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Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have

Just one tape that was a keeper (out of three found) at an estate sale today. The other two had a home movie and another tape w/ Memphis Belle copied from the rental tape.
- Starts with a Gaither Homecoming special (taped sometime in 1994/1995), then cuts to the last hour of "Danielle Steel's Family Album" (1994) taped off KCNC Denver/NBC on 10/24/1994 with commercials; and ends with about ten minutes of Success-N-Life/Robert Tilton Ministries taped off unknown channel in the late 1980s (Tilton mentions a National Religious Broadcasters Conference during his sermon, and mentions President Reagan).

Strange find. Not sure if the homeowner lived in Denver at one time, or copied it off the C-Band satellite feed (you used to get the Denver affiliates in a Primetime 24 package on C-Band satellite in the 1980s/90s)
The folks at the estate sale told me there was tapes at the next one next week as well. But didn't go in detail as to home-recorded or retail.
 
Two keepers out of four tapes (the other two were duds copied from rentals) found at three yard sales today in Yakima.

Tape 1 - "The Mask" (1994) taped off KCYU-LP 68/Fox on 3/24/1999 with commercials (Fox Night at the Movies); end of "Seven" (1995) taped off KCYU-LP/Fox 2/26/1999 with a partial commercial break after the movie
Tape 2 - "Hannibal" (2001) and about 10 minutes of KIMA News Weekend Edition taped off KIMA-29/CBS 5/8/2004 with commercials
 
Well, I really hit the jackpot on Thursday when I went to several yard sales and came home with a ton more tapes! The residence in Brunswick where that one moving sale was held a couple of weeks ago (where I got the last VHS haul) held another one this week, and I bought 15 tapes from that sale alone, plus about seven from another, and two from another. I'm still going through them, so I'll post the full list later on, but I've been finding some pretty interesting stuff like 2002 Winter Olympics events, ABC prime time shows from around the same time (NYPD Blue, Philly, The Drew Carey Show and The Job), HGTV programs, syndicated reruns of St. Elsewhere on WJW, Howard Stern episodes on E!, some 1998 Golden Globes pre-show coverage on E! with the late Joan Rivers, various late night/early morning programs on WUAB from January 1995 (including a couple of kids' cartoons), and various movies. Some of the labels of the tapes I still have yet to go through hint that they include NASCAR races (1994 Daytona 500, 1994 GM Goodwrench 500, etc.), rodeos, hunting programs, and a few other movies. I also went to another sale just earlier today and picked up a TDK tape with "Runaway Bride" typed on the label.
 
I got a tape at a yard sale today (unfortunately a dud) that SCREWED MY NEW S-VHS PLAYER UP!! The picture went to static. Put the head cleaning tape in and I lost the picture completely on even SP hi-fi tapes. I'm running a brand new blank tape now to see if it will clear up, but if things go south, I've thrown $50 down the drain. Unbelievable.
 
crainbebo said:
I got a tape at a yard sale today (unfortunately a dud) that SCREWED MY NEW S-VHS PLAYER UP!! The picture went to static. Put the head cleaning tape in and I lost the picture completely on even SP hi-fi tapes. I'm running a brand new blank tape now to see if it will clear up, but if things go south, I've thrown $50 down the drain. Unbelievable.
Click to expand...

Ouch. Similarly, one of the tapes I got on Thursday (Oklahoma and Two Ride Together, the latter taped from TNT minus ads) caused my VCR to turn itself off while I was rewinding it. Thankfully, after I powered it back up and ejected the tape, the VCR continued to run normally playing back other tapes.
 
Picture is in and out as I speak, still have the blank tape in but taking it out once in a while and testing other tapes with it. Sometimes it flickers with static and picture roll, other times it seems fine.
The culprit had a Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus copied video on it. The seminar series on home video, NOT the talk show aired in 2001...there is a difference. There was also some PBS show on Oliver North afterwards. Frontline maybe? American Experience? Don't know and not going to check.
 
