Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have

[Scott2013]

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it out to Green before garbage day. I did, however, pick up nine tapes (seven keepers) at an estate sale in Wadsworth on Saturday. There were many more on the shelves that I left behind. Many, but not all, of these were unlabeled.

TAPE 1: Riverdance: The Show taped from WVIZ in March 1997 with pledge breaks (already have this taped from WITF in Harrisburg); Lord of the Dance taped from WVIZ in March 1997 with pledge breaks (I have the same recording of it from the same day on another unlabeled tape I found at an estate sale in Parma in November); partially taped-over broadcast of The Killer Elite (1975) taped from TNT in April 1996 with commercials; partial broadcast of Floating Castles taped from A&E on 4/26/1996 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 2: Episodes of Biography (Albert Schweitzer), Investigative Reports and Mysteries of the Bible taped from A&E on 4/14/1996 with commercials; last few minutes of News Channel 5 at 11:00, hour-long Nightline special edition (Safe Haven) and partial Movie 5 presentation of Grease 2 (1982) taped from WEWS on April 14-15, 1995 with commercials; about 30 minutes of CNN coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial taped sometime in 1995 with a few commercials plus a CNN news update. TDK T-120.

TAPE 3: Episode of American Justice (Why OJ Simpson Won) taped from A&E on 3/24/1996 with commercials; episode of Geraldo with guest Kato Kaelin taped from WJW on 3/27/1996 with commercials; partial broadcast of Larry King Live with guest Robert Shapiro taped from CNN in March or April 1996 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 4: Episode of Our Century (Sacrifice at Pearl Harbor) taped from A&E in November 1989 with commercials; Cornered (1945) taped from TNT on 12/5/1989 with commercials; partially taped-over broadcast of The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) and partial episode of Gomer Pyle USMC taped from TBS in November 1989 with commercials; partially taped-over broadcast of part four of Captain Cook (ABC Australia miniseries) taped from TNT on 10/3/1989 with a few commercials. Scotch T-120.

TAPE 5: Last three parts of Ivanhoe taped from A&E in April 1997 with commercials. Scotch T-120.

TAPE 6: The Out of Towners (1970) taped from AMC in February 1995; episode of Biography (Prince Charles) taped from A&E on 2/16/1995 with commercials; The Big Easy (1986) taped from WUAB in March 1995 with commercials (lot of Sears Home Improvement ads); partial broadcast of an unknown Cracker mystery movie taped from A&E on 2/10/1995 with commercials. BASF T-130.

TAPE 7: Episodes of Civil War Journal (The 54th Massachusetts) and American Justice (Hostage Takers) taped from A&E on 1/12/1994 with commercials; The Onion Field (1979) taped from TNT in January 1994 with commercials; partial episode of Stage taped from A&E in January 1994 with commercials; partial NBC Sears Family Theater presentation of E.T. (1982) taped from WKYC in December 1993 with commercials. BASF T-130.

 

[ltm1997]

Does anyone have (or know anyone who has) video tapes (no matter what format) of The Young and The Restless from September 1976-October 1980 and from January 1983-February 1984? I REALLY want stuff from '78, '79, and '83.

 

[pannoni1]

Does anyone have (or know anyone who has) video tapes (no matter what format) of The Young and The Restless from September 1976-October 1980 and from January 1983-February 1984? I REALLY want stuff from '78, '79, and '83.

Unfortunately, stuff from that era is hard to find compared to the late '80s onwards since few households had a VCR then (in particularly that 1976-80 timeframe). I've found a couple episodes from Februrary 1984 a little over two years ago taped off KDBC in El Paso. I just bought a lot of tapes online by a seller where a photo of tape stock indicated one label that said "Soaps Miscellaneous 11/87" with Y&R given in the description, and there's another BASF T-120 VHS that comes from around the same era, and have noticed that many other lots have sold since Christmas, despite most tape stock being from the '90s and early 2000s. All that nostalgia among thirty and early fortysomethings is propping up the price of that era and/or forcing the lots of those selling quicker. I'll post the results of that one lot, and the seller lives in the deep south, wedged in between Macon, Savannah, and Jacksonville. I do find that people tend to move to smaller markets from the bigger ones as they retire/get older, meaning that I should probably expect Jacksonville recordings, followed by Savannah.

