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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to miss Blockbuster shops?

72 replies

Cladder · 17/06/2016 19:38

Anyone else? I used to like popping in and just browsing the DVDs and choosing what to watch. I miss the weird smell of the place. A mixture of popcorn and sweaty carpet. Sometimes our local branch was staffed by 'film & media' graduates who would recommend various films they had watched or slag off ones you were thinking of watching.

We tried Love Film etc but I always seemed to fall behind with the admin of it all.

I know I need to propel myself into this century and get with internet based TV and all that it has to offer on the film front but I don't seem to have the energy for it.

Oh well, there is always the local library DVD 'collection' and their "All Creatures Great and Small" box set I guess....

OP posts:

Babysafari · 17/06/2016 20:21

Oh yanbu. Our local video shop was Apollo, I loved going to get videos it was so exciting.

I don't really watch many films these days. Doing everything online is convenient but it's just not the same.

I always think one day we will have ifilms, everyone's TVs will be Apple and it will be instant downloads, all your films will be stored like in your iTunes account.

Or is that basically Netflix? I'm a bit behind the times.

beetroot2 · 17/06/2016 20:21

YANBU. I miss it too. What a treat it was on a Saturday night.

StealthPolarBear · 17/06/2016 20:21

Yeah but I don't think they actually had videos you had to rewind until 2013.

Original poster

Cladder · 17/06/2016 20:23

It does seem longer than 2013 TheWeeBaby

I was really hoping they might have been rescued by a book store chain like Waterstones. I'd like to go and have a coffee somewhere, browse some books and hire a DVD.

OP posts:

Resurgam2016 · 17/06/2016 20:24

I actually miss my local video shop more. It's smell was unique. As were the people that staffed it.

It's a West Indian bakers now. Not the same. Not the same at all.

KayTee87 · 17/06/2016 20:27

Yeah stealth I think the last video was made in 2008 but was fast becoming obsolete for years before that and now even DVDs are. Expecting my first child just now and fully expect him to think I'm mental if I tell him about rewinding a film before you could watch it

jay55 · 17/06/2016 20:29

Half my dvd collection is used stock from blockbuster.

StealthPolarBear · 17/06/2016 20:30

Yes dvds and cds are on tbe way out.
There was something magical about buying a cd you'd wanted for ages. I remember buying Mellon collie
...actually that was on tape...
and it was about £20 and it was so special.

acasualobserver · 17/06/2016 20:31

There was always an unpleasant smell in Blockbusters. And all of them had exactly the same unpleasant smell.

velourvoyageur · 17/06/2016 20:32

like your OP
and totally agree, my mum used to take me and I think we even went when they still had videos....we got Legally Blonde out so many times! Have such a soft spot for that film. And she would buy nice food and it would be a whole thing Totally different experience to now, much more special and more willingness to give the film a go then - now if I'm not interested in the first few minutes I'll switch over.

OITNB season 4 out today so I am being loyal and not slagging off VPN-free Netflix, for once!

wanderings · 17/06/2016 20:32

I used to rewind the tapes to just after the trailers at the beginning, for the benefit of the next renter.

Original poster

Cladder · 17/06/2016 20:36

wanderings how thoughtful

OP posts:

TiredOfSleep · 17/06/2016 20:36

Aww made me long for the independent video shop at uni. They had all these terrible old videos for £1 on week nights. The covers were in plastic frames and you'd flick through them making this plastic tap tap noise until something caught your eye.

By the last year they'd stopped selling videos and a few years later it was closed.

TwentyCupsOfTea · 17/06/2016 20:39

I miss it too.
My town had one of the last ones ever, so we knew the end was coming! I went regularly, and the guys in the shop got to know me and always had something to reccomend, and we would have a chat about the film when I bought it back.
It made it an event - clicking online and choosing something really isn't the same at all. If I do that and find im not really enjoying it, I will click off and find another. I rarely Commit to sitting down and watching something all the way through now!

Another case of instant gratification winning out...

KayTee87 · 17/06/2016 20:42

I know, one of my favourite things to do as a teenager was go into virgin records or one of the smaller independent shops in town with a friend and spend about an hour looking for just the right cd to spend your money on.
I still play CDs through my DVD player and bought a couple of CDs at Christmas time actually. I remember buying tapes in asda when I was small with my pocket money, I think the first one i bought was a Michael Jackson one. Aw nostalgic now.

RatOnnaStick · 17/06/2016 20:46

This brings memories of the Video Man who turned up every Friday in his unmarked white van which was racked out just like the video shops with videos and posters and stuff. Bit like the mobile library I suppose except the librarians never got arrested for piracy...

StealthPolarBear · 17/06/2016 20:56

Kay tee we used to have racks of cds for sale in the student union as well. Much of my collection came from there

TheWeeBabySeamus1 · 17/06/2016 20:57

We had a video man too RatOnnaStick, he rented them out the back of his car. We rented our telly off him as well... I don't know anywhere you can rent a tv from now either.

anyoldname76 · 17/06/2016 21:02

i worked in a small video shop, i loved it, whatever film i wanted on and as much popcorn as i wanted to eat

Ineedmorelemonpledge · 17/06/2016 21:03

I used to use the huge Blockbuster store in Crystal Palace.

It felt like you at least exerted a bit of energy for a Friday night in! The queue used to be horrendous. And always cardboard buckets of M&Ms at the counter.

Rows and rows of the best sellers. And a post box to return the movies!

I'm sure many a relationship failed in there though...I had countless arguments about film choices with one of my boyfriends.

Oh and once I left a dvd in the player and went to Australia for 3 weeks. I came back and had a £50 fine.

Baconyum · 17/06/2016 21:10

I suspect I'm older than a few of you, I remember buying vinyl weekly!

That said I should warn you I'm about to make you feel ancient, dd 15 confidently told me I was so out of date recently for using...Spotify!

Original poster

Cladder · 17/06/2016 21:10

It seems quite a lot of us do miss our local video/dvd rental store.

RIP Blockbusters/Apollo et al...

OP posts:

RatOnnaStick · 17/06/2016 21:12

Oh yes rental telly. Ours was from DER and the video recorder too.

StealthPolarBear · 17/06/2016 21:25

Yeah vinyl has always been old to me sorry
but Spotify. ..its on my list of things to get to grips with

echt · 17/06/2016 21:27

Well, it's a bit of walk, but there's still a Blockbuster hanging in there down the road from me in Melbourne, with only half the floor space it used to have. It's the only DVD shop for miles. Literally.

Even the two independent ones have gone to the wall, but not for lack of custom - absurdly high rents have killed them off.

Anyway, this thread has reminded me, and I'll see what's on offer today.

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