Adventures in thinpacking and space saving: how drastic have you gotten?

[Ty]

I'm sure quite a few of us have fought this dilemma to some extent: at what point does the collection become so large that you can no longer accomodate everything? While some fans can afford to house thousands of dvds and collectibles, some others might be constrained by a small house, apartment, or shared living space. So what space savings measures, if any, have you taken?

I personally crossed a new barrier last week so far as what I was willing to thinpak. It's been a gradual transition, starting with singles whose covers I didn't like, then gradually encompassing all of my singles that were not in special packaging. After that the flimsy cheap boxes started to go. Take the Kashimashi boxset I got recently.... I don't even bother with the cheap thin boxes at this point. As soon as I can verify the discs aren't defective that box goes in the trash and the discs into thin cases. That it was in a box was coincidental to me, it was the cheapest way to buy the show.

Last week, however, marked the first time I ever removed singles from chipboard boxes to convert into thinpak singles. I de-boxed about 8 series whose boxes had drab or uninteresting artwork and converted them to thins. After considering eBaying them I ended up throwing those boxes away too because the hassle didn't seem worth whatever little amount people would nominally pay for them. The few singles I had left that were fullsize, things like the Ah! My Goddess Movie that had a special slipcover, also went into thinpacks and their special covers tossed out. The surprising thing is that it felt good when I was done, I didn't feel any regret. I finally realized I was allowing myself to become a victim of the sunk cost fallacy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost#Loss_aversion_and_the_sunk_cost_fallacy) . When I was able to resist buying the Lucky Star box despite its great artwork I think that became the turning point. The only frontier I cannot cross at this point is moving to CD binders..... there is something about being able to see the spine of each disc that matters to me still and probably always will.

In the end I have my DVD wall back to the appearance it had at the beginning of this year, but eventually it will be overfull again. Maybe that .hack/SIGN treasure chest box will be the next victim........

[The Adventurer]

I can't justify double dipping just to save space, I do wish there was an easy way to trade down to thin packs or bricks for some of my sets that I bought in singles.

Black Lagoon did it right, with dvd-case sized steel books for each season. Loved that.

[Ty]

I can't justify double dipping
Just to be clear what I'm talking about here is buying empty thinpak cases and moving the discs I have into them buy folding the cover edges to make them fit. I would never re-buy these newer thinpak collection releases of shows I already own just to get smaller packaging.

[HitokiriShadow]

I don't alter my packaging. I'm an artbox and LE whore and even with REs, I love my art and packaging. I actually recently took my Black Lagoon discs out of the steelbook they were in and put them back in the regular keepcases with the artwork.

Shelf space has become an issue, but for now I can solve that by boxing things up. When I get my own place and have more room, I'll be able to get more shelves and have room for them.

In the past I also sold off some series that I dropped or just didn't like much, but I don't do that anymore.

[HitokiriShadow]

I can't justify double dipping
Just to be clear what I'm talking about here is buying empty thinpak cases and moving the discs I have into them buy folding the cover edges to make them fit. I would never re-buy these newer thinpak collection releases of shows I already own just to get smaller packaging.

I actually have done this twice, though not to thinpacks. I replaced my original Evangelion DVDs with the Platinum Editions, though space savings were low on the list of reasons (better art, consistent spines, and more extras were much more significant reasons). However, I sold my Kiddy Grade singles and bout the box set largely for space savings The box, spineart, and complete set of cards factored in as well, but they just made the decision much easier as opposed to being the main reason.

[The Adventurer]

I can't justify double dipping
Just to be clear what I'm talking about here is buying empty thinpak cases and moving the discs I have into them buy folding the cover edges to make them fit. I would never re-buy these newer thinpak collection releases of shows I already own just to get smaller packaging.

Oh.

Yeah, I don't think I'd do that either. I'd rather stuff take too up too much space and have official packaging then to custom make my own. Especially since I generally make a point to buy Vol.1/Artbox bundles for the boxs. I'm certainly not going to toss them. In fact I'm generally rather bugged when series don't come with Artboxes. Generally those are the ones I'd rather get as Bricks, but I'm too impatient to wait (see, Cowboy Bebop Remix, Planetes, Sub-Only Gurren Lagann)

[unknownfatehome]

While there aren't many artboxes that are worth a significant amount there are a few that fetch the $$$. For example a used copy of the original Chobits artbox fetched $30 and that was a bargain, the Ai Yori Aoshi box brought $50.

Personally I keep everything as is in my collection, I've room for another 600-700 full size singles then I'm going to have to rethink my storage setup.

