Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have

Very cool stuff in that Detroit (and some Houston) lot. Tape 3 would have been one that my parents would have recorded if they ever got into VCRs at that period (they did not have a VCR until the late '80s and used it 99% of the time for Friday night movie rentals). My parents loved USA's Night Flight. They even wrote to them and got a really cool letter in an envelope filled with stamps from around the world. And it got lost in a move...ugh!!!
On New Year's Eve 1983, my (now-late) dad would have been likely been out partying with his buds while Mom was likely bartending that night. Her bar had TVs of course, and I'm sure Dick Clark would have been on the screen around the midnight hour. One thing I notice about the NYE broadcasts is the difference in musical guests on the networks. ABC leaned towards current pop and rock acts, as young adults were likely to watch Dick. CBS leaned older, with country, R&B, and even soft rock acts before and after the ball drop. CBS would have had Andy Williams on that year with Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) if I recall. I wish I could find NYE ratings for the networks at that time. I wonder which New Years' was the first time Dick Clark dominated the late-night ratings?

Actually Michele Lee "Knots Landing" was the main guest with Andy that year. NBC just had a rerun of SNL with Eddie Murphy hosting and Lionel Richie being the guest performer. And even though CBS special tended toward a somewhat older crowd that ABC, they did have the Pointer Sisters that year (with their Break Out album a big hit), whereas Dick Clark had Barry Manilow.

Targeting around or even a little older still than CBS at the time was Bill Lombardo's NYE special (son of the late Guy Lombardo who dominated CBS' ratings for many years before Dick Clark surpassed him around the late 1970s in ratings around the time of his death, with ABC's rise as the #1 network in primetime also providing support). I've posted the Lombardo NYE 1982 special on one of my channels and plan on posting Lombardo NYE '83 around next New Year's (it aired on WTTG in DC and WNEW in NYC). These Lombardo specials aired in syndication for a few years and were taped at the Waldorf-Astoria Ballroom in Manhattan, but the following year wasn't televised due to unfavorable demographics, which consisted mainly of Big Band era and postwar non-rock pop performers in the tradition of what Bill's father would have provided. Steve Allen and Bobby Vinton were guests that year. However, reigning Miss America Vanessa Williams was also a guest, so some younger guys could have tuned in as well. The following year's roster for New Year's Eve 1984 included Tony Sotos and the Peter Duchin Orchestra, The Crystals, Georgia Gibhs, Julius La Rosa, Johnnie Ray, and Margaret Whiting, but it wasn't televised. Except for perhaps the Crystals, none of those would provide much support from the young adult demo at the time. The fogey demo would soon divert over to PBS to watch the New Year's in Vienna specials the following night.

pannoni1 said:

Not one, but two lots from eBay have arrived this week. One of them was halfway decent with some hits (albeit with not too many commercials intact), near-misses and duds, but the other, from magnav30 (based in Ohio) was a 100% zonk with nothing but bulk erased tapes! That was the first time I've ever encountered that problem, and the seller's description never mentioned that. The labels were either faded or ripped, which implies that as a new warning sign, but the labels showed nothing but common movies and Caron Burnet & Friends, so it didn't looked like I missed much there. At least I'm only out shipping with that lot due to a return policy like that other one there.

But back to the Detroit-area lot (with some out-of-market content from Houston):

TAPE 1: Rental/pay TV duds of Curly Sue and Man Without A Face, followed by about an hour of MTV from 4/23/1994 w/commercials, with numerous hits from Salt-N-Pepa featured among the videos, including special appearances by the classic hip hop group.

TAPE 2: Caddyshack (rental dub), followed by part of the local Detroit rock show The Beat from 2/19/1983 with no commercials and some of the VJ segments cut, followed by another rental dub of Silver Streak, and then about half of the M*A*S*H finale with no commercials before the tape runs out.

TAPE 3: A random assortment of rock/pop videos from MTV, The Beat (see above), and USA's Radio 1990 from late 1983 for about 90 minutes (very few VJ segments and no commercials), then various excerpts from New Year's 1983-84 from several stations (including CBS, ABC, and MTV), followed by part of the USA Night Flight feature of Koko Taylor and the Blues Machine from early 1984, wrapping up with USA Hot Spots with one commercial break. One again, commercials/more consistent segments would have been preferred, but Night Flight isn't easy to find, as are some of the VJ segments. It's pure joy for the '80s music lover though.

