Posted on 06/06/2022 6:33:57 PM PDT by Magnatron
June 7 is National VCR Day.
Yes, you read that right. Videocassette recorders are still around and there are enough of them to justify a spot on the National Day Calendar — the national day marketing calendar under digital media company Zoovio, Inc.
While most people have retired their VCRs, not everyone has gotten rid of these devices or the VHS tapes that worked with these physical video players.
Some might even be holding onto the retro gadgets after seeing that a sealed, mint-condition "Star Wars" VHS tape from 1977 sold for $57,600 in New Jersey by Goldin Auctions, a collectibles auctioneer, in December 2021.
If you have a collection of a limited-edition or unopened VHS tapes, you could be in ownership of a small fortune.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
We gave containers full of vhs tapes sitting for decades in a storage unit.
Probably aren’t useable now.
I remember George Legal in “Blackbird” a Sam Spade spoof. Unavailable on DVD. Hilarious.
That’s the interesting thing about magnetic tape, it degausses and goes bad over time. Can’t imagine there’s many of these that have readable data — especially in the 480i format they were in.
My son-in-law found one (FleshDance) among my deceased wife's things. I did'nt even know she had it. Don't have it any more.
“I have an old Beta porno tape. Wonder what that’s worth…”
Nothing unless there is a Betamax player to go along with it. Then it’s worth about what a 15-year old kid who has too much time on his hands is willing to pay for it.
If Kate Bush’s single from the ‘80s is a hit again, you never know…
That movie was an absolute hoot. Litvak, the Hawaiians, the redhead.
“Es negro y largo como su brazo...”
As a purveyor of Interesting things I would say it is rare at this moment to have a valuable vhs tape. They do exist though.
Now they tell me...Tossed 500 VHS tapes a few years ago....
They’re sealed, so that doesn’t really come up. They’re for collecting, not watching.
I figure many would stick in playback and break or at best get one pass as the oxide comes off.
No tape scraper for VHS, scraped many quad 2 inch reels.
I remember seeing one of the 1st VHS players at a car dealership. The player was top loading, like a giant cassette player. It was about the size of a writing desk.
“t a sealed, mint-condition “Star Wars” VHS tape from 1977”
I’m kinda skeptical that Star Wars was out on VHS in ‘77. Maybe my memory is off, but I remember it still playing in theaters well into ‘78.
Lemme guess — along with a box of magazines that was next to the tapes under the bed…?
Biggest problem is the innerds of the VCR. The belts, pulleys, mechanical stuff has aged. I had 6 of the same model JVC vcr from the 1990s. None of them will load a tape and play it. If I take the cover offer, I can get a few to thread the tape, but then won’t eject.
So be prepared to do a complete overhaul to get any to work for you.
> “Original VHS Stars” tape in packaging worth $57,600.
This is a situation which just invites fraud. Someone will make repackaged cassettes in looks-like original packaging. How could you tell if they were real without breaking the packaging and viewing?
If I were committing this fraud, the tape would just display:
“Don’t you realize opening the package and playing the tape destroys its value?”
Sometimes it is better not to know.
Establishing provenance is going to be tough. “Discovered in a musty basement” won’t cut it.
About 15 years ago, the public tv network I was at decided to purge the huge tape vault.
Many portable dumpsters got filled.
Quad, 1 inch, Beta SP, S-VHS, VHS and some oddball ones got tossed.
I snagged a quad tape just to have.
Pop it up on ebay. :)
(Don’t do that)
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