[Ashyukun]

When I was in a considerably smaller space and buying a lot more discs in general and thinpack cases were just coming into use, I went through a phase of transferring a bunch of my discs from standard keepcases to thinkpacks. None of these were series that I had artboxes for, and generally it just involved trimming the borders from the covers without actually touching the artwork.

These days though space isn't at nearly the premium that it used to be for me (being in a decent sized house on my own vs. the shared apartment I was in), and I buy a bit less in general (and what I do buy a decent amount of the time are collections which tend to be thinpacks inherently). The space savings is nice, but at the same time it's just not worth the effort for me at the moment.

[The Great Bear]

I've taken to boxing up series I have seen and don't plan a rewatch of for at least some time. I'm at the breaking point in terms of space, so I'm just looking around for more and larger boxes to put things away into, so that the shelves have empty spaces for new acquisitions.

But my buying rate is also slowing down, so it may not be a major problem for too much longer, once I have packed away a sufficient number of older series.

[Suwako Moriya]

To be honest I have yet to bother with thinpaking for the following reasons. First, I'm too lazy. Second, I'm afraid I'll screw up. Third, I'm not exactly sure I want to bother buying/testing various brands right now. Fourth, I don't care to have the artboxes I went for go to waste.

That being said I have done a few small things to save space. Such as for example my manga is now upstairs so the shelves have room for the DVDs. Also I plan to default to "collections" more often than before and some of those collections take up less space than the singles.

Perhaps double packing the boxless singles I have may not be such a bad idea. Since after all I wouldn't have to cut up the covers. Plus it would still save some space. Ie six singles end up taking up the space of three. Plus perhaps if I double packed one series, I'd have replacement cases to use. I could use a new case for both Rozen Maiden Traumend 1 and Galaxy Angel AA 3.

[Suwako Moriya]

I would never re-buy these newer thinpak collection releases of shows I already own just to get smaller packaging.

Neither would I, but in the case of Shuffle I might come close. If the price for the eventual collections ends up being cheaper than buying volumes 4-6, I'll likely just buy that and sell off the singles I have. The posters aren't that special and honestly the box is ok, but not that great to me.

I guess part of what got to me is how I ended up completing School Rumble under the basis it would be cheaper to just get the three remaining volumes. Yes the collection ended up being $70. $20 less than the MSRP total of the three singles. So if Shuffle is the same way...

Speaking of School Rumble part of me is tempted to just sell of the series especially since I get the feel I'll never get around to getting season 2 or the OVA. Part of the problem is now that I've realized certain things my interest in the series has lessened. Only problem is I wouldn't want to rush the decision to sell the series and if I did sell it, I'd need to decide how to sell it off...

[Herron]

I've been thinking of repacking my collection, but in cd sleeve in a case. There's one on Amazon that holds 600 disc. I'm only going to do certain series and single cases. I haven't done anything yet... but I'd like to in the future.
All my art boxed series will stay as is... since I like the art work on them.

I do think I'm going to be changing my buying habits and I've already have. I used to always try to get the vol 1+box because they always looked so nice. Now I'm cutting that down to only series that I really like and waiting on buying the other series for a cheaper set.

I don't feel like I have a lot of space, but I know it's because space in my room is not used well and it's something I've been mulling over for a good while. There's a lot hindering progression, since I live with my mom and *she's* not very willing about getting rid of things.
I haven't reached critical mass so I'm okay, but things need to be better organized.

[Nork22]

I've converted about 90% of my collection into thinpaks. These days if I ever buy singles where it has a box, I would normally opt for the single unless said box comes with something worth while (Code Geass for example).

[something]

I've run out of space a number of times, and each time I just find new space. Eventually I did buy some double slim cases, which saves immense amounts of space. Thinpaking really isn't a big deal - you cut a little off each side and can hardly tell the difference. The only thing I wouldn't recommend it for is really thick cover stock, like Stellvia or Gungrave. I has less success with those. And of course the composition of the art on the cover might impact if anything significant is lost. Just do it on a case by case basis.

However, when I got a bigger space and more shelving, I actually went back to my original DVD cases for a number of series, which expanded the size. Then I ran out again, and bought more shelves. When I run out of those, then I might stick things back in slim cases. Or buy more shelves. And for anyone worried - covers trimmed to slim cases look perfectly fine when placed back in standard width cases.

Buying slim cases is cheaper and more flexible than double dipping just for a thinpak set. Although if you have the money and space, more shelving is a better first angle of attack, since even if you cut everything down with slim cases, you'll still eventually run out of shelving footage.