TAPE 4: Rental/pay TV duds of Firestarter and Footloose, followed by the MTV Saturday Concert feature of Dire Straits: Alchemy from 8/3/1985 with some commercials prior to the start of the concert (these were presented commercial free).

TAPE 5: A Huey Lewis and the News concert circa 1982 off an unknown station, followed by the MTV Sunday Special documentary The Doors: The Fire's Still Burnin' from 1983 with a few commercials prior to the feature, then wrapping up with most of the USA Movie Janis from sometime in 1983 with one commercial break.

TAPE 6: PBS Soundstage: The Slaters (1982) off WTVS circa late 1984/early 1985 with no intermissions or pledge breaks, followed by John Waite: No Brakes concert (1984) off an unknown station with no commercials, followed by an Austin City Limits episode of Neil Young off WTVS/PBS in early 1985, then wrapping up with the MTV Saturday Concert feature of KISS Animals Live from 1/26/1985 (taped 12/84) with no commercials. I wish there were ads, but MTV from this era is still nice to have even if there aren't any ads, even if the KISS fans disagree with this being from their "no makeup" period.

TAPE 7: Two parts of the Centennial miniseries recorded off KHTV with no commercials, followed by episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1973) and Heathcliff (1984) off KTXH circa 1985 with some ads.

TAPE 8: Episodes of Days of our Lives from 1/21, 1/23, 1/25, and 1/28/1985 with various amounts of commercials present (the 1/23 and 1/26 had the most) off KPRC/NBC, followed by episodes of Heathcliff "Brainsprain" and Superfriends "The Water Beast" off KTXH circa early 1985 with some commercials.

TAPE 9: A (nearly) full week of Days of our Lives from 4/1-4/5/1985 off KPRC/NBC (the Mon-Wed. episodes have only a few commercials, the Thursday show about 50/50, while the Friday show has most commercials intact), followed by part of a movie recorded off KTXH from June 1984, including a promo for the Graffiti Rock special.

As it turns out, the two taped labeled "Soap" yielded the best results, while the tape with "Alice" among the labels was not the '70s/'80s sitcom, but a vintage B&W movie that was among the dud tapes.

Two of the other duds included not VHS/Beta copies, but DVD dubs of a couple movies from the early 2000s (including LotR: The Two Towers), with one of the tapes ending with several minutes of MTV from late 2001 with one commercial break. Yep, some people at the time didn't have a DVD player, but since VHS copies were still readily available until around 2005, it just doesn't make sense to be backward compatible with dubbing!

Click to expand...

Are you planning on posting those Days episodes to archive? Would love to see them?

Re-uploaded videos to Archive = 743

I sent off a second appeal to Youtube tonight. Same appeal notice, for both accounts (VHSgoodiesWA-3 and 4, the ones that were wrongfully terminated, in my opinion). Fingers crossed. They have been all but silent the past month. Yet, what's interesting is that I started up a new account, VHSgoodiesWA5, and that account is still alive yet I am not allowed to access it....and I noted this to YouTube.

My accounts will remain terminated. Appeal lost. :-(
Meanwhile, I hit a bunch of sales this weekend and found boatloads of tapes including some amazing game show finds. Will share those later tonight or Monday.

The last tape has been finished from this weekend. So here's the recap of twenty-two keepers out of nearly 30 tapes purchased this weekend. One estate sale in Ellensburg, the West Valley Church rummage sale in Yakima and another big yard sale at the Yakima Genealogy Society. Some amazing finds.

ELLENSBURG
Tape 1 - Half of an episode of Miami Vice taped off KNDO/NBC on 3/29/1985 with commercials. At that time, KNDO's Ellensburg translator was above channel 69 (the calls were K74DT), and the FCC closed that band later in the decade. Zenith T-30, in SP. There was also a Zenith VCR at the sale and I am betting this was included with the VCR. Too bad she wasn't familiar at the time of purchase with switching over to LP for an hour-long show.
Tape 2 - 'Packin' it In' (1983) taped off KOMO-4 Seattle on 2/13/1988 with commercials; promos and start of 'Toby McTeague' (1986) taped off The Disney Channel on 2/7/1988. Maxell T-120
Tape 3 - 'Kitty Foyle' (1940) taped off A&E circa May 1988 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 4 - Last 20 minutes of 'The Morning After' (1986) and part of a Dennis Miller comedy special taped off HBO on 2/27/1988 with about 15 minutes of promos in between. Sony T-120
Tape 5 - Starts with the first half-hour of the Sonics vs. Rockets in Game 4 of the NBA Western conference Fnials, taped off KNDO/NBC on 5/12/1996 with commercials; then cuts to the last 90 minutes of 'Hostage' (1988) taped off KIMA/CBS on Valentine's Day 1988 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 6 - 'The Yearling' (1946) taped off WTBS on 11/23/1986 with commercials. Maxell T-120
Tape 7 - Highlights of the 1987 Interstate Batteries Great American Race from Disneyland to Walt Disney World, taped off ESPN on 2/13/1988 with commercials; part of 'The Roaring Twenties' (1939) taped off TBS in January 1988 with commercials. Maxell T-120

