Thoughts on Retro VHS Packaging?

[AFFanAttic]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

The Mill Creek and MVD are just regular slipcovers with designs that look like old rental VHS covers.

The Universal ones are actual big bulky clamshell boxes like the old Disney VHS tapes used to come in.

Originally Posted by andyman1970

Personally I don't mind the slipcovers, but those big ugly clamshell cases are a pass for me.

Can anyone please point to some of these clamshell style titles? I know of the slipcover designs of course, and the Stranger Things releases, but I don't know what these Universal clamshell boxes are.

I sort of liked the idea of these VHS slipcovers when I first started seeing pictures of them. I almost wanted to get the Halloween 6 one, but I didn't want to go hunting at a Wal-Mart for it. If I spot it anywhere, I'll probably get it.
But the idea has kind of quickly run thin. Above all else, it just feels like cynical studio pandering. A half-step away from artless mondo covers.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by AFFanAttic

Can anyone please point to some of these clamshell style titles? I know of the slipcover designs of course, and the Stranger Things releases, but I don't know what these Universal clamshell boxes are.

A user on the Canadian Deals thread posted a picture of them.

I believe they are Target exclusives in the United States.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...ostcount=16248

[AFFanAttic]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

A user on the Canadian Deals thread posted a picture of them.

I believe they are Target exclusives in the United States.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...ostcount=16248

Ooh cool. I had not seen those before. ::sob:: I think I like them.

[filmbuffTX]

Originally Posted by AFFanAttic

Ooh cool. I had not seen those before. ::sob:: I think I like them.

Here are some other pics and links:

[Show spoiler]

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (https://www.target.com/p/e-t-the-ext...y/-/A-54127881)




Fletch (https://www.target.com/p/fletch-vhs-...y/-/A-54139805)




Sixteen Candles (https://www.target.com/p/sixteen-can...y/-/A-54139751)




The Breakfast Club (https://www.target.com/p/the-breakfa...y/-/A-54128015)




Fast Times at Ridgemont High (https://www.target.com/p/fast-times-...y/-/A-54139824)




Jaws (https://www.target.com/p/jaws-vhs-ar...y/-/A-54139728)




Backdraft (https://www.target.com/p/backdraft-v...y/-/A-54139821)




Slap Shot (https://www.target.com/p/slap-shot-v...y/-/A-54139768)

[AFFanAttic]

Originally Posted by filmbuffTX

Here are some other pics and links:

[Show spoiler]

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (https://www.target.com/p/e-t-the-ext...y/-/A-54127881)




Fletch (https://www.target.com/p/fletch-vhs-...y/-/A-54139805)




Sixteen Candles (https://www.target.com/p/sixteen-can...y/-/A-54139751)




The Breakfast Club (https://www.target.com/p/the-breakfa...y/-/A-54128015)




Fast Times at Ridgemont High (https://www.target.com/p/fast-times-...y/-/A-54139824)




Jaws (https://www.target.com/p/jaws-vhs-ar...y/-/A-54139728)




Backdraft (https://www.target.com/p/backdraft-v...y/-/A-54139821)




Slap Shot (https://www.target.com/p/slap-shot-v...y/-/A-54139768)

Yeahh, I like these. And I'm relieved and disappointed I don't need any of these titles. (Bring me The Thing, Universal, and I'll put in the Shout bonus disc with the edited TV version.)

[TXMoviebuff77]

Originally Posted by OneWayFilms

Having lived through the entire generation of the VHS, and working in a video store, I can remember several VHS boxes being open on the right side where the tape slid easily out and back in. That's why I was so shocked the first time I picked up a VHS movie off the video shelf and it slipped right out from the opened bottom, which I immediately thought was the stupidest idea ever. SO many VHS tapes were going to get broken by people doing the same thing I just did. I never understood why they designed packaging to allow the product fall out the bottom like that.

Lol how old do you think I am? That 77 in my username is my birth year. Anyway it doesn’t matter if it’s from the bottom or to the right, it’s a silly trend, especially the tape sticking out. My point was when I started buying VHS movies they usually opened from the bottom, never had the problem of breaking. It seems however that only Disney movies & porn had the better quality clamshell cases.

[babybreese]

Trend is even dumber than the slip cover BS,
some types of people are attacked to shiny things.

[LMFAObros]

The australian ones are really bad and pretty much always have discs rattleing even though they look and feel like an old vhs case. The hmv ones look pretty good

[crissrudd4554]

Originally Posted by Ruined

But VHS and cassette tape nostalgia just seems nostalgia for the purpose of nostalgia. They are much inferior to Blu-ray/DVD and CD/Vinyl in terms of A/V quality. Since quality is a big focus for me, I just can't get behind VHS/Cassette Tape nostalgia.