I also find that January/Februrary tend to have higher sales/bid results on eBay due to cold weather and all those gift cards they received from Santa and friends. The natural progression as well with less supply as fewer tapes enter the market as well as the nostalgia factor of course also boost these prices like any popular collectible.

 

[ltm1997]

Unfortunately, stuff from that era is hard to find compared to the late '80s onwards since few households had a VCR then (in particularly that 1976-80 timeframe). I've found a couple episodes from Februrary 1984 a little over two years ago taped off KDBC in El Paso. I just bought a lot of tapes online by a seller where a photo of tape stock indicated one label that said "Soaps Miscellaneous 11/87" with Y&R given in the description, and there's another BASF T-120 VHS that comes from around the same era, and have noticed that many other lots have sold since Christmas, despite most tape stock being from the '90s and early 2000s. All that nostalgia among thirty and early fortysomethings is propping up the price of that era and/or forcing the lots of those selling quicker. I'll post the results of that one lot, and the seller lives in the deep south, wedged in between Macon, Savannah, and Jacksonville. I do find that people tend to move to smaller markets from the bigger ones as they retire/get older, meaning that I should probably expect Jacksonville recordings, followed by Savannah.

I also find that January/Februrary tend to have higher sales/bid results on eBay due to cold weather and all those gift cards they received from Santa and friends. The natural progression as well with less supply as fewer tapes enter the market as well as the nostalgia factor of course also boost these prices like any popular collectible.

It's such a shame that it's hard to find because there are episodes of other soaps from those years in abundance, but for Y&R, they seem to be a dime a dozen.

 

[ltm1997]

especially from 1983-1984

 

[Jman8606]

Here's what I ended up finding on the tapes I got from the moving sale in Medina on Saturday. Seven keepers, two duds.

TAPE 1: Broadcasts of Nancy Grace, Showbiz Tonight, Glenn Beck, replay of Nancy Grace, replay of Showbiz Tonight and first segment of yet another replay of Nancy Grace taped from Headline News on August 31-September 1, 2007 with commercials; partially taped-over pilot episode of Christy taped from WJW on 4/3/1994 with commercials. Memorex T-120.

TAPE 2: Episode of Frasier taped from WKYC on 5/7/1996 with commercials; most of In Search of the Oregon Trail (PBS documentary) taped from WNEO/WEAO on 4/29/1996 with promos halfway through and after the show; episode of Frasier taped from WKYC on 5/14/1996 with commercials; part of Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees taped from WUAB on 4/2/1996 with commercials; part of The Goodbye Girl (1977) taped from TNT in March 1996 with commercials; small part of The Deer Hunter (1978) taped from TNT on 3/5/1996 with a few commercials. Unknown brand T-120.

TAPE 3: Both parts of Noah's Ark (NBC miniseries) taped from WKYC on May 2 and 3, 1999 with commercials, both recordings also include the first few minutes of Channel 3 News at 11 afterward; last segment of News Channel 5 at 11, Nightline and first few minutes of Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher taped from WEWS on April 26-27, 1996 with commercials. RCA VK-250 T-120 (starts with an MGM/UA Home Video logo from a rental movie that was originally copied onto the tape before it cuts to the NBC footage).

TAPE 4: Cheers 200th Episode Anniversary Special taped from WKYC on 11/8/1990 minus commercials; L.A. Law 100th Episode Celebration taped from WKYC on 2/6/1991 with commercials; last couple minutes of Face to Face with Connie Chung taped from WJW in November 1990 with a few commercials; partially taped-over NFL on NBC broadcast of Cleveland Browns vs. Houston Oilers taped from WKYC on 11/18/1990 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 5: Home video of the 1989 Mopar Nationals at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio; home video of the total lunar eclipse recorded on 8/17/1989; news packages from WUAB Channel 43 Ten O'clock News and WKYC Channel 3 News on the closing of Carney's Drive-In in Brunswick and the regular classic car cruise-ins held there, taped sometime in 1993 (note of interest: the shopping center where that drive-in was still holds weekly cruise-ins every Saturday from May through September). Certron T-120.

