Early 80s TOS VHS Tapes

[SchwEnt]

I like the bit about the horrible analog quality of VHS tapes even when they were new. Really?

If it's the 80s, what kind of CRT standard def television did anyone have? What kind of VCR? And the VHS tapes were horrible? Compared to what? The signal from the rabbit ears? The only other other comparable medium were laser discs. Regular TVs and VHS were pretty much the standard. And after years of edited reruns on broadcast TV, having the tapes was big deal.

Yeah, I have the Columbia House Collector's Edition TOS series. Mail order, $29.95 each month for a two-eps tape (plus $3.95 s&h).
Do the math: I paid over $1300 to get every tape.
That's a damn lot of money, even more back in the 80s.
I still have the whole set.

 

[BillJ]

Why?

Not everyone has to have the newest, shiniest bauble that Paramount puts out. Some people are just interested in the stories. I remember watching Star Trek with ghost images and snow because the stories were compelling.

YMMV.

 

[Saul]

Mum got rid of my 90s VHS tapes, sent them to a charity shop. A shame, the spines read out a message from Spock "We are the first to reach this far". The ridiculously shaped DVD boxes pale in comparison.

I still got those. They had 3 episodes each on them and each video had an introduction from George Takei, Walter koenig or James Doohan. Those were 30th Anniversary videos sets.
Don't want to think how much I spent on them but I sure did love the introductions and episode notes.

 

[Saturn0660]

I still have mine, and prefer watching them to the CDs at times.

You have TOS video on CD? Interesting...

It's amusing in a way that some folks have (and not without some justification) complained about the price of dvd sets, but when you look at what it would have cost to collect the entire series on VHS or even 2-episode-per-dvd the season sets were a bargain.

I have star trek 6 on CDi

 

[Maab of the Ten Tribes]

Man I never did like those covers. Those had some ugly spines too.

 

[Doug Otte]

What I don't get is this DVD collection which I believe only had one or two episodes per disc. Sounds like they were trying to rip-off the fans big-time. How many episodes per VHS tape?

I wouldn't assume any sinister pecuniary intent. The original DVDs were released before the concept of "season sets" was considered viable. The studios assumed that consumers would want to buy their favorite episodes in two-per packages.

I think it was The X-Files that was the first release in season sets, and everybody was amazed at how popular the products were. It then blossomed out from there.

Doug

 

[Forbin]

What I don't get is this DVD collection which I believe only had one or two episodes per disc. Sounds like they were trying to rip-off the fans big-time. How many episodes per VHS tape?

I took mine out of those boxes and put them in a 40-CD plastic index case. Only takes up about 6" of shelf space (with a bit overhang).

 

[milo bloom]

I have this collection.

What I don't get is this DVD collection which I believe only had one or two episodes per disc. Sounds like they were trying to rip-off the fans big-time. How many episodes per VHS tape?

I wouldn't assume any sinister pecuniary intent. The original DVDs were released before the concept of "season sets" was considered viable. The studios assumed that consumers would want to buy their favorite episodes in two-per packages.

I think it was The X-Files that was the first release in season sets, and everybody was amazed at how popular the products were. It then blossomed out from there.

Doug

Yeah, I waited to get into DVD until either Star Wars or Star Trek was released, figuring one would follow the either (how young and stupid I was...). I bought a handful of these at retail (MSRP was $19.99, but places like Best Buy would mark them down to 14.99 or so). I bought maybe a third like this, then I got word that they were going to release the series in season sets. I briefly considered switching over, but I decided I liked them being in production order over airdate order (plus, I knew I would start finding more of them in the used shops at a discount). So then I picked up roughly the next third or so from the used shops, usually for $10 or less a piece.

Keep in mind, I wasn't finding them in order, my collection was kind of scattershot, so I took to keeping a piece of paper in my wallet with the volumes I needed. I found the the last third all at once. One of the used shops had a ton of these volumes for sale for about $4 a piece. I quickly started pulling all the ones I needed, and when the clerk saw how many I was getting he dropped the price to $2 a piece.