YAKIMA

West Valley Church
Tape 8 - 'Keeping the Promise' (1997) taped off KIMA/CBS on 7/12/1998 with commercials; partial broadcast of 'In the Line of Fire' (1993) taped off KCYU-LP/Fox on 9/16/1997 with commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 9 - Great tape! Two episodes of The Price is Right taped off WCCO-4 Minneapolis/CBS on 1/8 and 1/9/1990 with commercials; partial episode of The Price is Right taped off WCCO/CBS on 1/5/1990 with commercials; episode of Murder, She Wrote taped off WCCO/CBS on 1/7/1990 with commercials; CBS News Special Report on the Panama invasion taped off WCCO/CBS on 12/20/1989; episode of The Price is Right taped off WCCO/CBS on Christmas 1989 with commercials; In the Heat of the Night episode taped off KARE/NBC on 12/26/1989 with commercials; ends with yet another (partial) episode of The Price is Right taped off WCCO/CBS in December 1989 with commercials. TDK HS T-120
Tape 10 - 'A Time to Remember' (2003) taped off Hallmark Channel on 4/2/2008 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 11 - Another nice old Yakima find - 'The Sound of Music' (1965) taped off KNDO/NBC on 12/23/1984 with commercials. Blank after 3 hours. RCA VK-250
Tape 12 - 'Shanghai Noon' (2000) taped off KIMA/CBS on 3/30/2003 with commercials and first few minutes of KIMA News Weekend Edition; part of 'Red Heat' (1988), The Drew Carey Show and Dharma & Greg taped off KCYU-LP 68 on 3/16/2003 with commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 13 - 'Our House' (2006) taped off Hallmark Channel in March 2008 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 14 - 'What I Did for Love' (2006) taped off Hallmark Channel in late November 2007 with commercials. Fuji T-120
Tape 15 - 'Air Force One' (1997) copied from rental tape; part 2 of Creature (miniseries) taped off KAPP/ABC on 5/18/1998 with commercials. TDK HS T-120

Yakima Genealogy Yard Sale, 1901 S 12th Ave (hit this place back in September 2019 and found good stuff. My second trip back with more tapes!)
Tape 16 - Most of 'The Final Countdown' (1980) taped off TBS on 1/8/1990 with commercials. Scotch T-120
Tape 17 - Perfect Strangers episode taped off KATU/ABC in November 1991 minus commercials; 'Unforgettable' Nat King Cole/Natalie Cole 'duet' taped off MTV; AM Northwest segment taped off KATU-2 in November 1991 with Bob the Weather Cat; ladies' figure skating finals and bobsled coverage at the Albertville Winter Olympics taped off KOIN/CBS on 2/21/1992 minus commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 18 - 'Some Came Running' (1958) copied from rental tape; 'Marines, Let's Go!' (1958) taped off AMC circa late 2001; 'Prisoners of the Sun' (1991) taped off unknown channel with no promos or ads; 'Louis L'Amour's The Diamond of Jeru' (2001) taped off USA Network on 11/6/2001 with commercials (local ad inserts for AT&T Broadband in the Seattle area). Maxell T-160
Tape 19 - Donahue episode taped off KATU-2 circa 1993 minus commercials (with humorist Erma Bombeck); two episodes of Jeopardy! from Ken Jennings' run taped off KATU-2 with commercials - the 9/14/2004 episode comes first (Ken on his 45th day with $1,477,461), then cuts back to the 7/6/2004 episode where he was only at $788K. Following this is part of Primetime Thursday taped off KATU/ABC on 7/8/2004 minus commercials (on separation anxiety in dogs); partial episode of Lois & Clark: Thew New Adventures of Superman taped off KATU/ABC in March 1995 minus commercials; Dateline NBC clip taped off KGW/NBC on 3/5/1995 (on the I-5 bridge collapse at Arroyo Pasajero CA due to flooding, which killed several people); part of 'Alexander Graham Bell: The Sound and the Silence' (1991) taped off TNT minus commercials; part of the 65th Academy Awards taped off KATU/ABC on 3/29/1993 minus commercials. Kodak T-120
Tape 20 - Several episodes of Hogan's Heroes, one episode of The Rifleman, one episode of Wyatt Earp, one episode of Rawhide and one episode of Wild Wild West taped off KTZZ-22 Seattle in June 1988 with commercials. Another great find. KTZZ ran Hogan's Heroes weekdays at 12:30 (or 1), and the westerns aired on Saturday nights. TDK T-120
Tape 21 - A&E Biography on Perry Como taped in December 2000 minus commercials; Dateline NBC broadcast taped off KGW/NBC in December 2000 minus commercials (on the battle of Attu); partial broadcast of the 2000 Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremonies taped off KGW/NBC on 9/15/2000 with commercials; ends with an hour and a half of ABC 2000 taped off KOMO-4 Seattle/ABC, starting around 6:10AM PT on 12/31/1999 with commercials. This recording includes a midnight arrival in Japan.
Tape 22 - About half of 20/20 taped off KATU/ABC on 2/14/1997 with commercials (Elizabeth Taylor's interview with Barbara Walters); Biography on Shirley Temple taped off A&E in March 1997 minus commercials; part of the Kennedy Center Honors taped off KOIN/CBS on 12/30/1998 minus commercials; Roger Ebert's tribute to Gene Siskel on Siskel & Ebert, taped off KATU-2 on 2/28/1999 with commercials (I have this and MANY dozens of other episodes from KMGH Denver on Betamax tapes); Biography episodes on Lewis Tiffany, George W. Bush, Bob Hope and Barbara Walters taped off A&E in 1999-2000 minus commercials. Kodak T-120