Apparently audio cassettes are making somewhat of a comeback. That can’t strictly be because of Nostalgia only.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ins...ck-in-business

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovAG...ature=youtu.be

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by crissrudd4554

Apparently audio cassettes are making somewhat of a comeback. That can’t strictly be because of Nostalgia only.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ins...ck-in-business

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovAG...ature=youtu.be

Its nostalgia, being "hip" by being different, and cheap used prices that started the fad, but it will be a short-lived one. The quality of the new tapes and players being sold are worse than that of when cassette was at its peak, and even at its peak it sounded much worse than vinyl/CD. Unlike vinyl there is basically zero benefit of cassette over CD/MP3.

Cassette got popular because it was portable for the car, cheap, durable and recordable. Sound quality never really played a large role in why it was popular.

Cassette is the worst of all worlds given our other choices of CD/MP3/Vinyl
*Worse sound quality than CD/Vinyl/MP3
*Doesn't have the cool art of vinyl due to its small size, even smaller art than CD (this is an area where vinyl easily beats everything)
*Doesn't have the ability to quickly select tracks like CD/MP3, must fast forward and rewind etc.
*Not as portable as CD (can put 25 CDs in a wallet that takes up just a little more space than ~2 cassettes) or MP3 (obviously)
*Cassettes one big advantage of the "mix tape" factor is easly obsoleted by MP3 playlists and CD-Rs, not to mention streaming services that make automatic "mix tapes"

[crissrudd4554]

I wasn’t defending the format. Was just noting it has made a brief sorta comeback which I agree will likely be short lived. I’m well aware of cassettes negative aspects, be it audio cassette or VHS, but frankly that aspect of the medium doesn’t exactly apply to this thread because it’s about VHS styled covers, not VHS or cassette itself.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by crissrudd4554

I wasn’t defending the format. Was just noting it has made a brief sorta comeback which I agree will likely be short lived. I’m well aware of cassettes negative aspects, be it audio cassette or VHS, but frankly that aspect of the medium doesn’t exactly apply to this thread because it’s about VHS styled covers, not VHS or cassette itself.

Yeah, I know what you mean. My point was just that I saw no redeeming value to VHS/Cassette as formats, thus I also cannot find any redeeming value in their packaging. Its akin to saying "look, I got this thing on my shelf thats worse in every way to a DVD/Blu-ray".

I *do* understand the vinyl comeback, on the other hand. If you have a decent setup and good pressing vinyl technically comes close to CD quality - and on top of that you get very nice artwork, inserts, and the vinyl itself can have some spectacular & unique art on it which is slightly different for every individual record (splatter, swirl, split, glitter, etched, holographic, etc). You lose all of that with CD/MP3 where the art on every CD in a batch looks exactly the same and the packaging is usually small & unimpressive.

So that being said, I do understand why its desirable to have a vinyl / vinyl packaging on the shelf - it offers stuff modern digital doesn't in terms of being more physically artistically appealing. I just don't see that with VHS/Cassette, thus I personally don't see the draw for packaging that emulates a VHS tape. Of course if its a slipcover release, easily fixed by chucking the slipcover.

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by crissrudd4554

Apparently audio cassettes are making somewhat of a comeback. That can’t strictly be because of Nostalgia only.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ins...ck-in-business

[Show spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovAG...ature=youtu.be

Originally Posted by Ruined

Its nostalgia, being "hip" by being different, and cheap used prices that started the fad, but it will be a short-lived one. The quality of the new tapes and players being sold are worse than that of when cassette was at its peak, and even at its peak it sounded much worse than vinyl/CD. Unlike vinyl there is basically zero benefit of cassette over CD/MP3.

It wasn’t nostalgia, it was marketing stunt. Disney wanted a piece of Record Store Day’s sales and exclusive vinyls weren’t doing it. So as a marketing stunt, Walt Disney Records released Guardian of the Galaxy, Awesome Mix Volume One as a Record Store Day exclusive. Demand forced WDR to offer it as an online exclusive. Nostalgia followed after that.

The vinyl resurgance wasn’t nostalgia either. Tower Records still had the ability to order vinyl and a customer special ordered a CD. The employee clicked the wrong box and the customer got a vinyl. Word got out and soon nostalgia followed and then snobbish attitudes.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Yeah, I know what you mean. My point was just that I saw no redeeming value to VHS/Cassette as formats, thus I also cannot find any redeeming value in their packaging. Its akin to saying "look, I got this thing on my shelf thats worse in every way to a DVD/Blu-ray".

I *do* understand the vinyl comeback, on the other hand. If you have a decent setup and good pressing vinyl technically comes close to CD quality - and on top of that you get very nice artwork, inserts, and the vinyl itself can have some spectacular & unique art on it which is slightly different for every individual record (splatter, swirl, split, glitter, etched, holographic, etc). You lose all of that with CD/MP3 where ther art on every CD in a batch looks exactly the same and the packaging is usually small & unimpressive.

