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Author Topic: VHS, 30, dies of loneliness Charles Greenlee Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 801 From: Savannah, Ga, U.S. Registered: Jun 2006 posted 12-07-2006 08:12 PM                        Mr. Wizard, hahaha, I used to love watching his show. Haven't seen it in ages.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 12-08-2006 12:43 AM                     Sorry to derail the topic- my rant mode was meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek (though the lack of linear stereo playback on Hi-Fi VCRs has truly angered me for more than 20 years), and while typing it I was at work and just got a call from a customer asking when her order of a "Reba" DVD season set was going to ship. I'm guilty of buying a lot of crap on DVD too though, but it's mostly old stuff for nostalgia value (though I truly have to ask who the hell else would buy any of this stuff)- the best thing I have is the complete "Pink Lady and Jeff" variety series from 1980, the one starring the Japanese pop singers who didn't know English. I've got tons of 70s and 80s stuff from home recordings, with original commercials, transferred to DVD too- I bought a DVD recorder just to do that. Anyways, I just picked up a high-definition D-VHS tape of "There's Something About Mary" for 4 bucks at one of the local Tower stores since they're clearing out all their stuff and going kaput in a couple weeks. I've already got 3 other D-VHS movies I got at Big Lots for 2 bucks each, awaiting the day I find a player for hopefully not a lot of money. I think the few studios that put out movies on that gave up right when the HD disc formats came out (which I won't buy into until either one dies or they make a machine that plays both- I refuse to contribute to another VHS vs. Beta war.) I'm still trying to find out what the last pre-recorded movie on standard VHS was. BTW does anyone know for sure what the very FIRST pre-recorded VHS movies were? The first major-studio films were from Fox, licensed to Magnetic Video which put out stuff like MASH, Patton and Sound of Music. I have a couple Magnetic Video movie tapes with a complete listing of available titles on the back covers. I think before that, there was porno movies and public-domain stuff. The big studios were reluctant to put their movies out on video, but the porn companies jumped right into it.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 12-08-2006 01:42 AM                        quote: Jesse Skeen Anyways Plural?  |  IP: Logged Hillary Charles Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 748 From: York, PA, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 12-08-2006 08:40 AM                     How 'bout "Anyhoo"...? Jess--OMG, someone else who remembers "Pink Lady and Jeff!" HAve you ever seen the SNL parody of it, "Pink Lady and Carl" with Harry Shearer as Carl Sagan? Someone (Paul Shaffer?) came on as Marvin Hamlisch and he and Carl described the "Big Band Theory." Priceless. Back on topic, sort of. Is anyone around here planning to start a VCR museum? We have an old Quasar Time Machine (vertically stacked tape cartridge) that we've never attempted to play, but it's free to a good home. Just have to pick it up yourself.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 12-08-2006 01:47 PM                     I have one of those Quasar VCRs, but can't find any tapes for it so not sure if it works. I've also got 3 Cartrivision machines (the first consumer videotape format which came out in 1972, didn't stay on the market very long) but can't get any of them to work, when I get some money I'll have to pay someone to come get one of them working.  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 12-08-2006 02:35 PM                     Quasar's were too big and clunky. I prefered the Sanyo V-Cord format, where the tapes looked like fat 8-tracks.  |  IP: Logged Wayne Keyser Master Film Handler Posts: 272 From: Arlington, Virginia, USA Registered: May 2004 posted 12-09-2006 01:49 PM                     Remember the scene in HARDCORE where George C. Scott, trying to track down his runaway-pornstar daughter in the big evil city, goes into a porn shop asking for her movie - and gets offered in in (if I recall correctly) "Beta, VHS, U-Matic, Half-inch, One-inch" [I think two-inch was dead by then] - I believe somebody just pronounced U-Matic deceased as well. Somebody asked "What were the first VHS tapes you bought?" - Waaaaaay back when the studios were trying to outlaw rentals [*snicker*] I paid the $75 list price for CLEOPATRA. From a porn shop. Stop laughing ... that's just where it was. I wasn't looking for porn. ... Okay, yes I was.  |  IP: Logged Charles Greenlee Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 801 From: Savannah, Ga, U.S. Registered: Jun 2006 posted 12-09-2006 02:20 PM                        Never heard of U-Matic, Cartrivision, or the Quasar one. I have heard of Selectavision or CED, Beta, verious Reel-to-reels, and the varius film formats.  |  IP: Logged Jeffry L. Johnson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 809 From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 12-09-2006 02:29 PM                        Video tape recorder  |  IP: Logged Mark Ogden Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 943 From: Little Falls, N.J. Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-09-2006 04:09 PM                     quote: Charles Greenlee Selectavision or CED This was actually the horrible RCA videodisc format, that involved the disc being played back with a special cartridge and needle, phonograph style. I remember that the disk was inside a slotted carrier, because it was found that the slightest fingerprint could throw the tracking off. Each disc began with the '70s RCA logo set to music from "Pictures From an Exposition" as played by Tomita. Nose around this guy's site to see a huge collection of all these extinct formats. My ProScan VCR is still living happily next to my DVD player, I still need it for the hundreds of tapes I aquired thru the years, much of it oddball/psychotronic stuff that'll NEVER make it to DVD. Not to mention home movies, off air records, what have you. I've found that if you keep the tapes wound fully and stored carefully they will still play with little problem, even stuff going back to the early 80s that I recorded on a $975 (yep, that's how much some of them cost back then) Canon VCR.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 12-09-2006 04:20 PM                  Wayne, I remember that scene as being from the film "Body Double". The thing that struck me as the biggest boner in "8MM" was the porno films were 16mm. (edit for typo correction) [ 12-09-2006, 09:53 PM: Message edited by: Phil Hill ]  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 12-09-2006 04:43 PM                     What a cool site that is of the extinct formats... saw the Fisher Price PXL-2000 that I got for my birthday ages ago... I know I recorded some stuff on it, wish I had kept the tapes.  |  IP: Logged Charles Greenlee Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 801 From: Savannah, Ga, U.S. Registered: Jun 2006 posted 12-09-2006 04:53 PM                        Love the logo clips. Neato. And the wiki-link on video tape formats was quite interesting. I could probably follow the links within for hours or more.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 12-10-2006 01:55 PM                     Instore demo disc for the Selectavision Videodisc: (starts out with tons of movie clips, skip to 4:00 to see the machine demonstrated) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3196982259153601292&hl=en Click on "related" and you'll find the tour of the RCA Videodisc factory in Indianapolis which was put on a dealers-only disc and later on the "Memories Of Videodisc" disc given to people who worked there after the plant shut down.  |  IP: Logged Bruce McGee Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1776 From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular. Registered: Aug 1999 posted 12-10-2006 11:15 PM                     I have literally TONS of VHS and Beta tapes and equipment. I've been scooping up some fine VHS and Beta machines lately at the local Goodwill store for $5 each! I own an operating Sony VO-1600 U-Matic deck from 1972. It still runs great. I have 2 new spare head drums for it, and a spare set of belts. Talk about a klunky unit... It was the first machine I ever saw that had a built-in TV tuner for recording. For many years, I had hundreds of 3/4" U-Matic tapes with lots of shows from the '70's on them. A small fire and water damage did them in.  |  IP: Logged

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