"Where The Tapes Are" Talkback

[Peter Paltridge]

Where The Tapes Are

Since Thanksgiving comes so late this year, I have to start in on Misfit Christmas Specials before then, meaning I have no time for a parade review. But I do have something that's possibly even better. I found where the tapes are!

As for the Misfits, now is the time to post your most desired wishes. Maybe they'll come true.

 

[twilicorn]

Sadly I live in Canada where there's no Goodwill Outlet Stores, and none of the thrift stores in my area carry prerecorded tapes. The only two I've ever secured did not come from any regular thrift stores, but from Entertainment Center, a local store that sells new and used video games dating back to the NES days. The tapes were:
-some figure skating stuff (or otherwise sports stuff) from 1998
-two hours of a hockey game from 2000 followed by the last half hour or so of a General Hospital episode from 1995
And they all had commercials. Nothing I'd be interested in but better than nothing, and I secured them anyway.

 

[Zorak Masaki]

Sadly, the one thrift store we had that had pre-recorded tapes shut down a few years ago, and the local thrift store only carries commercial tapes (the usual suspects like Jerry Maguire, Men in Black, 90s Disney clamshells, etc). As for my experience:
A tape covered with pictures of the rock band Poison. Thought it would have contained vintage music videos and mtv footage, but it was just the 1997 Shining miniseries, with only 3 music videos and one mtv ad break at the very end (but at least they were from 1991).
A tape that said "Anime" and had Fatal Fury, Urusei Yatsura, and Gall Force: Eternal Story listed on it, but the first half of the tape was just Kim Possible: So the Drama (with commercials, they looked to be adverstising Phineas and Ferb as a new show, so it must be from the late 2000s), some episodes of My Gym Partner's a Monkey, and the last hour of Gall Force (taped off sci-fi, but sadly, no commercials).
A tape that claimed to have wrestling footage from 1997. The first 2 hours were taped over with NBA highlights (not even a full game), but the rest was intact, including 2 Pay Per Views. However, to fit all the content onto one tape, the ring entrances and interviews were snipped out by the person recording, as well as, sadly, all the commercials.
Another thing to try, though it wont be as interesting, is unlabeled audio tapes.

 

[pacman000]

Could you ask the Goodwill manager to save the tapes for you? It seems weird, but It couldn't hurt.

Story about Half-Priced Books, a regional used media chain.

Half-Priced Books only carries professional recordings, nothing taped off TV, but they used to have lots of cheap B-Movies on VHS. Of late, nothing. Went there a few years ago, & saw an employee wheeling out a big trash bin full of tapes. I grabbed a movie off the top, Space Raiders, & they agreed to price it for me.

I now know where the fun, weird VHS tapes go. Maybe I should ask them to save tapes for me...

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

I've gotten a lot of vintage video tapes, including pre-recorded ones, from a recycle center I go to every two weeks or so. Though they are more of an occasional find there, especially nowadays.

I've gotten videos at Goodwill and other used stores as well, though they've become less common as well.

Oh, to go through what I've acquired...

 

[Zorak Masaki]

BTW, what's "myspleen"?

 

[Peter Paltridge]

It's a private site you can only enter if you have an account with it already (so by invitation....and I don't have any right now).

They specialize in old VHS recordings transferred to digital; you can download thousands of them.

 

[Zorak Masaki]

Any chance of doing The Full Experience for some of these (not just another animaniacs)? Also, have you found anything that could be considered "lost media" on these tapes yet?

 

[mimitchi33]

Bumped up to let you guys know that I went to one of these on vacation. Because the restaurant we wanted to go to had a half-hour wait, we ate at a Wendy's right across the street from one of these. I decided to see what they had in store, and sadly, did not stumble upon any off-air recordings. All of them were retail tapes, from Disney movies to this weird Christian puppet show with a bird. I was so dissapointed...

 

[Zorak Masaki]

So is the Goodwill Outlet Store still open, and if so, do they still have the bins of tapes? And if so, have you found any other interesting things?

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Plenty. You'll see some of them in the future...