Anyway, I prefer to keep everything in its original packaging so long as I can, but don't have any qualms about thinpacking when needed.

[Buckeye]

I have been buying fewer singles and waiting for more box sets. The fact that my backlog is huge gives me that luxury to do so.

[TalonG4]

I'm pretty much where you are at right now. I have been thinpacking stuff over time, some things as a I get them. (Lucky Star being a good example.) I haven't sacrificed boxes yet but I am sacrificing slipcovers such as the Code Geass ones for two volume sets. I also looked at my Ah My Goddess movie and wondered why I had that stupid slip cover still on it; I'll be removing it soon. A couple of days ago I saw some colored thinpack cases and started using those, they look so pretty...:catgirl: I also just like how neat thinpacks look on my shelves in general.
Getting rid of artboxes though... I'll have to see which ones I don't like. I usually don't buy them otherwise.

[Draneor]

I'd rather die than thinpack. You can take my standard-size cases--especially super jewels--from my cold, dead hands.

I don't alter my packaging. I'm an artbox and LE whore and even with REs, I love my art and packaging. [...]

Agreed. Honestly, if I was really worried about saving space, I'd just download the episodes in a compressed file-format which will then all fit on one DVD. I'm not going to destroy the only advantage physical media has over digital (for me). Plus, I get to see my favorite covers and boxes--which I put on display--every day whereas I'm most likely to only watch any show only once.

Still, space does become an issue, when you have a good number of DVDs, non-anime books, manga, and figures. To solve that, I prefer to build better infrastructure--like I did with my custom manga shelf--that holds the items more efficiently, and rearrange the infrastructure I have to maximize the amount of infrastructure I can fit into a room. I'm amazed at how much I managed to compress my DVD collection when I purchased a Oskar media storage unit a while back. Actually, I need another one.^^U But it was far more efficient than the hodgepodge of bookshelves, small DVD racks, and wallshelves I was using before. Most of my (normal) books are on two handcrafted, wooden bookshelves I purchased at a garage sale a few years back. My figure collection has long outgrown my two Detolfs, so I have slowed down on buying them. Truth be told, they're still everywhere.^^U

Another key is I always have a significant portion of my collection on loan at any given time. Also, I donate duplicate items and/or books that I'm no longer interested in. Mostly to the local library bookstore.

[Njr Scrawl]

I don't display my anime so use CD/DVD filing where surfaces are protected. Worthy covers I keep & often dispose of the cases.

[joelgundam01]

The only measure that I've have taken so far to reduce shelf space is changing my buying habits.

I've pretty much discontinued collecting singles. There are only a few series left and after I'm done with those, it's slim collections and sets for me.

[davesimmons]

I have thinkpaks, double-thinkpaks, quad-regular-thickness to save space.

I'm next thinking of getting some of the Anime Legends style 8-cases (8 DVDs in 1 - double width) from shop4tech or meritline. I'd like to move Tenchi GXP out of the cardboard viridian, and put some other series like BGC 2040 and Jubei 1-2 into these single cases.

[The Alaskan Assassin]

I cannot cut covers. I want to thinpack too. :(
I was trying to find a thincase that was a little longer (a wider "face") so that I don't have to cut or "trim". I could not find any. :(

are there any?

[davesimmons]

I cannot cut covers. I want to thinpack too. :(
I was trying to find a thincase that was a little longer (a wider "face") so that I don't have to cut or "trim". I could not find any. :(

are there any?

You can get regular size cases that hold 2 or 4 discs, then you "stack" or layer the dvd covers over each other in the cover holder / sleeve. No cutting, and you can always put the covers and discs back into normal cases later.

shop4tech and meritline carry double and quad cases, look for the 14mm width cases. TDK quad cases and Memorex double cases are also sold by Amazon and Office Depot.

[Mateo_home]

I've reached the point where I want to ebay some DVDs I have, but I'm just too lazy. So maybe I haven't gotten to that point just yet. I don't thinpak because I just can't cut those covers for some reason. In fact, my manga shelf can't hold anymore either. I've been thinking about putting some in the closet but that's getting full too.

I have come to the point where I'd rather wait for collections and give up on singles for anime I'm not desperate to buy. And I am cutting down on my anime spending.

[Suwako Moriya]

I have come to the point where I'd rather wait for collections and give up on singles for anime I'm not desperate to buy.

That's probably the best strategy in general. The more careful you are in the buying phase, the less you have to worry about later.