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Okay, as promised, here's the full rundown of the tapes I found at yard sales last week, minus the "duds."

Yard sale #1 (the same house in Brunswick I went to last time):
TAPE 1: Part one of Joseph (1995 made-for-TV movie) copied from rental tape; last few minutes of a taped-over recording of Star Wars (1977) copied from rental tape, then cuts to about two hours of events from the 2002 Winter Olympic Games taped from WKYC in Cleveland on 2/10/2002 with commercials, shown through the second VCR used to copy Star Wars; partially taped-over episode of NYPD Blue and episode of Philly taped from WEWS in Cleveland on 1/22/2002 with commercials; episodes of The Drew Carey Show, The Job and first few minutes of 20/20 Downtown taped from WEWS on 1/23/2002 with commercials

TAPE 2: Part two of Joseph (same two-tape movie as on Tape 1) copied from rental tape; episode of Gardener's Journal taped from HGTV in April 2001 with commercials; partial episode of Homes Across America taped from HGTV in April 2001 with commercials; partial episode of Gardening by the Yard taped from HGTV in April 2001 with commercials; partial episode of Modern Masters taped from HGTV in summer 2000 with commercials

TAPE 3: Ghostbusters (1984) taped from WEWS (ABC Sunday Night Movie) circa 1988 minus commercials, part of it is taped over with an episode of The Cosby Show taped from WKYC in Cleveland on 10/4/1990 with commercials; Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) copied from rental tape

TAPE 4: Unforgiven (1992) taped from Request Pay-Per-View in August 1993 with promos before the movie; The Bodyguard (1992) taped from Request Pay-Per-View on 8/13/1993 with promos before and after the movie

TAPE 5: Six episodes of St. Elsewhere taped from WJW in Cleveland in November 1989 with commercials, tape ends with the first few minutes of an Arsenio Hall episode that aired after the sixth episode. WJW aired St. Elsewhere weeknights at midnight, followed by Arsenio at 1AM.

TAPE 6: Four episodes of Howard Stern taped from E! in January 1998, first episode is minus commercials, the rest have commercials, tape is a bit damaged in the first two episodes, but quality improves by the third; two episodes of Model taped from E! on 1/18/1998 with commercials; episode of Baywatch taped from WKYC in January 1998 minus most commercials; partially taped-over episode of Coming Attractions and first few minutes of the Golden Globe Awards Pre-Show with the late Joan Rivers taped from E! on 1/18/1998 with commercials; partially taped-over Late Show airing of Hercules in the Underworld (1994), episodes of Who's the Boss, Victory with Morris Cerullo (religious program), Conan the Adventurer and partial episode of Saban's VR Troopers taped from WUAB in Cleveland on 1/9/1995 with commercials, including promos for early WB network shows and promos for the launch of UPN seven days afterward. WUAB carried both UPN and The WB programs prior to fall 1997, when WBNX in Akron picked up the WB affiliation.

TAPE 7: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) taped from WEWS (ABC Sunday Night Movie) on 9/28/1986 minus commercials (ads from this showing of the movie are already found elsewhere on YouTube); Never Say Never Again (1983) taped from WEWS (ABC Sunday Night Movie) on 11/2/1986 with commercials, including several local political ads, as it was shown two days before Election Day; incomplete recording of Kelly's Heroes (1970) taped from SuperStation TBS in February 1988 with commercials

Yard sale #2 (this one was just around the corner from my house!):
TAPE 8: Ross Perot political infomercial taped from NBC (WKYC) in October 1992; Larry King Live segments interviewing lawyer Gerry Spence taped from CNN sometime in 1994; part of the 1994 Daytona 500 taped from WJW on 2/20/1994, one partial and one full commercial break are included; some coverage of the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo taped from ESPN in March 1994 with a few commercials; part of an episode of The World's Most Dangerous Stunts taped from WOIO in Cleveland in May 1994 with a few commercials; part of the 1994 GM Goodwrench 400 taped from TNN on 8/21/1994 minus commercials; some coverage of the Mesquite Championship Rodeo taped from TNN sometime in 1994 minus most commercials; 20/20 package with Catherine Crier on animal cruelty at rodeos taped from either WEWS in Cleveland or WAKC in Akron sometime in 1994

