Norwegian in Tokyo

It’s a sweltering day in Tokyo but the mind manages to stay focused... on Laserdiscs. I fell in love with them in ’89 and I started getting my own in ’93. A kid at the time (still a kid) the collection grew very slowly the first years – but that made every new edition to the skimpy collection special. Sure, a tape would show you the picture – and I had fair VHS collection-, but with a Laserdisc that picture became yours (didn’t it?).
The soft spot for these 12” shiny marvels is still very much with me, and although the tech of home video has reached different peaks the last decade and a half, there are still a lot of pictures I’d rather not watch any other way than on Laserdisc.
I’m very fond of all my LDs, and equally fond of the ones I’ve yet to get my hands on. I enjoy the leg work of finding discs out there in the world, so I hardly ever buy them online – not because I mind internet, but I try not to mess with the thrill of finding coveted titles in some small back room in a junky dive (does that make sense?)
If you have a couple of minutes please say hello to my titles on lddb under user villagenumber6.

I look forward to talkin’ all things Laserdisc on these pages. Cheers.

I hope that that's correct!

I am a rather later adopter, but I have made every effort to catch up in bewteen VHS and HD DVD+Bluray.

It's great to welcome another new name to the forums.

Is your work based in Japan? I would love to visit there one day. I would spend a alot of money send myself LDs back to the UK !

Ok so, all the usual things next, what's your machine(s)...can we see your lddb.com listing...photos of your set up. Doesn't matter about 'modest' as we range from modest to 'Real Home Theatre' here, we're not snobs

Thanks for finding us, stick around and get those posts rolling in!

Alle de beste!

Daron W.
(Moderator, mad BATMAN fan and parent with teenager!)

Thanks for the warm welcome. The Norwegian phrases are close enough to make me homesick.
Yup. Freelance work keeps me in Japan these days.
lddb listing. Yup. Have that, but as a greenhorn here it seems I can't post links for another 6 days. I'm listed as "villagenumber6" on lddb.
I have no setup to speak of, I'm afraid. I'm fond of my player (Pioneer CLD-R5) here in Tokyo, but on the audio side I have litte to show. I will say that through the years I've always given priority to purchasing titles and not equipment.
I have 3 players in Norway (2 Pioneers -a 1750 PAL/NTSC job, and -oh,dear- another one, plus a smaller Sony with A/B side and NTSC only). I use a Denon amp and have a JVC CRT set. Here in Tokyo I just have a flat Victor plasma one.
I'm actually very happy as long as all my discs will play without problems.
I don't know much about the tech side on any subject, but when it comes to the actual movies I'm there.

Well, that's why I said that we are not snobs on this site. We love our discs, we love our machines....and that's it really!

I have been on other sites that seem to look down on you unless your player is a PIONEER ELITE, but then stupidly, only the right model of ELITE, none of those trashy DVL travesties!

I ask you! None of that rubbish here. I personally would not be without my wonderful CLD-D925 and CLD-2950.

I can totally see the attraction of having your own cinema, and I wouldn't knock anyone who sprung for the whole nine yards (not the Bruce Willis picture).
But I can't do everything, so here I am with a pretty good spectre in my collection, but rather skimpy tech wise.
If I ever were to get a setup fit for kings, it would be this: (photos)
I saw this setup at a traditional Japanese hotel up north in the mountains, and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Thing of beauty.

That is darned smart! When I first saw this (the large item that is bottom left of the picture)....



I thought that it was the mini-bar!

You wouldn't, by any chance, be ACTION ANTON would you?

Boy oh boy. Action Anton. Well, I'm not He, but it's the title of a short I did a few years ago. At the time I had the urge to get into the shtummy after a lot of serious TV.
And how about that 12" changer?! I forget how many LDs it took, but look at the thing! -And it had a mini-bar! (haha)

Here she is.

www . lddb . com / collection . php ? user=villagenumber6

I had a look at your collection, by the way. A lot of great titles, I must say. Universal Classic Horror, Ray Harryhausen, 007, John Carpenter, Pink Panther, Hitchcock, Disney's 20.000 Leagues, George Pal, Star Trek, cheezy/great action and even some vintage classic Hollywood pictures. Truly elements of a collection after my own heart.

-Checked to see if you had the Hammer Box released in the mid 90s in the UK. I never got to watch those versions. (It cost a ton in Tower Records Piccadilly Circus when it came out, I remember). Wonder if they were nice releases...

2,000+ titles?

My wife looks at me funny if I add the odd one or two to my 300ish range!

I would love to see pix of your titles on the shelves, it must be a sight to behold!