[Greg Aubry]

Personally, I'm a big believer in the multi-disc cases that some have mentioned from Shop4Tech. I bought a pack of the 12-discers for series that are really long and have music CDs that accompany them. I really like the effect of them. There's something neat about building your own custom box set.

A few examples:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/gregaubry/DVD_cases/AllSeriesDVDCases.jpg

The Macross one contains the ADV re-dub series (8 discs), Macross Plus (2 discs), Macross Plus Movie Edition single disc, and Macross II single disc. The EVA one is the Platinum series (6 discs), the 2 Manga movie discs, and a host of soundtracks. Same idea for GitS, BGC, etc. The multiple iterations are all there, and soundtracks fill in the gaps.

Here's an overview of what the Bebop set looks like:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/gregaubry/DVD_cases/CowboyBebopoutercase01.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/gregaubry/DVD_cases/CowboyBebopInsideCase01.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/gregaubry/DVD_cases/CowboyBebopInsideCase02.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/gregaubry/DVD_cases/CowboyBebopInsideCase03.jpg

Having done this, it's pretty cool. But in continuing this whole process, it seems more practical to use 4-disc and 6-disc cases, because so many series fall between 4-8 discs in length.

[Buster Blader 126]

My collection is still very small, so I haven't had to resort to that.

And I hope it stays that way, too.

[Ty]

So, I assume you scanned and re-printed your covers Greg? It looks like they fit those cases exactly, which wouldn't be the case for the normal covers considering the thicker case spine. It looks very well done, but seeing the spine of every disc volume is something I'm stuck on for some reason.

My next step is to get rid of the hodge podge of different shelves and racks I have right now and replace them with two of the largest size Atlantic Oskar media bookcases. That's a next year project since money is tight.

[helicon]

hehe I've gone through the same process - starting with ugly covers moving on to even take apart thin boxes in the end (although I just folded those flat and stored them). I do like my Chipboard boxes though, so those were allowed to stay (it's not exactly many anyways and at least half of them contain thinpacks ainyway). All in all I've been thinpaking for about 3-4 years and recently hit the limits of my shelves once again (I'm at 1000 discs now).

So...as some of my early thinpaks hadn't exactly turned out pretty I decided to make my own covers for these and double thinpak them - so far I've done 100 discs (basically all long series as those are best suited for this) and I'm very happy with the results - spines are readable, everything is clearly labeled and I'm rid of some very ugly covers ;-)

It took a bit of experimenting originally, but once I had the workflow down creating a cover took about 5min (incl. scanning).
So all in all it's possible for me to do 100 discs (50 covers) in roughly 4 hours.
Not sure yet when I'll do the next patch, I'll first have to decided which discs will be the next in line...I do get the "urge" to pack every couple of months or so and then do about 100 discs each time, so might be a while until most of my collection is converted ;-)

[Greg Aubry]

So, I assume you scanned and re-printed your covers Greg? It looks like they fit those cases exactly, which wouldn't be the case for the normal covers considering the thicker case spine.

Actually, in these cases, it's careful cutting and pasting. Typically, a logo on the front of a case will fit just right on a 28mm spine. I do have hi-res scans of case art for doing some Photoshop work later on, but for now these look all right for my purposes.

It looks very well done, but seeing the spine of every disc volume is something I'm stuck on for some reason.

I think it's a common thing to get stuck on. People want the sheer size of their collection and all of those spine numbers to be on display for the "wow factor." I got over this mindset in the VHS era (those things would eat up space like nothing else), and am quite happy to have a more compact, super-dense collection that doesn't take over a room. Honestly, I think even thinpacking everything doesn't compare to the 4:1 or 6:1 space savings that multi-disc casing provides.

Your mileage may vary.

[joelgundam01]

I cannot cut covers. I want to thinpack too. :(
I was trying to find a thincase that was a little longer (a wider "face") so that I don't have to cut or "trim". I could not find any. :(

are there any?

You can get regular size cases that hold 2 or 4 discs, then you "stack" or layer the dvd covers over each other in the cover holder / sleeve. No cutting, and you can always put the covers and discs back into normal cases later.


Or you can get clear double disc cases (http://www.american-digital.com/prodsite/product.asp?p=1048&c=1967&name=DVDCase-ClearDoubleM-LockHub) and put one cover outside and one inside. That way you can still see the covers and reduce the space by half. Again, no trimming required.

[Garasharp K7]

Ugh! The mere thought of cutting up or altering my dvd covers, discarding cases or - horror of horrors - putting the discs in binders is just wrong and unnatural to me.

It's insane, I tell ya!

