What is the most valuable VHS tape in the world?
Part of the draw of physical media is the hope that eventually, if we wait long enough, maybe it’ll be worth something. That’s one of the reasons why people buy special limited edition vinyl or buy albums in all different colours of variants.
In the world of cinema, it’s why, still, in the age of streaming, special Blu-rays with bonus scenes are released, or why people desperately hold onto their old VHS tapes.
Of course, there are some people who hold onto them purely because they’re hoarders. Back at my parents’ house, there are definitely some old Disney movies in a drawer somewhere that they can’t bear to part with. I’m sure plenty of people even simply have VHS tapes they forgot somewhere along the line, and eventually Blockbuster gave up hope of ever getting them back.
But that’s not the story here. Here, we’re talking about the lucky golden purchases. These are videos that genuinely did go up and up in value as the years went on, rather than just becoming unplayable. There are the rare ones that keep giving collectors hope, egging them on to keep splashing out on those limited releases or affirming their delusion that owning the same album in five colours and never playing a single one is a good idea.
Maybe it is, though, if someone could eventually have a piece of their collection that ends up being valued at over $100,000.
It isn’t common, though, nor is it really all that much money. Elsewhere, we hear about auctions of prop pieces, film strips or even old posters that sell for far, far more than that. It’s a reminder of how much the VHS has died as technology moves on. So few people own a player anymore that it means that even the rarest and most special videotape isn’t all that valuable in the grand scheme of movie memorabilia.
However, videos going for tens of thousands is still pretty good going, especially when, in the case of the majority of the most expensive VHS tapes around, they were all relative box office flops.
That’s what has made their physical media so valuable. A VHS of Halloween II will go for around $15,000 because when it was first released, the reviews weren’t glowing. It meant that the studio cut costs and only made a small batch of tapes. So now that the film is a cult classic, the rare copies are pricey.
It’s a similar story for Disney’s Cars, which was released right as DVDs became the norm and the studio dramatically cut the amount of videotapes it made, making the few remaining copies a collectable that can sell for around $16,280.
In some cases, though, it is purely that an original VHS copy of a popular movie is a powerful thing to own. Something like an original release of A Nightmare on Elm Street can now go for $15,000, simply because it’s cool to have.
But what is the most expensive VHS?
The most expensive VHS is another tale of a studio doubting the power of something they had. When 20th Century Fox released the first-ever Star Wars movie, they didn’t really believe it would be a success, giving it only a limited cinema release and even putting off the release of the VHS for as long as possible.
However, audiences loved the film. They demanded it show in more cinemas, and they were granted that. But for the videos, they were still ignored. In 1981, years post-release, they finally got some limited copies, but only available to rent.
It caused chaos. Realising how desperately people wanted to own the film, video stores were up-charging people massively to rent it for fear they’d simply steal it, or they were selling the copies off to the highest bidder. Eventually, the studio did put together a proper release, but copies of the original are almost impossible to find now, except for one, which sold in 2022 for an eye-watering $114,000.