So that being said, I do understand why its desirable to have a vinyl / vinyl packaging on the shelf - it offers stuff modern digital doesn't in terms of being more artistically appealing. I just don't see that with VHS/Cassette, thus I personally don't see the draw for packaging that emulates a VHS tape. Of course if its a slipcover release, easily fixed by chucking the slipcover.

The draw of the VHS packaging is simply a novelty based on the current wave of 80s nostalgia. It's pretty easy to understand. All of the films in these lines would have originally been released on VHS and that's how many folks would have first experienced them. It's not like they're actually watching them on a VHS or in VHS quality. It's just a fun gimmick, no need to over analyze it.

[crissrudd4554]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Yeah, I know what you mean. My point was just that I saw no redeeming value to VHS/Cassette as formats, thus I also cannot find any redeeming value in their packaging. Its akin to saying "look, I got this thing on my shelf thats worse in every way to a DVD/Blu-ray".

I *do* understand the vinyl comeback, on the other hand. If you have a decent setup and good pressing vinyl technically comes close to CD quality - and on top of that you get very nice artwork, inserts, and the vinyl itself can have some spectacular & unique art on it which is slightly different for every individual record (splatter, swirl, split, glitter, etched, holographic, etc). You lose all of that with CD/MP3 where the art on every CD in a batch looks exactly the same and the packaging is usually small & unimpressive.

So that being said, I do understand why its desirable to have a vinyl / vinyl packaging on the shelf - it offers stuff modern digital doesn't in terms of being more physically artistically appealing. I just don't see that with VHS/Cassette, thus I personally don't see the draw for packaging that emulates a VHS tape. Of course if its a slipcover release, easily fixed by chucking the slipcover.

It really depends on tastes. I have a lot of VHS’ where I prefer the the VHS artwork to the DVD/BD cover. My Universal Monster tapes from the early ‘90s is a good example. I’m glad I still have my Image DVDs of the RoboCop films because the covers are identical to the VHS covers. IMO VHS covers were a bit more appealing to have on a shelf partly because the side covers were thicker and you could see the titles better. DVD/BD cases have thinner sides and don’t always stick out well. Keep in mind I’m just comparing cases. The format aspect of it I’m leaving out because again that’s kinda a different topic altogether. Of course in today’s times cassettes and VHS’ suck. We all know that. But even going back to the nostalgic aspect of this. Clearly these VHS styled covers are mostly being aimed at nostalgic people but if it doesn’t even mirror the cover they had what’s the point? Then there’s people who aren’t familiar with VHS or did and don’t care who couldn’t care in the slightest that their doing these retro styled covers.

[indy24la]

It makes me so mad I wanna punch a baby!

JK, I bought 3 at Walmart cause they looked fun (I worked at a video store in the 90's), but haven't thought a lot about 'em since.

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by Ruined

I know its the nostalgia factor, but man VHS sucks for quality just like compact cassette tape sucks for quality.

Vinyl nostalgia I am more understanding of because vinyl can sound just as good as CD other than some clicks&pops, and often better due to the more dynamic masters sometimes used for vinyl.

But VHS and cassette tape nostalgia just seems nostalgia for the purpose of nostalgia. They are much inferior to Blu-ray/DVD and CD/Vinyl in terms of A/V quality. Since quality is a big focus for me, I just can't get behind VHS/Cassette Tape nostalgia.

And this is a large part of the reason I find these VHS case Blu-rays so unappealing... the other part is having a media format in a different media's format case is an "OCD" mismatch for me!

Note none of this prevents me from buying the "Vhs slipcover" releases since you can just remove the slipcover. But certainly would not get me to double dip, pay extra, or give extra attention to a release.

Compact cassettes can sound good. I'll take a cassette over a poorly mastered compact disc 'remaster'.

I don't think MP3s sound all that good. Lower bitrate ones are as bad streaming audio of a decade ago.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by TXMoviebuff77

Lol how old do you think I am? That 77 in my username is my birth year. Anyway it doesn’t matter if it’s from the bottom or to the right, it’s a silly trend, especially the tape sticking out. My point was when I started buying VHS movies they usually opened from the bottom, never had the problem of breaking. It seems however that only Disney movies & porn had the better quality clamshell cases.

Some horror movies used to get clamshell cases, especially some lesser-known horror films.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by babybreese

Trend is even dumber than the slip cover BS,
some types of people are attacked to shiny things.

What do you have against people buying things they like? Obviously some people like them due to nostalgia.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Some horror movies used to get clamshell cases, especially some lesser-known horror films.

And then when Anchor Bay first came on the scene with their Hammer Horror titles in the mid to late 90s, they came in hard black plastic cases with paper cover art.