Out of curiosity when you guys go out and get home recorded tapes what criteria are you looking for? Is it a mix of what is on the label and the age of the tape stock? Or is it relative price of the item vs the risk of a bad or good find?

Basically, a combo of all three, along with a few intangibles such as a seller who has multiple lots or more, where finding a lot of keepers would lead to purchasing more, while mostly duds would send a pass. If I mostly see 2000s tape stock, I'll pass. Also, if all I see are multiple movies found on the labels, I'll pass unless if the tape stock is very old (pre-1985).

Nice job on the TPIR finds crainbebo from Season 18, especially during this hiatus where Pluto hasn't released new content in two months at The Price Is Right: The Barker era after wrapping up Season 11 and ending after the third episode of Season 12 (9/14/1983). The Christmas 1989 episode is likely a rerun of the 12/22/88 or 12/23/88 episode since there was no new episode on Christmas Day that year, and the show would usually air an episode from the previous season's Christmas week. I don't believe any of those episodes are currently in the circuit, with the possible exception of that partial December 1989 episode.

It might have not been Christmas Day. A man won a $28,000 car on One Away and got four numbers right by 'oh mighty Santa Claus'. Was that a rerun from earlier or a 1989-taped show? The set was all decked out for the holidays.

When I go out and buy home-recorded tapes, I pass on most newer tapes (i.e., TDK, Sony, Maxell boxes post-2005 or so.) I pass on any tape that looks like family memories. If it says "Jessica's Christmas 1991" or "Josh's 5th Birthday" on it...no bueno. However, I do take occasional home movies if they have vacations on them, as they may have traveled to places that are long gone or have been remodeled (i.e., Disneyland prior to California Adventure).

If there are multiple movies, I still pick them up because those recordings may have been from network TV airings, or if they came from pay-cable, they may still have a bunch of promos and in-between material which is fun to look at. However, I have run into the 'three movies copied from rentals' curse many times in the past. I have found some tapes where the opening previews were left in from the other tape. The only hope on those is a little something from the TV tuner on the second VCR after the last rental runs out, and that only happens about a quarter of the time. Usually, it's late-night TV programming (like the KCPQ aircheck I found on a Beta last August that had The Extraordinary, A Current Affair Extra, Headline News and the sign-off on it - nearly the exact same one they used in the indie days with the sign language Indian and the Lord's prayer). Other times it's blank or the blue screen from the second VCR...guess what I do with those? They go to recycling!

I also pass on any tape that has mold in it or looks filthy. Occasionally, this will happen. Cleaning mold from the tape is a waste of time, the tape is already destroyed. Meanwhile, I have found tapes in garages that were full of bugs, or in one case, a dead spider got into the cartridge. I make sure to clean out my VCR every once in a while, not just the heads but also the area around the reel mechanism, for any bugs. I occasionally get these yellow-colored bugs/insects (mites? fleas?) on estate sale tapes depending on where the tapes were stored.

