Another Case For Physical Media (reposted BW article)

I’ve mentioned my other website, BW Media Spotlight, in the past here at the Clutter Reports and even used a few reviews as filler posts, since reviews are part of what I do here and these reviews are things I own and considering whether to remove or not. The books I reviewed here were also reviewed over there, only the book reviews here are an overview while the other site goes over them a chapter at a time. Even the times I’ve shown off new art supplies and my art desk were things I use to make logos and comics for my other site.

I’ve defended keeping physical media in the past, music in that case, how while going all digital sounds good on paper (pun intended) there are negatives that don’t always work. There’s nothing wrong with a comic, novel, video game, CD/cassette/record, or home video library if they are things you actually plan to read, play, or watch. Recent events with popular digital comic site ComiXology are another example. I want to get rid of the comics I don’t want to read anymore, making a digital archive for my website’s purposes (it will easier to look them up and get the panels I need) but having that comic in my hands and knowing it stays mine is a good thing. What follows is my look at the changes ComiXology went through after being bought by Amazon, the recent huge layoff alert, and why the paper stuff is still a good option. I’ve made a few changes if I thought the more casual fans that would stumble on this site would find something hard to follow or don’t follow my other site. Here’s the original post if you’re curious. And now….the repost:

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I have no idea what’s going on with ComiXology these days. Just recently I posted a BW Ramble v-log about how they finally fixed the Guided View feature, which reformatted the normal comic page for cleaner viewing on smartphone and tablet screens, and even the larger computer monitor, a feature they dropped when Amazon bought the digital comics service and decided to integrate it into Kindle. Now they’re cutting a huge chunk of their workforce. Almost 75% according to Bounding Into Comics. Yes, with people being allowed into that area of space we call “outside”, which I vaguely remember visiting once or twice, demand for at-home media has gone down. Streaming services are not making as much money as they were during the lockdowns and that’s only partly blamed on some…questionable decisions by streaming services that a Clutter Report version of this article would be out of place going on about. Part of it can also be blamed on our current economic issues and I won’t go into a political rant here because, again, I’m reformatting this article for a decluttering blog and I don’t even like doing those kind of rants on the storytelling discussion site.

Even people currently working at ComiXology are complaining about the layoffs, not to mention high ranking types who are already hitting the job sites for work. That’s certainly bad news in this climate and I wish them all the best of luck, but BW Media Spotlight and The Clutter Reports aren’t business sites, it’s a storytelling or clutter organizing site. Digital comics, for some, have replaced physical comics because they take up less floor space and are a bit cheaper since there isn’t printing costs to deal with…I mean, in theory they’re cheaper. However, with such a huge drop in people running the site this is a format of comics that may take a hit of its own, and frankly just pushes my belief that physical comics are still superior in the end.

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Talking Transformer Toy Terminology

Okay, this week’s project is continuing the video projects drive, but I’m using the same general tips from the previous backup drive reorganizing so why go over that again? So I thought maybe this week I’d use another video.

As part of my decluttering I have reviewed numerous Transformers figures as well as other action figures. So far all I’ve managed to sell through the “clutter for sale” section are the MegaMan NT Warrior figures, though I did get a couple of offers for one of the e-dexes…which I’m not planning to sell at this time. I want to move the stuff I know I want to get rid of before I reconsider stuff I’m on the fence about. I’m sure I’m not the only one looking to declutter a toy collection but some of you out there may not be up on all the action figure terminology, especially when it comes to Transformers, when it comes to buying or selling toys for your collection or perhaps someone who passed away and left a lot of these plastic-and-occasionally-metal transforming robot toys.

So for fun and to have an article worth posting this week, I found a video by the YouTube channel TF Collector going over all the terms used by Transformers fans, collectors, and sellers both official an unofficial that you should be aware of not only for Transformers but many of these terms also apply to other action figure lines. Here’s your 101 on toy terminology.

Organizing The Video Project Drive

This is not the messed-up menu for the video drive. This is my back-up drive…where I learned a number of things about organizing and decluttering that I could bring into my physical decluttering and vice versa. This week I wanted to organize my video projects drive. For my other site I do articles, comics, and videos. I’ve even done some videos for this site, like the Parblo A610 graphics tablet review and the Godzilla Stomp card game. Time and life events prevented me from doing a lot of videos lately, and then my old video project drive when crazy when I tried to organize it like I did the back-up drive. A friend of mine managed to save the footage and transfer it to a NEW video project drive and this week I finally was able to go through it and being organizing.

Yes, begin. I did the heavy stuff this week but like before further organizing and deleting is in my future. This week was about getting the essential organizing going, creating a place for everything like I’ve started doing for the physical clutter and deleting multiples and unneeded files to take up less space. Virtual clutter is almost as bad as the realspace stuff for the same reasons. It takes up room you could be using and makes finding what you want a mess. So here’s what I was able to do in this round.

Re-Organizing The Christmas Decorations

Well, it’s the beginning of the new year. That means the Christmas decorations are coming down and the studio will be back to normal (or what passes for it). This year I thought I’d revisit the organizing of the decorations. I think I talked about it before, the image above coming from a previous article, but new people come along storing their old decorations so why not look at some new techniques involving the process?

This is the blue box where I store my decorations. Usually I put the stuff in the smaller boxes that they’ll fit in and call it a year. Some boxes were dedicated to a particular set of decorations but not really officially, meaning I didn’t always remember where they go. This year I opted to bring Operation: A Place For Everything into my decoration organization. (Hey, that rhymes!) I also made sure that this year I actually remembered to put everything away, as a couple of items skipped out and I had to place them somewhere else rather than having to dig the thing out for two items. This year they all (looks around room) are put away. Here’s some things I decided to try this year to make it easier to find what I want next year.

Rambling About My 2023 Plans

While it’s mostly BW Media Spotlight stuff there is talk about my decluttering plans and the next couple of projects since it ties in to what I’m doing there, so I’m posting this here as well. Have a clutter-busting 2023 and we’re back in business next Sunday. Barring the annoying stuff I’ve been dealing with getting in my way again, of course.