TAPE 6: Partial episode of Homefront (special two-hour episode) taped from WEWS on 4/26/1993 with a few commercials, then gets taped over by an episode of Home Improvement taped from WEWS on 1/26/1994 with commercials, then reverts to the last 10-15 minutes of the Homefront episode from 4/26/1993 along with the start of that night's News Channel 5 at 11; Waco: The Decision to Die (ABC News special) taped from WEWS on 4/20/1993 with commercials; episode of Reasonable Doubts taped from WKYC on 3/27/1993 with commercials. JVC T-120.

TAPE 7: Ei8ht Is News coverage of the Cleveland Indians American League Championship parade and rally, episode of Mark Walberg joined in progress halfway ("Girl, Birth Control Is Cheaper Than Those Babies You Keep Having!") and episode of Tempestt ("Be a Man, Raise Your Baby!") taped from WJW on 10/30/1995 with commercials. JVC T-120.

Could you post that story about the drive in closing on youtube? Or have you already? What is ur YouTube chsnnel?

 

[Scott2013]

Could you post that story about the drive in closing on youtube? Or have you already? What is ur YouTube chsnnel?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHle-uDtp7w

 

[Syfy]

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it out to Green before garbage day. I did, however, pick up nine tapes (seven keepers) at an estate sale in Wadsworth on Saturday. There were many more on the shelves that I left behind. Many, but not all, of these were unlabeled.

TAPE 1: Riverdance: The Show taped from WVIZ in March 1997 with pledge breaks (already have this taped from WITF in Harrisburg); Lord of the Dance taped from WVIZ in March 1997 with pledge breaks (I have the same recording of it from the same day on another unlabeled tape I found at an estate sale in Parma in November); partially taped-over broadcast of The Killer Elite (1975) taped from TNT in April 1996 with commercials; partial broadcast of Floating Castles taped from A&E on 4/26/1996 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 2: Episodes of Biography (Albert Schweitzer), Investigative Reports and Mysteries of the Bible taped from A&E on 4/14/1996 with commercials; last few minutes of News Channel 5 at 11:00, hour-long Nightline special edition (Safe Haven) and partial Movie 5 presentation of Grease 2 (1982) taped from WEWS on April 14-15, 1995 with commercials; about 30 minutes of CNN coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial taped sometime in 1995 with a few commercials plus a CNN news update. TDK T-120.

TAPE 3: Episode of American Justice (Why OJ Simpson Won) taped from A&E on 3/24/1996 with commercials; episode of Geraldo with guest Kato Kaelin taped from WJW on 3/27/1996 with commercials; partial broadcast of Larry King Live with guest Robert Shapiro taped from CNN in March or April 1996 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 4: Episode of Our Century (Sacrifice at Pearl Harbor) taped from A&E in November 1989 with commercials; Cornered (1945) taped from TNT on 12/5/1989 with commercials; partially taped-over broadcast of The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) and partial episode of Gomer Pyle USMC taped from TBS in November 1989 with commercials; partially taped-over broadcast of part four of Captain Cook (ABC Australia miniseries) taped from TNT on 10/3/1989 with a few commercials. Scotch T-120.

TAPE 5: Last three parts of Ivanhoe taped from A&E in April 1997 with commercials. Scotch T-120.

TAPE 6: The Out of Towners (1970) taped from AMC in February 1995; episode of Biography (Prince Charles) taped from A&E on 2/16/1995 with commercials; The Big Easy (1986) taped from WUAB in March 1995 with commercials (lot of Sears Home Improvement ads); partial broadcast of an unknown Cracker mystery movie taped from A&E on 2/10/1995 with commercials. BASF T-130.

