How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

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Fireminer
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How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by Fireminer »

Just curious, how cheap are VHS movies, TV series, anime, etc. in America nowadays? And how well do they hold up after all these years? How often do you come across an entire anime collection on VHS with the cardboard case intact? Do you guys continue to use your old VCR and CRT, or have you spent some more money to find the "perfect" player and monitor?
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DKop
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Re: How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by DKop »

I can straight up tell you that the VHS market is now becoming a pricy one. If you search on ebay for popular anime on VHS like "Evangelion" or "Cowboy Bebop" people are asking high prices for their stuff. I would've never thought that Evangelion tapes from 20 years ago would be the same if not more than the MSRP prices when they first came out. Laserdiscs are going up in value compared to 5 years ago, depending on what you're looking for. I'm very tempted to start selling off my anime VHS tapes because if the demand is that high im gonna get my monies worth lol.
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Drew_Sutton
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Re: How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by Drew_Sutton »

Fireminer wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 7:11 am Just curious, how cheap are VHS movies, TV series, anime, etc. in America nowadays?
It probably depends on where you're looking; a thrift store might still want between $0.50 and $1 for tapes, if they are stocking them at all. eBay or other online auction sites are probably all over the place. Large lots that have a bunch of mainstream titles can probably be had for pennies on the dollar; anime is probably a bit more expensive because of it still being a niche overall of tape collectors and film buffs. However, tapes that have "become" collector's items - like copies of the original Star Wars trilogy from the 80s and early 90s - can fetch a frighteningly high price. I imagine any Hollywood classic that doesn't already have DVD or BR copies will have high prices on their tapes.

For what it's worth, tapes of mine I've sold at about a dollar each either online (Facebook Marketplace) or anime con flea markets.
Fireminer wrote: And how well do they hold up after all these years?
Fine, I guess? I always took care of my stuff, so other than reasonable wear and tear on a ~20 to 30 year old thing, they look alright. Last batches of tapes I got, a fanmade mix tape and some commercial releases from a forum member here (Daniel? Kami-sennin?) look to be about what I expected.

The only notoriously bad tapes I have are ones where the source probably wasn't that great - a lot of my fansubs I taped off of ones I rented or borrowed and those were hardly ever master or first generation copies. Some of my TV tapes are definitely varying quality which is probably more based off the channel or cable system. My worst TV tape I can think of is probably because it was from before we got cable and it's over 30 years old.

I don't often look for tapes now-a-days, at least, to collect. Pictures of collections on Facebook, twitter, a good old fashioned website, what have you, I'll look at all day. But one of my future projects is still digitizing all the tapes I already have. If I want physical media from that time, I'll hunt for LaserDiscs (that I will hem and haw about and most likely never end up buying).
Fireminer wrote: How often do you come across an entire anime collection on VHS with the cardboard case intact?
Pretty often. Those cardboard cases hold up pretty well except for like, the corners. If you take an ounce of care of them, they can stay pretty recognizable and good looking with almost no damage. The only people I've known who had cardboard cases ruined were friends who would just leave them wherever around the house (where they'd get trampled, ripped or whatever) or the one weirdo who actively threw them away. Well, outside of an accident, of course).
Fireminer wrote: Do you guys continue to use your old VCR and CRT, or have you spent some more money to find the "perfect" player and monitor?
I am down to my last two VCRs, which I have to use sparingly because they have a tendency to eat tapes. These are ones I bought as a teenager, so they're somewhere around 25 years old. I should probably do some searching to replace them and get them recycled.
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Drew_Sutton
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Re: How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by Drew_Sutton »

DKop wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 9:16 am Laserdiscs are going up in value compared to 5 years ago, depending on what you're looking for.
Oof. I remember complaining about LDs getting expensive nearly 10 years ago. Is that trend only online you're seeing? Guess I am just gonna keep to the local anime flea markets to look for things (which I will still hem and haw about)
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DKop
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Re: How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by DKop »

Drew_Sutton wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 11:01 am
DKop wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 9:16 am Laserdiscs are going up in value compared to 5 years ago, depending on what you're looking for.
Oof. I remember complaining about LDs getting expensive nearly 10 years ago. Is that trend only online you're seeing? Guess I am just gonna keep to the local anime flea markets to look for things (which I will still hem and haw about)
Their prices are all over the place as well. Theres a guy who is selling them out of Fayetteville NC at I believe fair prices. I've gotten Moldiver LD's in LD buckets at record stores for 5 or so bucks a pop are fetching way more online. If you have specific anime flea market locations I am willing to go check them out, im sure they're around the Atlanta area and might be at some of the latino flea markets (which in my experience they overcharge on games too, they did that over a decade ago before game collection started to take hold).
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mbanu
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Re: How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by mbanu »

VHS is very strange right now, I think. Most people see them as essentially worthless, because the thing on the VHS is now available in a higher-quality format.

