What is that sellers ebay store called id like to check them out do you have a link for them ? Thanks.
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Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have
- Thread starter Stanislav
- Start date
What is that sellers ebay store called id like to check them out do you have a link for them ? Thanks.
I'm not sure if this belongs in this section or in the obituaries. Frank can move it if needed. We've lost a VHS collector/YouTuber. David Downs passed away on Saturday at the young age of 35. His Fun & Games Channel had hundreds of game shows, commercial breaks and vintage HBO content on it going back to the 1970s. I never really communicated with him but he has put up some awesome stuff including some rare pilots, short-lived game shows like the Wink Martindale High Rollers etc. May he RIP...and I REALLY hope somebody will save his collection for the future. I'm saddened by the loss of someone who loved the VHS/Betamax collecting hobby as much as I do.
http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,31525.0.html?PHPSESSID=a0daa4e22f06133d469b80501b8f9867
http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,31525.0.html?PHPSESSID=a0daa4e22f06133d469b80501b8f9867
I'm not sure if this belongs in this section or in the obituaries. Frank can move it if needed. We've lost a VHS collector/YouTuber. David Downs passed away on Saturday at the young age of 35. His Fun & Games Channel had hundreds of game shows, commercial breaks and vintage HBO content on it going back to the 1970s. I never really communicated with him but he has put up some awesome stuff including some rare pilots, short-lived game shows like the Wink Martindale High Rollers etc. May he RIP...and I REALLY hope somebody will save his collection for the future. I'm saddened by the loss of someone who loved the VHS/Betamax collecting hobby as much as I do.
http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,31525.0.html?PHPSESSID=a0daa4e22f06133d469b80501b8f9867
Is this his youtube channel or is it a different one? https://www.youtube.com/user/ebxmusiced/about .
I'm not sure if this belongs in this section or in the obituaries. Frank can move it if needed. We've lost a VHS collector/YouTuber. David Downs passed away on Saturday at the young age of 35. His Fun & Games Channel had hundreds of game shows, commercial breaks and vintage HBO content on it going back to the 1970s. I never really communicated with him but he has put up some awesome stuff including some rare pilots, short-lived game shows like the Wink Martindale High Rollers etc. May he RIP...and I REALLY hope somebody will save his collection for the future. I'm saddened by the loss of someone who loved the VHS/Betamax collecting hobby as much as I do.
http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,31525.0.html?PHPSESSID=a0daa4e22f06133d469b80501b8f9867
Upon further research I believe this is the previously mentioned channel of his. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkog01I-a8fR714Y8R8A4Wg .
Upon further research I believe this is the previously mentioned channel of his. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkog01I-a8fR714Y8R8A4Wg .
Someone is still uploading videos to it. A 1974 Price Is Right was added yesterday.
Actually, it was that the SO said that David had scheduled new videos up to two weeks in advance, which means we have until next weekend to see some new uploads from him, with a 1974 episode of "The Price Is Right", taken from a master copy being the latest. It includes a playing of the short-lived pricing game Mystery Price.
I personally just upload and post, though the trend over the past year is instead of doing the posts slowly and surely, post them about twice a month (with a bunch coming today and tomorrow). Though since I'll have much more time off for the holidays compared to last year, I may post a bit more like I had been doing for my first few years.
That said, I traded with Downs twice, and the second time last summer did indicate "many doctors visits" in his emails, which meant that something behind the scenes didn't seem quite right. He'll be missed.
I personally just upload and post, though the trend over the past year is instead of doing the posts slowly and surely, post them about twice a month (with a bunch coming today and tomorrow). Though since I'll have much more time off for the holidays compared to last year, I may post a bit more like I had been doing for my first few years.
That said, I traded with Downs twice, and the second time last summer did indicate "many doctors visits" in his emails, which meant that something behind the scenes didn't seem quite right. He'll be missed.
One last batch of 37 Betamax tapes from marba59, with a more mixed taped stock this time, and as a result, a somewhat more mixed stock of findings, including my second oldest find of all time (kept 27 total). All finds contain commercials unless otherwise mentioned.
Tape 1: The 1995 version of "Bye Bye, Birdie" and the first few minutes of the late news off ABC/WXYZ on 12/3/1995.
Tape 2: The last two-thirds or so of the 24th CMA Awards off CBS/WISH on 10/8/1990, then cuts over to about two-thirds of the 28th Anniversary Special of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, followed by the full WTHR late news on 9/27/1990.
Tape 3: It may have literally seemed like "yesterday" then, but except for the intro, the full documentary "Echoes of the Sixties" taped off KPNX/NBC on 7/25/1979, including a couple "Proud As A Peacock" promos.
Tape 4: Begins with portions of various figure skating performances without commercials, then cuts to about the last half of the Australian Open Women's Final off ESPN on 1/24/1992, followed by the first two hours of the Australian Open Men's Final off ESPN from the following day.
Tape 5: Mickey's Happy Valentine Special taped off WFMJ/NBC on 2/13/1989, followed by Bugs Bunny's Mad, Mad World and It Was A Short Summer, Charlie Brown off WKBM/CBS on 9/1/89, followed by most of Quantum Leap off WFMJ/NBC on 4/7/1989.
Tape 6: A hodgepodge of early TV Land footage circa 1996 (with the "Nick at Nite's" over the bug), including lots of classic Ed Sullivan, a little Sonny & Cher, another B/W variety show, with some retromercials, promos, and a few modern commercials. Just like AMC, TLC, Bravo, or MTV, this channel has really strayed its "classic TV" roots that made it so good in its early years.