The time will come when they can all go up on the shelf together. For now, though, I have to rotate. Tokyo flats aren't exactly libraries - space wise.
Which titles are worth risking a funny look for, then?

Since about 1993 - this what the LDbrary has evolved to.
http://www.lddb.com/collection.php?user=villagenumber6

Seriously cool collection, 80+ pages on the lddb! and you have submitted a fair amount too.

One day, all Laserdisc collections will look that way.

Well, mine at least.

Thanks for looking.

Hey Lafong my man,

Great to have another Laserdisc brother here in Japan. I'm located in Nagoya. I've only been collecting LDs for a couple of years and am about to pass the 1000 mark. No where near your impressive haul though. So how long have you been in Tokyo? I've been down here about 4 and a half years.
You say you like the hunt for laserdiscs. I couldnt agree more. What are some of your best finds?
BTW where do you buy most of your discs while in Japan? I get most of mine from Hard Offs located around the place. Any cool hook ups in Tokyo?

Anyway again, great to have another Laserdisc lover here in Japan.

Heres my collection if you wanted a look:

http://www.lddb.com/collection.php?action=list&user=bullruckle

Hey there Bullruckle
1000 titles in just a couple of years?! Now that's a respectable neighbourhood. Very impressive, and prime titles as well. Broad spectre and varied. Just great. It's a pleasure to browse your list there on lddb.
I've been in the country almost 6 years. Most of that time in Tokyo. Hard Offs are good and I think I've been to all in and around Tokyo, but they aren't located in the city centre so I usually drop by Rare. Do they (Rare) have branches in Nagoya? Liberty in Akihabara used to have a pretty decent assortment, but they got out of LDs a while back now... years, Happy to say I managed to take a few off their hands. They put boxes right on the pavement. All for a pittance. Those were the days...
The heartwarming finds are many and in different genres. For example: I really do treasure titles I don't already have in the 70mm "series". -And I found John Carpenter's Vampires among a bunch of enka karaoke discs. Yup. In collecting discs there are glorious moments.
I hope we can share some here.
Good to know you. Hope you managed to keep all your LDs dry during typhoon 12.

Well LaFong you are truly my Laserdisc Senpai
I would love to have been there when places in the likes of Akihabara were chucking there discs out for next to nothing.
I do love the search for discs in places like hard off. Flipping through the insane amount of copies of speed and T-2 in hopes of coming across just one good title.
I usually hit up a couple of Hard Offs near my house once every two weeks or so, and then go for a big 'every Hard Off in Gifu and Aichi Ken in search of discs' drive every couple of months. Sucks when theres nothing to be had during one of those though.
My best fined was probably opening up a box in some old record and movie store to find about 30 import US titles, mostly new. Had the likes of new DTS Rush Hour, new Ronin, a few criterions and a host of others. The dude there said he'd never been able to sell them as they dont have Jap subs. Sold the lot to me for 1000yen-ish if i recall.
Also, I walked in to Hard Off near my house one day to find piles upon piles of discs after some collector had died and his family had dumped the discs at the store.

Anyway, if you're keen, I'd love to hear more Laserdisc stories over a few brews the next time I make the trek up Tokyo way. You ever find your self in the vicinity of Achi/Gifu Ken?

That admirably demonstrates exactly what is good about a forum like this. It is full of enthusiastic people of a like mind, with contacts established and friends made!

There are so many forums (that I have been a member of) where people just go on to be snappy and sarcastic with each other, or to try and one-up or put-down each other. They generally behave and speak in ways that most people would not dare to, to a person's face that is.

Here, (and some others) there is a good mix of beginners and veterans, a great mix of huge/average/small collections. There are top line reference, Elites, mid-range and entry level players.

This is a great forum!

I think I'm the one who should learn from you in this LD-dojo. Discovering a box with sealed, mouthwatering US titles including Criterions is the LDphile's equivalent of hitting the mother load. -And you have a great nose for sniffing out deceased collectors' lots dumped at Hard Off by the endearingly ignorant bereaved.
I go here and there in Japan from time to time (talk about being uselessly vague), but most trips are work related with tight schedules and leave little time for taking in the gently brainwashing jingle muzak of Hard Off.
Meeting up for "nama" in Tokyo at some point in the future would be cool, though.

Here's some intel:
A second hand record store in Shibuya sometimes do small quantities of LDs (some sealed) with tags from Ishimaru; now scruffy electronics-, A/V store in Akiba (used to be big in the bubble). I followed the Ishimaru trail like a rainbow, but ended up with bupkis. If you come over a branch of Ishimaru checking it for discs might lead you to a pot of gold. I just have a feeling that Ishimaru has old LDs knocking about in a dark corner somewhere.