Blockbuster Auctions Itself Off; Any Takers?

[Wish I Was Wealthy]

Hey Thunderfox...Your are so damn right you know & the likes of them where all so damn expensive to...

 

[Wish I Was Wealthy]

Hey guilfylfyilyf...Real bad man,real bad...Don't you know what a real bargain is yet,well it does'nt look like it...

 

[Wish I Was Wealthy]

I would really like to see how much it goes for when they have to sell it at auctions to pay back their credit providers that they borrowed from...

 

[cpatel1987]

Seems like any time Blockbuster was an option, even during the 90's when I grew up, there were better options. Mainly I'm talking about renting video games. I could go to Blockbuster and rent a game for a max 3 days at the time, vs going to another store where I could rent it for 7 days for nearly the same price. Blockbuster was too stubborn back then to match their competition, and they were too stubborn now when Netflix and Gamefly came about. They deserve it. Too bad for any employees though.

 

[slabbo]

this is what the new owner needs to do...shut down more locations. and just keep one big warehouse in each state to keep costs down, but also to keep shipping time competitive. then combine the services of netflix and gamefly under 1 roof. 1 membership, gets you games and movies for ~$12/month.

 

[wild9]

[citation][nom]itchyisvegeta[/nom]I miss all the mom and pop video stores. I miss renting a video game for $3 bucks for 1-2 days, that sold for $50 bucks brand new.[/citation]

Same here, itchyisvegeta I lived through the video rental explosion of 80’s, and can recall not only many video stores but also a plethora of mom and pop outlets selling their unique array of produce. Even gas stations starting filling their shelves with rentals. The one down the road had an older section where you could rent 5 older films for a small price, and keep them for a week. I loved it.

We also had the ability to rent all the “video nasties” long before the British government got on it’s high horse and wiped the shelves. I’ll never forget renting the ‘Evil Dead’ for the first time..the buzz we got from picking up our copy was awesome. The whole family came round to watch and we all had a great time.

Like you say, the video games starting coming and we were able to rent the latest titles, mainly on the Playstation 1 and Sega Megadrive (Genesis). Through all this I made some lasting friendships, including the people that ran the stores. When the bigger stores came in the atmosphere seemed less personal, with higher prices and more commercial media. Increasing rents and changing lifestyles eventually killed those off.

I think times have changed so much now, it’s hard to describe to someone just what it was like to shop before the age of the high-speed Internet. What are these shopping towns like today? Dilapidated, dirty, uninviting. Filled with incessant traffic that only stops to fill up with gas, or demolished to make way for private housing projects. The video rental stores that did stay have mostly been turned into betting offices, real estate agents , greasy fast food joints or ex-catalogue stores. I don’t know if this a similar environment where you live but I’d say most English except the tourist hot-spots are like that these days.. faceless.

Alas, I guess this is the price we pay for cheap, fast Internet, online media and ordering stuff online from some nameless entity working all the hours God sends in a distribution warehouse. Therefore I think Blockbuster’s demise was an inevitable sign of the times. For me the days of going downtown specifically to pick up a rental movie or game are long gone. I miss them.

 

[wild9]

but I’d say most English except the tourist hot-spots are like that these days.. faceless.

most English towns I meant to say, sorry.

 

[demonhorde665]

[citation][nom]SlickyFats[/nom]Rather than closing stores they should have just lowered their prices. Blockbuster has always been far more expensive than our local Hasting's Entertainment.[/citation]

my thoughts exactly , , i live right between hunstville texas and college station/bryan texas ,both towns are 30 miles from me , in hunstville the blockbuster closed over two years ago , the hastings is still going strong, in college station/bryan they closed both block busterxs and there are 3 hastings thata re still raking in buisness.

on one end and to be fair though , hasting's is more than just a video rental palce , they rent movies , but they also sell movies , games , music books, comic books and any paraphinellia associated with any of those things (like video game action figures or band related collectibles. the truth is in the modern day being a brick and mortar store for just one thing (especially rentals) just wont cut it and your rentals have to be 5 bucks or less , because most people will not rent a movie for 7-9 dollars when they can buy it at amazon or some other internet source for just ten dollars. hell i won't even pay 5 bucks for a rental myself , i use net flix and it only cost me ten bucks a month.

 

[demonhorde665]

[citation][nom]wild9[/nom]I shall miss Blockbuster, even though I found their prices high. Why? Because of the physical nature of the medium and the excitement of browsing films in an exceptionally clean, spacious and warm environment. Some of the staff at our local store were so slow it was unreal, and there was a lot of resentment from smaller, more independent outlets, over the way the bigger outlets seemed to take over. Just shows doesn't it..even the biggest fish get swallowed in the digital ocean.So someone buys the name..but is it the same? What I mean is, just clicking on a film and downloading it..I don't really feel it has the same kind of appeal as actually going to a store and picking one or more titles off the shelf. I think I'm biased because like many I grew up in a time long before broadband, and You Tube, and streaming HD content. I grew up in a time when stores actually meant something more than closing down sales; there was somewhat of a sense of community, and now these stores are boarded up it just makes the place look even more drab and uninviting.So I miss the physical aspect of visiting a store and using my arms to reach for the mysterious box on the shelf..even if half the stuff on offer was politically-correct garbage from Hollywood. Now people just lock themselves away in their private little cubby holes and download their content without having to worry about rubbing shoulders with someone else. Aside from a bag of chips and a can of pop to soften the blow, I think that kind of sucks don't you?[/citation]