TAPE 9: Most of the 1997 AC Delco 400 taped from TNN on 10/27/1997 with commercials; short clip from the WVIZ Televised Auction taped in May 1998

TAPE 10: NFL's Greatest Moments taped from ESPN circa 1990 minus commercials, part of it is taped over with some footage of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN around the same time

TAPE 11: Another Ross Perot political infomercial taped from NBC (WKYC) sometime in 1992; partially taped-over episode of Agri Country (agricultural information show that was broadcast throughout Ohio) taped from WAKC in Akron circa 1992 minus commercials; some 1992 National Finals Rodeo coverage taped from ESPN in November 1992 minus commercials; two more episodes of Agri Country taped from WAKC in January 1993 minus commercials

TAPE 12: Partial broadcast of the Mesquite Championship Rodeo taped from TNN circa 1994 minus commercials, weak audio; partially taped-over broadcast of Round 10 of the 1988 National Finals Rodeo taped from ESPN in December 1988 with commercials; unknown Discovery Channel documentary on whitetail deer taped circa 1989 minus commercials; broadcast of the Mesquite Championship Rodeo taped from TNN sometime in 1989 minus most commercials

Yard sale #3:
TAPE 13: Copycat (1995), Unzipped (1995) and Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995) copied from rental tapes; episode of Friends ("The One with the Baby on the Bus") taped from WXIA in Atlanta in March 1996 with commercials; two segments from an episode of The George and Alana Show taped from unknown Atlanta TV station in March 1996 (anyone happen to remember which station aired that show in Atlanta?)

TAPE 14: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) copied from rental tape, 1994 print; partial broadcast of the 1994 Hooters 500, NASCAR Shop Talk and part of the 1994 Golf Magazine Senior Tour Championship taped from ESPN on 11/13/1994 with commercials, fed through the second VCR used to copy the movie; partially taped-over episode of Jerry Springer (moms who party too much) and first ten minutes of Channel 5 Eyewitness News at Noon with Amanda Davis taped from WAGA in Atlanta on 10/20/1994 with commercials

Yard sale #4:
TAPE 15: Runaway Bride (1999) taped from Armstrong iN Demand Pay-Per-View (Medina, Ohio) in January 2000
 
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Good finds, especially the Never Say Never Again showing, the St. Elsewhere's, and that late night/early morning WUAB aircheck! Hang on to any St. Elsewhere tapes you find...it hasn't been reran on TV for at least 10-15 years now.
My VCR seems to be mostly back to normal now. Problem with yard sales is you always take a chance with those tapes. Some are damaged and don't look like it (no white mold/dirt on the cassette). This dud that caused my S-VHS VCR to screw up temporarily was in the case, and looked fine!
Going to inquire today about a craigslist post from Grants Pass, OR (near Medford) about home-recorded tapes for sale there. They are selling 25-30 tapes for $5/box, I wonder if they can be shipped. Lots of movies and '70s/'80s shows including Knight Rider. Would love if they were original tapes from NBC/KOBI-5, but they were syndicated later on. It also gives me the chance to find rare content from the Foxnet cable service, if they recorded Married with Children, Simpsons, etc. KMVU-26 (Medford Fox affiliate) didn't sign on until 1994.
 