I also take any VK-250, VK-125, or any early VHS tape (those that were designed for 4-hour recording). This is obvious.

Chandler, I am hoping to take a trip to the Tri-Cities area in May. They have a thrift store in Richland that is full of home-recorded tapes, plus a Goodwill Outlet in downtown Pasco. They recently went to a conveyor belt system and at least one Google review shows that VHS tapes go through that place, so fingers crossed. The Goodwill Columbia system also has locations in Wenatchee and Sunnyside, so I may find mixed Seattle/Yakima/Spokane with Tri-Cities TV if I find home-recorded stuff.

That Price episode is probably the 12/22/89 episode, which featured One Away according to the calendar at tpirstats.com. One Away was not played during the two 1988 Christmas-themed shows, and there were no Christmas-themed shows in 1987.

crainbebo said:

My accounts will remain terminated. Appeal lost. :-(
Meanwhile, I hit a bunch of sales this weekend and found boatloads of tapes including some amazing game show finds. Will share those later tonight or Monday.

Click to expand...

You need to stand up and say: "To hell with YouTube!".

Well, speaking of YouTube. After 15 years of going by different names and most recently YardLionREW, the channel will now be known as RetroCirq.

Deleted

Many more finds at sales this past weekend.

Estate sale #1--Parma, OH--only picked up one tape from this one, left three other recorded tapes behind, two appeared to be home movies and one appeared to be recordings of Barney episodes
TAPE 1: Episode of Family Matters taped from WEWS on 6/21/1996 with commercials. Gemini T-120.

Estate sale #2--Berea, OH--LOTS of recorded tapes spotted at this one, some were in a box inside the garage, while others were in a VHS storage container in the living room--picked up 13 tapes total (11 keepers) and ended up leaving many behind for the sake of saving space and money
TAPE 2: Episode of The Lawrence Welk Show taped from WVIZ on 3/3/2001; three more episodes of The Lawrence Welk Show taped from WVIZ in July 2001 with promos. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 3: Starts with a few minutes of blank signal, then reverts to a partial infomercial for Worx GT taped from WEWS circa 2009; ABC News coverage of Barack Obama's inauguration taped from WEWS on 1/20/2009; partial broadcast of Stalag 17 taped from WOIO (Cinema Nineteen) in February 1989 with commercials; partial broadcast of Eyewitness News at 11:00 and Movie 5 presentation of Bronco Billy (1980) taped from WEWS on February 5-6, 1989 with commercials. Kodak T-120.

TAPE 4: Gone with the Wind (1939) divided into two parts aired on two different nights, taped from WEWS on November 24 and 25, 1994 with commercials, part one starts with the last segment of Nightline with Chris Wallace substituting for Ted Koppel. TDK T-120.

TAPE 5: WVIZ/PBS Televised Auction coverage taped from WVIZ in May 2009; partial broadcasts of the NFL on CBS (Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens and Oakland Raiders vs. Miami Dolphins) taped from WOIO on 9/30/2007 with commercials; partial episode of America at a Crossroads and partial broadcast of BBC World News taped from WVIZ on 9/3/2007 with promos; partial broadcast of Hart's War (2002) taped from WUAB (My43 Movie) in February 2007 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 6: Saving Private Ryan (1998) taped from WEWS (ABC Premiere Event) on 11/11/2001 with commercials, a clip from that night's News Channel 5 at 11 follows, in which Tonya Strong interviews a local World War II veteran; D-Day: The Sixth of June (1956) taped from WVIZ (WVIZ/PBS Big Picture Show) circa 2001, includes an intermission segment with some tidbits about the movie. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 7: The Sound of Music (1965) taped from WKYC on 12/17/2000 with commercials; partial episode of The Drew Carey Show and partial episode of Cheers taped from WJW in December 2000 with commercials; opening segment and skit from the Big Chuck and Lil John Show and first act of No Mercy (1986) taped from WJW in December 2000 with commercials. TDK T-120.