[Ty]

Or you can get clear double disc cases (http://www.american-digital.com/prodsite/product.asp?p=1048&c=1967&name=DVDCase-ClearDoubleM-LockHub) and put one cover outside and one inside. That way you can still see the covers and reduce the space by half. Again, no trimming required.

That's probably the most elegant solution I must admit. Not being able to see each volume outweighed the convenience in my case, since the space savings is the same with either approach.

[daymare]

I've tried every approach, starting with thinpacking/foldering, then double casing, then quad
I really like to quad-pack things...feels very sturdy, but it's near impossible if there's any sort of inserts. I mostly just do quad now. Some of the crappy or incomplete stuff I'll put in a folder.

ADV is kinda annoying. Some have double-sided and lots of inserts, so I don't reduce them. Not to mention their thinpak collections are crippled :(
Geneon stuff is easy to reduce, but I mostly have the boxset and I don't want to throw away the box. The Gankutsuou box is the nicest box ever

BTW I love the new Geneon/funimation boxsets...they're super compact and they have all the single covers arts (no text though hehe)

[Fencedude]

Or you can get clear double disc cases (http://www.american-digital.com/prodsite/product.asp?p=1048&c=1967&name=DVDCase-ClearDoubleM-LockHub) and put one cover outside and one inside. That way you can still see the covers and reduce the space by half. Again, no trimming required.

That's probably the most elegant solution I must admit. Not being able to see each volume outweighed the convenience in my case, since the space savings is the same with either approach.

That is what I do. Bit of an issue for 7 disc series, but even then reducing it down to 4 is very useful.

[Classical]

My collection is still very small, so I haven't had to resort to that.

And I hope it stays that way, too.

Same here. The thing is though, I've also been careful of buying singles releases of shows that already have boxsets out. I love ADV's and especially Geneon's thinpaks because they save space. Bandai's Anime Legends sets are also great too for saving space. In general, I'm on the lookout for anything that saves space.

[rubyeye]

My ultimate space saving option is to throw away all the dvd cases and boxes and just keep all the dvds in those large DVD case folders. Now THAT's saving space!

[Glamrgrl104]

I like season sets and complete collection thin packs.
The only series I have yet to finish that I am buying in singles in are Tsubasa; otherwise, I am going to buy the season sets or thin packs. I like how the season sets and thin packs save space, it works with my media boxes I put them in.


Singles
Trinity Blood complete
Trigun complete
Heat Guy J complete
Black Cat complete
FMA complete
Fmp Tsr complete
Tsubasa vols 1-9 missing vol. 4

Box sets
Bleach one & two
Fruits basket

Thin packs
Gravitation
Azumanga Daioh
FMP
FMP FMOUFFU
Wild Arms

Season sets
Ouran Host club P1
Case closed S 1,2,3
Story of Sauinkoku P1

on pre-order
Nanaka 6/17 thin pack
Story of Sauinkoku P3
Ouran Host club P2
Case Closed S4
Tsubasa vol. 10

[dunno001]

I'm sure quite a few of us have fought this dilemma to some extent: at what point does the collection become so large that you can no longer accomodate everything? While some fans can afford to house thousands of dvds and collectibles, some others might be constrained by a small house, apartment, or shared living space. So what space savings measures, if any, have you taken?

I personally crossed a new barrier last week so far as what I was willing to thinpak. It's been a gradual transition, starting with singles whose covers I didn't like, then gradually encompassing all of my singles that were not in special packaging. After that the flimsy cheap boxes started to go. Take the Kashimashi boxset I got recently.... I don't even bother with the cheap thin boxes at this point. As soon as I can verify the discs aren't defective that box goes in the trash and the discs into thin cases. That it was in a box was coincidental to me, it was the cheapest way to buy the show.

Last week, however, marked the first time I ever removed singles from chipboard boxes to convert into thinpak singles. I de-boxed about 8 series whose boxes had drab or uninteresting artwork and converted them to thins. After considering eBaying them I ended up throwing those boxes away too because the hassle didn't seem worth whatever little amount people would nominally pay for them. The few singles I had left that were fullsize, things like the Ah! My Goddess Movie that had a special slipcover, also went into thinpacks and their special covers tossed out. The surprising thing is that it felt good when I was done, I didn't feel any regret. I finally realized I was allowing myself to become a victim of the sunk cost fallacy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost#Loss_aversion_and_the_sunk_cost_fallacy) . When I was able to resist buying the Lucky Star box despite its great artwork I think that became the turning point. The only frontier I cannot cross at this point is moving to CD binders..... there is something about being able to see the spine of each disc that matters to me still and probably always will.