 

[WisTrekFan]

I never have purchased the original series on DVD because of the cost of each season and that goes for the other series as well. It occurred to me today that the DVD sets are actually a bargain compared to the cost of the VHS tapes. In the mid-eighties, I purchased all eighty VHS tapes of the original series at an average price of $15.00 for each tape. That means I invested $1200.00 in all for the series. It makes the DVD sets seem like not such a bad deal after all, especially now when you can purchase them on Amazon for around $50.00 a season.

 

[TenLubak]

I think this kind of stuff is awesome. I found some of the late 80s TOS and TNG VHS tapes on sale for 2 or 3 dollars at College PArk record store in 01 and bought alot. I think DVD and blue rays are such a waste of money. VHS is fine. But thats me as long as it plays and i can hear it, and see it. Its fine it me!

 

[Kirkman1987]

I'll say one thing, for all the complaints about shelf space and ugly covers, at least those 40 volume dvds protect the discs well and are easy to open. I have the TOS-R dvd release and it is horrid. It's like opening a puzzle box, and half the time I find one or two newly broken off plastic bits in there. It doesn't even look good either!

 

[MANT!]

The Blu-Ray boxes are much nicer...

 

[Kirkman1987]

The Blu-Ray boxes are much nicer...

Yes, I saw them on youtube and packaging wise they look perfect. I hope to pick them up sometime.

 

[Art Vandelay]

The Blu-Ray boxes are much nicer...

Yes, if the third season case wasn't much slimmer than the first two.

 

[Forbin]

...and if you didn't have to remove the cover insert to read the episode list...

 

[BillJ]

...and if you didn't have to remove the cover insert to read the episode list...

That and the damn discs keep popping off the spindles. Half the time I go to get a disc there's at least one or two rolling around loose in there.

 

[Art Vandelay]

That and the damn discs keep popping off the spindles. Half the time I go to get a disc there's at least one or two rolling around loose in there.

Right, I've tried inserting disc 7 of season 1 many different ways so it won't be loose next time I grab the set off the shelf. Can't be done, man, can't be done.

 

[Ssosmcin]

You could sell TOS VHS tapes in a yard sale for $.50...if you are lucky. Why anyone would want to play horrible quality tapes that are not even NEW is beyond me.
RAMA

Because I prefer the old sound mix for one, which really hasn't been restored to most of the Blu-Ray episodes. I also enjoy the nostalgic feeling of watching "unremastered" episodes on the tube set in the den, the way the looked when I first saw them. I like recreating the experience of the old days every so often. I also collect old Star Trek stuff from my youth, videos included.

Sometimes, and I know this will probably seem weird to you, I actually watch a lower quality video of something because I don't feel like seeing all of the tricks and cheats HD-TV exposes. Strings on models and props, make up seams, shots where you can now see Shatner's toupee attachment and so on. I love HD for anything modern or old without special effects. However, the super resolution just exposes to much and pulls me out of the illusion. I have no problem watching a lesser quality image if it sustains the illusion. Yes, I know how they make the effects, I just don't want to SEE it. I just finished getting Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea on DVD. The prints are amazing, pristine, clear as glass. But now I see the wires on the models. That, to me, sucks. This is, by the way, why they created the CGI effects, because of how the old effects don't hold up under HD. But I don't always want to watch the CGI shots.

So, yes, they're worthless to YOU. They also wouldn't fetch big bucks, but they are valuable to me. You've heard of sentimental value, yes?

Oh, BTW, head over to eBay and do a search for Star Trek VHS tapes. There are hundreds of listings and most of them are for sale for more than fifty cents. So, yes, they have value.

What I don't get is this DVD collection which I believe only had one or two episodes per disc. Sounds like they were trying to rip-off the fans big-time. How many episodes per VHS tape?

Columbia House sold them at two per tape in stardate order. Retail shops sold single episode VHS tapes.

You forget, these came out starting in 1999, and nobody was releasing TV shows in season sets yet. That started while these were in release (I think The X-Files kicked it off), but it was not something being done at the time. When these started coming out, I thought nothing of it and was happy they were including 2 episodes per and in production order.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Columbia House did them in stardate order!?!

 

[Kamdan]

I agree with ssosmcin. The mono tracks provided on the Blu-ray don't sound like the versions on the VHS and Laserdiscs. Also, they messed up with the mono sound for Miri. It's just a downgraded version of the remastered audio.