Collection of unopened video tapes to sell for £1M with Star Wars vid worth £80K
A collection of unopened VHS tapes of classic movies from the 1980s are expected to sell for a staggering £1m.
The old fashioned video cassettes have become an unlikely craze among nostalgic collectors who grew up with them 40 years ago and now have disposable income.
Tapes that are currently in mint, time-capsule condition can command vast sums. An auction of more than 200 VHS tapes includes one of only four known copies of Star Wars still in its original wrapping that is valued at £80,000 alone.
Copies of the first three Rocky films that were among contemporary items placed in a time-capsule travel trunk in 1983 by a father to mark his son's birth are also in the sale.
An original copy of Star Wars has been valued at £80,000 (HeritageAuctions,HA.com/BNPS)
A watermarked copy of The Goonies may go for £40,000 (HeritageAuctions,HA.com/BNPS)The trilogy was only discovered last year when 40-year-old James Kroega opened the trunk. The tapes, that cost his father £40 each in 1983, are expected to sell for a total of £80,000.
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A VHS copy of the 1986 classic The Goonies that is still in its wraparound seal with 'Warner Home Video' watermarks on it is likely to go for £40,000, and a factory-sealed Betamax version of Superman - the only one of its kind in the world - is expected to sell for £15,000.
Sealed VHS copies of Top Gun, Terminator and the Karate Kid are also up for grabs.
The Terminator is one of the films that is up for grabs (HeritageAuctions,HA.com/BNPS)
A Betamax copy of Superman is the only one of its kind (HeritageAuctions,HA.com/BNPS)Jay Carlson, of Heritage Auctions of Dallas, US, said: "This event features numerous coveted, one-of-a-kind rarities - 235 objets d'art once meant to be unwrapped, popped in the VCR and watched until the tape wore out.
"But that's one of the great pleasures - and thrills - that comes with this new category.
"What had once been set aside and maybe even forgotten about has become valuable to the collector for whom these VHS tapes have become artefacts.
A collection of Rocky films that were put in a time capsule are up for auction (HeritageAuctions,HA.com/BNPS)
The films were stored away in 1983 (HeritageAuctions,HA.com/BNPS)"They are pieces of history with covers that transport us to that first time we could own a movie and watch it as much as we wanted.
"Most of the VHS tapes here are from that moment - before Blockbuster video stores, before tapes were mass-manufactured and later discarded and disposable.
"Everyone remembers and loves these things, and it has been a real thrill to see people rediscover that all over again when they hold a sealed, slabbed memory."
A 1980 VHS copy of 2001: A Space Odyssey in mint condition and sealed is included in the sale (HeritageAuctions,HA.com/BNPS)
This 1983 VHS copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark is included in the sale (HeritageAuctions,HA.com/BNPS)Speaking about the three Rocky tapes found in an old trunk, Mr Carlson added: "These tapes that were stashed away for decades in an extraordinary time capsule were something those of us in the collecting community had been chasing. And to have them just show up one day was extraordinary.
"They are currently the only known factory-sealed copies of the first Rocky releases out there."
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The sale takes place on February 17.
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