Physical Media Swap
Philadelphia Film Society Center
1412 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia
March 14, 2026
This Saturday, as Center City was swarming with transplant Zoomers reveling in their first Erin Express antics, the Film Center was a place of refuge. Cut off from the stumbling youth in kelly green and pompommed newsboy caps, the space was abuzz with its own exciting night: a physical media swap brought to you by Bee and Bun.
“Leave what you don’t want and take what you do” was the theme of the evening, and the large crowd was not afraid to do so. Folks came in with boxes, Baggus, and bins full of the good stuff, and prepared to refill those vessels with their newfound treasures. For two hours, a group of at least 50 media nerds (myself and my boyfriend included, thank you very much) spent their Saturday night eagerly looking to give new homes to hundreds of DVDs, VHS tapes, CDs, video games, records, and cassettes.
There were so many reasons to attend an event like this. For my household, we wanted to hand off a bunch of items that we loved but wanted to part with before moving. We also, obviously, wanted to see what others had to offer. For other folks, like Jillian, it was all about building a collection after a move. Having recently moved to Philly from Kentucky, she was excited to pick up some movies she’s always loved, like John Tucker Must Die and School of Rock.
Other attendees, like Zach, found themselves sticking to a theme: “I feel like I’m kind of Steve Martin-pilled with the early SNL and The Jerk,” he told me. Darius, who came to pick up items to create a collection for his daughter’s birthday to try and steer her away from YouTube and streaming, had a bunch of `90s media. Their family has regular '90s nights, where they watch VHS tapes together on their big tube TV.
The event was not just a great way to cleanse yourself of items you no longer want in your collection (a friend of mine offloaded her copy of Kanye West’s College Dropout on vinyl), but it was kind of a genius way to socialize with new people. There was no awkward conversation, just various opportunities to talk about media you love. No ice breakers, just shit-talking certain directors and laughing at the sheer number of copies of The Dark Knight available to grab. And there was no tension, just excitement (mixed with slight jealousy) when someone grabbed the Switch game before you could.
My favorite thing about the night was that it had absolute free-for-all vibes, but it was obvious the organizers and venue had it on lock. It was like Black Friday, but with polite mixing and haul sharing instead of chaos and pandemonium and shopping carts to the back of the ankle. It was a bloodbath, but the blood was Blockbuster classics like Analyze This and The Butterfly Effect, and the bath was a room with space to move around and discuss film.
Bee and Bun, too, were excited to grab a few finds. For Bee, a VHS of Scary Movie 2 was like finding the golden ticket. And Bun, who is having a real Batman moment, jumped on a “Two-Face” VHS. It was sweet to see that what could have been a stressful night for the two was actually just as fun for them as it was for the rest of us. This was their fourth physical media swap, and they say there isn’t another one in the books just yet, but it’s “inevitable” that it will happen.
My own haul was basically a personality picture: The Village on DVD, Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Switch, something called Hot Dogs and Cool Cats from the NatGeo series Really WILD Animals, and Big Willie Style on CD (to replace the copy I had as a child, which was stolen from our car on a trip to visit family in Brooklyn for the new millennium. I will never forgive you, New York City).
If I could do it again — which I will — I would wear loose pants, take stretch breaks, and bring a bottle of water. Because this was not your average night at the theater; this was field day for media lovers.