Tape 7: The Jetsons Movie taped off WICU circa 1993 without commercials, followed by ET taped off WICU/NBC on 12/12/1993 with commercials
Tape 8: Begins with various comedic sketches (no ads), then cuts to about the last 25 minutes of Young Maverick, "A Country Christmas", and the first few minutes of another country-themed holiday special off KOOL/CBS on 12/12/1979.
Tape 9: Begins with an old Roy Rogers western without commercials, then cuts over to about the last 35 minutes of the 1985 French Open Men's Semifinal Match between Jimmy Conners and Ivan Lendl off USA on 6/7/1985.
Tape 10: "The Chase", the NBC Sunday Night Movie taped off WTHR/NBC on 2/10/1991.
Tape 11: Begins without 20 minutes of family movies (filmed in B&W circa the late '70s), followed by the last 20 minutes of Starsky & Hutch, followed by the first few minutes of the short-lived drama Feather and the Father Gang (starring Stefanie Powers) off WVNY/ABC on 7/23/1977 with a few commercial breaks. Yes, this is my second oldest find ever off any blank tape!
Tape 12: Contains a couple movies taped off rentals or pay TV, but at the end, it cuts to a full newscast off KPHO on 4/7/1986, and also includes the sign-off.
Tape 13: The Santa Clause and It Could Happen To You copied off rentals, followed by the last 20 minutes of the 1985 French Open quarterfinal match between Wilander and Leconte, followed by the first seven minutes of Radio 1990, off USA on 6/5/1985.
Tape 14: A stranger recording that begins with a rental copy of The Mark Wilson Video Course in Magic, then cuts to most of Harry Anderson's Tricks of The Trade off CBS on 5/29/96 (no local commercials, C-band feed?), then more C-band finds of about the last ten minutes of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! on 5/22/1996 (the only commercials on Jeopardy! present were during the break immediately following Double Jeopardy!) There's even a screen with those colored bars and an episode title at the start. I already have a copy of that J! episode off WBIR, but with the sponsor plugs and the credits zapped out as well as the ads.
Tape 15: Elvis, The ABC Sunday Night Movie off WEZF on 2/11/1979.
Tape 16: Some classic CBS comedy gold here! Begins with most of WKRP in Cincinnati taped off CBS/KOOL on 5/5/1980 with some commercials, followed by a special double-run M*A*S*H from the same night with a few commercials, then it cuts to the last few minutes and an episode of Flo off KOOL on 4/21/1980 with commercials.
Tape 17: The Wimbledon Ladies' Final, taped off NBC/WICU on 7/6/1985 with commercials
Tape 18: More classic tennis gold here, with the full PaineWebber Final taped off WICU/NBC on 3/30/1985, followed by an episode of the 20 Minute Workout also taped off an Erie-area station in April 1985 with commercials.
Tape 19: Peter Pan (1953) copied from rental, followed by most of the second half of Super Bowl XXVIII from 1/30/1994 with commercials and postgame.
Tpae 20: Begins with a hodgepodge of various country music videos taped off TNN in 1990 without commercials, then cuts to the last 40 minutes of SportsCenter, the Monster Truck Challenge, and the first 30 minutes of the CBA Finals off ESPN on 4/22/1990. My first ever find of this secondary pro basketball league, featuring Rapid City and Sioux Falls!
Tape 21: A syndicated rerun of Taxi taped off KPHO in December 1983, followed by most of an unkown HBO movie, followed by about eight minutes of promos circa 1981, along with the first part of Phantasm.
Tape 22: A syndicated episode of Seinfeld off NTV in Newfoundland in 1996, then appropriately cuts over to most of the 1985 Canadian Tennis Open off ESPN on 8/18/1985.
Tape 23: About half of an episode of Nightline taped in June 1980 (features Hurricane Allen footage), then about 40 minutes of footage from Good Morning America on 11/21/84. Taken from an early Scotch tape with the '70s font, and as is typical, has poor video quality meaning that some portions are audio only.
Tape 24: Most of a rerun of the TV Movie Nixon taped off NBC/WPXI in July 1987, then cuts over to the end of another movie, followed by the WPXI 11 O'Clock News and the first ten minutes off the Tonight Show from 12/2/1985.
Tape 25: Begins with about 90 minutes of TNN VideoMorning (unfortunately, the audio goes blank after about 45 minutes), followed by an episode of Jack Benny off an unkown station without commercials
Tape 26: About 45 minutes of Country Beat taped off TNN with a few commercials on 10/6/1990, then about 30 minutes of Video PM off TNN from 10/8/90 without commercials, then an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation "Remember Me" taped off WSEE on 10/22/1990 with commercials, followed by another episode of ST:TNG from late 1990 without commercials
Tape 27: Home Improvement taped off NTV Newfoundland on 10/31/1995, then C-Band broadcasts of Bless This House and Dave's World taped off CBS on 11/1/1995 with national commercials, followed by New York News, also off CBS C-Band on 11/2/1995.
I'll have to say that since I started in 2014 that 2019 has been the best year overall in terms of finds. Over 400 tapes were processed this year, and this has led to a nice growth in my collection for traders. That said, my local thrift stores are heavily lacking in VCRs in anykind. I personally have NEVER seen a Betamax machine or tape for sale at a thrift or yard sale and have had to rely online for them. Sadly, too many people trashed their tape collections instead of just selling them. For example, my uncle trashed in 2016, after I had started this hobby, dozens of tapes which mainly contained sports recordings off local Baltimore stations, except for a couple tapes from the 1983 ALCS and World Series. Important message: it doesn't hurt asking your family/friends if they have a blank VHS collection lying around, and it will especially be important as these become harder to find as years go by!
May 2020 be a roaring start to a new decade!
