I'll buy "The Abyss".
I won't buy "Aliens" because it looks like shit.
I won't buy "True Lies" because it looks like the liquid of the shit that was spewed out from the anus of the "Aliens" transfer.
From what I remember from my VHS purchasing days, the retail tapes weren't any different from the rental ones as far as build quality. Once in a while there'd be a gimmick tape, like ET having a green tape cover (the part that slides upwards when inserting a VHS tape).
It was a "big deal" when Star Trek II was released for "low" $39.95 in 1982. This was considered a sell-thru item! That would be $126.14 in today's money (and people complain about 4K retail pricing!).
Most rental prices went anywhere from $79.99 to $99.99, I don't recall any going for $150 though - even the guys at places like Sam Goody (which charged full retail for most of their stuff...or higher) would be like "Damn!"
The average consumer was not purchasing a lot of tapes at those prices, even at $40, in the early days of VHS.
Hollywood was artificially keeping prices high at the beginning of the VHS era because they were trying squeeze the most profit out of the Rental Industry that they did not particularly care for due to not having direct control of them. Assuming I remembering correctly. It was all weird and foolish.
My folks were doing OK, but they definitely did not purchase a lot of tapes early on at those prices. If I recall correctly the home collection kicked into gear when prices were closer $10-20. Frak, Disney with their price gouging and Vault shenanigans.
I remember us getting Indiana Jones tapes for reasonable prices at McDonalds, strangely enough, during some holiday promotion.
We did not own the SW trilogy until the Trilogy boxset that included the From Star Wars to Jedi documentary, that was an epic Christmas present for the family. Mostly rentals beforehand and maybe some recordings off TV.
LD movies were always expensive until the DVD era.
I think The Abyss DVD was like $25 or so and was a bit high for my budget then, but someone I was dating gifted it to me for my birthday.
We watched it together and I recall that they enjoyed it. Sadly, they passed away last year under tragic circumstances.
I always think of them fondly for a moment whenever I have rewatched the film over the years and it was a bit melancholic and emotional for me when I saw it in the theater last year.
It is curious what emotions and memories become intertwined with certain films in our lives.
Last edited by KMFDMvsEnya; 01-16-2024 at 03:43 PM.
I worked at a video store.
VHS tapes for the store, at cost, were $49.90 on RARE occassions, but usually the price was either $90.79, or $113 per tape.
There were rare times when a movie would release at an MSRP for wide release to the public. Usually, it was for a huge movie release. "Batman" 1989 is a good example, and the best example was "Titanic" which sold like gangbusters. But that's rare.
A lot of movies would end up getting sold new for retail at $12.99 - $19.99, but it could take a couple/few years before it happened.
Usually, a VHS tape would have to rent out 20-40 times per copy to make its money back. New release rentals by 1996 were about $4.25 at our store. Some stores would be $5.50 per new release rental at that time. Usually, each copy of a new release (smaller titles might have 6-12 tapes for rent, but the big-ticket TWISTER type movies would be 50-150 copies) would have 60-150 plays on them before we shrink-wrapped them, and put them out for sale.
As the popularity of the movie dwindled, so would we send out more copies for sale to the public. Each of those new "batches" would most likely end up with a lot more rentals before they went to sale.
So, you'd pay more for a most recent used copy of a movie on the first attempt to dwindle supply... if you were lucky, you could get a used copy that might have 20-50 rentals on it. We would sell that first batch of used tapes for $24.99-$34.99, usually. Of course, the first ones for sale were the tapes that had the most circulation at that point in time. If the store bought TOO MANY copies, then you would luck out and might end up with a VHS that had a really low number of rentals!
By the time the last batch of used VHS tapes went out for sale (so that we would only have 2-4 copies in the store after that), those could have HUNDREDS of viewings on them. With the last remaining supply, you could get a used copy for a little as $7.99 or $9.99... but the likelihood of it having TONS of views on it, and buying a copy that may have had to be spliced/fixed after someone's VCR ate a copy, went way up. Most of the time, the spliced tapes that got eaten would be 99'd (tossed out), but not until they had their number of rentals on it to pay back the cost, by God.
How did we know how many rentals each tape got on them? Our fancy-schmantzy computers had a program that kept track of rentals by barcode, and how many times they were rented out, that's how we knew.
Keep in mind that back then, there was cable, and VCRs. There wasn't this "internet" thing with all these movies on the "Internets" available for watching at any time. Piracy was much trickier back then, and not as widespread.
It's when DVDs came out, and they retailed for $19.99-$39.99 per copy at release. Thus, many customers were more likely to purchase AT RELEASE, and less likely to rent. This of course meant less profit on rentals, because people started to just BUY the movies. The overhead for the film industry must have improved, maybe, but it was the beginning of the end for video stores. More people bought the movies they wanted, and didn't spend as much on rentals. Meanwhile, those VHS tapes never got any cheaper.