TAPE 7: Episodes of Civil War Journal (The 54th Massachusetts) and American Justice (Hostage Takers) taped from A&E on 1/12/1994 with commercials; The Onion Field (1979) taped from TNT in January 1994 with commercials; partial episode of Stage taped from A&E in January 1994 with commercials; partial NBC Sears Family Theater presentation of E.T. (1982) taped from WKYC in December 1993 with commercials. BASF T-130.

Do you have any episodes of biography with Jack Perkins or Harry Smith as host on vhs?

 

[Jman8606]

I just sold a bunch of Beta and VHS over on eBay, and have two unsold early 2000s lots currently up that are scheduled to end Thursday. Most of the tapes have commercials, with many off of the Lexington, KY, St. Louis, and Knoxville, TN markets if you're interested.

Another thing that may be of interest is that many months after I presumably assume something, special "surprise" finds come about that aren't listed on the labels, usually those end-of-tape finds. As it turns out, from that February lot full of Betas recorded mostly in Pittsburgh, one tape that I converted last night, in addition to episodes of Dance Fever and Dream Girl U.S.A. from 11/15/1986 off WPXI with commercials as well as another episode of DGUSA from the wee hours of 11/22/86, also consisted of a rebroadcast of WPXI's late news, as well as a classic rerun of a 1962 episode of Route 66, an episode of the game show Strike It Rich, an hour of CNN Headline News, and about the first ten minutes of the New Zoo Club I believe. I swear the 60 second Lee Press-On Nails commercial appeared like ten times; just to fill commercial time in those early 24/7 days!

Unfortunately, as soon as I placed the next tape in, I discovered that the linear audio tapeheads on my Beta isn't working properly, operating at about 25% of its proper volume on linear mode, so I'll have to resort to VHS for now except for a little tape hunt later this week. Any idea which of the parts represents that, along with the proper cleaning method that I should use since those dry cleaners only take care of the video heads? (I know the Hi-Fi, which still works fine, is located inside the rotating drum). That tape I described above was recorded in Hi-Fi, and some of the tapes in that lot had some mold issues, so unfortunately, after about nine months of buildup, needs a bit of a repair.

Would love for you to post that Strike it Rich episode. Makes me mad that Amazon pulled it.

 

[Jman8606]

To answer the question, the oldest item I've ever found is a partial recording of the first night of The Amazing Howard Hughes off KNXT (today's KCBS) on April 13, 1977, beginning midway through the two-hour broadcast and ending with the first few minutes of the 11 o'clock news, including commercial breaks. The Sony K-60 was recorded in Beta I mode (Beta II was introduced later in 1977, meaning that tapes could only record one hour, and the side of the tape has a "2" sticker, implying that there was likely another tape that contained the first half of this early miniseries.

In terms of a VHS find, it was a recording of a repeat of the November 1978 special Steve Martin: A Wild And Crazy Guy, followed by The Best of Saturday Live, Part II recorded off WBAL on May 4, 1979 (my late grandpa's 60th birthday) with commercials, followed by a network rerun of Saturday Night Live with Carrie Fisher guest host from the following night, also with those commercials left in. I've posted those to YouTube a couple years ago if you haven't seen those yet.

Yes, I'm the same pannoni4, pannoni6, pannoni8,and pannoni10 posting here, and it's wonderful hearing about your finds. It's getting harder and harder to find those 1980s (let alone late 1970s) finds that I really treasure discovering. About 75% of my posts on YouTube and the Internet Archive come from finds, with about 20% coming from tape trades, including most of the 1950s-70s stuff that I've got. With that said, 2019 has been a banner year in terms of new finds. I'm pretty much exclusively online with regard to searching since very few thrift stores in my area carry prerecorded VHS tapes, and my luck at yard/estate sales that I tried last year comes up with almost nothing. Three key finds come to mind this year. The first big haul came back in February, where a Craigslist find from this listing, which is still active of this post: https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/emd/d/washington-crossing-betamax-tapes/6989586257.html

This came from a long phone call where the seller's dad recorded stuff like Dance Fever, Solid Gold, the 1984 Summer and Winter Olympics, original broadcast of later season episodes of Love Boat and Fantasy Island, rare shows like Dancin' To The Hits, Dreamgirl U.S.A., an episode of Thicke Of The Night, and a HUGE collection of Star Search episodes of which I've posted many. About two-thirds contained commercials, mostly off Pittsburgh stations, but a few from the small Wheeling/Stubenville, OH market. The oldest find was from July of 1982 with a couple Dance Fever reruns. A few tapes were old forcing me to manually wind the tape and even snapped with some mold on them, but due to their rarity, had to preserve this hard to find content. It doesn't hurt asking to see if he's got more, but it's mostly movies and some ice skating/dancing competitions at this point.