Tape 1: The 1995 version of "Bye Bye, Birdie" and the first few minutes of the late news off ABC/WXYZ on 12/3/1995.
Tape 2: The last two-thirds or so of the 24th CMA Awards off CBS/WISH on 10/8/1990, then cuts over to about two-thirds of the 28th Anniversary Special of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, followed by the full WTHR late news on 9/27/1990.
Tape 3: It may have literally seemed like "yesterday" then, but except for the intro, the full documentary "Echoes of the Sixties" taped off KPNX/NBC on 7/25/1979, including a couple "Proud As A Peacock" promos.
Tape 4: Begins with portions of various figure skating performances without commercials, then cuts to about the last half of the Australian Open Women's Final off ESPN on 1/24/1992, followed by the first two hours of the Australian Open Men's Final off ESPN from the following day.
Tape 5: Mickey's Happy Valentine Special taped off WFMJ/NBC on 2/13/1989, followed by Bugs Bunny's Mad, Mad World and It Was A Short Summer, Charlie Brown off WKBM/CBS on 9/1/89, followed by most of Quantum Leap off WFMJ/NBC on 4/7/1989.
Tape 6: A hodgepodge of early TV Land footage circa 1996 (with the "Nick at Nite's" over the bug), including lots of classic Ed Sullivan, a little Sonny & Cher, another B/W variety show, with some retromercials, promos, and a few modern commercials. Just like AMC, TLC, Bravo, or MTV, this channel has really strayed its "classic TV" roots that made it so good in its early years.
Tape 7: The Jetsons Movie taped off WICU circa 1993 without commercials, followed by ET taped off WICU/NBC on 12/12/1993 with commercials
Tape 8: Begins with various comedic sketches (no ads), then cuts to about the last 25 minutes of Young Maverick, "A Country Christmas", and the first few minutes of another country-themed holiday special off KOOL/CBS on 12/12/1979.
Tape 9: Begins with an old Roy Rogers western without commercials, then cuts over to about the last 35 minutes of the 1985 French Open Men's Semifinal Match between Jimmy Conners and Ivan Lendl off USA on 6/7/1985.
Tape 10: "The Chase", the NBC Sunday Night Movie taped off WTHR/NBC on 2/10/1991.
Tape 11: Begins without 20 minutes of family movies (filmed in B&W circa the late '70s), followed by the last 20 minutes of Starsky & Hutch, followed by the first few minutes of the short-lived drama Feather and the Father Gang (starring Stefanie Powers) off WVNY/ABC on 7/23/1977 with a few commercial breaks. Yes, this is my second oldest find ever off any blank tape!
Tape 12: Contains a couple movies taped off rentals or pay TV, but at the end, it cuts to a full newscast off KPHO on 4/7/1986, and also includes the sign-off.
Tape 13: The Santa Clause and It Could Happen To You copied off rentals, followed by the last 20 minutes of the 1985 French Open quarterfinal match between Wilander and Leconte, followed by the first seven minutes of Radio 1990, off USA on 6/5/1985.
Tape 14: A stranger recording that begins with a rental copy of The Mark Wilson Video Course in Magic, then cuts to most of Harry Anderson's Tricks of The Trade off CBS on 5/29/96 (no local commercials, C-band feed?), then more C-band finds of about the last ten minutes of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! on 5/22/1996 (the only commercials on Jeopardy! present were during the break immediately following Double Jeopardy!) There's even a screen with those colored bars and an episode title at the start. I already have a copy of that J! episode off WBIR, but with the sponsor plugs and the credits zapped out as well as the ads.
Tape 15: Elvis, The ABC Sunday Night Movie off WEZF on 2/11/1979.
Tape 16: Some classic CBS comedy gold here! Begins with most of WKRP in Cincinnati taped off CBS/KOOL on 5/5/1980 with some commercials, followed by a special double-run M*A*S*H from the same night with a few commercials, then it cuts to the last few minutes and an episode of Flo off KOOL on 4/21/1980 with commercials.
Tape 17: The Wimbledon Ladies' Final, taped off NBC/WICU on 7/6/1985 with commercials
Tape 18: More classic tennis gold here, with the full PaineWebber Final taped off WICU/NBC on 3/30/1985, followed by an episode of the 20 Minute Workout also taped off an Erie-area station in April 1985 with commercials.
Tape 19: Peter Pan (1953) copied from rental, followed by most of the second half of Super Bowl XXVIII from 1/30/1994 with commercials and postgame.
Tpae 20: Begins with a hodgepodge of various country music videos taped off TNN in 1990 without commercials, then cuts to the last 40 minutes of SportsCenter, the Monster Truck Challenge, and the first 30 minutes of the CBA Finals off ESPN on 4/22/1990. My first ever find of this secondary pro basketball league, featuring Rapid City and Sioux Falls!
Tape 21: A syndicated rerun of Taxi taped off KPHO in December 1983, followed by most of an unkown HBO movie, followed by about eight minutes of promos circa 1981, along with the first part of Phantasm.
Tape 22: A syndicated episode of Seinfeld off NTV in Newfoundland in 1996, then appropriately cuts over to most of the 1985 Canadian Tennis Open off ESPN on 8/18/1985.
Tape 23: About half of an episode of Nightline taped in June 1980 (features Hurricane Allen footage), then about 40 minutes of footage from Good Morning America on 11/21/84. Taken from an early Scotch tape with the '70s font, and as is typical, has poor video quality meaning that some portions are audio only.
Tape 24: Most of a rerun of the TV Movie Nixon taped off NBC/WPXI in July 1987, then cuts over to the end of another movie, followed by the WPXI 11 O'Clock News and the first ten minutes off the Tonight Show from 12/2/1985.
