VHS Boot Sale Bargains - They've Got It Taped

[samkydd]

I still own four VCRs and still have my collection of VHS tapes from yonks gone by so I haven't replaced them with DVDs like many people did with vinyl LPs to CD back in the 80s.



Now and again when the weather is okay, like this morning for example, I go to a huge car boot sale not looking for anything in particular but come away with some real gems. For a quid I bought a sealed boxed set of the original 1960s black and white Forsyte Saga which I've never seen before, and also Brideshead Revisited boxed set also for a quid again something I missed when it was on the box.



For a pound or less if buying in bulk I could have got Whistle Down the Wind, I'm Alright Jack, many Hancocks, many Morses and Frosts, Danger Man and many other gems.



Unfortunately I'm on crutches this week and it was too bloody hot to carry all that lot about so I settled for just the two boxed sets.



Not being a technical DVD, widescreen plasmatic LCD, surround sound, ratio in aspic, telliephenalia junkie the tapes play as they should, the drama is very good and the quality of the production isn't impaired at all by the fact that it's on tape rather than disc.



So why do people get shot of their VHS tapes so cheaply? Some of these complete TV series cost a fortune when new, and don't take up any more room on the bookshelves that a couple of hardback books!

[Mark O]

name='samkydd']



So why do people get shot of their VHS tapes so cheaply? They cost a fortune when new.

Good point samkydd!........I've been having a 'sort out' recently and looking through 'Idols' magazine that I used to purchase circa 90/91 all the latest Video releases are £9 or £10.99!........nowadays it's DVD's for under three quid! (though I'm not complaining)



I guess it's the throwaway society we live in with 'tape' (Video and compact cassette) being old hat..........can't even play my numerous Cassette tapes in the Works Van or Car now!

[Windthrop]

name='Mark O']Good point samkydd!........I've been having a 'sort out' recently and looking through 'Idols' magazine that I used to purchase circa 90/91 all the latest Video releases are £9 or £10.99!........nowadays it's DVD's for under three quid! (though I'm not complaining)



I guess it's the throwaway society we live in with 'tape' (Video and compact cassette) being old hat..........can't even play my numerous Cassette tapes in the Works Van or Car now!

Am certainly not going to rush to get Blu-ray editions. Standard DVD is fine on an upscaler so can't see the need.

[christoph404]

I gave a load of my VHS tapes to the charity shop, they sell them for a couple of quid each and seem to sell them no problem. I really do think DVDs take up a lot less room though, especially if you take them out of the boxes and put them in a CD/DVD wallet style flip book , you can get about 20 DVDs in the same space occupied by one VHS video box! Some of my favorite tapes were almost worn out as I had watched them so often, I suppose that is one advantage of DVD, insofar as the quality seems to remain constant regardless of how many times you play it through the machine. I quite like the audio commentaries on many films on DVD too, I often play the audio commentaries and treat my TV like a radio while I get on with other things around the house. I also have quite a few laser discs at home which I bought when they first came out, some of them were £45 each new, what the hell was I thinking! I sold my laser disc player on ebay to a collector and when he came to collect it I said he could have my collection of laser discs free if he wanted to take them away and free some space in my sitting room (for more DVDs) Without even looking at what I had he declined saying he could pick up laser discs for pennies on ebay and from other collectors! At least VHS videos have a resale life, I couldn't even give away my laser discs which have become totally worthless!

[Steve Crook]

name='christoph404']I gave a load of my VHS tapes to the charity shop, they sell them for a couple of quid each and seem to sell them no problem. I really do think DVDs take up a lot less room though, especially if you take them out of the boxes and put them in a CD/DVD wallet style flip book , you can get about 20 DVDs in the same space occupied by one VHS video box! Some of my favorite tapes were almost worn out as I had watched them so often, I suppose that is one advantage of DVD, insofar as the quality seems to remain constant regardless of how many times you play it through the machine. I quite like the audio commentaries on many films on DVD too, I often play the audio commentaries and treat my TV like a radio while I get on with other things around the house. I also have quite a few laser discs at home which I bought when they first came out, some of them were £45 each new, what the hell was I thinking! I sold my laser disc player on ebay to a collector and when he came to collect it I said he could have my collection of laser discs free if he wanted to take them away and free some space in my sitting room (for more DVDs) Without even looking at what I had he declined saying he could pick up laser discs for pennies on ebay and from other collectors! At least VHS videos have a resale life, I couldn't even give away my laser discs which have become totally worthless!

Try selling the laser disks on eBay. Some of them might be quite rare ones, and if you get two or more bidders fighting for them you could get quite a bit - or maybe nobody will want them. But either way, you'll finish up with more than one person's opinion



I bought all the Powell & Pressburer laser disks (and a player that was PAL compatible) on eBay. Most of the disks and the player itself were quite cheap but for some reason the laser disk of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp always seems to fetch a higher price than the others, and they aren't offered for sale very often



Steve

[Amethyst_Isle]

VHS is still going (in charity shops and boot sales of course ) the amount I have seen around where I live they sale the videos for like 25p each or 5 for a £1.00 and got some real nice ones too.



How many have you gone to boot sales and had to wade through those Friends and Keep Fit videos ? there are so many of them blasted videos and they all seem to crop up in charity shops as well.

[Lord Brett]

Now and again when the weather is okay, like this morning for example, I go to a huge car boot sale not looking for anything in particular but come away with some real gems. For a quid I bought a sealed boxed set of the original 1960s black and white Forsyte Saga which I've never seen before, and also Brideshead Revisited boxed set also for a quid again something I missed when it was on the box.



Oh I'd have loved to have found Forsythe Saga. I got Brideshead for 75p in a charity shop. Shame it's been turned into three very long parts in that edition, but nice to see it again in any case.