Who remembers browsing through these, even if your parents hadn't yet gotten a VCR, lol?
Posted on 04/14/2023 5:20:17 AM PDT by Red Badger
Heritage Auctions is suddenly seeing new categories of collectibles soar in resale value.
The auction world provides a unique opportunity to see just what people value these days, and exactly how much they value it—and some new categories of collectibles entering the auction fray have exploded from seemingly nowhere, like a sudden demand for VHS tapes seen by Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas.
Heritage previously only peddled in coins, comics, movie posters, and sports paraphernalia, but the company has vastly expanded their offerings in recent years to reflect a new world of buyers that sees a far wider range of items as valuable. The company made $1.4 billion in revenue last year off its 1.6 million bidders, per the New York Times, and VHS tapes have been a surprisingly competitive part of their offerings. The company hosted its first auction dedicated only to VHS tapes in June 2022, hosted by tape enthusiast Jay Carlson, and it brought in over half a million dollars. In February, a set of factory-sealed Rocky tapes—Rocky I, Rocky II, and Rocky III, purchased for $60 each back in 1982—sold at auction for $53,750. Carlson estimates that a sealed first-release Raiders of the Lost Ark tape will hammer down for around $20,000 when it goes up for auction later this year.
“These tapes are historical artifacts that have this ability to sweep you back in time to a place that all at once feels miles away and yet somehow like home,” Carlson told the Times of what he believes is behind the newfound demand for these tapes. “I used to think it was just me, but I talk to more and more people getting into this because of that pull.”
As Heritage sees big wins from capitalizing on nostalgia among its bidders, it’s gotten more inventive than ever about what might be considered valuable: It is now auctioning off Vegas casino chips, for example, with some Heritage staffers noting that undiscovered items with genuine historical value have largely run dry in today’s world, and that they’ve started to actively hunt for items that have emotional value as well as those with ties to famous people or events. The company struck gold a few years back by auctioning off Super Mario Bros. game cartridges after an original Super Mario game copy sold on eBay in 2017 for $30,000. Four years later, Heritage sold a sealed “Super Mario 64” cartridge for $1.56 million, breaking the record for the most ever spent on a single video game at auction.
Heritage is making a strategy of seeing what other knickknacks might be considered high-value collectibles in today’s world, and the addition of VHS tapes to their offerings seems to be another undiscovered gold mine. Auctions are still the best-known way to get your hands on a piece of history, and that isn’t changing: but, given time’s relentless march, it’s wise to reconsider year after year what might be considered history today.
My local used vinyl/CD/cassette/DVD place has a big stack of VideoDiscs available for anyone who has the equipment to play them on, lol. I’ll have to check to see how much the discs are selling for.
I have a VHS copy of Planet of the Apes. The box was signed by Charlton Heston. Someone I know saw him at a political appearance and got his signature and gave it to me. This was in the 1990s.
I wonder what that’s worth.
Who remembers browsing through these, even if your parents hadn't yet gotten a VCR, lol?
I believe there’s a version of ‘The Little Mermaid’ VHS tape that is worth $$$$ - which I threw away.
Crazy money & people
At one time Super Mario was said to be hot.
I worked retail and bought two to resell.
I walked through a shopping mall just before Christmas with them in my hand.
No one offered to buy one.
I returned them and got my money back.
“I believe there’s a version of ‘The Little Mermaid’ VHS tape that is worth $$$$ - which I threw away.”
I don’t know that it is worth money, but I tossed the penis spires also way back when. Just Disney homosexuals having a gay time at childrens expense apparently.
Wonder how much ActiVision and Atari games would go for now, lol?
I thought that Rocky was Bullwinkle the Moose’s pal.
Around 15 years ago I had a few hundred VHS tapes. All the classics. I took them to the dump. Bad move.
Extremely rare Atari 2600 games such as Extra Terrestrials are highly sought-after by collectors due to their poor sales after the video game crash of 1984.0 These games can range in price, with the most expensive copy going up to $90,000 on eBay.1
First Rocky movie was OK, but it was no “Party at Kitty and Studs,” Sly’s greatest performance.
Get your stinking paws off that VHS box.
At least there’s some good use for video tapes of Barbra Walters Interviews
https://youtu.be/rSgNdUDKHHA?t=37
“Wonder how much ActiVision and Atari games would go for now, lol?”
My buddy STILL has an Atari 2600 console and we imbibe and play it whenever I visit.
Although it’s not an Atari-branded console, I think it it’s either ‘Sears’ or ‘Montgomery Ward’ on the actual console.
Still bang and blow into those cartridges to get them going too.
Used to go to the grocery store with mom when I was a kid and head straight for the movies. I think I knew every movie synopsis available at one point. Mom always knew she could find me there. Those were innocent days when worrying about perverts snatching unattended kids was unheard of.
Having lived in our house for over 40 years, in our attic is several boxes of old gaming stuff and movies that were our sons when they were in their young teens. They are now in their young 40s. Our grandchildren play the Gameboy and old Nintendo games. I’ll even occasionally play the original Zelda game with them. I’m not sure what else is up there but the grandkids can dig through it when we are gone. They may find a treasure trove!
I know we have a signed set of the old Tom Baker “Dr. Who” series, but have no idea what other old VHS movies may be stored in the attic.
I have some Super 8 audio tapes and a Super 8 player. It was the best way to listen to music before CDs became available.
My brother got Beatles records my father got from a radio station he bought advertising from. Unfortunately, my brother had a lousy record player that damaged records. I’m not sure what happened to those records.
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