More on the U-Matic recording I mentioned earlier in this thread: a couple of links from May 9, 1978...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf8iqf5spiI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfuk60kr798

And I recently had a couple of tapes restored (one by accident, and one with worn-out reels) by having them transferred to new tapes (I had to outsource the jobs cause I didn't want to lose them permanently). And these are a few of those results...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2bs0zWAbbw (Closing credits to the CBC movie "Going Home" from February 22, 1987, from the accidentally broken tape that was restored)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4DhOWmO_iM (CTV Special Presentation of 1983's "The Thorn Birds" from August 12, 1991 (the date it was rebroadcast), also from the accidentally broken tape)

Further down the tape there was about 15-20 minutes of Game 7 of the 1986 ALCS between the Angels and Red Sox (Boston hammered the Angels in that one, as I later got a full version of that game in better quality); tape ran out during the game

And from the partial restoration (there will be more to upload in the coming weeks)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcVLQSWkMAQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEefE7C3WDM (both from January 16, 1996, ASN Halifax, now CTV Two Atlantic)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u51AwYMhZwA (January 17, 1996, ITV Edmonton (now Global Edmonton))

I actually bought three VHS tapes from a yard sale on July 4, 2013, and I sent two of them off for the reasons listed above (the third tape remained intact all this time, and that also had more of "The Thorn Birds", but from a January 1985 ABC rebroadcast, and finished with a partial episode of "All My Children" from Mid-June 1984, recorded off CBC). Two years later, same spot, I picked up a few sports tapes (all official releases at the time of their original years). Had no trouble with them, thankfully.

The ABC station may never be known on two of the tapes, but I'm guessing it may have been WKBW in Buffalo (and recorded across the border in Ontario, as at least one of the tapes used CKVR in Barrie).

And lastly, cause I rarely come across '80s and '90s broadcasts at yard sales/flea markets, I did strike gold on 2 tapes in 2014 when I picked up one tape having the season 11 opener of "Dallas" (CBS feed, from September 25, 1987) followed by a near-complete ITV Edmonton noon newscast from May 1 of that year, followed then by an episode of "Astroboy" (Canadian English dub, rarely seen anywhere now) and a partial episode of "Days of Our Lives". The second tape was '90s recordings featuring a hockey playoff game from '93, partial "General Hospital" and full "Young and Restless" episode from March '94 (ITV Edmonton on those two), and part of the CBC late night movie "Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel" from late 4/26/1993, including sign-off for CBC Newfoundland; I guess the movie was recorded by accident as it was allowed to record until the tape ran out (when it did, there was transmitter static and no chance to see a sign-on for the following morning). And a partial CTV Movie presentation from January '94 somewhere in the middle of the whole thing. Not sure where exactly the CTV Movie was recorded, but I want to say somewhere outside Newfoundland as NTV did not air every program and movie CTV ran during that period.
 
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Just got a bunch of tapes at two sales today: a yard sale and an estate sale. Seven keepers in all. Here's the list:

Yard Sale
Tape 1 - Both parts of "East of Eden" taped off TBS (Morning Movie) on 6/7 and 6/8/1989 with commercials
Tape 2 - Partial broadcast of the 20th annual American Music Awards taped off KAPP/ABC 1/25/1993 with commercials. SP mode, so incomplete.
Tape 3 - Gallagher's Wizard of Odd Leap Year Marathon taped off Showtime on 2/29/1988

Estate Sale
Tape 4 - Melrose Place season 1 finale and Beverly Hills 90210: Behind the Scenes taped off K68EB/FOX Yakima 5/26/1993 with commercials; part of the 20th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards taped off KAPP/ABC with commercials the same night (just the last hour); L.A. Law season finale taped off KNDO/NBC 5/27/1993 with commercials, partial episode of Key West taped off K68EB/Fox 6/1/1993 with commercials; partial broadcast of Robert F Kennedy: The Man and The Memories taped off KNDO/NBC 5/28/1993 with commercials (for two reasons: taped over, and tape runs out before the end of the broadcast)
Tape 5 - Starts with a disappointment: almost full KIMA News at 11 broadcast from 7/11/2000, but for some reason, NO VIDEO WHATSOEVER! Just static! This is not a VCR problem, as other tapes are fine. It is followed by the last hour of coverage from the Wimbledon championship matches, and part of the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament taped off KNDO/NBC 7/9/2000 with commercials
Tape 6 - NOVA episode (Everest: The Dead Zone) taped off KYVE-47/PBS 2/24/1998; partial broadcast of "My Sergei" (1998) taped off KIMA/CBS 2/4/1998 with commercials; part of Breaking the Ice: The Women of '94 Revisited taped off KCYU-LP/FOX 2/5/1998 with commercials
 
You did better than what I got yesterday. Two tapes from individual garage sales.

