Dust off your VHS participant, as a result of tapes appear to be making a collector comeback. Just like vinyl information, VHS tapes have been a scorching commodity within the realm of collectors of bodily media. According to Screen Rant, in June 2022 a collector paid $75,000 for a VHS copy of Back to the Future. That’s an excessive amount of cash for a bit of media that has lengthy since been useless. Is it the ever beckoning name of nostalgia lastly making its strategy to the mainstream, or is their price measured by one thing extra?
The movie business has one of many highest charges of change in the case of bodily media, and collectors of such are ruthless pack rats. DVD’s first spawned in 1997, and in line with CNN, the primary films to be launched on the brand new platform have been Twister and Mars Attacks! The leading edge expertise that after was a DVD strived to beat out VHS due to the convenience of consumer features, eliminating the necessity to rewind manually. VHS tapes would proceed to be manufactured till 2006 earlier than utterly being declared useless.
In June 2022, the sale of a sealed copy of Back to the Future caught the eye of collectors throughout the web. According to News 11, the VHS belonged to Tom Wilson, who performed Biff Tannen within the franchise. The movie presently sits on the highest quantity paid for a sealed VHS at public sale ever, however different classics offered for nearly simply as a lot. The Goonies offered for $50,000 and a replica of Jaws offered for simply above $32,000. Why the sudden want to hoard sealed VHS tapes?
The fact is that nostalgia is at an all-time excessive, particularly for the 80s and 90s. Streaming companies provide the comfort of video on literal demand. Mostly something you may ever need is obtainable at your fingertips. However, some titles are arduous to search out and can be found solely on VHS or DVD. Collectors attempt to search out sealed VHS tapes as a result of they honestly are a rarity, and within the digital age it’s common to lengthy for a visit down reminiscence lane to less complicated occasions earlier than the autumn of the video retailer. Yet, like cassettes and vinyl information the need to gather such an archaic piece of media appears outlandish. Is the upkeep and hassle to personal and function a VHS tape even well worth the problem? Collectors would argue sure, whereas others are simply positive with their distant controls.