I either need to sell off some of the shit I rarely watch, or get one or two freaky big shelves. Damn DVDs. Well, it's better than the huge VHS collection I had. I've gotten rid of most of them now.
Be thankful you didn't get into laserdiscs.
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post #24 of 44
12/16/05 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashxking2001
box sets first inalphabetical order then comes all my other movies

Still debating on what to to with Dawn of the Dead. looks cool but out of place next to day
If you mean the Ultimate Edition, I find it looks nice next to the Friday The 13th box set, for aesthetic reasons alone. They are about the same size and shape, with the same red-on-black color scheme.

I group movies by director chronologically, but outside these groupings (Tarantino, Romero, Fulci), it's pretty much stream of consciousness, with some thematic threads (Up In Smoke, Reefer Madness and Half Baked together for instance).

Also, fuck 20th Century Fox in the ear for adding bilingual titles (in Canada; English and French) to Revenge of the Sith's DVD spine, which now doesn't match the other 5 Star Wars movies on the shelf.
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post #25 of 44
12/16/05 at 1:46pm
All my multiple-disc sets are lined up together, followed by the franchises. The rest are on the shelf in no order, and stacked in two piles on the floor.

Thanks to free porn on the net, no space is wasted on smut DVDs.
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post #26 of 44
12/16/05 at 2:06pm
Alphabetical by title, but series are together (for example, Raiders is under R but the rest of the Indiana Jones films are right after it).
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post #27 of 44
12/16/05 at 4:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson
Alphabetical by title, but series are together (for example, Raiders is under R but the rest of the Indiana Jones films are right after it).
I do the same thing, although I also keep my DVD box sets on a seperate shelf to conserve space.
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post #28 of 44
12/16/05 at 6:10pm
Where's that thread about the links between geeks and savants...?
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post #29 of 44
12/16/05 at 6:34pm
Now here's a real question. In alphabetical collections, do you put numbers first and separate, or are they mingled in the rest of the collection according to the spelling of the number? I put numbers in with the letters, therefore 12 Monkeys is in the T's, etc. No matter if the number is a symbol or spelled out, it is sorted according to its spelling.

If you're going beyond alphabetical for your organizing, you've got serious issues. Simplicity always wins.
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post #30 of 44
12/16/05 at 7:20pm
Alphabetically. Although now I've run out of room and have been stacking the more recent ones on top.

Hope to get new shelving units because the longer they stay out of order, the more I get freaked.

/anal retentive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Neal
Now here's a real question. In alphabetical collections, do you put numbers first and separate, or are they mingled in the rest of the collection according to the spelling of the number? I put numbers in with the letters, therefore 12 Monkeys is in the T's, etc. No matter if the number is a symbol or spelled out, it is sorted according to its spelling.
Mine are numbers first, unless the number is spelled out. For example, 12 Monkeys comes before the A's, but The Fifth Element is in the F's.
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post #31 of 44
12/17/05 at 10:46am
'Alien Quadrilogy' starts the shelves, followed by about 900 other discs...the final disc being 'Alien versus Predator'.

Do you think 900 discs is a good enough buffer to stop 'AvP' contaminating the originals?...Or should I put lead or asbestos sheets in between every case?
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post #32 of 44
12/17/05 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham
'Alien Quadrilogy' starts the shelves, followed by about 900 other discs...the final disc being 'Alien versus Predator'.

Do you think 900 discs is a good enough buffer to stop 'AvP' contaminating the originals?...Or should I put lead or asbestos sheets in between every case?
I'd invest in a second residence on the outskirts of town that had a dank basement with an old well at the center and I'd keep AVP there, forever taunted by a yapping poodle.