TAPE 1: Partial broadcast of 10TV Eyewitness News at 6:00 with Chuck and Jane Rogers taped from WBNS in Columbus in February 1988 minus commercials, going into Mike Davis' weather segment the rest of it gets taped over with an NBC Sunday Night at the Movies broadcast of Lethal Weapon (1987) taped from WCMH in Columbus on 2/11/1990 minus commercials

TAPE 2: ABC Wonderful World of Disney presentation of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the 1996 movie that inspired the TV series) taped from WEWS in Cleveland on 10/19/1997 with commercials, tape ends with a short clip of the ABC made-for-TV movie Mother Knows Best shown on 4/13/1997

Here's an interesting eBay lot I found posted by our friend in Brownwood, Texas who we both bought from late last year. IMO, a little much though in terms of price and amount of tapes, although I'm more concerned about the former than the latter.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-USED-BL...c950c28&pid=100033&rk=1&rkt=8&sd=262565996533
 
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I've seen that. I wouldn't buy 100 tapes in one sitting. That is WAY too much for me. Remember, I'm in an apartment. The largest lots I've ever bought were 58 (ironically, from Brownwood) and a couple of 50s.
I've got 35 coming from Redding CA on Monday (eBay find!) Lots of 1980s tape boxes. Most tapes have commercials (said the seller), one tape has the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky trial on it from 1998.
As for Medford/Grants Pass, the woman is having health problems/arthritis pain. There is no way she can send a 20lb box of tapes to the post office. Unfortunately, this means no material from this market will be shared anytime soon. But Redding is about the same DMA size. Gotta love those small market tapes...the content is very rare because of the population.
 
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Got the Redding lot. So far I have found some good content, but haven't looked completely at all of the tapes. And another note...nothing was taped from Redding-Chico, all from Los Angeles + cable. The woman I bought it from used to live in Sunland-Tujunga, close to Burbank and Glendale. Some of the items found include:
- Series premiere of Beauty & The Beast taped off KCBS/CBS 1/1/1988 (rerun) with commercials
- "Man of La Mancha" taped off A&E 3/24/1988 with commercials...this is now my oldest content from the network
- "Back to the Future" taped off KTLA in November 1995 w/ commercials
- "Back to the Future II" taped off USA Network 1/18/1996 w/ commercials
- "Harry & The Hendersons" taped off KTLA in October 1989 with commercials
- The 1983 Jane Eyre miniseries on two separate tapes, one tape has episodes 1-4 taped off A&E in November 1989 w/ commercials. I have also found episode 5 on the Harry & The Hendersons tape, but I haven't looked for commercials yet.
- Most of "Justice for Annie" taped off KNBC/NBC 1/15/96 with commercials
- "A Promise to Carolyn" taped off KCBS/CBS 1/16/1996 with commercials and first minute of the Action News newscast. This was during their days when the logo was a carbon copy of KREM/Spokane's!
- 8 episodes of The Thin Blue Line, a Rowan Atkinson BBC sitcom, taped off KCET-28 LA/PBS in January 1998 with promos in between
- The Return of Mr. Bean and Show Me the Funny taped off Fox Family in July (I think) 1999 with commercials. This was interesting, because the owner taped over a rental cassette with a piece of Scotch tape! I thought that was illegal? :O I haven't looked at the rest of it, but I have a hunch it is a straight aircheck of Fox Family to the end of the tape.
- Inside the Twin Towers taped off Discovery Channel 9/3/2006 with commercials

Did find a few duds, including The Boys Next Door copied from the Hallmark VHS (which I already have from KIMA/CBS Yakima with the Hallmark and local ads, 2/4/1996), one tape that caused my VCR to shut down (I think due to a stiff tape guard...may need to put the tape reels in another dud cartridge), and another tape that was 2 hours of static, although the memory counter was still going.
 