In the end I have my DVD wall back to the appearance it had at the beginning of this year, but eventually it will be overfull again. Maybe that .hack/SIGN treasure chest box will be the next victim........
Well, I started the process with double-ultra-thinpacks. (5mm instead of 7) Since I just want them to watch, the trimming was never made into an exact science, but I've got it approximately right now. Most series where I have a box for them are safe, though some of them are just getting double-packed. (Thinpacking things like SMJ provides those cases.) However, I loved doing things like fitting KOR TV into the OVA's box, or making Urusei Yatsura TV fit in a TV and an OVA box... My biggest complaint is that I can't do this with manga, since that number is worse...

[Ty]

You know I see a lot of people express their concern over trimming covers as a reason to not thinpack. I don't see why it never occurs to people that they don't have to cut their covers. I fold the last 1/8" on each end in and just flatten it with a ruler. Works exactly the same as cutting except the process is reversible if you can live with the slight crease line that remains. I do it because it's faster and harder to screw up than cutting, rather than any sort of peace of mind knowing it's reversible though.

[LOUiE]

I've been thinpaking for years. I haven't been thinpaking the ones in boxes yet, but it might be happening soon. I'm only buying sets now and most of them are already thinpaked.I like the idea of making multidisc packaging into sets. So moving my 16 discs of KOR into one or two sets would save a bunch of room.

[Darkex]

There is still enough free room for my dvds, so I don't really need to repack stuff yet. I use rather deep shelves, so I can put my anime dvd in two rows which saves lots of space and people don't notice how many anime dvds I really own. :bigsmile:
Up to today I have just repacked both season of UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie in double cases, and put stuff which I own more than one version of in double thinpacks.

[davesimmons]

You know I see a lot of people express their concern over trimming covers as a reason to not thinpack. I don't see why it never occurs to people that they don't have to cut their covers. I fold the last 1/8" on each end in and just flatten it with a ruler. Works exactly the same as cutting except the process is reversible if you can live with the slight crease line that remains. I do it because it's faster and harder to screw up than cutting, rather than any sort of peace of mind knowing it's reversible though.

That's a good suggestion to add to the other cover-preserving schemes (thought up by others, not me):
- layering the covers atop each other for double & quad full-width cases.
- double-siding (1 facing out, 1 facing in) with clear full-width double cases.

For the Anime Legends style 6- to 12-disc cases the best thing (but more work!) is probably to scan & print to make your own cover, then put the original covers in a box for safekeeping.

[Shsway]

I've thin-packed just about every single that I didn't get a special box for. It kind of hurt doing that to my Chobits covers, but the overall benefits were astounding - at the beginning of that project, anyway. ;) No "trimming" here either..

I haven't yet been inspired to crunch down art boxes, but I have been eyeing that ugly one that came with Mermaid Forest TV, vol. 1. I've always resented spending extra dollars on that.

The only other thing I could do at this point, I suppose, is to find thinner equivalents of three to seven disc DVD cases, but I truly haven't been bothered enough to do it right now.

[djanss]

I don't buy artboxes except where they come with the full series--
Case in point, through the miracle of 2-disk Double-Slim cases, I've been able to pack all of ADV's subbed Sailor Moon, R, and Pioneer's S into one of ADV's boxes--Highly convenient.

(Similarly, with two disks in one Double-Slim, each of which take up half the space of an Old-fashioned disk case, that math works out to putting all eight boxes of Viz's Maison into two nice-looking boxes...
And have yet to fill up Kodocha's first box all the way.) :)

[Kellory]

Beyond the fact I could never bring myself to thinpack, there is simply the cost of it. I'm just not going to spend some 700 dollars on cases alone. And it might even be more at this point.

Still, one can get creative with space. My living room is essentially a 14x14 square for the most part. In it I have a relatively large desk holding 2 computers, a 22 and a 24 inch monitor, 2 full tower computers, a 17" laptop, couch, 42" TV, stand, DVD player, PS3, 360, HTPC, , soon a Wii, and a 5.1 stereo system. In addition along the walls I have some 15 5 shelf bookcases arranged in an L type pattern around 2 walls. It's somewhat claustrophobic, but I dont mind tight squeezes. Those 15 bookcases can hold nearly 4,000 regular DVD's. I'm not quite there yet, but even with a small room to work with, I have lots of space to grow. I should be able to shoehorn in several more bookcases as well.

