First, there were the free library book boxes. You can find them all over Boise. You take a book, and you leave a book is the concept. Now in 2021, it would only make sense as a society we transition from free library book boxes to free Blockbuster boxes! So instead of take a book, leave a book, you take a movie, leave a movie.

Before Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max, taking a trip to your local Blockbuster to pick out a movie was the move in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Movie lovers would flock every Friday or Saturday night to the video store to rent their favorite movies and games. It was an experience that would come and go before we even knew it at the time.

Blockbuster has reinvented itself here in 2021 in the form of "Free Blockbuster Boxes." The First Free Blockbuster box in Idaho just opened for business on Saturday! You can find the box located behind the Nampa Civic Center. The Free Blockbuster box in Nampa accepts VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray, Cassettes and CD's.

Free Blockbuster is a nonprofit organization that promotes neighborhood movie exchanges. According to their website, there are around 40 Free Blockbuster Boxes across the United States.

It was just the other day when I walked by a Redbox machine and thought to myself how those things are even starting to become obsolete. Personally, I don't own a DVD player! We're now living in the age of digital streaming. Are DVDs becoming the new library books? It appears so.

The last remaining Blockbuster store is just a road trip away from Boise in Bend, Oregon. It became the last Blockbuster on Earth just this past year in March. It serves as almost a tourist attraction in 2021 with nostalgic movie lovers from all over the country traveling to Bend to visit the last standing Blockbuster - a true relic of American History.  It's also currently listed as an Airbnb!

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Gallery Credit: Michelle Heart

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