A rare LaserDisc prototype was recently put up on eBay for almost a thousand dollars. No, it's not a player, and it's not a decoder. It's simply a piece of optical media.
The LaserDisc prototype, “HD Mac 12 Glass Plate N.66733 - Laserdisc Prototype - Extra Rare”, was put up on eBay recently for a ridiculously high sum of $978. And no, there's nothing special about it, as it really is just a piece of retro optical media.
According to the description, which was machine-translated from Italian to English, the LaserDisc was used to test HD video technology implemented way back in the early 1990s. The seller also added that these discs were never commercially sold, making them extremely rare.
What makes this thousand-dollar LaserDisc listing even more confusing is the fact that the condition was nowhere near what could be described as perfect. There are visible signs of laser rot on the disc alongside other signs of ageing near the ends.
The seller describes the condition as "Very Good: An item that is used but still in very good condition. No damage to the jewel case or item cover, and no scuffs, scratches, cracks, or holes. The teeth of the disk holder are undamaged. Minimal wear on the exterior of the item. No skipping on CD/DVD. No fuzzy/snowy frames on VHS tape".
While we've previously seen retro media regularly sell for ridiculous sums of money, seeing a retro disc sell for this much is still shocking. It indicates that the HD LaserDisc media collection hobby has become truly expensive as people are willing to fork out these sums just for optical media.
If you've got some old HD LaserDiscs lying around in pristine(or not-so-pristine) condition, it might be the right time to pull them out and sell them off for a pretty penny. It's not just the discs of course. You can find several listings of LaserDisc HD players selling for around $2500 and decoders selling for $500.