I just remembered something I half-way considered, but decided I was
already so far along that it wouldn't make much sense: There's a
dealer offering 30,000 OTR shows on 35 DVDs for 89.95 (I think he
raised his price $10 for Christmas):
http://www.bookzap.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=YPC-6XCE
Same dealer has what he claims is a complete set of CBS Radio Mystery
Theater on 4 DVDs.
These dealers all snatch things up from the USENET groups mentioned
before, and the quality varies from great to miserable (just like it
did with tapes). I find the quality to be at least 90%-95% acceptable.
Are you up to date on MP3 format? You don't have to play these things
on the computer--there are a lot of CD and DVD players that are MP3
compatible, but they don't all have the needed features. Some won't
play low bitrate files, such as most OTR recordings. The only way to
be sure is to bring a disk to the store and try it out. Also, the Rio
Volt offers a true pause/resume feature, so that you can stop and
power off the player in the middle of an episode, then pick back up at
exactly that point. There's an art to getting the right player.
Here's a fairly complete listing of my OTR collection to date:
Adventure (early BBC, OTREE 17)
Adventures by Morse (1 cd)
Al Jolsen (2 CD)
Aliens in the Mind (on Serials Vol. 1 cd)
All Star Western Theatre (1 cd, Otree 26)
All Star Western Theatre (1 cd, Otree 26)
American Trail (1 cd, partial)
Amos Andy (3 cds, OTREE 15)
Aussie 6-pack (6 CDs, part ? of all Aussie collections?)
Australian Collection (misc series, 6 cds)
BBC Detectives (1 cd, Otree 017)
Big One, The (WWII, 4 sets totalling approx 16 disks)
Bing Crosby (5 cds)
Bold Venture (partial cd w/ Fu Manchu)
Box-13 (1 cd, OTREE 07)
Burns Allen (2 cds from OTRCDME, second set, 3 cds)
Cavalcade of America (4 cds)
CBS Workshop (1 CD)
Challenge of the Yukon (1, misc episodes)
Christmas OTR (3 cds)
Cisco Kid (2 cds w/ Cowboy Collection)
Classic Westerns (sampler, partial 1 cd, with American Trail)
Complete Broadcast Day 1939 (1 cd)
Cowboy Collection (4 cds)
Crime Classics (1 cd)
Dark Island (early BBC, OTREE 17)
Dennis Day (partial 1 cd)
Dimension X (1 cd, OTREE 05)
Dr Morelle (early BBC, OTREE 17)
Dr. Jekyll (on Serials Vol. 1 cd)
Dr. Morell (on Serials Vol. 1 cd)
Dr. Who (4 cds, includes TV audio)
Dragnet (5 cds, OTREE 06)
Eddie Cantor [5 cds]
Escape (2 cds, OTREE 07)
Father Knows Best (1 partial cd w/ My Favorite Husband)
First Nighter (1 CD)
Fort Laramie (partial 1 cd, with American Trail; partial cd with Cowboy
Collection dsk 3)
Frankenstein (on Serials Vol. 1 cd)
Fred Allen (3 cds)
Frontier Fighters (partial cd with Cowboy Collection dsk 3)
Frontier Gentleman (OTREE 14; partial cd with Cowboy Collection dsk 4)
Fu Manchu, Shadow of (partial cd)
Ghost Corp (on Serials Vol. 1 cd)
Glen Miller (3 cds)
Great Gildersleeves (4 cds, OTREE 13)
Gunsmoke (6 cds, OTREE 12)
Have Gun Will Travel (2 cds, OTREE 14)
History of Rock'n'Roll (5 cds)
Horation Hornblower (partial cd w/ Fu Manchu)
Hornblower (early BBC, OTREE 17)
I Was a Communist for the FBI (1 cd)
Information Please (3 cds)
Inner Sanctum (2 cds)
Jack Benny (9 cds, OTREE 037, v. 2.5?)
Jack Webb (2 cds)
Jerry of the Circus/at Fair Oaks (1 cd)
Jimmy Durante (1 CD)
Johnny Dollar (3 cds)
Journey into Space (1 cd, OTREE 01)
Judy Garland (1 cd, misc shows)
Kraken Wakes (on Serials Vol. 1 cd)
Legend of Robin Hood (partial cd w/ Fu Manchu)
Luke Slaughter (partial 1 cd, Otree 26)
Luke Slaughter (partial cd, OTREE 26)
LUX (11 CD)
Man Called X (1 CD)
Mel Blanc Fixit Shop (1 CD)
Mixed Package (Jerry, Kids, News, Short Series, WW2, FullDay - 4 cd, branch)
(OTREE 20)
Molle Mystery Theater (1 cd)
Moon Over Africa (on Serials Vol. 1 cd)
My Favorite Husband (1 partial cd)
OMAR of Persia ?(1 CD)
Omar the Wizard (on Serials Vol. 1 cd)
One Man's Family (with Soap Operas) (OTREE 21)
Orbit One Zero (1) (OTREE 01)
Orson Welles Collection (3 cds, OTREE 08)
Other Detectives, The (5 cds)
Our Miss Brooks (4 cds, inc 2 VCD)
Ozzie Harriet (1 partial cd w/ My Favorite Husband)
Paul Temple (early BBC, OTREE 17)
Pharoh (early BBC, OTREE 17)
Phil Harris (1 cd)
Phillip Marlowe (1 cd)
Philo Vance (1 cd)
Raffles (on Sherlock Holmes dsk 3)
Railroad Hour (partial 1 cd w/ Dennis Day)
Red Skelton (2 cds + bonus cd, OTREE 18)
Rudy Valley (partial 1 cd w/ Dennis Day)
Screen Directors Guild/Screen Guild Theater (3 CD)
Shadow (3 cds)
Sherlock Holmes (3 cds, OTREE 17)
Silent Men (partial 1 cd w/ Luke Slaughter, Otree 26)
Silent Men (partial cd w/ Luke Slaughter, OTREE 26)
Six Shooter (OTREE 14; partial 1 cd, with American Trail) partial cd with
Cowboy Collection dsk 4)
Soap Operas (4 cds, inc. One Man's Family] (OTREE 21)
Spy Catcher (early BBC, OTREE 17)
Superman (6 cds, OTREE 32)
Suspense (10 cds - 900 plus episodes, OTREE 36)
Tales of the Texas Rangers (2 cds) (OTREE 10)
Tarzan (serials 1950s, 2 cd, recording artifacts)
Tom Mix (partial cd with Cowboy Collection dsk 4)
Top Secret