- The high cost of the VHS tapes was partly why so many movies were a rousing success in the home video market (two big titles that are well known for this are "F/X", and "Tremors"). Oftentimes, the rental sales made a movie tens of MILLIONS of dollars. This helped spawn sequels and franchises that would never have a chance at success these days.
Then, by 2002 the internet boomed, DVD copying was easier, and online access to movies and shows (either legally, or illegally) became commonplace and simple once cable modems and higher bandwidth - as well as better video file compression - became standardized. Rental stores were still around, but it was apparent they wouldn't be for long.
By 2005, video stores were starting to get phased out, obviously. Netflix was starting their test-runs for online movie streaming (the first movie I watched on Netflix streaming was "Five Easy Pieces", in 2004 or 2005 during their beta testing).
And now, well... the rest is our current history.
Last edited by KcMsterpce; 01-16-2024 at 12:05 PM.
[Show spoiler]The average consumer was not purchasing a lot of tapes at those prices, even at $40, in the early days of VHS.
Hollywood was artificially keeping prices at the beginning of the VHS era because they were trying squeeze the most profit out of the Rental Industry that they did not particularly care for due to not having direct control of them. Assuming I remembering correctly. It was all weird and foolish.
My folks were doing OK, but they definitely did not purchase a lot of tapes early on at those prices. If I recall correctly the home collection kicked into gear when prices were closer $10-20. Frak, Disney with their price gouging and Vault shenanigans.
I remember us getting Indiana Jones tapes for reasonable prices at McDonalds, strangely enough, during some holiday promotion.
We did not own the SW trilogy until the Trilogy boxset that included the From Star Wars to Jedi documentary, that was an epic Christmas present for the family. Mostly rentals beforehand and maybe some recordings off TV.
LD movies were always expensive until the DVD era.
I think The Abyss DVD was like $25 or so and was a bit high for me budget then but someone I was dating gifted it me for my birthday.
We watched it together and I recall that they enjoyed it. Sadly, they passed away last year under tragic circumstances.
I always think of them fondly for a moment whenever I have rewatched the film over the years and it was a bit melancholic and emotional for me when I saw it in the theater last year.
It is curious what emotions and memories become intertwined with certain films in our lives.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KcMsterpce
[Show spoiler]I worked at a video store.
VHS tapes for the store, at cost, were $49.90 on RARE occassions, but usually the price was either $90.79, or $113 per tape.
There were rare times when a movie would release at an MSRP for wide release to the public. Usually, it was for a huge movie release. "Batman" 1989 is a good example, and the best example was "Titanic" which sold like gangbusters. But that's rare.
A lot of movies would end up getting sold new for retail at $12.99 - $19.99, but it could take a couple/few years before it happened.
Usually, a VHS tape would have to rent out 20-40 times per copy to make its money back. New release rentals by 1996 were about $4.25 at our store. Some stores would be $5.50 per new release rental at that time. Usually, each copy of a new release (smaller titles might have 6-12 tapes for rent, but the big-ticket TWISTER type movies would be 50-150 copies) would have 60-150 plays on them before we shrink-wrapped them, and put them out for sale.
As the popularity of the movie dwindled, so would we send out more copies for sale to the public. Each of those new "batches" would most likely end up with a lot more rentals before they went to sale.
So, you'd pay more for a most recent used copy of a movie on the first attempt to dwindle supply... if you were lucky, you could get a used copy that might have 20-50 rentals on it. We would sell that first batch of used tapes for $24.99-$34.99, usually. Of course, the first ones for sale were the tapes that had the most circulation at that point in time. If the store bought TOO MANY copies, then you would luck out and might end up with a VHS that had a really low number of rentals!
By the time the last batch of used VHS tapes went out for sale (so that we would only have 2-4 copies in the store after that), those could have HUNDREDS of viewings on them. With the last remaining supply, you could get a used copy for a little as $7.99 or $9.99... but the likelihood of it having TONS of views on it, and buying a copy that may have had to be spliced/fixed after someone's VCR ate a copy, went way up. Most of the time, the spliced tapes that got eaten would be 99'd (tossed out), but not until they had their number of rentals on it to pay back the cost, by God.
How did we know how many rentals each tape got on them? Our fancy-schmantzy computers had a program that kept track of rentals by barcode, and how many times they were rented out, that's how we knew.
Keep in mind that back then, there was cable, and VCRs. There wasn't this "internet" thing with all these movies on the "Internets" available for watching at any time. Piracy was much trickier back then, and not as widespread.
It's when DVDs came out, and they retailed for $19.99-$39.99 per copy at release. Thus, many customers were more likely to purchase AT RELEASE, and less likely to rent. This of course meant less profit on rentals, because people started to just BUY the movies. The overhead for the film industry must have improved, maybe, but it was the beginning of the end for video stores. More people bought the movies they wanted, and didn't spend as much on rentals. Meanwhile, those VHS tapes never got any cheaper.
- The high cost of the VHS tapes was partly why so many movies were a rousing success in the home video market (two big titles that are well known for this are "F/X", and "Tremors"). Oftentimes, the rental sales made a movie tens of MILLIONS of dollars. This helped spawn sequels and franchises that would never have a chance at success these days.