i feel this way too , i graduated high school in 98 and i think back to then it's mind blowing the internet while starting to take off at the time was still relatively new to most people and the idea of streaming movies and rentals over the web would have been nuts back then
I can still remember many times i spent hours in this or that miovie rental place , looking for the hioly grail list of movies to take home for the night
(heck i can really remember a lot more , i have a really good memory compared to many people i know , in can still remember stuff that happened when i was 3-4 years old vividly, and i'm 31 now)

and yeah at times i do miss the way things were, maybe it's the "magicalness" associated with childhood memories that makes us so nostalgic for the great "back then". but when you really think to back then , can you really say it was so great?

 

[demonhorde665]

[citation][nom]wild9[/nom]Same here, itchyisvegeta I lived through the video rental explosion of 80’s, and can recall not only many video stores but also a plethora of mom and pop outlets selling their unique array of produce. Even gas stations starting filling their shelves with rentals. The one down the road had an older section where you could rent 5 older films for a small price, and keep them for a week. I loved it.We also had the ability to rent all the “video nasties” long before the British government got on it’s high horse and wiped the shelves. I’ll never forget renting the ‘Evil Dead’ for the first time..the buzz we got from picking up our copy was awesome. The whole family came round to watch and we all had a great time.Like you say, the video games starting coming and we were able to rent the latest titles, mainly on the Playstation 1 and Sega Megadrive (Genesis). Through all this I made some lasting friendships, including the people that ran the stores. When the bigger stores came in the atmosphere seemed less personal, with higher prices and more commercial media. Increasing rents and changing lifestyles eventually killed those off.I think times have changed so much now, it’s hard to describe to someone just what it was like to shop before the age of the high-speed Internet. What are these shopping towns like today? Dilapidated, dirty, uninviting. Filled with incessant traffic that only stops to fill up with gas, or demolished to make way for private housing projects. The video rental stores that did stay have mostly been turned into betting offices, real estate agents , greasy fast food joints or ex-catalogue stores. I don’t know if this a similar environment where you live but I’d say most English except the tourist hot-spots are like that these days.. faceless.Alas, I guess this is the price we pay for cheap, fast Internet, online media and ordering stuff online from some nameless entity working all the hours God sends in a distribution warehouse. Therefore I think Blockbuster’s demise was an inevitable sign of the times. For me the days of going downtown specifically to pick up a rental movie or game are long gone. I miss them.[/citation]

that's "middle america" for you , you hit the nail on the head my brit cousin , most of US is like this , either miles of nothing , or miles of little nothing towns filed with "ghost shell" buildings that used to be mom and pop buisness's , not sure about britain , but in the US this was mostly the fault of large corperations like wal mart and blockbuster, but in this new digital age we are stepping into these corperations wont last either at least not in teh physical buildings.

though if we look on the bright side , perhaps the death of the physical store will generate a wealth of land for sale , namely land for housing and residential areas. so perhaps there is not just a dark side to this, because with teh current population figures for teh whole world , land and housing is only getting more scarce.

 

[phil kizer]

I worked there twice, once in Connecticut and another time in Georgia. The funniest part was all these corny, B movies(should be C or D movies) that would come in the shipments. Never heard of them, and on rare occasions they would have someone somewhat famous appear it one of them. But yet, if you refuse to upgrade with the times, you are doomed to be left behind.

I don't understand why they just don't convert all of their physical stock to streaming videos like Netflix and offer exclusives. I'm sure someone will buy them, re-brand them, and take it in a progressive direction. Think about, Blockbuster has been around this long and the mom and pops aren't coming back.

 

[phil kizer]

Man, I was just reading some of you guys' posts and I agree with a lot of you. Actually going to a physical place to get physical goods and meet and communicate face-to-face with physical people is becoming a dying thing and it's sad.

It's like introvert culture is taking over the mainstream. We're connected to our beloved computers 24/7, so much so that we carry them in our pockets now in the form of Android and Apple smartphones. Instead of calling someone, we text, email, or Facebook. Instead of having someone come over, sit on the couch with us and play video games, we login to online servers to play against people we cant see.

I mean, coming from being an 80s baby and watching technology evolve around me, everything we have now is amazing but all of this cant be good for us in the long run. No one is going to have any social skills and we will all turn into "Techno-Savages" only coming out of our caves to eat and meet ladies by knocking them over the head with an old keyboard and give them digital flowers like @}--;---- (remember that? LOL just joking). If anyone's got any solutions, I'm all ears, or in this case, all eyes. Sorry guys, didn't mean to rant but this is what was on my heart.