Do you remember the Blockbuster days?

Anyanka Bunny Slayer

Anyanka Bunny Slayer

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Black Thorn
Be kind, rewind. Remember Blockbuster? Those days when going to the video store was a big part of our entertainment routine? Walking around, running into your neighbours, trying to find something cool to watch; and the really fun part...deciding whether or not to pay extra to keep the movie out another day? (Not because you really wanted to see it again, you just didn't feel like driving back to the store?)



 
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I seldom went to Blockbuster, I went to the Video King near me. When I got my first DVD player I would go in there on Friday evening and pick out a DVD to watch over the weekend. Yes, I do miss the browsing experience... same as I do with bookstores and record stores.
 
I remember Blockbuster from when I was a child. I do have fond memories of it and it almost seemed magical to me. Honestly, I like streaming and the modern accessibility of content better, though, because I was already a big nerd as a child and I seldom got to choose anything I liked. My family had/has dissimilar entertainment interests.
 
Amber Bunny Slippers said:
Bookstores and record stores!
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Thoses I miss a metric ton more than Blocksbusters. Especially record shoppes. And really especially the record shoppes that had the backdoor head shoppes. But Blocksbusters? Nah. I got Blocksbusters at my fingertips now. I wouldn't ever want to go back to those archaic days of going in for Beastmaster and they only have Hawk the Slayer but somehow you don't feel quite like the loser you really should feel like.
 
There are still used bookstores around me, but they're much rarer and smaller than they once were, and also charge a lot more and less likely to trade probably because of a lot less business. At least Powell's is still around (not a used book store, though it includes that, but I remember being in awe when I walked into that super deluxe bookstore in Portland nearly 10 years ago). Some things I used to look for in used book stores are now much harder to find...especially if they're of a special interest that they can sell for several times the original price online (due to nostalgia).

I didn't go to Blockbuster much, though I went. I literally got more vids from the library (though that was quite a bit). But when I gave Buffy a whirl, I rented season 1 from Blockbuster (or one like it).

The only thing I miss from video stores is that you could rent video games from most without someone trying to up sell or otherwise get you to spend money you don't need to spend (essentially legal scams). A handful of people try to get me into video gaming and one of the reasons I have resisted so far is I can't stand the legal scamming and aggressive sales techniques of most game shops (and a boy I rent for is lucky I endured it at all for him, though he now takes care of that himself), and have become so cynical of them that I'm even wary of the vending machines for game rentals. While I was only mildly appreciative of stores like Blockbuster, I greatly dislike most of the game stores I've experienced, at least since most of the video stores shut down. (This is strictly those focused on video games, other type of gaming stores are usually fine.)
 
I'll never forget how in 2003, a Blockbuster employee (Wilshire near Crescent Heights) didn't separate the Farscape S1 discs...and mistakenly allowed me to check out the entire season at once. And no, I never returned them. Score!!! 😈
 
Skanky Vamp
Skanky Vamp
Probably did it because the show was horrible and figured anybody that dared rent it should get a bonus for having it sit through it all.
Mr Trick
Mr Trick
Ha! Love it!
Blockbuster only died recently here. I went along to the closing down sales and scored a few cheap DVDs. I did enjoy wandering the ailes more than browsing Netflix, but the streaming content has so much more choice and is far quicker (and cheaper!).

We still have bookstores. I got most of my buffy books from book exchanges like Elizabeths and Guildfords. As far as I know they are still going.


There are some great book ranges in those dusty, dinky secondhand stores. The shop owners are so old they dont realise the prices are now cheaper online.

My community relief store has loads of romance novels. And about 6 complete sets of 50 shades of grey. I have brought a couple gardening books from there, but our library is pretty good (for a tiny one) with more recent and relevent books for free loan.

I discovered last trip to the library, that they run a small book exchange too of old stock or donated stock. I have SO many books that I could likely open my own book cafe (provided the patrons like horse, craft, gardening, biographies bush stories, exercise and spiritual topics lol)
 
Anyanka Bunny Slayer
Anyanka Bunny Slayer
I really, really miss bookstores. Real books are a treasure and I've NEVER read one online. Psht. 😬
Oh yeah I remember Blockbuster alright. Where everyone would pick up a different video & then the arguments would ensue as to which one we rented out. 😀

As for used bookstores, Petersfield has an excellent used bookstore. It's not huge but it's a dark musty warren of passages & little rooms all crammed floor to ceiling with books.
You could get lost in there for hours (Actually, if you were to empty a shelf in the right place you could probably climb through to Narnia or somewhere similar?)
That and all the charity shops in town have used books for sale too.....though they tend to be more mainstream editions......
 
It doesn't seem like that long ago that everyone was going to Blockbuster on the weekends, but I guess it really was. Just looked up when Netflix was launched and it was in 1998 😱
 
Amber Bunny Slippers said:
I'll never forget how in 2003, a Blockbuster employee (Wilshire near Crescent Heights) didn't separate the Farscape S1 discs...and mistakenly allowed me to check out the entire season at once. And no, I never returned them. Score!!! 😈
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CtDD.gif


More of yer bad girl shenanigans. 😀
 
Anyanka Bunny Slayer
Anyanka Bunny Slayer
Hey, it was the entire season! No way was I passing that up. 😈
I don't think this counts as the blockbuster days as such but I used to get DVDs all the time from a blockbuster, it was so exciting to look through the boxes and pick up some films. Plus there used to be a cinema snacks section to buy from as well. In a lot of ways DVDs are dying, I saw really good films in Poundland yesterday.
 
Even though its all way more convenient, I actually do miss going to the video store. Blockbuster and before that Home Pics.... there were a few other ones too...Video Ezy, I think was one of them....I can't remember.
I practically lived in the Horror section. I have so many fond memories of raiding the crappy b grade horror movies with my friends and getting a whole lot of candy and staying up till 4 in the morning screaming and laughing all hopped up on sugar.

I haven't seen a used bookstore or a record store in ages 🙁 There are a number of regular bookstores around here in the city though. Abbey's and Galaxy bookshop are still around, but they are in the one place now and are way smaller than they use to be. Kinokuniya and Dymocks too. I love my Kindle, but I will always prefer a real book.
 
The best thing about video stores (and bookstores, and record stores) was being able to browse and find new stuff I hadn't heard of before.

I like to own my media. I still buy CD's and DVD's. That way I know I'll have them as long as I want them, anytime I want them. When the apocalypse comes and the Internet goes away, I'll still have plenty to watch and listen to until the zombie hordes come for me.
 
T
thrasherpix
I don't know how much is fear talk, but it's said a solar flare strong enough to about destroy the internet and usefulness of most smartphones could happen at any time (and those will create even more havoc given how so much is dependent on those).
I do miss the act of going to Blockbusters and just finding little gems to watch from walls upon walls of tapes/DVD's. I enjoy Netflix, but the problem is you can spend ages looking for a film to watch on there and sometimes don't bother in the end. At least going to the video store got you out of the house. Looking around record/book/DVD stores is one of my favourite things in the world!
 
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