[Ty]

I'm curious where the $700 figure comes from. Also, you don't have to do everything at once. I've been slowly converting for a couple of years, though admittedly when I think about it I may have at least 200 invested in the cost of the new cases. The price we pay for lacking moderation I guess. :)

[davesimmons]

Shop4tech prices are 29 cents each for either slim or slim-doubles in 100 lots (including shipping) and you can get 20 of the Anime Legends style 8-disc cases for $19. So for $100 you could thinpak 300-600 discs or 8pack 800 discs. Meritline prices are even cheaper but don't include shipping.

With the singles you cut space used in half, with the doubles and 8-disc cases space used is 1/4 of the regular cases.

[Kellory]

I'm curious where the $700 figure comes from. Also, you don't have to do everything at once. I've been slowly converting for a couple of years, though admittedly when I think about it I may have at least 200 invested in the cost of the new cases. The price we pay for lacking moderation I guess. :)

.25 cents per case X 3,000 single DVD's. It adds up fast. And that's actually on the conservative side. It'd be closer to 1k really. And there's no slowly. Not with the numbers I pull in. And even if it were offset over years, we're still talking $700+. And I only buy singles when available, so it's not like I'm not constantly going to have to be buying more. I could buy a lot of Anime for $700. And like I said, I have room for 4,000 or so currently. And I'm only around 3,500. And I have room for about 1,000 more singles, so about 5,000 total. Beyond that, I'd have to either look at alternate storage or convert a room to a library storage. I'd just prefer to keep all my storage shelves in the living room with the TV so it's all together. I dont like having stuff spread out.

Of course, I doubt I"ll hit 5,000 anytime soon. Even 4,000 is in doubt. I was actually considering doing an article on winning Anime. The trend towards boxsets has actually hurt me more it seems, when coupled with the fewer licenses and fewer studio's. Once the Geneon orphans finish up and I get Welcome to the NHK and Pumpkin Scissors volume 6, I"ll be down to just 4 or 5 ongoing titles. That's the fewest in years. With boxsets things finish off much faster so I get things done much faster. This is good for me in a viewing sense since I love boxsets. But bad in the collecting sense since it means I'm also finishing up much faster.

Then again though, I voted Living the Dream in the other thread, so I suppose few people have my problems, and most would probably kill to have my problems. So it's all relative I suppose.

[zidanetribal2000]

Normally I just get the collections of shows, it wasn't until recently I started to get the singles + artboxes and this was due to ADV removing extras from their thinpacks. Since ADV is now changing thier attitude about collections/extras I am going back to mainly collections after the shows I am now collecting via singles are done.

I also like Funimation's half-season sets. Sometimes the video quality is just fine and sometimes the cramming of episodes has an effect on video quality. But space wise they are perfect since a two disc half season set takes up the room of one single. I am glad I opted to get Pumpkin Scissors via their half season sets because I don't think I would have had the room for all the singles.

[russ869]

Well, I started the process with double-ultra-thinpacks. (5mm instead of 7) Since I just want them to watch, the trimming was never made into an exact science, but I've got it approximately right now. Most series where I have a box for them are safe, though some of them are just getting double-packed. (Thinpacking things like SMJ provides those cases.) However, I loved doing things like fitting KOR TV into the OVA's box, or making Urusei Yatsura TV fit in a TV and an OVA box... My biggest complaint is that I can't do this with manga, since that number is worse...
I just got some clear double-thinpakcs (I think their 7mm). So I can relate to this because I just started experimenting. So far I've tried trimming some really cheap DVDs I just got (Master Keaton and Flame of Recca) that won't be a big loss if I messed up the covers. It's incredible how it reduces the DVDs to taking up 1/4 the space!

I'm thinking of thinkpaking my Fullmetal Alchemist singles next, but I think I wanna try something that doesn't involve trimming the covers this time. Unfortunately it doesn't seem likely that I can double-thinkpak the covers (one facing forward and one facing backward) without cutting them down.

[sevenbark]

I just got some clear double-thinpakcs (I think their 7mm). So I can relate to this because I just started experimenting. So far I've tried trimming some really cheap DVDs I just got (Master Keaton and Flame of Recca) that won't be a big loss if I messed up the covers. It's incredible how it reduces the DVDs to taking up 1/4 the space!
I've been doing this for a while now, but my biggest win was the first series I converted. I've got all of UY TV, OVAs, and movies - 62 volumes - in 10.25 inches of space. The TV and OVA disks are double thin packed and the movies are single thinned.