TAPE 8: Lawrence Welk's TV Treasures and partial broadcast of My Music: Doo-Wop's Love Songs taped from WVIZ on 2/23/2008 with promos; partial broadcast of Charlie Rose taped from WVIZ on 2/18/2008; partial broadcast of Super Bowl XLII taped from WJW on 2/3/2008 with commercials; partial broadcast of part three of Comanche Moon (CBS miniseries) and partial broadcast of 19 Action News at 11 taped from WOIO on 1/16/2008 with commercials; partial broadcast of CBS Evening News with Russ Mitchell, 19 Action News at 6:30 (WOIO would show their evening newscasts after the CBS Evening News on Sundays) and partial broadcast of 60 Minutes taped from WOIO on 10/28/2007 with commercials; partial broadcast of The Sound of Music (1965) taped from WEWS on 12/26/2004 with commercials. TDK T-120.

TAPE 9: Four episodes of The Lawrence Welk Show taped from WVIZ circa 2004; partial broadcast of Mwah! The Best of the Dinah Shore Show taped from WVIZ circa 2003, one partial pledge break is included; few minutes of Fox NFL Sunday coverage of Green Bay Packers vs. New York Jets taped from WJW on 12/29/2002. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 10: Last few minutes of an episode of Passions taped from WKYC in summer 2004 with a few commercials; most of the 2005 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game (Chicago Bears vs. Miami Dolphins) taped from WEWS on 8/8/2005 with commercials, Al Michaels pays tribute to the late Peter Jennings during the Lexus Halftime Show; partial broadcast of Roswell: The Aliens Attack (UPN made-for-TV movie) and start of The Ten O'clock News taped from WUAB on 2/4/1999 with commercials; first few minutes of Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals taped from WKYC on 6/4/1998 with a few commercials (already have the full game recorded from WNWO in Toledo). TDK T-120.

TAPE 11: Rebroadcast of the pilot episode of Lost taped from WEWS on 10/2/2004 with commercials; few minutes of NFL on CBS coverage of Cleveland Browns vs. New York Giants taped from WOIO on 9/26/2004; partial NFL on CBS coverage of Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens taped from WOIO on 9/12/2004 with commercials; partial broadcast of BBC World News and start of Tavis Smiley taped from WVIZ on 6/6/2004 with promos. TDK T-120.

TAPE 12: All four parts of The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color, episode of Nature and partial episode of Masterpiece Theatre (part one of The Virgin Queen) taped from WVIZ on 11/13/2005 with promos; partial broadcast of 60 Minutes on WOIO on 8/7/2005 with commercials. TDK T-120.


Moving sale--Medina, OH--older couple was selling everything in their house before they move out and these tapes were found in VHS storage containers in the basement--nine tapes total, three keepers
TAPE 13: Partial broadcast of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer taped from WOIO on 11/29/1994 with commercials; episodes of Danger Bay and Zorro taped from the Disney Channel (during Thank You Week) in May 1991 with promos. Scotch T-120.

TAPE 14: Part three of The Shining (ABC miniseries) taped from WEWS on 5/1/1997 with commercials. JVC T-120.

TAPE 15: The Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame taped from HBO on 9/2/1995. Kodak T-120.

Lots of '00s stuff I see in that bunch. Meanwhile, I ended up finding some more TV recordings at a Yakima estate sale off of 23rd and Summitview on Saturday (near Robertson Elementary). Left behind were recent TDK tapes marked "PBS Kids Shows". Highly likely they were Super Why, later Sesame Street, WordWorld, etc., and not Mister Rogers, Reading Rainbow, or any of the lesser-known PBS Kids Go shows like Postcards from Buster or Fetch!, so I didn't pick it up. Only two tapes, but some cool finds.

Tape 1 - Ken Burns' Empire of the Air taped off KYVE/PBS circa March 1992 with ID and most of the late-evening Job Find afterwards; broadcast of The American Experience taped off KYVE/PBS on Veterans Day 1991 with promos (Pearl Harbor); broadcast of The American Experience on the Johnstown Flood taped off KYVE/PBS on 11/4/1991 with promos afterwards; partial broadcast of the Washington Huskies/California Golden Bears football game and the first few minutes of the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (preempted due to football) taped off KAPP/ABC on 10/19/1991 with commercials. Maxell T-120

