Early 80s TOS VHS Tapes

i come across old TOS and TNG vhs tapes all the time at the Goodwill and just about every flea market i go to. i remember one guy wanted $25 for his entire TOS vhs set.

 

I find a lot of the video and audio snobbery that goes on these days hard to swallow. Some people insist they can't watch something unless the image is so clear they can see a tick on an actors a$$ from the other end of a football field.

I grew up in the 'sticks' with only two channels. One channel was clear while with the other was always somewhat snowy. Didn't matter, we could see the picture and that suited me fine. Had to watch TNG that way back in the day...half the time the color would cut out. No biggie, still got to see the story.

Now, if higher quality versions are available...sure, I'll watch those but I certainly won't refuse to watch something because it's old, or not high def enough. To me it's just not an issue.

 

I was an early VHS adopter back in the late '70s. Blank tapes cost more than a Blu-Ray movie today!

In the early '80s, we had these little kiosks in shopping centers called Fotomat. It was a drive-up film drop-off place where you'd pick up your developed pictures the next day. Yeah - I know. Hi tech! This was before digital anything.

One of the ways they expanded their business was to rent videos on these newfangled VHS and Beta machines. You'd call a number on your landline telephone and order up a movie title, then drive to the Fotomat that you chose to pick up your movie. And you'd drop it back off after a few days of watching.

Early on, they aligned with Paramount Pictures and had those two-to-a-tape episodes of STAR TREK. I think there were five volumes, ten episodes total, all fan favorites like "Amok Time", "City On The Edge Of Forever" and one tape had the two "Menagerie" episodes. I remember marveling at how clean and pure the picture on these tapes were. After a decade of watching STAR TREK butchered on the local UHF television station, this was like a revelation: full, uncut episodes, no commercial, and better color than we'd seen in years. And on those 19" TVs of the day, it was pure heaven.

Paramount issued those same 10 episodes outside of Fotomat too, for both rental and sale from other shops. At one point when Fotomat was getting OUT of the video business, they sold off their rental tapes cheaply and I bought two of the volumes. I later bought the other three from a store that had the Paramount versions. One of those tapes actually still had an NBC peacock on it.

I had those tapes in storage for a lot of years, and only just got rid of them in preparation to moving into a smaller house. I didn't want pay to move a lot of stuff I really didn't use anymore, so out went the old Fotomat tapes, out went the full-series VHS tapes with the transporter covers (I kept one that has James Doohan's autograph on it), and out went all of the STAR TREK and NEXT GENERATION LaserDiscs that I'd started to collect when the price was right.

All I kept were DVDs and one set of LaserDiscs called "The Captains Collection", and another set of the first five TOS movies.

Harry

 

TOS was way too early, but I think there is a great deal to be said for VHS tapes made right off the air. It gives you a tremendous sense of historical continuity. For example, I prize my tape of "All Good Things," which includes the opening announcement from Paramount that it is "brought to you in part by Beverly Hills Cop II." Similarly, my "Max Headroom" tapes have commercials for station wagons. When was the last time you even saw a station wagon?

Who wouldn't love to see TOS with all the original commercials intact? "MadMen" meets Roddenberry!

 

LIKE

 

I didn't keep any old recordings when I upgraded from any format to format. I give the older recordings away to other family members who have an interest. I am still doing that with any Blu-rays I pick up and have another copy on DVD. My son and daughters are getting the bulk of the stuff.

I would enjoy seeing all the original commercials, though.

 

Before Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea came out on DVD, I spent years scrounging around the collector's world tracking down copies. Most of them were recorded off 16mm film reels, the rest off whatever local station carried them. About half of the episodes still had previews for the next week's show attached and the In Color tags. The film reels had sponsor billboards and some had station identification bits. Now that I have them all on amazingly remastered for HD DVD, I decided to keep all the old copies. Because the pro DVDs don't have all that stuff I listed. Sure, the picture quality is often crap in comparison to what came out professionally, but watching the versions from the old days captures the spirit of the times.

I wish I had Trek on 16mm.

 

i don't blame you at all, i'd keep that too. most of my TNG tapes have first run promos for the next episode, which i like. one of the reasons i love the Twilight Zone Definitive Edition DVDs is they include a lot of neat promos and commercials. i dunno, i just think it's neat seeing Rod Serling selling cigarettes.

