黑料社

NEW YORK鈥擫ong relegated to an obscure corner of the collectibles market, tapes have been fetching eye-popping prices at auctions in recent months, thanks to nostalgia and an appetite for new investment opportunities.

At a sale by Heritage Auctions in June, a 鈥淏ack to the Future鈥� videocassette went for $75,000, while 鈥淭he Goonies鈥� and 鈥淛aws鈥� copies were sold for $50,000 and $32,500, respectively.

Videotape collectors have been around since the late 1970s, when the format was first introduced, but these days most 鈥淰HS tapes are worth next to nothing,鈥� according to John, from Newmarket in Canada, who claims to have sold around 3,000 of them over span of more than 20 years.

鈥淵ou鈥檒l be lucky to get $5 each鈥�, says this active eBay user, who declined to give his last name.

Until recently, only some movies that hadn鈥檛 been released online or on other medium, as well as little known horror movies, could command higher prices, sometimes above $1,000.

What鈥檚 of value?

But this new trend is mostly focused on blockbuster titles, particularly from the early 80s. To be deemed valuable, a tape has to meet some specific criteria, with a premium put on first editions and sealed copies. A limited edition, such as a larger box version of 鈥淪tar Wars鈥�, would also draw interest.

The George Lucas sci-fi cult classic is widely considered a must-have and several copies have already been sold for over $10,000.

The Holy Trinity could be movies from the first slate ever released on the US market in 1977, namely 鈥淢ASH鈥�, 鈥淧atton鈥� and 鈥淭he Sound of Music鈥�, by a financially troubled 20th Century Fox with Magnetic Video.

Jay Carlson, VHS Consignment director at Heritage Auctions, said these could reach 鈥渁 six-digit number, maybe seven.鈥�

Sudden surge

Many long-time collectors are wondering about the sudden surge, 16 years after the last release of a film in this format (鈥淎 History of Violence鈥�). The last video recorders were manufactured in 2016.

鈥淚 think a lot of it is nostalgia and the compulsion to collect鈥�, says Philip Baker, who runs the www.videocollector.co.uk website. 鈥淥ne of the special things about VHS over the other formats is it was the first accessible way to watch a movie in your own home.鈥�

Host of the Completly Unnecessary Podcast, Pat Contri has a different take and draws a parallel between the current VHS trend and video games. He said both markets are flooded with 鈥減eople who just decided to get into it. They said to themselves: 鈥業 have money, let鈥檚 invest in it.鈥欌��

Over the last decade, several of these cultural staples have become collectible asset classes, from sneakers to skateboards, thanks to a new generation of investors, many of whom grew up with them.

A whole industry is getting together, as shown by the growing number of dedicated Facebook groups, grading services assessing authenticity and condition, and auction houses willing to add VHS to their sales.

鈥楩翱惭翱鈥�

Contri is critical of the process, 鈥渨here instead of letting a relatively new collecting hobby for the masses develop naturally, you sort of try to entice people with +FOMO+ fear鈥�, as in fear of missing out on a lucrative investment.

鈥淭here鈥檚 people who are only open box guys, and they鈥檙e very skeptical of sealed guys and what it means to their own collecting鈥�, Carlson said. 鈥淏ut I just think it鈥檚 a good thing. It鈥檚 just a difference in the way that you鈥檙e collecting.鈥�

Carlson sees even more potential in VHS tapes than in video games, which recorded two sales for over a million dollar each last year.

鈥淚 know a lot of people who aren鈥檛 into video games and don鈥檛 play video games, but I don鈥檛 know very many people who who wouldn鈥檛 have a favorite movie.鈥� 鈥�

gsg