Then, by 2002 the internet boomed, DVD copying was easier, and online access to movies and shows (either legally, or illegally) became commonplace and simple once cable modems and higher bandwidth - as well as better video file compression - became standardized. Rental stores were still around, but it was apparent they wouldn't be for long.
By 2005, video stores were starting to get phased out, obviously. Netflix was starting their test-runs for online movie streaming (the first movie I watched on Netflix streaming was "Five Easy Pieces", in 2004 or 2005 during their beta testing).
And now, well... the rest is our current history.
Go back a bit earlier in the 80s, when Blockbuster was just a glint in a local/regional rental shop owner's eye, and no place had tens of copies of anything... My podunk little western-US town had one mom-and-pop shop in a repurposed house. We browsed through what once was a living room for action-adventure movies and walked through the doorway (on the creaking hardwood floor) to the former dining room for horror. I spent many hours of my young life talking with friends and shop managers in that house, nerding-out over movies...
We were lucky if they had five copies of a popular new release, forcing us to reserve it for some future day when it would return. No movie, not even a big-budget title, was priced to own for normal humans. We would rent a good one and keep it another day or two to watch again. Even $20 in late fees was better than buying the ridiculously-priced VHS. We owned nothing that wasn't recorded from a TV broadcast. That '89-ish time was the turning point, but those early days were rough for on-demand movie access.
Yeah, I remember going to the hole-in-the-wall rental store in the early 80s in Beaverton. They had pins in front of the movie box cover. There was orange for Betamax, yellow for VHS. Usually there were 2-4 of each.
Blockbuster and Hollywood Video were awful. I worked in an independent video store.
My girlfriend worked at Blockbuster. It was hell, just walking around in there. Hated it. Same damn videos played all the time. The color scheme was hell.
But Hollywood and Blockbuster was buying out all independent video stores from 1996-2000.
By then, they owned and repurposed - or closed - the small video stores where I was at (Seattle). But Scarecrow video didn't sell out. Phew!
I was delighted to find that Blockbuster bought in when it was actually a better time to start selling OFF and out lol
Go back a bit earlier in the 80s, when Blockbuster was just a glint in a local/regional rental shop owner's eye, and no place had tens of copies of anything... My podunk little western-US town had one mom-and-pop shop in a repurposed house. We browsed through what once was a living room for action-adventure movies and walked through the doorway (on the creaking hardwood floor) to the former dining room for horror. I spent many hours of my young life talking with friends and shop managers in that house, nerding-out over movies...
We were lucky if they had five copies of a popular new release, forcing us to reserve it for some future day when it would return. No movie, not even a big-budget title, was priced to own for normal humans. We would rent a good one and keep it another day or two to watch again. Even $20 in late fees was better than buying the ridiculously-priced VHS. We owned nothing that wasn't recorded from a TV broadcast. That '89-ish time was the turning point, but those early days were rough for on-demand movie access.
We had a shop called Radio Rentals in our town that sold/rented TV’s/video recorders etc. They also had a top ten of movies you could rent dirt cheap. But they only had one copy of each so it was pot luck when you walked in whether you could rent a top film. I think Rocky 3 and The Karate Kid were the tapes my brothers and I rented the most. This was before Blockbusters.
Yeah, I remember going to the hole-in-the-wall rental store in the early 80s in Beaverton. They had pins in front of the movie box cover. There was orange for Betamax, yellow for VHS. Usually there were 2-4 of each.
Blockbuster and Hollywood Video were awful. I worked in an independent video store.
My girlfriend worked at Blockbuster. It was hell, just walking around in there. Hated it. Same damn videos played all the time. The color scheme was hell.
But Hollywood and Blockbuster was buying out all independent video stores from 1996-2000.
By then, they owned and repurposed - or closed - the small video stores where I was at (Seattle). But Scarecrow video didn't sell out. Phew!
I was delighted to find that Blockbuster bought in when it was actually a better time to start selling OFF and out lol
In the 80s we lived a few places along the I-5 corridor, finally settling a bit north of Everett. That's where that local rental shop kept me sane through the back half of that decade and into the 90s, lol. Small world.
By then, they owned and repurposed - or closed - the small video stores where I was at (Seattle). But Scarecrow video didn't sell out. Phew!
Scarecrow Video in Seattle was THE video store to go to. I remember when The Abyss extended edition was announced for laserdisc, this was when Scarecrow was at their very tiny original location. George, the owner (R.I.P.), who was extremely passionate about films told me "UPS has it out for delivery today, if you want, hang out and you can be the first to rent it!" so I did just that, waited six hours in the shop talking films until UPS arrived, he opened the box up and rented me the only copy they had gotten in. When they moved to their bigger location, they had all kinds of famous people popping in. George had told me that Quentin Tarantino walked from downtown just to do some shopping as they had all kinds of import titles that were hard to find.
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