Tape 25: Begins with about 90 minutes of TNN VideoMorning (unfortunately, the audio goes blank after about 45 minutes), followed by an episode of Jack Benny off an unkown station without commercials
Tape 26: About 45 minutes of Country Beat taped off TNN with a few commercials on 10/6/1990, then about 30 minutes of Video PM off TNN from 10/8/90 without commercials, then an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation "Remember Me" taped off WSEE on 10/22/1990 with commercials, followed by another episode of ST:TNG from late 1990 without commercials
Tape 27: Home Improvement taped off NTV Newfoundland on 10/31/1995, then C-Band broadcasts of Bless This House and Dave's World taped off CBS on 11/1/1995 with national commercials, followed by New York News, also off CBS C-Band on 11/2/1995.
I'll have to say that since I started in 2014 that 2019 has been the best year overall in terms of finds. Over 400 tapes were processed this year, and this has led to a nice growth in my collection for traders. That said, my local thrift stores are heavily lacking in VCRs in anykind. I personally have NEVER seen a Betamax machine or tape for sale at a thrift or yard sale and have had to rely online for them. Sadly, too many people trashed their tape collections instead of just selling them. For example, my uncle trashed in 2016, after I had started this hobby, dozens of tapes which mainly contained sports recordings off local Baltimore stations, except for a couple tapes from the 1983 ALCS and World Series. Important message: it doesn't hurt asking your family/friends if they have a blank VHS collection lying around, and it will especially be important as these become harder to find as years go by!
May 2020 be a roaring start to a new decade!
Sometimes I wish I had a Betamax VCR, but at the same time, I hardly ever see Betamax tapes at the yard sales, estate sales and flea markets I go to. This past summer, I went to an estate sale where I saw a Betamax VCR being sold, but I ended up not buying it because the tapes themselves have been so hard to find in my experience. Plus it didn't have a remote. I think it's been at least a couple years since I last saw recorded Beta tapes out in the wild. I remember seeing some at an estate sale in my hometown quite a while ago.
I have a set of 40 VHS tapes coming in from an eBay seller in Oklahoma City and they should be here next week. This listing was pretty inexpensive compared to many of the others I've spotted on eBay as of late, so I figured I might as well grab it. As a side note, I would not be the least bit surprised if I come across at least one commercial for Sonic from the days before the drive-in chain started advertising nationally, seeing how the chain originated in OKC. We did have a Sonic in Brunswick, Ohio, just about 20 minutes away from my neck of the woods for quite a while, but it recently closed down. Now the closest Sonic to us is in Parma, which is much closer to Cleveland.
I have a set of 40 VHS tapes coming in from an eBay seller in Oklahoma City and they should be here next week. This listing was pretty inexpensive compared to many of the others I've spotted on eBay as of late, so I figured I might as well grab it. As a side note, I would not be the least bit surprised if I come across at least one commercial for Sonic from the days before the drive-in chain started advertising nationally, seeing how the chain originated in OKC. We did have a Sonic in Brunswick, Ohio, just about 20 minutes away from my neck of the woods for quite a while, but it recently closed down. Now the closest Sonic to us is in Parma, which is much closer to Cleveland.
Sometimes I wish I had a Betamax VCR, but at the same time, I hardly ever see Betamax tapes at the yard sales, estate sales and flea markets I go to. This past summer, I went to an estate sale where I saw a Betamax VCR being sold, but I ended up not buying it because the tapes themselves have been so hard to find in my experience. Plus it didn't have a remote. I think it's been at least a couple years since I last saw recorded Beta tapes out in the wild. I remember seeing some at an estate sale in my hometown quite a while ago.
I have a set of 40 VHS tapes coming in from an eBay seller in Oklahoma City and they should be here next week. This listing was pretty inexpensive compared to many of the others I've spotted on eBay as of late, so I figured I might as well grab it. As a side note, I would not be the least bit surprised if I come across at least one commercial for Sonic from the days before the drive-in chain started advertising nationally, seeing how the chain originated in OKC. We did have a Sonic in Brunswick, Ohio, just about 20 minutes away from my neck of the woods for quite a while, but it recently closed down. Now the closest Sonic to us is in Parma, which is much closer to Cleveland.
Which ebay seller was it could I get the link for their store? I try to keep an eye out for vhs stuff as well thanks.
One last batch of 37 Betamax tapes from marba59, with a more mixed taped stock this time, and as a result, a somewhat more mixed stock of findings, including my second oldest find of all time (kept 27 total). All finds contain commercials unless otherwise mentioned.
Tape 1: The 1995 version of "Bye Bye, Birdie" and the first few minutes of the late news off ABC/WXYZ on 12/3/1995.
Tape 2: The last two-thirds or so of the 24th CMA Awards off CBS/WISH on 10/8/1990, then cuts over to about two-thirds of the 28th Anniversary Special of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, followed by the full WTHR late news on 9/27/1990.
Tape 3: It may have literally seemed like "yesterday" then, but except for the intro, the full documentary "Echoes of the Sixties" taped off KPNX/NBC on 7/25/1979, including a couple "Proud As A Peacock" promos.
Tape 4: Begins with portions of various figure skating performances without commercials, then cuts to about the last half of the Australian Open Women's Final off ESPN on 1/24/1992, followed by the first two hours of the Australian Open Men's Final off ESPN from the following day.
Tape 5: Mickey's Happy Valentine Special taped off WFMJ/NBC on 2/13/1989, followed by Bugs Bunny's Mad, Mad World and It Was A Short Summer, Charlie Brown off WKBM/CBS on 9/1/89, followed by most of Quantum Leap off WFMJ/NBC on 4/7/1989.