However, some people started using VHS clips for art projects, so VHS (especially anime VHS, it seems) is popular for this purpose.

Sealed VHS are a minor collectable, as people appreciate the box art and collectors are tempted by sealed anything. (^_^)

I think that people still go "treasure hunting" for home-recorded VHS tapes, hoping to find something that was broadcast but never received an official release, but I don't know if that changes the prices.

For the durability of the tapes themselves, this will depend on how often it was played and the environmental extremes it was subjected to.
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Re: How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by davemerrill »

I've seen five for a dollar VHS at some thrifts, and I've seen some crazy grandma pricing at some antique malls and shows. One vendor at Anime North was defending his insanely high VHS prices by saying that he does a lot of shows way out in the rural areas where people still use VCRs on a regular basis. It's a technology that really hasn't gone away.

Some of the genre titles, like horror or SF, command collector's prices, but for the most part the vast majority of VHS tapes you'll find in the wild are things like exercise tapes, children's videos, clamshell Disney releases, TV shows like MASH or Star Trek, and westerns. The anime titles I see are early 2000s anime boom stuff, Manga Entertainment, ADV and Streamline releases.

One current note as we come in and out of COVID restrictions, is that the vinyl LP market was very pricey this time last year, and then we went into lockdown, and when things opened back up the vendors suddenly were selling everything for $5. The collector's VHS market isn't as big, but perhaps we'll see a similar markdown?

I lived through the VHS era so I don't need to repeat the aesthetic, but I'll pick up something if it's cheap and it catches my eye.
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Re: How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by Fireminer »

I guess that most people don't let go of their anime DVD collection when Blu-Ray became a thing, right? People rarely buy any type of DVD anymore in my country, while music CD are mostly relegated to car entertainment systems.
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Re: How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by Drew_Sutton »

Fireminer wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 6:43 am I guess that most people don't let go of their anime DVD collection when Blu-Ray became a thing, right? People rarely buy any type of DVD anymore in my country, while music CD are mostly relegated to car entertainment systems.
I can't say much for more mainstream collectors, but I imagine that other more niche collectors are a lot like anime collectors, in that most people won't part with one format until a title becomes available on the upgraded format because there are instances where some titles won't get the upgraded release. Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD) have been around for quite a while now and I've seen a steady stream of people off-loading DVD at flea markets and garage sales and the like; I've sold quite a few of mine, too; but I don't know that I've see quite a "DVD Exodus" like I did a tape exodus.

I don't think, at least at mainstream retail outlets, DVD is seen much first-hand and instead published as "SD BluRay" but there are probably people buying DVDs in second-hand shops or markets. Certainly, backwards compatibility of the players helps keep DVD in circulation, either through first or second-hand sales, much better than when America moved from VHS cassettes to DVD.

Audio CDs are still available, at least at retail. I imagine that's also because even with cars coming with a lot more technology, CD players are still omnipresent. Several of the last few albums I bought had a digital or CD option. Vinyl records are making a "come back" by being some boutique collectors' item. I am guessing though that CDs are being pressed almost on-demand though and not being manufactured in the millions like they were 20 or 30 years ago. Most of my age group (mid-late 30s) and under probably are subscribed to one or more music services, and are streaming a lot of their stuff and not even owning digital copies.
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DKop
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Re: How cheap are VHS nowadays and some other questions

Post by DKop »

Drew_Sutton wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 6:02 pm

I can't say much for more mainstream collectors, but I imagine that other more niche collectors are a lot like anime collectors, in that most people won't part with one format until a title becomes available on the upgraded format because there are instances where some titles won't get the upgraded release. Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD) have been around for quite a while now and I've seen a steady stream of people off-loading DVD at flea markets and garage sales and the like; I've sold quite a few of mine, too; but I don't know that I've see quite a "DVD Exodus" like I did a tape exodus.
Speaking of being "you people" says this guy posting this message right now that has the upgraded release of Armored Trooper Votoms Collection on Bluray yet keeps his DVD CPM releases including the God Planet Quent arc on VHS as of now because those suckers are buried in my garage and I don't have the willpower to waste an afternoon as of yet to go through my VHS tapes to off-load them on ebay and the like. :lol: :D

I also plan on doing the same to keep my old versions with getting the upcoming releases of Evangelion on Bluray only because my Platinum Set is autographed by Spike Spencer and Tiffany Grant. Cyber City Oedo is another recent Bluray purchase that I made where as i'm still holding onto my DVD of that series just because-oh wait a minute, Masao Maruyama autographed that sucker years ago at Animazement, I will keep that!! ;)
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