Anomalies of the Collection; Region + Format
The majority of the collection consists of US, Canadian and Japanese animation and anime (respectively) on VHS tapes that use the NTSC region format, and Laserdiscs. A few format anomalies to this are DVD and Blu-ray, one BetaMax tape and several CED discs. Luckily the collection also includes PAL and SECAM formatted tapes, (see image above where designated regional formats are shown). I hope to increase the number of these (anyone have online retailer suggestions?)
Compilations of specific animator’s work, such as the wonderful Pioneer Pathfinder Laserdisc serie with animators like Norman McClaren and Oskar Fischinger, are also present in the collection. The Ghibli music video for On Your Mark is another example of media outside the norm.
I currently live in the US and use secondhand stores, EBay and online Japanese retailers to acquire most of the VHS and Laserdiscs. I’m able to find media at reasonable prices due to the original popularity of each media in a given country and the disinterest with the older formats by the common consumer in the last couple decades due to assumed obsoletion and upgrade trends. Luckily I’ve found a few French, Eastern European and/or former Soviet, Canadian and British animation media due to one of the following reasons:
When I’m lucky enough to travel abroad I’m always on the look out for comics and tapes
If titles are popular enough to find a NTSC region distributor (mostly Japanese)
With a little luck, donations by (assumed) immigrated media owners. With these specific serendipitous occurrences, I’ve found a few French tapes, including: Le Roi et l'Oiseau AKA The King and the Mockingbird (1952).
When examples arise where I have a copy of something I can’t watch due to region-lock, lack of equipment or damage, I try to find an alternative version or format to include in the collection. For example, for The King and the Mockingbird I was able to purchase a Japanese copy on Laserdisc from an online Japanese retailer. This copy, much to my excitement, has two language audio tracks split between the stereo outputs: one French and one Japanese.
I have (at least known to me) two bootleg tapes of hard-to-find / non-existent media: The Daft Punk + Leiji Matsumoto Collab for Interstellar 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (インターステラ5555) from 2003 is one of these. After nearly a decade trying to locate a DVD copy, I succumbed to purchase a bootleg.
Possible future blog posts: Why Collect/Why Digitize? CLA vs CAV laserdiscs, Zoetropes, Archive organizing updates, new additions, and more :L)
thanks for reading!
<3 M@