Tape 6: A hodgepodge of early TV Land footage circa 1996 (with the "Nick at Nite's" over the bug), including lots of classic Ed Sullivan, a little Sonny & Cher, another B/W variety show, with some retromercials, promos, and a few modern commercials. Just like AMC, TLC, Bravo, or MTV, this channel has really strayed its "classic TV" roots that made it so good in its early years.
Tape 7: The Jetsons Movie taped off WICU circa 1993 without commercials, followed by ET taped off WICU/NBC on 12/12/1993 with commercials
Tape 8: Begins with various comedic sketches (no ads), then cuts to about the last 25 minutes of Young Maverick, "A Country Christmas", and the first few minutes of another country-themed holiday special off KOOL/CBS on 12/12/1979.
Tape 9: Begins with an old Roy Rogers western without commercials, then cuts over to about the last 35 minutes of the 1985 French Open Men's Semifinal Match between Jimmy Conners and Ivan Lendl off USA on 6/7/1985.
Tape 10: "The Chase", the NBC Sunday Night Movie taped off WTHR/NBC on 2/10/1991.
Tape 11: Begins without 20 minutes of family movies (filmed in B&W circa the late '70s), followed by the last 20 minutes of Starsky & Hutch, followed by the first few minutes of the short-lived drama Feather and the Father Gang (starring Stefanie Powers) off WVNY/ABC on 7/23/1977 with a few commercial breaks. Yes, this is my second oldest find ever off any blank tape!
Tape 12: Contains a couple movies taped off rentals or pay TV, but at the end, it cuts to a full newscast off KPHO on 4/7/1986, and also includes the sign-off.
Tape 13: The Santa Clause and It Could Happen To You copied off rentals, followed by the last 20 minutes of the 1985 French Open quarterfinal match between Wilander and Leconte, followed by the first seven minutes of Radio 1990, off USA on 6/5/1985.
Tape 14: A stranger recording that begins with a rental copy of The Mark Wilson Video Course in Magic, then cuts to most of Harry Anderson's Tricks of The Trade off CBS on 5/29/96 (no local commercials, C-band feed?), then more C-band finds of about the last ten minutes of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! on 5/22/1996 (the only commercials on Jeopardy! present were during the break immediately following Double Jeopardy!) There's even a screen with those colored bars and an episode title at the start. I already have a copy of that J! episode off WBIR, but with the sponsor plugs and the credits zapped out as well as the ads.
Tape 15: Elvis, The ABC Sunday Night Movie off WEZF on 2/11/1979.
Tape 16: Some classic CBS comedy gold here! Begins with most of WKRP in Cincinnati taped off CBS/KOOL on 5/5/1980 with some commercials, followed by a special double-run M*A*S*H from the same night with a few commercials, then it cuts to the last few minutes and an episode of Flo off KOOL on 4/21/1980 with commercials.
Tape 17: The Wimbledon Ladies' Final, taped off NBC/WICU on 7/6/1985 with commercials
Tape 18: More classic tennis gold here, with the full PaineWebber Final taped off WICU/NBC on 3/30/1985, followed by an episode of the 20 Minute Workout also taped off an Erie-area station in April 1985 with commercials.
Tape 19: Peter Pan (1953) copied from rental, followed by most of the second half of Super Bowl XXVIII from 1/30/1994 with commercials and postgame.
Tpae 20: Begins with a hodgepodge of various country music videos taped off TNN in 1990 without commercials, then cuts to the last 40 minutes of SportsCenter, the Monster Truck Challenge, and the first 30 minutes of the CBA Finals off ESPN on 4/22/1990. My first ever find of this secondary pro basketball league, featuring Rapid City and Sioux Falls!
Tape 21: A syndicated rerun of Taxi taped off KPHO in December 1983, followed by most of an unkown HBO movie, followed by about eight minutes of promos circa 1981, along with the first part of Phantasm.
Tape 22: A syndicated episode of Seinfeld off NTV in Newfoundland in 1996, then appropriately cuts over to most of the 1985 Canadian Tennis Open off ESPN on 8/18/1985.
Tape 23: About half of an episode of Nightline taped in June 1980 (features Hurricane Allen footage), then about 40 minutes of footage from Good Morning America on 11/21/84. Taken from an early Scotch tape with the '70s font, and as is typical, has poor video quality meaning that some portions are audio only.
Tape 24: Most of a rerun of the TV Movie Nixon taped off NBC/WPXI in July 1987, then cuts over to the end of another movie, followed by the WPXI 11 O'Clock News and the first ten minutes off the Tonight Show from 12/2/1985.
Tape 25: Begins with about 90 minutes of TNN VideoMorning (unfortunately, the audio goes blank after about 45 minutes), followed by an episode of Jack Benny off an unkown station without commercials
Tape 26: About 45 minutes of Country Beat taped off TNN with a few commercials on 10/6/1990, then about 30 minutes of Video PM off TNN from 10/8/90 without commercials, then an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation "Remember Me" taped off WSEE on 10/22/1990 with commercials, followed by another episode of ST:TNG from late 1990 without commercials
Tape 27: Home Improvement taped off NTV Newfoundland on 10/31/1995, then C-Band broadcasts of Bless This House and Dave's World taped off CBS on 11/1/1995 with national commercials, followed by New York News, also off CBS C-Band on 11/2/1995.
