How can I get rid of my Star Trek VHS tapes?

[JoeZhang]

Honestly, the time to get sell of ANY VHS tapes and get any kind of money for them was about 15 years ago. No one buys them anymore.

Some libraries check out media, or even have media stations for patrons to watch on site (EG Media stations with head phones along with a TV and VCR/DVD player). I would donate your Star Trek VHS to a smaller public library, or the library of a school, or a college\university, and your VHS player along with it. That way patrons or students can watch the tapes in the library. It might be especially useful if it were a library for a high school, college, or university that has film students or drama students.

I can only speak for my own university - we generally have very little physical stock and what we do have we are ditching as quickly as possible. For someone as common as Star Trek, we wouldn't hold VCR tapes simply because of the space they would take up and would have a streaming option instead.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Build a throne out of them. Have a coloured jellybean on the armrest, that operates a trapdoor in the floor.

 

[Magellan]

Hold on to them. We're at the point where they are worth nothing and everyone is chucking them. Hold out 15 more years and there will start to be some interest in collecting them as antiques. Should probably sell for a couple of bucks a tape by then. Everything old enough is worth something(in decent condition)

 

[BillJ]

Hold on to them. We're at the point where they are worth nothing and everyone is chucking them. Hold out 15 more years and there will start to be some interest in collecting them as antiques. Should probably sell for a couple of bucks a tape by then. Everything old enough is worth something(in decent condition)

So hold onto them for another decade or two in the hopes of making a couple hundred bucks?

 

[Chronos]

Hold on to them. We're at the point where they are worth nothing and everyone is chucking them. Hold out 15 more years and there will start to be some interest in collecting them as antiques. Should probably sell for a couple of bucks a tape by then. Everything old enough is worth something(in decent condition)

In 15 years, they still aren't going to be worth anything. VHS tapes aren't a particularly stable medium. Anything that isn't in the original shrink wrap and kept at a constant storage temperature will probably be too damaged to play after 15 year -- if they aren't already too damaged. They were just never meant to be stored that long.

Compare them with vinyl records. Vinyl records date back to long before VHS tapes, and they are much more stable a storage medium, but the vast majority of them are still worth nothing. Popular albums were so numerously produced that they outlive all others by their sheer numbers. It's actually the really unpopular/rare/limited edition vinyls which have any value. Even then, their value is closely tied to their condition.

If this were some sort of limited edition VHS set that was given away as a prize, only available at a specific convention, given to the actors or crew members, were signed, or are in absolutely impeccable condition (even better: still in the shrink wrap) then it would be worth a bundle. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

 

[TheSubCommander]

Quoth me

RandyS wrote:
Extrocomp wrote:
I can't bring myself to throw away something with Star Trek on the cover. Especially since one the tapes is Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Extended Video Version), which has never been released on DVD.

Keep that until you can convert it to DVD-R. That's what I did.

Or you can actually buy REAL DVDs second hand. That's what I did for much of my collection, and DVD seasons can be had for dirt cheap these days. Or just get BR used; harder to find used at low prices, but doable. If I didn't already have mine on DVD, I would do Bluray.

333×480 (VHS)
720x480 (DVD)
1080P (Bluray)

^^

That's the whole point, the Extended Video Version has never been released on retail DVD. Hence putting it on DVD-R.

Sure, I guess? If copyright infringement is your thing, have at it? I thought such a thing was discouraged around here, so I was just offering an alternative.

Personally, I think the original theatrical version, and the directors cut of TMP is enough, and DVD or BR resolution is far better than VHS, but to each their own.

 

[Firebird]

Personally, I think the original theatrical version, and the directors cut of TMP is enough, and DVD or BR resolution is far better than VHS, but to each their own.

For the SLV, it's not a question of visual quality - it's the nostalgia. Many people, including myself, grew up with that version of the movie, so naturally that's the one we want to see. There is a restoration edit that recreates the SLV online, but I leave it to those who want it to search for themselves.