The second find (All VHS) came in the spring/summer where another Craigslist listing noted tapes containing content such as Redskins games, Jeopardy!, Columbo, Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, and Columbo. The seller lives in Hawaii, so it took several weeks for each box to come, but it was certainly worth the wait. EVERYTHING contained commercials as well, with the oldest find being several hours of footage from the 1984 Summer Olympics (something I don't have from that previous lot). There were also two tapes consisting of about 10 episodes of Jeopardy! from 1987 (one tape containing two weekend reruns of October 1985 episodes), with the bulk of the content being from the early to mid 1990s (the "Grid Set" era), or about 80 episodes total. Most haven't been converted yet. As for the Redskins games, most are from the 1992 and 1993 season, with some from the 1991 season, including the NFC Championship game prior to Super Bowl XXVI, which I've already found previously. Some contain Redskins pregame and postgame shows as well, and several games from the 1992 and 1993 preseason were also found. My only disappointment with this lot was that a few tapes (mostly from 1991) were re-recorded around 2000 with drama reruns off Lifetime/USA, even though one had about half of a final season episode (1991) of Muppet Babies of WUSA. Best of all these tapes were FREE!

The third find (once again all VHS) was a year and a half in the making, dating back to a Messenger post from a Facebook member whose friend passed away several years ago. For about the price of shipping ($50, which was a bit high since he doesn't support Media Mail), I found about 60 tapes consisting of MANY sitcoms, mostly from the 1990s, but a few from the late '80s as well. There were several tapes full of The Young & The Restless episodes with commercials (many from 1987), a couple episodes of the early '90s relationship game show Studs, and The oldest find in this lot was the Star Search Alumni Special from May 1986, which I've already got from the first lot above, which came from the August 1986 rerun. Some of the rare sitcoms found included episodes of Mommies, Nurses, Daddy Dearest, Family Album, Babes, Good Grief, and Carol & Company. There were a few dozen Jerry Springer episodes from 1996-99 as well. All tapes were recorded off St. Louis area stations.

Could you post that full ep of thicke of the night? There is not any eps on youtube.

 

[ltm1997]

Unfortunately, stuff from that era is hard to find compared to the late '80s onwards since few households had a VCR then (in particularly that 1976-80 timeframe). I've found a couple episodes from Februrary 1984 a little over two years ago taped off KDBC in El Paso. I just bought a lot of tapes online by a seller where a photo of tape stock indicated one label that said "Soaps Miscellaneous 11/87" with Y&R given in the description, and there's another BASF T-120 VHS that comes from around the same era, and have noticed that many other lots have sold since Christmas, despite most tape stock being from the '90s and early 2000s. All that nostalgia among thirty and early fortysomethings is propping up the price of that era and/or forcing the lots of those selling quicker. I'll post the results of that one lot, and the seller lives in the deep south, wedged in between Macon, Savannah, and Jacksonville. I do find that people tend to move to smaller markets from the bigger ones as they retire/get older, meaning that I should probably expect Jacksonville recordings, followed by Savannah.

I also find that January/Februrary tend to have higher sales/bid results on eBay due to cold weather and all those gift cards they received from Santa and friends. The natural progression as well with less supply as fewer tapes enter the market as well as the nostalgia factor of course also boost these prices like any popular collectible.

I think someone had to have taped them, since there are scenes in various compilations, especially from '83-'84. i hope episodes show up sometime.

