BLOCKBUSTER GOT BACK???
I just read an awesome news alert by my pals over at Comics & Crypto, that none other than 80s mega-brand BLOCKBUSTER is going to give it another go. Like…Holy Crap, really? Damn, I didn’t know they were still skipping along either, just checking to see they have an active community on X of over 260,000 fans - did you?
Damn, some of you younglings may not get what the heck that even was, or what it meant to us teens back in the 80s & 90s!
There are 1000s of ‘what happened to Blockbuster Video’ vids on YouTube, but for those who never had the joy of entering a store, it was so many things to so many people - date night anticipation, boredom elimination, awesome video covers, an adult-only selection room, bumping into friends & neighbours, 3-day rentals, VHS vs BETA debates, theatrical release posters, candy, pop, free popcorn, and of course the pain when you saw the flick was out on rental.
I remember my dad coming home with our first VCR and plugging it in like it was yesterday. His first choice of movie? POLTERGEIST. JayZuz H to this day I still ensure all closets are closed before tucking in! And for many years to follow, pizza & movie night with the family was an event we all looked forward to. And YES - I laughed my ass off in that Captain Marvel scene when she fell from space right through the roof of a Blockbuster!
Technology of course, keeps coming at us, ever since we first made fire. Innovation waits for no one, even the most iconic, beloved brands that held our attentions so tightly have found themselves caught in the crosshairs of disruption.
So after reading C&C’s note on X (below), I thought why not write a little blurb why Blockbuster pulling a superhero back-to-life-comeback attempt might not be such a crazy idea after all…
Blockbuster Video Was Stuck On Rewind
One day this NETFLIX thing shows up, with kiosks at local malls & grocery stores called REDBOX you could rent movies for $1/night, dropping out like pop from a pop machine. Two-birds-in-one based on convenience I guess, somewhat competing with the likes of COLUMBIA HOUSE CD CLUB.
Then Netflix decided to go further, fast, focusing on the emerging trend of streaming services. This marked the beginning of the end for Blockbuster, who didn’t believe consumers would give up those Friday night visits.
We were growing tired of the inconvenience of returning rented DVDs, out-of-stock movies and those DAMNED LATE FEES, and thus rapidly embraced the on-demand, anytime, anywhere accessibility offered by streaming platforms. Blockbuster's brick-and-mortar stores couldn't compete with the convenience of a few clicks and a cozy movie night at home. The Last Blockbuster, located in Bend, Oregon, stands as a bittersweet testament to an era when movie night meant a trip to the video store.
It’s why today I write these blogs - having lived through the NO INTERNET ERA and having had the absolute pleasure of seeing these new technologies take shape, I feel so optimistic for what our futures have in store. Well, at least from a ‘convenient entertainment’ point of view, and like to write about why I really enjoy digital collecting!
May as well throw this in as well, but a lot of us had to pay $20 for a CD filled with pure CRAP just to get the one or two songs we loved from the artist. Unless you could afford one of those ‘audio receiver towers’ and tall boy speakers, the music quality played through your ghetto blaster pretty much sucked just a tad less than AM Radio. When NAPSTER showed up it was like seeing your first rocket launch. LIMEWIRE took over ‘during the lawsuit times,’ and suddenly we were all sharing music with everyone around the world.
Sure Apple tried to go the legit route, selling songs for $1, but Spotify and a few other streaming audio services then made it all so EASY, so accessible, with digital quality that sounded great in your car or Bose speaker. And SO Convenient. Today, LIMEWIRE is now "back to reshape the way people create, edit and transfer files globally. It's end-to-end encrypted, AI-powered file sharing platform allows you to upload, manipulate & share files of any size, on any device."
Yet another nostalgic brand re-inventing itself based on where technology has enabled its original concepts to work EASIER & BETTER!
The point I guess I’m taking too damned long to make is these things happened whether we wanted them to or not. Most of us never even realized how fast it was happening and I’ll say this with conviction, NOBODY REALLY KNEW HOW ANY OF IT REALLY WORKED.
Fans of the hugely successful digital collectibles app “VEVE” will be familiar with ‘Master Collector’ @CleverJerk21, a phenomenal physical & digital collector, who offered some keen verbiage to this discussion:
“I think we're in an enlightenment of collecting. The Baroque and Medieval eras were not known as such during those times, but it's how we recognize and categorize them today. The Industrial era was brought upon the invention of steel, to which we are still benefitting from its invention. We are now in the digital era of the world's history, where we are so new in this timeline (approx. 50, if you push the IBM early years) that we haven't the sight to see its full potential.”
Considering the INTERNET has only been around for less than 25 years, with its seismic shift in how humanity now communicates, you can certainly project the digital age to be a massive historical era future generations will benefit from. CleverJerk21 is spot on… And imagine if you're lucky enough to have held onto some of those original VHS (Cased / Unopened) movies - what could they suddenly be worth as such nostalgic remembrances of how a Blockbuster visit begin to reshape into future methods?
Which is exactly why I think this Blockbuster resurgence could work. If you missed the memo:
@Blockbuster filed a patent to revive its brand with “Blockbuster-branded entertainment centers,” combining elements like nightclubs, restaurants, and event spaces, aimed at creating immersive, multi-sensory experiences for visitors. They will pay homage to the nostalgic video rental era, but may also provide modern social venues allowing guests to interact with both digital and physical media, bridging the gap between classic movie rentals and contemporary social hubs.
The move signals that the once-dominant video rental chain is aiming to tap into the growing trend of branded experiences, where companies create more immersive, experiential environments rather than just offering a product or service."
Tie this into the digital comic collecting space we’re just starting to understand. DC Bat Cowl holders unite in digital spaces to curate comic stories made by FANS for the first time ever. VeVe is building a VEVEVERSE where you can place your digital collectibles into virtual environments, invite people to that space and not only chat, but view your artwork, collections, meet writers and collab on any idea that comes to mind. Virtual storefronts, meetups, comic readings…probably bigger events & concerts down the line…there’s just so much potential from all this new tech…
TRUST ME, BRANDS KNOW THIS IS HAPPENING.
Sure, they’re not overly shouting out from rooftops just yet, while the technology quirks are ironed out and some of that negative BS our news sites love to focus on about NFTs and digital assets are still front & center, but that too shall pass. Did you happen to NOT NOTICE why Facebook renamed themselves to META? That’s kind of a big hint…
Blockbuster meant a lot to me as a kid. As a dad with kids of my own now, I sometimes wish I could share that experience with them. And well, if Blockbuster pulls this off (sorry, no clue yet if this means we need to strap on some Apple Glasses), they might just have at least one movie buff & comic geek willing to re-enter the blue & yellow realm. I wish them luck!
Thanks for Reading!