Tape 2 - Part of The NFL Today, Sports Illustrated for Kids and part of The Weird Al Show taped off KIMA/CBS on 9/27/1998 with commercials (Raiders game at Dallas was not shown in the Pacific Northwest - flips between color and B&W, taped from antenna); Nightly Business Report taped off KYVE/PBS on 9/29/1998; about 3/4ths of KNDO Northwest Today (the 6AM hour) taped on 7/15/2004 with commercials; Athens Olympics coverage (Bob Costas interviewing athletes) and KNDO Local News at Midnight taped off KNDO/NBC on 8/25/2004 with commercials; clip of KIMA NewsWatch at 11 taped 8/26/2004 (on the massive fire at the Gilbert Fruit Warehouse in Wiley City, which was also covered on the KNDO newscast above); partial coverage of the Athens Olympics men's triathlon taped off KNDO/NBC on 8/25/2004 with a few commercials; end of an episode of Serious Money and Washington Week in Review taped off KYVE/PBS on 9/25/1998 with promos; part of 'Crocodile Dundee' (1986) taped off unknown pay-TV channel; episode of Home Improvement taped off KAPP/ABC on 11/4/1992 with commercials; episode of Rush Limbaugh taped off KAPP-35 early morning 11/5/1992 with commercials; ends with about two minutes of CBS News Sunday Morning taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/8/1992. Maxell T-120

crainbebo said:

Chandler, I am hoping to take a trip to the Tri-Cities area in May. They have a thrift store in Richland that is full of home-recorded tapes, plus a Goodwill Outlet in downtown Pasco. They recently went to a conveyor belt system and at least one Google review shows that VHS tapes go through that place, so fingers crossed. The Goodwill Columbia system also has locations in Wenatchee and Sunnyside, so I may find mixed Seattle/Yakima/Spokane with Tri-Cities TV if I find home-recorded stuff.

Click to expand...

Now that the weather's getting nicer, I wouldn't mind taking a road trip out west (Northwestern Ohio) on a Saturday sometime to do some VHS/media hunting out there. I went to college at Bowling Green State University and that's actually where I got started with this little hobby. Back then, since I didn't bring my car with me at the time (my apartment was just across the street from campus grounds), I was largely confined to two "hot spots"--Super Saturday Garage Sales held once a month inside the multipurpose room at Woodland Mall and the monthly flea market at the Wood County Fairgrounds, along with any garage sales that were within walking distance in that area of the city of Bowling Green. I did find a fair amount of old VHS recordings from the Toledo market during that time (now #80 on the Nielsen scale, it was just slightly higher at the time I was living there), along with a few gems from smaller markets nearby, such as Lima and Fort Wayne.

In more recent visits to that part of the state, I've had luck at such places as Abigail's Attic (now closed) in Bowling Green, Stormin Norman's Flea Market in Toledo and the Maumee Antique Mall. My trip to the latter location was the same day I saw Kristin Chenoweth in concert at the Stranahan Theater in 2016.
I see Stormin Norman's is currently in the process of relocating. When I went to that place, one vendor's space in particular was loaded with recorded tapes. Many were unmarked, so I could have possibly left behind some real gems (recordings) for all I know. If I'm not mistaken, I think that booth was right next door to the infamous Smoke Shop that flea market is known for.

Just purchased a lot based out of a seller from Ispherming, MI in the UP off of eBay. This was one of those "auction/best offer" lots, so I decided to bid a little higher than the bid in order to acquire this lot. The seller has a return policy, so if I find mostly zapped ads, I could just send it back. But given the plethora of labels (lots of Y&R, Sally, Donahue, Golden Girls, and Oprah) with mostly late '80s/early '90s stuff on them, I couldn't pass this one. In 1990, Marquette was the #182 media market, and when I see one of the labels mention "Ch 6 Outside Woman and News- No reason", odds look decent that I'll find a WLUC newscast, and keep in mind that this tiny market didn't have an ABC station at the time, just WLUC (CBS/NBC), WNMU (PBS), and two indies (WHTA and WUAA, which may have carried some ABC/FOX programming). This should be an interesting hunt!

pannoni1 said:

Just purchased a lot based out of a seller from Ispherming, MI in the UP off of eBay. This was one of those "auction/best offer" lots, so I decided to bid a little higher than the bid in order to acquire this lot. The seller has a return policy, so if I find mostly zapped ads, I could just send it back. But given the plethora of labels (lots of Y&R, Sally, Donahue, Golden Girls, and Oprah) with mostly late '80s/early '90s stuff on them, I couldn't pass this one. In 1990, Marquette was the #182 media market, and when I see one of the labels mention "Ch 6 Outside Woman and News- No reason", odds look decent that I'll find a WLUC newscast, and keep in mind that this tiny market didn't have an ABC station at the time, just WLUC (CBS/NBC), WNMU (PBS), and two indies (WHTA and WUAA, which may have carried some ABC/FOX programming). This should be an interesting hunt!

