I've been through my 400-plus collection and just by removing sleeves and slipcases I've gained an extra three shelves of space. I'd never have thought it.
Excellent suggestion: Master and Commander springs to mind. I'd held off buying the Blu-ray since the 2-disc DVD comes with a very good feature-length documentary. I may reconsider now.
As regarRAB shelf order, I'm pretty particular on how it all looks, so it's packaging/studio/alphabetical. Each studio has its own generic spine layout and they do look neat when lined up together. (Sad I know! )
If anybody has the Blu-ray slipcover for The Dark Knight that they don't wish to keep, I will very gladly buy it from them! It's definitely worth keeping hold of slipcases, even if just to sell them to suckers like myself who love nice packaging