 

[Jman8606]

As a archivist/hunter for many VHS recordings with commercials for about 7 years, I did score a recorded VHS lot locally at a video store where I regularly volunteer.

Whose Daughter is She? (1995 CBS TV movie from KDKA Pittsburgh, all commercials)
Trial by Fire (1995 ABC TV movie from WTAE Pittsburgh, all commercials)
A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995 CBS TV movie from KDKA Pittsburgh, all commercials)
Cries of the Heart (1994 CBS TV movie from KDKA Pittsburgh, all commercials, recorded in LP mode)
Falling From the Sky: The Free Fall of Flight 174 (1995 ABC TV movie from WTAE Pittsburgh, all commercials)
Danielle Steel's Once in a Lifetime (1994 NBC TV movie from WPXI Pittsburgh, all commercials)
The Cosby Show (4 episodes, one is a late '80s syndicated rerun from WKBN 27 Youngstown and the other three are original NBC broadcasts, all 4 episodes have commercials, episode 1 was in SP mode and the other three in LP)
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1996 Showtime airing with promos after the movie)
White Fang (WGN airing from 1996 as part of the Family Classics banner, includes all commercials)
Au Pair II (Original ABC Family airing from 2001 with all commercials intact)

There were a couple other tapes that had misc. stuff recorded on them.

Where are you from and where and what is that video store?

 

[crainbebo]

Once again my VHSgoodiesWA3 account can not get a break!
Yet another copyright strike on my account. The other two have expired for Sunset Beach, so I am at 1 out of 3 now thank goodness. Apparently Universal Music took down a 2001 ABC commercial break. This video had been up since 2017. This is the second takedown overall for a commercial. I suspect this was for the Buick Century commercial with Pennies from Heaven on it, or the Spin City promo with Don Henley's New York Minute. The first was for a Cancer Treatment Centers commercial (also from 2000 or 2001).

I will continue to post videos but if I get up to two strikes, my 3 account will once again go on hiatus - and my blood pressure will rise up again worrying about a channel suspension - and new videos will go to the old account.
I may end up starting a new channel in the next several weeks due to the sheer amount of videos on both the old VHSgoodies account and the '3' account.

 

[chandler0201]

Not a personal find, but a Kickstarter for a documentary on another's home recording of Super Bowl I in 1967!

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-recording-of-super-bowl-i?mod=article_inline

 

[crainbebo]

Found a couple of tapes last week at the Ellensburg Goodwill.

Tape 1 - Most of The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark taped off KIMA/CBS (K51BD translator) on 2/20/1993 with commercials. Maxell GX-Silver T-120
Tape 2 - "Legend of the Lost" (1957) taped off TBS on 4/24/1991 with commercials; 'Alleghany Uprising' (1939 - Colorized) taped off TBS on 4/25/1991 with commercials. TDK T-120. Accidentally got snapped off in the rewinder, so I had to find my screwdriver (which took some time thanks to me misplacing it) and splice it back together.

 

[VideoTreasures]

I do have a 4 hour timeshift from WMAQ Chicago from May 1992. Includes the evening news, an episode of Roggin's Heroes, and the entire Saturday night NBC prime time block, all with commercials.

 

[VideoTreasures]

Where are you from and where and what is that video store?

Audio and Video Crossing, formerly CD Zone. It's an independent business in Butler, PA, but it's been around for a good 20+ years. It had three different locations. Moraine Point Plaza, Butler Commons, and finally its own building on Duffy Rd. across from the eye doctor. I go in to volunteer every now and then and the owner gives me good deals on VHS tapes he has.

 

[VideoTreasures]

Found a couple of tapes last week at the Ellensburg Goodwill.

Tape 1 - Most of The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark taped off KIMA/CBS (K51BD translator) on 2/20/1993 with commercials. Maxell GX-Silver T-120
Tape 2 - "Legend of the Lost" (1957) taped off TBS on 4/24/1991 with commercials; 'Alleghany Uprising' (1939 - Colorized) taped off TBS on 4/25/1991 with commercials. TDK T-120. Accidentally got snapped off in the rewinder, so I had to find my screwdriver (which took some time thanks to me misplacing it) and splice it back together.