I'll have to say that since I started in 2014 that 2019 has been the best year overall in terms of finds. Over 400 tapes were processed this year, and this has led to a nice growth in my collection for traders. That said, my local thrift stores are heavily lacking in VCRs in anykind. I personally have NEVER seen a Betamax machine or tape for sale at a thrift or yard sale and have had to rely online for them. Sadly, too many people trashed their tape collections instead of just selling them. For example, my uncle trashed in 2016, after I had started this hobby, dozens of tapes which mainly contained sports recordings off local Baltimore stations, except for a couple tapes from the 1983 ALCS and World Series. Important message: it doesn't hurt asking your family/friends if they have a blank VHS collection lying around, and it will especially be important as these become harder to find as years go by!
May 2020 be a roaring start to a new decade!
OMG, let's go over this...
First of all Tape 5, those cartoon specials are so hard to find. None are aired currently on TV. Charlie Brown's Valentines special still airs on ABC, but these people taped the Mickey Mouse one instead.
Tape 6 is amazing on its own, very early TV Land. The earliest I've found multiple hours of stuff from February 1999.
Tape 11, a 1977 find from Burlington VT should be a banner find for you, no matter what time of year. The calls were still WEZF at that time. In the Northwest, that's the equivalent of finding a 1977 KBOI-TV, KIVI or KTVB recording from Boise, based off DMAs.
Tape 12 - That full newscast was obviously a rebroadcast from 10PM.
Tape 14 - The CBS East Coast feed would've been on Galaxy 4 at the time, transponder 20. In 1998, the satellite failed. Was there any color bars or bumpers in between? Wheel and Jeopardy no doubt came from the satellite feed for local stations, probably on G4 or one of the Telstar's. I'll take a guess and say Telstar 401, transponder 1, the VTC distribution feed. They were using VTC in the early '90s. Note: They may have been taped 1-2 days in advance. Syndicators often fed these shows in advance.
Tape 19 - Which station was the Super Bowl taped off of?
Tape 27 - NTV Newfoundland was in the clear on C-Band, Anik E2, TP20 at 107W. CTV also maintained their east/west feeds on E2. CBC was on E1, and that included CBC North. Thus the CBS came off Galaxy 4 when the C-Band subscriber turned the dish to 99W. This is some amazing stuff, even though it's the national feed. I've only found one example of C-Band raw feed of a network - a 2/3/1993 recording of Unsolved Mysteries and Homicide: Life on the Street taped off the NBC feed. There were a couple of PSAs at the top of the hour, but nothing else besides color bars that made it stand out.
You've had an amazing year!!! 2019 has not been as great as other years but I made some obscure and interesting finds this year. This included...
- the DZKB-9 Manila find from 1982
- two tapes chock full of '84 Olympics coverage
- three tapes of KYVE Sesame Street and classic Nick reruns of The Muppet Show from 1994
- my first find from the low-budget K60EB Yakima (December 1997)
- my first VHS tape with a pink cassette casing and a yellow tape guard...which ended up having USA La Femme Nikita and several hours of late evening KING-5 from 1998 on it
- my oldest CNN find, a partial recording from April 1984 which also includes Stuart Varney's business show
- not one, but two late night KCYU recordings, both with hours of Shop at Home from the early 2000s
- the full 1994 Portland Grand Floral Parade from KOIN-6
- a full 9/26/1997 TGIF block which includes the You Wish! and Teen Angel pilots
- longtime KIMA weatherman Stu Seibel's final forecast from 11/16/07, complete!
- Three broadcasts of ABC Weekend Special from November 1985, all with commercials
- An hour's worth of late night programming from AFN's Far East Network at Okinawa, taped in August 1986!
- Multiple KNDO, KIMA and KAPP clips of the devastating Yakima Valley floods of February 1996
Let's hope 2020 will be better than 2019.
Sometimes I wish I had a Betamax VCR, but at the same time, I hardly ever see Betamax tapes at the yard sales, estate sales and flea markets I go to. This past summer, I went to an estate sale where I saw a Betamax VCR being sold, but I ended up not buying it because the tapes themselves have been so hard to find in my experience. Plus it didn't have a remote. I think it's been at least a couple years since I last saw recorded Beta tapes out in the wild. I remember seeing some at an estate sale in my hometown quite a while ago.
I have a set of 40 VHS tapes coming in from an eBay seller in Oklahoma City and they should be here next week. This listing was pretty inexpensive compared to many of the others I've spotted on eBay as of late, so I figured I might as well grab it. As a side note, I would not be the least bit surprised if I come across at least one commercial for Sonic from the days before the drive-in chain started advertising nationally, seeing how the chain originated in OKC. We did have a Sonic in Brunswick, Ohio, just about 20 minutes away from my neck of the woods for quite a while, but it recently closed down. Now the closest Sonic to us is in Parma, which is much closer to Cleveland.
I've only seen Betamax blanks at one estate sale in the nearly 5 years I've been operating my YouTube channel. That one had one Betamax with the '88 Super Bowl on it, from KXLY Spokane. Everywhere I've been to, it's VHS. Even those tapes from the early-mid '80s are VHS. My 1979 KAPP finds were VHS too. I bought a Betamax VCR off eBay to replace the old Sony SL-HF300 that died. The new one is an SL-3030 that works very well. But my audio splitter don't work anymore, so it all comes out of one side now. Until I get the right splitter I can't go through the rest of the Betas, which are mostly Siskel & Ebert from the '90s left over from a 2017 eBay lot.
Really cool finds there Pannoni1. The tennis stuff should be unique, as well as the CBA final as sports stuff goes. Nightline may be impossible to find outside of the ABC Archives. A big thank you for posting most of this on Archive.org. I hope the WKRP in Cincinnati episodes make it up there, the DVD releases and later syndications are totally different with music replaced or outright removed.
