1- When did you start your soundtracks CD/LP collection, and how old were you?
In 1986, when I was 16 - I think it was a cassette of A View To A Kill.
2- How many original soundtracks CDs and LPs do you own (roughly)?
The last time I counted a year or two back it was in the 800s. So it's likely to have risen now.
3- From which composer do you collect the most ?
Williams, Silvestri, Goldsmith, Elfman and Broughton seem to pop up an awful lot.
4- From which label do you collect the most?
Varese Sarabande. Not out of choice, mind you.
5- What is the rare item you’re the most proud of?
I'd probably say Predator, Inchon (I managed to get a Signature Edition before they were all sold out) and The Rescuers Down Under on cassette (before Disney reissued it).
6- What would you pay for a truly rare item?
Depends on whether or not I wanted it. I don't believe in collecting things just because they're rare.
7- How do you classify your soundtracks (label, composer, chronological,…)?
Score CDs, film or TV - alphabetically by composer (if it's more than one composer it's classed according to how much space he/she has - something like The Last of the Mohicans is easy, whereas Spy Kids has about two hundred composers but I've got it in the Danny Elfman section because I divided the running time of each track amongst the composer(s) credited, and then added up their contributions or credits).
TV series CDs - alphabetically by title.
Compilation CDs - alphabetically by title if they're something like TV theme collections, alphabetically by composer if they're devoted to one person's work.
8- What is the most beautiful item of your collection (cover art, booklet, picture disc, boxset)?
Boxset - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - The Complete Recordings.
Cover art - The Italian release of Malena (come on, naked Monica Bellucci? Beat that, Matthew Peak!).
Booklet - I've always liked FSM's booklets. Paul Andrew MacLean's Legend one is good as well.
Picture disc - Jessica Alba on the Sin City CD.
9- Which of your items has the most incredible sound?
I've never really been sure...
10- What do you think of mp3 ? Do you think it’s gonna end the collecting pleasure ?
Going from LPs to CDs didn't end it, so I don't think mp3s will. It's just another avenue to getting music, not the be-all and end-all.
11- Are you a bottlecap (that's a "completist") collector?
Since I decided not to shell out for the recent RoboCop and King Solomon's Mines "expanded" reissues because they didn't have enough extra music to make it worth the cost of doubling up (or tripling up in the case of the latter), I'd have to say "No."
12- What are your deciding factors in buying a score? (hearing it in the movie first, reading reviews, trust in the composer, sound samples, ...)
All of them to an extent.