I have a TBS airing of the colorized version of Colorado Territory from July 1992 with commercials, part of a late-night time shift.

 

[Scott2013]

Four tapes found at an estate sale in Medina, Ohio yesterday.

TAPE 1: Amarcord (1973) taped from Bravo in October 1999 with commercials. RCA T-120.

TAPE 2: Few minutes of an unknown PBS documentary taped from WVIZ circa 1996 (maybe); Prime Sports broadcast of Game 2 of the 1996 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament (Saint Louis Billikens vs. Cincinnati Bearcats) taped from SportsChannel Ohio on 3/7/1996 with commercials. There was more content afterward, but after I converted the last ad break from the game, I hit the play button on my VCR and it shut itself off, then the tape ejected itself when I turned it back on. I suspect this may have been caused by the tape guard being on the cassette too tight, but it's going in the trash either way, so whatever else is on there will remain unseen. Unknown brand T-120 (unlabeled).

TAPE 3: Zorba the Greek (1964) copied from rental tape, ends with about 30 minutes of blank screen and the "white screen of death"; partial broadcast of part two of Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (ABC miniseries) taped from WAKC on 11/11/1987 with commercials (I already have all three parts taped from WEWS); partial Entertainment Time-Out with Don Stotter segment (interview with Michael Douglas promoting Fatal Attraction) and partial episode of Get Smart taped from WOIO in October 1987 with commercials. Scotch T-120.

I did find a fourth tape labeled "Jeff Foxworthy," but it turned out to be nothing but black screen throughout. That one was an RCA T-120. I left behind a tape with some French handwriting on the label. I initially wanted to take it, but ended up leaving it behind because I didn't have much cash with me at the time. That tape was a Finast T-120--Finast was a grocery store chain here in the Northeast Ohio area, which is now Giant Eagle. I also spotted three or four Betamax tapes inside the same box.

Also at the sale, outside in the garage (and badly protected from the cold temperatures) was a box full of recorded DVDs. Reading some of the labels, I suspect at least some of these were recorded from TV rather than movies or shows downloaded from the Internet. A couple of these had two episodes each of Hot in Cleveland during the show's early days. Another disc I remember seeing placed inside a paper DVD/CD holder had several things written on the paper that were crossed out, one of which read "Channel 3 Weather," so that's another reason I suspect some of these were TV recordings. Didn't take any of these either.

 

[crainbebo]

I have a BASF tape from that Oakdale box (from 2018) that has a similar problem to your tape 2. I am hoping to get a dud tape and switch the cartridge out. I've done it before and I'll do it again.
Zorba the Greek was a Fox Video tape, and duplicated in the Rank factory, thus it had the white test pattern/tone at the very end. Paramount, Columbia and MCA were known for this too. Scared the crap out of me when I was little and my parents forgot to rewind a kids VHS. But they left 30 minutes of tape after duplication? What a waste...unless the blue VCR screen popped up for a while.

I would've grabbed the Beta tapes if I was in your shoes. I've got that Sony player. Besides the audio splitter not kicking into stereo, it still works great. I need to find a new splitter somewhere, but everywhere I look they are the wrong format. Instead of one male to two female plugs, I keep seeing one female to two males! Not compatible with my unit. I need something to plug into the audio in for the Betamax and I'll get both channels in mono, instead of one channel.

VideoTreasures - plenty of DVDs, some VHS, and records to choose from at that store it seems! It looks similar to the record shop we have here in Ellensburg. They carry a few hundred VHS tapes but they are all retail - some are pretty rare however. They also have vintage Rolling Stone's for $5.00 each.
The aforementioned Everett WA record store is still alive and well. They recently had a huge stack of about 100 blank VHS tapes in the front for free. I need to take a trip up that way this spring, see if some are still there for the taking. That store was one of the influences to starting this hobby. I still have one of my first blank VHS finds (from that store), the entire 1988 Seafair Hydroplane Race off KIRO with commercials. Rare and awesome stuff - we all loved watching the Miss Budweiser.