# Your old VHS tapes may be worth a FORTUNE **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514 "2025-02-19T17:00:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/21 "2025-02-20T00:29:22Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > There was a craze, I think in the 90s for buying sports trading cards by the full boxed set. Everyone who bought those put them in the attic or wherever and saved them. Not worth much now. Comic books are the same. The reason those comics from the 30s and 40s are so valuable is that nobody at the time really thought to preserve them. They were pulpy trash for kids, who wants that junk fifty years from now? In the 90s, companies like Marvel and DC tried to tap into the collector’s market, selling variant covers of the same issue, hologram or other gimmick covers, killing off Superman, etc., etc. The majority of the comics I own from the 1990s aren’t really worth much because tons of people went through efforts to preserve their copies. I collected baseball cards briefly in the late 80s and early 1990s. It’s amazing to me how cheap I can pick up a complete set of cards from 1990. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/22 "2025-02-20T02:29:42Z")
I bought some Star Trek things I wanted back in the 70s, back when the thought of holding things as investments hadn’t really taken off. One was the original ST Blueprints, another was the Technical Manual. Now I’m not going to get rid of them anyway, I bought them because I like them, but because of this thread I checked their value. I think they are worth LESS than I paid, in unadjusted dollars! I guess everybody bought them! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/23 "2025-02-20T12:11:04Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Now I’m not going to get rid of them anyway, I bought them because I like them, but because of this thread I checked their value. I think they are worth LESS than I paid, in unadjusted dollars! I guess everybody bought them! I’ve got a copy of the Technical Manual, which I got discounted back when it was still relatively new, because I liked it. Never picked up the plans, though. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/24 "2025-02-20T13:30:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Never picked up the plans, though. They show the bowling alley. A very nice bowling alley. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/25 "2025-02-20T13:49:16Z")
Perfect for an ice cream social. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/26 "2025-02-20T13:51:38Z")
No “Trading Places,” or are there no existing copies with the Jamie Lee Curtis changing scene intact? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/27 "2025-02-20T14:16:42Z")
My DVD has that. I didn’t know _they_ had excised that scene. And yet, they left the gorilla anal rape scene. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/28 "2025-02-20T14:18:48Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > My DVD has that. I didn’t know _they_ had excised that scene. Not cut, but just watched, rewound, watched again, and paused so many times over the years that that particular spot on the magnetic tape has been worn off. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/29 "2025-02-20T14:47:21Z")
Sure, but who actually bought a VHS tape of “The Terminator” and never unwrapped it? That’s the whole eye-rolling thing about these collector’s items- they’re basically only collectible because they’re based on incidents of happenstance where something didn’t get destroyed or disposed of. I imagine estate sales are great places for collectors, because someone’s kid who really wanted a Luke Skywalker got a Darth Vader for Xmas in 1977. As a result it never got played with, and ended up in the attic until the parents died and it was unearthed as part of the estate sale. > [@DocCathode](#): > > I have often found that the things that end up very valuable are in fact things that had a low price, that everybody owned, and that were almost entirely ruined by the owners. Exactly- that’s what I’m getting at. The original 1980 Snowspeeder is worth something like 100-150 bucks now, if it’s in good shape. I’ve got the wreckage of one out in my sandbox right now that isn’t worth dick. I got it as a kid, played with it like crazy and messed it up, but then my parents chunked it in the “save for grandkids’ toys” box, and it came out in about 2016 when my oldest son got interested in the Star Wars movies at about 5. He played with it for a long time, and it eventually ended up in the sandbox. Most probably got thrown away in 1981. So if someone has one that’s not destroyed, and the weirdos want one of their own, it’s worth something. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/30 "2025-02-20T14:50:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That’s the whole eye-rolling thing about these collector’s items- they’re basically only collectible because they’re based on incidents of happenstance where something didn’t get destroyed or disposed of. Of course that’s the case. The really valuable comic books or baseball cards are the very few still in really good condition, because so few are. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/31 "2025-02-20T14:57:47Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Of course that’s the case. The really valuable comic books or baseball cards are the very few still in really good condition, because so few are. I have a copy of _The Fantastic Four_ Annual #1 with 72 big pages from 1963. For a comic that’s more than sixty years old, it’s in pretty good condition, but nowhere near mint. I think I might get $150-200 for it if I were to sell it. A copy graded at 9.6 sold for $41,000 way back in 2021. I also have a copy of a Will Rogers comic from the early 1950s that’s in pretty good shape. I don’t think anyone is interested in Will Rogers comics at this point. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/32 "2025-02-20T15:31:25Z")
I know, it’s just that articles like that seem to be aimed at young kids who don’t really understand how rarity or markets work - that baseball card they have that’s worth $20 is one of however many _million_ cards just like it out there, that’s wanted by however many _tens of millions of collectors_. Meanwhile that card worth $100 is one of however many _hundreds of thousands_ of cards, and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/33 "2025-02-20T15:36:33Z")
Wouldn’t most VHS tapes have deteriorated to the point of being unwatchable by now? ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/34 "2025-02-20T15:45:03Z")
I’ve got a shelf filled with some VHS tapes. Most of them are 25-30+ years old. The tapes have a tendency to degrade when watched a lot but I watched a tape I hadn’t seen in at least a dozen years the other day and it was fine. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/35 "2025-02-20T15:48:54Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Wouldn’t most VHS tapes have deteriorated to the point of being unwatchable by now? I don’t think the point is to actually watch the tape, it’s just to have it. It’s Schrodinger’s VHS: until you open it, it’s either a perfect time capsule or a completely ruined tape. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/36 "2025-02-20T15:52:49Z")
LOL reminds me of the scene in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels where Michael Caine’s character is explaining to Steve Martin that he would never actually drink the best vintage wines in his cellar - those bottles are _much too valuable_! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/37 "2025-02-20T16:00:56Z")
I’m reminded of people who put new wines in old bottles, sell it as if it was “recently discovered George Washington’s personal collection from Valley Forge” and either the buyers never drink it, or if they do, they won’t admit they can’t tell it is new wine. You can fake original packaging with some skills. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/38 "2025-02-20T16:03:18Z")
That was the premise of an episode of the tv show, Leverage, [The Corkscrew Job](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2340520/) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/39 "2025-02-20T16:08:36Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > In the case of Star Wars (1995), it’s one of the few ways you can get a legal copy of the original movie without all the new special effects or Greedo shooting first. Not to mention, it’s probably one of the few ways you can get a copy of the original _Star Wars_ that calls itself _Star Wars_, rather than (gah!) _A New Hope_. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514/40 "2025-02-20T16:13:33Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Not to mention, it’s probably one of the few ways you can get a copy of the original _Star Wars_ that calls itself _Star Wars_, rather than (gah!) _A New Hope_. That’s a negatory there. It’s been “A New Hope” since 1980 (or, if you ask Lucas, since the universe formed). There’s never been a home version that wasn’t, unless you count the 1977 Super 8 release. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-old-vhs-tapes-may-be-worth-a-fortune/1014514.md?page=3)