Interesting mix. Did you happen to see what movie was on the rental tape that was taped over?

I'm hoping to make it to this event on Saturday, but I won't be surprised if I don't due to some family health issues going on that I'd rather not get into here.
http://www.historicbyway.com/buy-way-yard-sale

If I don't make it there, I did find a few more VHS lots on eBay for consideration. I'd have to figure out which one I'd want the most.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-OF-55-U...bedc4cf&pid=100033&rk=2&rkt=8&sd=252494188912

http://www.ebay.com/itm/60-PC-ASSOR...405251?hash=item3f68930543:g:KhIAAOSwFNZWzhwD

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-NEW-52-AS...2343a00&pid=100033&rk=5&rkt=8&sd=272337405251

This one's a smaller lot, but due to the area's close proximity to Canada, there could be a good chance of finding Canadian network footage on these.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-15-V...772943?hash=item4b043ed18f:g:IsgAAOSwve5XNlo4
 
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The rental movie was "Three Colors: Red" (1994), released by Miramax Home Entertainment in 1995. Interesting how they just had the courage to tape over the rental cassette (which had Macrovision, no less on it). The Fox Family content on it looks fine, not distorted.
I think I will be taking a break from buying lots for a few weeks. I've got too many to go through.
 
I just remembered something: one of the tapes I got from a friend (most if not all were VHS release tapes of various movies and individual TV show episodes) but instead of finding what was on the label of one, I got about 4½ hours of non-stop recording on the Encore Action Channel from August 8, 1997. I easily transferred the portions that aired between movie presentations (and one of the partial movies was one starring David Janssen from the mid '70s that went under a few titles, such as “Prisoner in the Middle” where he had to try to disarm a bomb while in the Middle East).

That long recording was made when direct to home satellite TV was in its early years.
 
Went to an estate sale today that was literally five or six blocks from my house. Nine tapes found, five were keepers, the other four were duds w/ movies copied from rental tapes (please tell me how they defeated Macrovision when copying them?!) Some great Yakima area content found, from 1990-99.

Tape 1 - Episode of Oprah Winfrey, KAPP-35 NewsHour, ABC World News Tonight (Charlie Gibson subbing in for Peter Jennings), Inside Edition, Home Improvement rerun, Frasier rerun and Dharma & Greg taped off KAPP-35/ABC 12/2/1998 with commercials - I haven't finished this tape, but hoping the rest of it is more ABC primetime
Tape 2 - Series premiere of The Visitor and season 2 premiere of Millennium taped off KCYU-LP 68/Fox 9/19/1997 with commercials; season 3 premiere of Nash Bridges taped off KIMA-29/CBS 9/19/1997 with commercials; weekend rerun of Walker, Texas Ranger and back to back episodes of Cops taped off KCYU-LP 68/Fox 9/20/1997 with commercials; episode of The Practice taped off KAPP/ABC 9/20/1997 with commercials; episode of Baywatch Nights taped off KIMA-29 9/20/1997 with commercials
Tape 3 - Touched By An Angel episode and partial broadcast of "Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke" taped off KIMA/CBS 2/21/1999 with commercials; after about 25 minutes of Too Rich, the program is taped over by a partial episode of Judge Joe Brown taped off KCYU-68/Fox around 2001 with commercials; partial broadcast of "Vanished Without a Trace" and Dateline NBC taped off KNDO/NBC 2/1/1999 with commercials
Tape 4 - "Zipperface" (1992) and part of "The Wharf Rat" (1995) taped off Showtime 9/14/1995 with promos before the movie
Tape 5 - Several episodes of Full House taped off KAPP/ABC in 1990-91; most minus ads except the last episode, taped 11/30/90 with commercials; two episodes of Dinosaurs are mixed in as well; partial episode of Health & Home Report, Babe Winkleman's Good Fishing and partial broadcast of the PGA BellSouth Atlanta Golf Classic (rain-delayed) taped off KIMA/CBS 5/12/1991 with commercials; partial broadcast of 20/20, full broadcast of KAPP 35 News at 11 and Nightline taped off KAPP/ABC 12/21/1990 with commercials
 