Lot of 40 blank Betamax Beta tapes 1980s & 1990s TV shows movies commercials | eBay

<p>Lot of 40 blank Betamax Beta tapes 1980s & 1990s TV shows movies commercials. Condition is "Used".</p><br><br><p>Sold as blanks not sure if where listed on the sticky note is what’s on the tape, i only checked one tape and it was the Anita hill testimony</p>

www.ebay.com

Click to expand...

Looks like there could potentially be some good stuff here. Gotta love those small market discoveries. Marquette is #183 on the Nielsen scale.

Small market TV is the best TV IMO!! Beta tapes are how I made my first finds from Montana a few years back. Still looking for the ever-elusive KXGN Glendive and the late Ed Agre on tape.

The Wenas Rd folks were back (first stopped by on March 27th). Two more tapes to add, plus one from another sale in Selah. I don't think I mentioned this, but the sale off Wenas Road, both times, has been an '80s/'90s/toy collector's heaven. This woman hoarded toys and dolls. In addition, she also had three FULL STORAGE UNITS with more toys. In late March, I spent $35 on a vintage Coca-Cola electric clock from the '70s (like you would see in an old gas station). The dials worked but the light was out. I was able to open it up, pull out the old GE fluorescent and purchase a new one at Lowe's. Good as gold now. Looks amazing. One of my favorite purchases in a long time, IMO. This time around, there were tons of old lunch boxes (Heathcliff, Mork & Mindy, etc.) to buy, along with multitudes of Cabbage Patch dolls, a Magic Mike robot BRAND NEW in the box, dozens of Star Wars action figures, a couple of Star Trek action figures and Christmas ornaments, GI Joe action figures and toys; and plenty more.

Wenas Rd estate sale (second time)
Tape 1 - Law & Order: SVU episode taped off KNDO/NBC on 2/21/2003 with commercials. Blank after 1 hour (SLP). Fuji T-120
Tape 2 - President Bush's State of the Union Address taped 1/20/2004, first from KAPP/ABC, then switches over to KIMA/CBS; Dr. Phil taped off KIMA on 1/28/2004 with commercials; then flips over to KAPP for Oprah Winfrey with commercials (woman goes through detoxification); Oprah Winfrey taped off KAPP on 1/29/2004 minus commercials (her 50th birthday celebration), plus KAPP Local News at 5 with commercials; Primetime Thursday taped off KAPP/ABC later that night with commercials (Michael Jackson case); Oprah Winfrey taped off KAPP on 1/30/2004 minus commercials (with Dr. Oz before he went to his own show); rerun of Frasier taped off KAPP in January 2004 with commercials; partial broadcast of 60 Minutes and first few minutes of Cold Case taped off KIMA/CBS on 1/25/2004 with commercials. Fuji T-120
Non-VHS finds: Pluto Avon decanter (for their non-tear shampoo); a cute owl figurine; USA Today newspaper from the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1999.

In addition, there were several older blank tapes outside. One was marked 'bloopers 2/8/95' which apparently would have been the All-Star Ultra TV Censored Bloopers special on NBC. Why did I not pick these up? They were mixed in with about 60% Disney and public-domain cartoon tapes. The ladies could not sell them unless I took them all for $5.00. Ugh......

Second sale
Tape 3 - Roger Mayweather vs. Julio Cesar Chavez fight taped off HBO on 5/13/1989; part of 'Baby Boom' (1987) taped off unknown pay-TV channel; clips of The Johnny Canales Show (Tejano music) taped off Univision in December 1988; the rest of it seems to be a mixtape of mostly cartoons, probably recorded by a youngster: cuts to about an hour of Merrie Melodies and Tom and Jerry clips without commercials; episode of The Smurfs taped off NBC (presumed KNDO) circa 1985 minus commercials; about 15 minutes of The Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show taped off KIMA/CBS (presumed) in August 1985 with one commercial break; cuts to some Mexican music videos; then cuts to some clips of Disney's DTV; cuts again to part of 'Pete's Dragon' (1977) taped off The Disney Channel circa the late '80s; various Donald Duck and Pluto cartoons; clip of '101 Dalmatians' (1961), clip of 'Peter Pan' (1966); ends with multiple cartoons on Good Morning Mickey. Quasar T-120
NOTE: This tape was marked "Cartoons". I was hoping for a lot more commercials. You win some and you lose some with this hobby.

Another estate sale in Selah netted no tapes, but those folks know me quite well and gave me the heads-up for their next sale on Memorial Day weekend. Tons of home-recorded tapes up for grabs apparently. Nevertheless found a porcelain figure of an Indian mother and a baby for my mom. It was numbered, too, out of 6,000 I believe.