 

[TheSubCommander]

Like I said, to each their own, and really, all three versions should be available on BR, but that's the laziness we have come to expect from CBS.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Sure, I guess? If copyright infringement is your thing, have at it? I thought such a thing was discouraged around here, so I was just offering an alternative.

Backing up your own purchased media was briefly legal here in the UK, and every territory has its own rules regarding it. It's a grey area at best, but morally speaking, media shifting should be permitted. If you've paid once for an item, it is yours, the rights to use it are yours. It's not like you're going to get DVD quality video and audio by transferring your own VHS tape to disc.

If Paramount aren't going to release it on disc, they're losing out on sales.

 

[TheSubCommander]

I really don't care whether you or the OP copy VHS tapes to DVD or not, and I don't care if Paramount loses money or not. Like I said I was only offering an alternative, in case it hadn't occurred to someone, and it wasn't intended as snark or anything like that. I also agree that it would be nice of that version of TMP were released. I'm just saying I don't know if I would be broadcasting the copying of said tape on a message board. Nothing would probably happen to you the copier, but you never know who reads these boards, and something could be said to the message board owners.

 

[TheVortaKeevan]

At this point I would just throw them away now. Where I live Goodwill stores will not take VHS tapes. They will take your used DVDs and Blurays.

 

[RandyS]

I really don't care whether you or the OP copy VHS tapes to DVD or not, and I don't care if Paramount loses money or not. Like I said I was only offering an alternative, in case it hadn't occurred to someone, and it wasn't intended as snark or anything like that. I also agree that it would be nice of that version of TMP were released. I'm just saying I don't know if I would be broadcasting the copying of said tape on a message board. Nothing would probably happen to you the copier, but you never know who reads these boards, and something could be said to the message board owners.

It's only copyright infringement if you try to sell it. If you keep the copy for your own personal collection (as I did), then there's no problem.

I was only offering an alternative, as you were.

 

[I am not Spock]

Still have my Trek episodes on VHS, although I haven't got anything to play them on anymore. And own everything anyway on DVD, and some of it on Blu ray

 

[I am not Spock]

I can't really foresee VHS coming back into fashion, as vinyl records have recently . Tapes just get damaged too easily. I wore out some of my TNG tapes, lol

 

[Elder Knight]

I got rid of all my (many) VHS player-recorders while the thrift stores were still taking them. The only way I could play a tape would be on one of my combination DVD recorders that have VHS decks built in.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I got about a dozen VHS tapes, one of Insurrection, that I'm going to trash. No place here will take them 'cause nobody is buying them, even for a quarter, anymore. If somebody actually offered me money for them locally, I'd decline because I'd clearly be taking advantage of them.

 

[Ethros]

So a lot of us have kinda chuckled a little at this, basically saying "oh just throw them away, they're useless" etc

Ha, but how long do you think it will be before a topic appears here saying "How can I get rid of my Star Trek Blu-rays?" and we all give the same answer?

 

[JoeZhang]

Ha, but how long do you think it will be before a topic appears here saying "How can I get rid of my Star Trek DS9 Blu-rays?" and we all give the same answer?

I'd hold on to them forever.

 

[RandyS]

So a lot of us have kinda chuckled a little at this, basically saying "oh just throw them away, they're useless" etc

Ha, but how long do you think it will be before a topic appears here saying "How can I get rid of my Star Trek Blu-rays?" and we all give the same answer?

The way technology changes anymore? About two weeks.

If that.

 

[fireproof78]

So a lot of us have kinda chuckled a little at this, basically saying "oh just throw them away, they're useless" etc

Ha, but how long do you think it will be before a topic appears here saying "How can I get rid of my Star Trek Blu-rays?" and we all give the same answer?

Well, my answer would still be the same: I'm keeping them. My collection will consist of VHS, DVDs and Blu-rays.

Also, I like teaching my kids about old tech