Well, I got the 40 tapes from Oklahoma City a couple of days ago, but unfortunately, the majority of these turned out to be a bust. They were mostly duds consisting of movies recorded from premium cable channels or Pay-Per-View or copied from rental tapes, including a Pay-Per-View porno movie and a prerecorded retail tape of Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) placed inside a Universal T-120 case. Here are the only bright spots from this lot.
TAPE 1: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 1990; Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) taped from Cinemax circa 1991; Steel Magnolias (1989) taped from HBO in June 1991 with promos afterward; partial episode of The Young and the Restless taped from KWTV in Oklahoma City in June 1991 with commercials. Memorex T-120.
TAPE 2: The Presidio (1988) taped from Cinemax in June 1991 with promos; Winter People (1989) taped from Showtime in June 1991 with promos; Major League (1989) and part of Red King, White Knight (1989) taped from HBO in June 1991 with promos. Memorex T-120.
TAPE 3: What Lies Beneath (2000) taped from DirecTV Direct Ticket Pay-Per-View in January 2001 with a 20-minute promo loop afterward. TDK T-120.
TAPE 4: As Good as It Gets (1997) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 1999; Larger Than Life (1996) taped from Showtime 3 circa 1999; Legend of the Mummy (1998) taped from HBO in November 1999 with promos afterward. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 5: The Last Emperor (1987) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 2000; The Sixth Sense (1999) taped from DirecTV Direct Ticket Pay-Per-View in March 2000 with a partial promo loop afterward. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 6: The Replacements (2000) taped from DirecTV Direct Ticket Pay-Per-View in February 2001 with a partial promo loop afterward. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 7: The Wizard of Oz (1939) taped from KOCB in Oklahoma City on 11/24/2002 with commercials. TDK T-120.
TAPE 8: Few minutes of a broadcast of 12 First News AM taped from KXII in Sherman on 7/2/2004 with a few commercials; partial recording of Enough (2002) copied from DVD. TDK T-120.
Here's something to give you an idea of what may be coming up in the future. Pannoni had made a suggestion earlier about asking family members/relatives if they have any tapes they no longer want. My uncle in Parma happens to have a pretty large collection of recorded VHS tapes in his basement and he's said before he has to downsize some things in his basement and around the house. Some of the tapes he has down there are his, while others were recorded by my grandmother before her passing in 2009. I can remember visiting my uncle's house and my grandma's house over the years growing up and seeing these tapes placed on shelves and always wondering what could have been on them. Some of the markings I remember seeing on some of the labels on these tapes during some of these visits include things like Seinfeld (not sure if these are original broadcasts on NBC or syndicated reruns), The Drew Carey Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Cops, Real Stories of the Highway Patrol and probably other things I can't think of right now. I've heard before that my uncle also used to record In the Heat of the Night throughout its initial run during the days when he was working second shift. Not only that, but my dad had told me before that my uncle got his first VCR when they first started becoming available to the public, so who knows how old some of these tapes may be. I'll see if he'd be interested in loaning me at least some of his tapes as he downsizes some of the clutter in his house.
TAPE 1: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 1990; Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) taped from Cinemax circa 1991; Steel Magnolias (1989) taped from HBO in June 1991 with promos afterward; partial episode of The Young and the Restless taped from KWTV in Oklahoma City in June 1991 with commercials. Memorex T-120.
TAPE 2: The Presidio (1988) taped from Cinemax in June 1991 with promos; Winter People (1989) taped from Showtime in June 1991 with promos; Major League (1989) and part of Red King, White Knight (1989) taped from HBO in June 1991 with promos. Memorex T-120.
TAPE 3: What Lies Beneath (2000) taped from DirecTV Direct Ticket Pay-Per-View in January 2001 with a 20-minute promo loop afterward. TDK T-120.
TAPE 4: As Good as It Gets (1997) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 1999; Larger Than Life (1996) taped from Showtime 3 circa 1999; Legend of the Mummy (1998) taped from HBO in November 1999 with promos afterward. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 5: The Last Emperor (1987) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 2000; The Sixth Sense (1999) taped from DirecTV Direct Ticket Pay-Per-View in March 2000 with a partial promo loop afterward. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 6: The Replacements (2000) taped from DirecTV Direct Ticket Pay-Per-View in February 2001 with a partial promo loop afterward. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 7: The Wizard of Oz (1939) taped from KOCB in Oklahoma City on 11/24/2002 with commercials. TDK T-120.
TAPE 8: Few minutes of a broadcast of 12 First News AM taped from KXII in Sherman on 7/2/2004 with a few commercials; partial recording of Enough (2002) copied from DVD. TDK T-120.
Here's something to give you an idea of what may be coming up in the future. Pannoni had made a suggestion earlier about asking family members/relatives if they have any tapes they no longer want. My uncle in Parma happens to have a pretty large collection of recorded VHS tapes in his basement and he's said before he has to downsize some things in his basement and around the house. Some of the tapes he has down there are his, while others were recorded by my grandmother before her passing in 2009. I can remember visiting my uncle's house and my grandma's house over the years growing up and seeing these tapes placed on shelves and always wondering what could have been on them. Some of the markings I remember seeing on some of the labels on these tapes during some of these visits include things like Seinfeld (not sure if these are original broadcasts on NBC or syndicated reruns), The Drew Carey Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Cops, Real Stories of the Highway Patrol and probably other things I can't think of right now. I've heard before that my uncle also used to record In the Heat of the Night throughout its initial run during the days when he was working second shift. Not only that, but my dad had told me before that my uncle got his first VCR when they first started becoming available to the public, so who knows how old some of these tapes may be. I'll see if he'd be interested in loaning me at least some of his tapes as he downsizes some of the clutter in his house.