I just added another seven blank tapes to the weekend total - which is now 12 total keepers. I bought 9 tapes at a yard sale in Yakima yesterday (supporting the National Alliance on Mental Illness). Unlike most Yakima lots, this one did not have a single Yakima-taped broadcast on it. Just Seattle broadcast and cable content, which I will take any day since I lived there for many years before moving here.

Tape 1 - "Broken Trust" (1995) taped off TNT 8/6/1995 with commercials
Tape 2 - Starts with footage of a news conference on the Nancy Kerrigan attack, taped off KIRO-7/CBS Seattle in January 1994; which leads into a partial episode of As the World Turns; partial broadcast of B.L. Stryker taped off KOMO-4/ABC Seattle 4/17/1989 with commercials; tape ends with Disney Channel content circa 1989, but it is scrambled with no audio (just a loud fast beeping noise throughout). Wonder why it was taped.
Tape 3 - "Sharky's Machine" (1981) and "Flashdance" (1983) taped off unknown pay-TV channels; partial episode of Miami Vice taped off KING-5/NBC Seattle 3/13/1987 with commercials; another episode of Miami Vice taped off KING/NBC 3/20/1987 with commercials; partial Seattle Symphony Orchestra broadcast taped off KCTS-9/PBS in March 1987; one more Miami Vice taped off KING-5/NBC Seattle 3/27/1987 with commercials
Tape 4 - Compilation of Northern Exposure episodes taped off KIRO-7/CBS Seattle in 1993 w/ commercials - 1/4/1993, 1/11/1993, 1/18/1993 and 2/1/1993; Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: 25th Anniversary Reunion taped off KING-5/NBC Seattle 2/7/1993 with commercials
Tape 5 - part of "School Ties" (1992) and "Forrest Gump" (1994) taped off Cinemax in July 1995 with promos between the two movies. Aired during their "Summer of 1000 Movies."
Tape 6 - Three episodes of As the World Turns (two partially taped over) taped off KIRO-7/CBS in February 1994 with commercials; partial episode of Wiseguy taped off KIRO/CBS 12/13/1989 with commercials; full episodes of Wiseguy taped off KIRO/CBS 12/20/89, 1/10/90 and 1/17/90 with commercials
Tape 7 - "Last Stand at Saber River" (1997) taped off TNT 1/19/1997 with commercials
 
After about nine months since my purchase of that 50-tape lot from Brownwood, Texas on eBay, I just purchased another lot of 50 tapes from the same location and seller that should arrive sometime next week. Not many of the tape labels were visible in the photos, but I did see one tape marked "Dr. Phil," another tape marked "MTV Stones" (I'm guessing a Rolling Stones special on MTV), and a couple of tapes with movie titles on the labels (e.g. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Meatballs III). One of the tape cases in the pictures appears to be an old mid '80s RCA Selectavision brand, but since the brands of the tapes don't always match the brands of the cases, there's no telling whether there will be any '80s footage on there or not.

There was another lot in particular that would have been an even better deal than the new Brownwood lot (especially given the fact that the shipping was free), but that one apparently sold earlier today. It was a 50-tape lot from Eden, North Carolina.

The Brownwood lot was one of several on eBay that I've had my eye on for consideration. Others I've considered come from locations near Evansville, Cincinnati, New York City, Boston, San Francisco, etc. Among those few other listings, Brownwood ended up being the better deal in terms of cost and amount of tapes, even though I already have a good amount of Texas content in my library. The Massachusetts and San Jose lots I spotted were a bit too pricey in my opinion.
 


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