My collection of about 1,500 DVDs is assorted as so:

- Criterion Collection, in numerical order.
- All of the Bond films, in release order.
- Major director boxset collections, such as Kubrick, Stone, Allen, etc.
- All R1 theatrical films, alphabetically (with sequels always following the original, despite inconsistent titles.)
- All non-R1 theatrical films, alphabetically.
- All R1 TV shows, alphabetically.
- All non-R1 TV shows, alphabetically.
- All documentaries, music video compilations and assorted other categories.
- Unusually-designed boxsets, such as BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (Cylon head), SHOWGIRLS (VIP Edition) or THE BIG LEBOWSKI (Achiever's Edition), for example, are displayed seperately.
- Porn is categorized first by decade, then by leading actress in order of preference (for instance, in the 80's section, Ginger Lynn's films appear well before Amber Lynn's.)
- And then, AVP.
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post #33 of 44
12/17/05 at 4:08pm
By genre and the decade they were released in.
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post #34 of 44
12/17/05 at 8:02pm
Nevermind. I posted a question here that I decided to put elsewhere.
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post #35 of 44
1/2/06 at 8:04am
Alphabetical by title, with numerials coming first if they are not spelled out in the title. I also have them in an Excel spreadsheet so I can pore over them easier and sort them according to my 5-star ratings.
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post #36 of 44
1/11/06 at 12:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by steeef
Guess I'll go reorganize my collection autobiographically...
I never reorganized them that way, when I bought my first dvd (Heat) I just put all the subsequent on the shelf that way, so 200-some dvds later they're still in order of purchase. I've tried alphabetical and even chronological, but I'm too used the the way they are. It began as a convenient way of ordering them, now it requires a list and memorization.
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post #37 of 44
1/11/06 at 2:30pm
Ive now ran out of room and am looking for a new DVD rack. I bought one from Walmart but the thing had two cracked shelf holders anyone got a nice they bought from BestBuy or something?
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post #38 of 44
1/11/06 at 3:21pm
Best Buy has a nice one that I've had my eye on for a while--my current DVD shelf (arranged alphbetically) is almost full.
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post #39 of 44
1/11/06 at 5:58pm
I used to have my stuff arranged by the studio that put them out. I liked the somewhat universal spine logo look that could result form trying to do that. I was flexible here and there, like all the Kevin Smith stuff here, Tarantino over there, etc etc. I tried to keep it up and every so often I would rearrange things to properly get newer acquisitions in their proper places.

After I moved to brooklyn I pretty much sorted things by genre so they'd be theoretically easier to navigate for a few other people. Now it's kind of a random mess, but I still sort of have a handle on where things are. I don't even try anymore.
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post #40 of 44
1/12/06 at 6:07pm
First are the Walt Disney animations/cartoons (?) in alphabetical order, then other childrens animations/cartoons (?) in alphabetical order. Next are the teen anime , with regular movies in alphabetical order after that. All movies that are considered adult or not suitable for children under the age of 18 are upstairs safely locked away.
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post #41 of 44
1/13/06 at 2:02am
I have mine alphabetical by title. It was at one time split up by genre, then title within the genre. I ditched that and stuck by title only. Works for me.
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post #42 of 44
2/23/06 at 1:02am
Geeze, sorry about my other topic. I used the search function too.

Mine go alphabetically starting with numbers first. So my 12 Angry Men DVD would be first. My Eastwood, Michael Mann and Scorsese DVD's are at the top of the shelf together. Their my fav directors I keep their stuff together. My TV shows are seperate and in alphabetical order. My Criterions are separate and are in numbered order.

I really do need a new shelf. Are there any topics that have pictures of peoples collections?
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post #43 of 44
2/23/06 at 7:51pm
I tried chronological until it became embarrassing how many of my titles were from 1986. Currently I do alphabetical (numbers spelled out) in a case in the back for library titles, and choke up a shelf near the TV for stuff I haven't finished yet. Non-R1 and PAL discs live on the shelf below that, but it's getting crowded. I also have nearly a full shelf of Star Wars-related fan discs. Review discs are stacked directly in front of the TV so I have to get to them first.
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post #44 of 44
2/24/06 at 1:10am
Right now, my DVDS are stored in 7 or 8 giant blue bins.

Where's a good place to buy shelves? Not named IKEA.
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