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Family members around here varied on recording anything. They always bought tapes at the store. My late father used to have some cool tapes including a late night mid-'90s TNT recording of Freaks (from 1932) that I watched many years ago, and about 4 tapes loaded with a Sci-Fi Twilight Zone marathon. Sadly those tapes were taken up for grabs after he died by his side of the family that I don't talk to anymore. Will NOT get into why.
My mother only recorded a couple of things...one being the Mariners AL West game, another being Xmas cartoons when I was very little, another being the Garth Brooks Coast to Coast special that aired on CBS on 11/26/01. Besides the latter, she was good at pulling out commercials. If only I could go back to 1989, and teach her how to program the VCR for when she worked. I'd have a hundred tapes of Y&R and ATWT and GH...she still loves soaps to this day. She was upset when CBS replaced As the World Turns. I do have the Garth tape with me and I still need to copy it off for her.
My mom and dad did go to the video store every Friday or Saturday, buy pizza and watch something. Depending on the week, it was something my mom wanted, like a comedy (Wayne's World, Big...) or something dad wanted, like a Star Trek movie or a slasher-horror flick...or even classic Frankenstein. He loved classic horror.
My mother's family (grandparents) never had a VCR. No time to program it, they had a farm and just didn't have time to keep tapes around. Likewise with my aunt down in the lower valley. They have about 100 tapes in their trailer but nothing recorded off TV.
My father's family (grandparents) - likewise I'll never get to touch these because I don't have a relationship with them anymore, but they recorded a LOT of classic movies, Frank Sinatra specials and whatnot. They were pros at pausing commercials however. They also had a big VHS VCR back in the day and recorded every Christmas and Easter and vacation.
That's why I get excited when I see a closet or a dozen wooden holders filled with tapes. I wonder what my life would have been if my parents were avid VCR programmers. For one thing, they NEVER subscribed to HBO or Showtime. They would only watch when the cable provider opened them up for the free preview weekend. Otherwise it was the video store. And we had two and a half independents in Seattle in the late '80s. KSTW and KTZZ were fully independent, KCPQ had Fox a couple or three nights a week and had a lot of movies and other fare the rest of the time.
My mother only recorded a couple of things...one being the Mariners AL West game, another being Xmas cartoons when I was very little, another being the Garth Brooks Coast to Coast special that aired on CBS on 11/26/01. Besides the latter, she was good at pulling out commercials. If only I could go back to 1989, and teach her how to program the VCR for when she worked. I'd have a hundred tapes of Y&R and ATWT and GH...she still loves soaps to this day. She was upset when CBS replaced As the World Turns. I do have the Garth tape with me and I still need to copy it off for her.
My mom and dad did go to the video store every Friday or Saturday, buy pizza and watch something. Depending on the week, it was something my mom wanted, like a comedy (Wayne's World, Big...) or something dad wanted, like a Star Trek movie or a slasher-horror flick...or even classic Frankenstein. He loved classic horror.
My mother's family (grandparents) never had a VCR. No time to program it, they had a farm and just didn't have time to keep tapes around. Likewise with my aunt down in the lower valley. They have about 100 tapes in their trailer but nothing recorded off TV.
My father's family (grandparents) - likewise I'll never get to touch these because I don't have a relationship with them anymore, but they recorded a LOT of classic movies, Frank Sinatra specials and whatnot. They were pros at pausing commercials however. They also had a big VHS VCR back in the day and recorded every Christmas and Easter and vacation.
That's why I get excited when I see a closet or a dozen wooden holders filled with tapes. I wonder what my life would have been if my parents were avid VCR programmers. For one thing, they NEVER subscribed to HBO or Showtime. They would only watch when the cable provider opened them up for the free preview weekend. Otherwise it was the video store. And we had two and a half independents in Seattle in the late '80s. KSTW and KTZZ were fully independent, KCPQ had Fox a couple or three nights a week and had a lot of movies and other fare the rest of the time.
Tend to agree. Like you, we NEVER subscribed to HBO or Showtime.
About the only violence i saw(if you could call it that) was on Another World(soap opera). Usually it was shootings, car accidents, etc. The one thing i regret watching is Frankie Frame getting killed. One thing i was good at, and this applies to not just AW, but to other shows was that i was pretty good at pausing commercials. I don't know how i did it, but i did it pretty well.
About the only violence i saw(if you could call it that) was on Another World(soap opera). Usually it was shootings, car accidents, etc. The one thing i regret watching is Frankie Frame getting killed. One thing i was good at, and this applies to not just AW, but to other shows was that i was pretty good at pausing commercials. I don't know how i did it, but i did it pretty well.
Didn't KEPR, the CBS Tri-Cities affiliate, air the Tri-Cities CBA team? I remember that as, outside of the news, the only time Yakima and Tri-Cities stations aired seperate programming?When I think of CBA, I think of the old Yakima SunKings basketball team. Most games were not aired on TV, albeit there were a few games in the early '90s that were broadcast by KIMA Yakima and preempted CBS primetime.
VHS alert for Scott - 50+ tapes for FREE in Green OH (near Akron). Deadline is garbage day, Tuesday morning. Go get em!
https://akroncanton.craigslist.org/zip/d/uniontown-free-box-of-old-vhs-tapes-and/7049888121.html
https://akroncanton.craigslist.org/zip/d/uniontown-free-box-of-old-vhs-tapes-and/7049888121.html
VHS alert for Scott - 50+ tapes for FREE in Green OH (near Akron). Deadline is garbage day, Tuesday morning. Go get em!
https://akroncanton.craigslist.org/zip/d/uniontown-free-box-of-old-vhs-tapes-and/7049888121.html
Sent him a direct message about it but doubt he will see it before tomorrow.