 

Originally...the first Trek VHS tape I ever bought was "The Search for Spock" about two decades ago back when it cost about $12-$13 for it new. Followed it up slowly with the remainder of the films. First series episode I bought was the the Columbia House release of "The Menagerie". "Insurrection" was the last of the films I purchased on VHS. Added "The Cage" in its color/B&W glory over ten years ago. I almost entirely retired VHS a few years ago after George Lucas finally had the nerve to release the original versions of the "Star Wars" films to DVD. Got rid of most of the VHS tapes....but also looked for those really collectible tapes. All that's left Trek-wise is the five TV Classics tapes I obtained not too long ago. I would love to get my hands on the Fotomat tapes and the full frame original version of TMP just for the collectiblity.

DVD came along with "The Wrath of Khan" in 2000.....changed each of those out as the collector's editions came out....and then gave those away after the Blu-Ray editions hit. Still have the Director's Editions of TMP and TWOK along with the entire animated series. I steered pretty much clear of all the other series on DVD....choosing to check them out on Netflix.

LD was something I picked up on not too long ago. Got a player for next to nothing. First LD I got was "The Menagerie". So far, I've also got the full frame original theatrical and extended cuts of TMP, TWOK in Full Frame and Widescreen, TUC, the TNG finale, and "Unification" from TNG Season 5.

As for Blu-Ray, I steered clear of that until I knew who would win in the BR/HD-DVD War. First Trek Blu-Ray I bought was the new movie when it came out. Bought the complete original series shortly thereafter, the other 10 movies, and the TNG Next Level disc.

 

I still use VHS, got so many tapes, why get rid of it, simply because it's old? Hell, some series, like the 1990-1992 sci fi series, Super Force, can only be found on VHS, and only the pilot TV film.
I have about half of TOS, maybe 2/3 of TNG on tape, and I think I paid like 15 dollars for the TOS tapes, some of them were still sealed (these were the 2 episode per tape collectors series, with Paramount's 75th anniversary logo on them) and the TNG ones I got for like 50 cents a tape, and those ones were 2-3 episodes per tape series that started in 1991, along with the single episode releases seen during the mid to late 1990s. And I am not going to chuck 'em.

 

I have all them on VHS.

 

I don't have a CED player sadly, but here are the formats I have Trek on:

Super 8mm (Comercially sold reels of STTMP)
35mm (a few reels of First Contact and the ST III trailer)
Viewmaster (not moving images but with the audio recording from Yesteryear)
Audio Cassette (story books with fun readings by random actors)
RCA CED (assorted TOS eps and films)
Beta (The Menagerie, a special tape issued from the Museum of Broadcasting)
VHS (assorted)
Phillips CDi (Trek films II thru VI)
DVD (assorted)
Bluray (assorted)

I should probably get a laserdisc just to have, and perhaps an Edison wax cylinder

 

I grew up watching classic Star Trek on an old black-and-white TV set and I had nop problem with understanding the story as long as the snow was kept back to a minimum. The I got some VHS tape sand eventaully graduated to DVD. No blue ray though that is too much double dipping. And I don't even have a blu ray player.

 

Speaking of decrepit old video formats, I got in the mail today (from a friend who frequents yard sales) a set of VHS tapes of the first 5 Trek films in a 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition box. TMP in this set is the Special Longer Version, and the tape seems identical to the one I bought off eBay a couple of years ago. Was there only one issue of the long version of TMP on VHS?

 

Well, I finally bought myself a complete set of Star Trek TOS Laserdiscs. I can't wait to see them in their analogue, the way I remember first seeing them.

 

All I remember is the theatrical release and the Director's Edition. I had both TMPs at one point too. I still have all of them on VHS.

 

As I've updated from VHS, I gave those tapes to our neighbor's kids (their parents couldn't afford to buy the kids many videos, so I figured I'd Trek 'em out with selected VHS TOS episodes, all my former VHS TOS movies and some selected VHS TNG episodes) As I upgraded, my DVD's were later provided to my own kids (they live with my ex..and are all Trek fans of varying rabidlity..Selected TOS episodes on the 2 episode disks, TOS movies WOK through TVH and to the most rabid fanboy, my TOS-R DVD set)..So my collection consists of the Blu-Ray TOS sets all 3 seasons, TWOK through TVH on Blu-Ray as well, TMP Director's Edition, TUC Special Edition on Dvd, ST Gen on DVD-R (my own copy of a 1994 VHS tape).ST FC Special Edition on DVD, ST Nem on DVD (a gift that I never watch..) Ent season 4 on DVD and the Time Travel collective..

I find that the added features and the much improved picture quality has paid handsomely in my enjoyment of the series on my HDTVs..and the added bonus of giving away my old sets has provided Trek enjoyment to others at no cost...

 

I LOVE the old Look of a TV Broadcast!! I'm 70 now and my VHS Tapes from 1985 (half my Life ago) still look great!!!