Interest Check: Star Trek TOS Complete VHS Set

[Ziggy587]

I have a complete VHS set of Star Trek The Original Series.

Not my pic, but just for reference, they are all from this release:

I can provide pics of the actual tapes upon request. They are all in great shape. I purchased them only a year ago, about 70-75 of them from the same lot. I had to buy a couple from random sellers to fill in the blanks. I cannot confirm the playing condition of all of them, as I do not have 80 hours to devote to watching through each tape, but they are all visually in good condition. The jackets all look nice, as well as the tape itself. I did watch a handful of them and they played fine.

I will eventually throw this up on eBay if no one here wants it. On eBay I will be asking $80 plus shipping (that's about a dollar per tape) or perhaps $100 with free shipping. That's less than what I paid for it a year ago, and less than what you typically see a BIN for a complete set on eBay.

BUT, if anyone here wants it, I will be willing to let it go for less! PM me if you're interested, we can work out a price.

[Ziggy587]

BUMP!

I'm probably not gonna bother bumping this many times, I think I'm the only one left on Racketboy that's nutty enough to still watch VHS tapes in 2019! Where's CRT?

I'd be willing to let this go for pretty cheap if I don't have to list it on eBay. Seriously, PM me if you're interested and we can work out a deal!

[goatlll]

You know I have been watching laser disks like a mad man as of late, but it has been forever since I have watched a VHS. How you would say the quality compares?

[Ziggy587]

LaserDisc is superior in many ways. It has almost double the resolution and can have analog or digital audio tracks. They can be comparable to early DVD releases. VHS is about half the resolution of a DVD and has analog (usually mono) audio tracks. S-VHS actually has a comparable resolution to LaserDisc, but releases such as this are just plain old VHS.

This Star Trek set does have Hi-Fi audio with Dolby B NR. What that means is if you're playing them on a Hi-Fi VCR (it will say "Hi-Fi somewhere on the front) you will get stereo audio and will sound a bit better than typical VHS. They will still work in a non-Hi-Fi VCR, but you will just have standard VHS mono audio.

As for how they look though, I might not be the best person to ask. I've watched a few of these tapes on an HDTV, and while they're far from HD quality I have no problem enjoying them. Watching VHS, to me, is kind of charming in a way. Or maybe it's just nostalgia. I think it also suites something like this show better. This is how I originally viewed the show. Old VHS tapes rented from the library or analog TV broadcast. So to me it looks just right. I have the series on DVD and BD. On BD they did a fantastic job remastering it, but I actually don't enjoy it as much. And in HD you can see when it's a stunt double a lot more often! I also love that the VHS tapes all have the trailer for the next episode after the end of each episode. I wish the DVD and BD had that.

But yeah, to be objective, if you're use to watching LaserDisc or DVD on an HDTV then VHS will be a noticeable drop in quality. I don't mind it, but you might. If you do get into VHS, definitely get a Hi-Fi player off eBay (some of them are not expensive) and clean the heads. Hi-Fi audio with cleaned heads will make a huge difference over a mono deck with dirty heads.

Interestingly, one of my favorite YouTube channels just posted a follow up video regarding upscaling VHS over HDMI. There's a lot of good info in them.

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC5Zr3NC2PY

Followup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQioCb4KUHM

[goatlll]

LaserDisc is superior in many ways. It has almost double the resolution and can have analog or digital audio tracks. They can be comparable to early DVD releases. VHS is about half the resolution of a DVD and has analog (usually mono) audio tracks. S-VHS actually has a comparable resolution to LaserDisc, but releases such as this are just plain old VHS.

This Star Trek set does have Hi-Fi audio with Dolby B NR. What that means is if you're playing them on a Hi-Fi VCR (it will say "Hi-Fi somewhere on the front) you will get stereo audio and will sound a bit better than typical VHS. They will still work in a non-Hi-Fi VCR, but you will just have standard VHS mono audio.

As for how they look though, I might not be the best person to ask. I've watched a few of these tapes on an HDTV, and while they're far from HD quality I have no problem enjoying them. Watching VHS, to me, is kind of charming in a way. Or maybe it's just nostalgia. I think it also suites something like this show better. This is how I originally viewed the show. Old VHS tapes rented from the library or analog TV broadcast. So to me it looks just right. I have the series on DVD and BD. On BD they did a fantastic job remastering it, but I actually don't enjoy it as much. And in HD you can see when it's a stunt double a lot more often! I also love that the VHS tapes all have the trailer for the next episode after the end of each episode. I wish the DVD and BD had that.

But yeah, to be objective, if you're use to watching LaserDisc or DVD on an HDTV then VHS will be a noticeable drop in quality. I don't mind it, but you might. If you do get into VHS, definitely get a Hi-Fi player off eBay (some of them are not expensive) and clean the heads. Hi-Fi audio with cleaned heads will make a huge difference over a mono deck with dirty heads.

Interestingly, one of my favorite YouTube channels just posted a follow up video regarding upscaling VHS over HDMI. There's a lot of good info in them.

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC5Zr3NC2PY

Followup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQioCb4KUHM

Ah thank you. I usually don't watch older media on HD sets. I watch LD and DVD on my PVMs or my other CRT sets. I haven't had a taken a VCR out of storage in, God, 15 years or so and I have forgot how they look. I am somewhat interested in this set, could you give me a few days to think about it?

[Ziggy587]

VHS is very watchable on a CRT. It's similar to playing N64 or PS1 on an HDTV versus a CRT, if you know what I mean. It still wont be as clear as LD or DVD, but the gap is a lot closer on a CRT.

Take your time thinking about it.

[RCBH928]

BUMP!

I'm probably not gonna bother bumping this many times, I think I'm the only one left on Racketboy that's nutty enough to still watch VHS tapes in 2019! Where's CRT?

I'd be willing to let this go for pretty cheap if I don't have to list it on eBay. Seriously, PM me if you're interested and we can work out a deal!

I love VHS, the nostalgia alone is awesome. The problem is that VHS will cost you just as much as bluray, for much worse picture, that has to work on archaic tired hardware. If you find them for cheap, you win, but for the most part any one selling VHS will sell it atleast for $5 then $5 shipping, which add to $10 and at this point its just better and might be cheaper to go DVD or Bluray that looks better and probably last longer and less prune to failure.