I'm thinking of thinkpaking my Fullmetal Alchemist singles next, but I think I wanna try something that doesn't involve trimming the covers this time. Unfortunately it doesn't seem likely that I can double-thinkpak the covers (one facing forward and one facing backward) without cutting them down.I've got FMA in 3 triple cases and a quad case. The problem with FMA is the booklets - they won't all fit in the cases.

[djanss]

Shop4tech prices are 29 cents each for either slim or slim-doubles in 100 lots (including shipping) and you can get 20 of the Anime Legends style 8-disc cases for $19. So for $100 you could thinpak 300-600 discs or 8pack 800 discs. Meritline prices are even cheaper but don't include shipping.

With the singles you cut space used in half, with the doubles and 8-disc cases space used is 1/4 of the regular cases.

And that's only if you mail out--
Considering most local strip-mall Staples office-supply stores sell their own house brand of Double-Slims in packs of 20.

[russ869]

I'm thinking of thinkpaking my Fullmetal Alchemist singles next, but I think I wanna try something that doesn't involve trimming the covers this time. Unfortunately it doesn't seem likely that I can double-thinkpak the covers (one facing forward and one facing backward) without cutting them down.I've got FMA in 3 triple cases and a quad case. The problem with FMA is the booklets - they won't all fit in the cases.
I can find another place to put all the booklets. What did you do with the covers? If I use the reverse sides with just the plain artwork, I suppose I won't mind clipping them. Many of the images don't even go to the edge of the cover. I'm just trying to think of the cleanest way to do this.

[Ty]

I've been looking into replacing my myriad collection of shelving units with two really huge ones, but I'm truly surprised by how little there is for selection out there. Every major site seems to have the same options basically: the Atlantic Oskar, that middle priced brand that looks perfect but has tons of complaints about flimsy sagging shelves, and stuff that is so expensive it makes your eyes water just reading the digits.

The oskars are a bit cheaper looking than I'd like, I'd pay a bit more for richer appearance, but I think it's the best compromise out there. What I really want is something that only has one divider in the middle but is still at least 36" wide. Apparently nobody is willing to design a product like that and actually provide thick enough shelves to cover the span without sagging.

[sevenbark]

I'm thinking of thinkpaking my Fullmetal Alchemist singles next, but I think I wanna try something that doesn't involve trimming the covers this time. Unfortunately it doesn't seem likely that I can double-thinkpak the covers (one facing forward and one facing backward) without cutting them down.I've got FMA in 3 triple cases and a quad case. The problem with FMA is the booklets - they won't all fit in the cases.
I can find another place to put all the booklets. What did you do with the covers? If I use the reverse sides with just the plain artwork, I suppose I won't mind clipping them. Many of the images don't even go to the edge of the cover. I'm just trying to think of the cleanest way to do this.
The triples and quads I'm using are the size of standard cases, like this one (http://www.shop4tech.com/item2540.html), so no trimming is needed. As for the covers, I just nest them.

[Conri]

In general, I have no desire to thinpack, but I was inspired by this thread and the Shop4Tech BF18 sale to try some three disc and single disc (clear) cases to condense series like Fighting Spirit and replace some of my death grip cases. However, I don't like the feel of the cases compared to my original cases. I'm probably also affected by the fact that I don't need the space savings, I just thought it was a neat idea. The clear ones are decent--I'm just too damn picky. The fronts of the cases bow outwards slightly, which I only remember noticing with my School Rumble DVD 1, and yes, that bothered me too.

Maybe I should have already known that case changing wasn't for me after the one time I ordered clear refurbished M-lock cases from Rightstuf, I ended up with new cloudy/frosted/semi-clear cases. :P Still, even though they weren't the clear ones I was looking for, I really like the quality of the cases.

At least I've learned not to experiment with DVD cases any more. I'll just wait and hope for Rightstuf to have some more refurbished standard cases lying around somewhere. Now I have to figure out what to do with these other cases... DVD case dominos? Build a fort? :bigsmile:

OFF TOPIC: I noticed while going through my Fighting Spirit DVDs that one of them has a foggy look on the data side that doesn't come off when wiping with a soft cloth. Is this some kind of deteriation? It seems to play okay, but I've only re-watched the first episode on the disc so far.

[davesimmons]

> "Shop4Tech BF18 sale to try some three disc and single disc (clear) cases"

I haven't tried the 3-disc cases from them yet. In the picture it looked like the front of the 3-disc case was used just for holding booklets and such, is that right?

> "I'll just wait and hope for Rightstuf to have some more refurbished standard cases lying around somewhere."

You could always ask to pay shipping to get a box full of cases from someone who is thinpacking / multicasing. And/or offer to trade your shop4tech cases.