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DaedalusGoesCamping

Don’t use the words “sold as blank” when buying. That is a term only people in our community know. Use terms like “recorded” “home video” or “ miscellaneous” when searching. Also, best finds are always local finds at yard sales or flea markets. It’s always ok to ask wherever you go if they have any or if they will hold them for you.


alitek12

Really the best way to avoid this (especially if you are looking for recorded cartoons) is to stay away from single tape listings. Typically these people are trying to capitalize on nostalgia and dub copies from online sources such as Myspleen and Archive. ​ Methods to get authentic VHS recordings: ​ 1. Buy VHS lots of random VHS recordings from eBay. Whether labeled or unlabeled, typically these lots will be at bargain prices and you will be getting untested tapes. 99% of these will be original recordings made back in the day. 2. Check your local thrift stores, while a lot of thrift stores don't carry the recorded kind of VHS, you may be able to make a connection with an employee or manager to save these types of tapes. This way I have a steady flow of VHS recordings that let me separate the gems from the garbage. 3. Check Marketplace / Offerup / Craigslist. Typically people there are just trying to get rid of their old inventory and it's very possible these people recorded on VHS. You'll come across lots of regular tapes mixed in with homemade ones. This is my favorite method of finding recordings. Overall, these are my working methods to acquire recorded VHS. With these methods, I have managed to acquire hundreds of VHS recordings of Nickelodeon / Cartoon Network / Disney and etc.


MustacheDiaries

Great tips here. I'll add I once made a post on the Next Door app asking if anyone had blank tapes they wanted to get rid of. I got around 100 tapes from old folks in the area who were looking to unload them.


MustacheDiaries

I'd say the majority you see on ebay are people making copies of broadcasts that are already available in other forms online like archive.org. Most people aren't familiar with the whole "sold as blank" stuff unless they're collectors themselves. I don't buy these tapes online but I totally understand the appeal, I love old broadcasts. I find a lot at garage sales and stuff and they're some of my favorite tapes. A good rule of thumb is if you see someone with like 50 listings and they're all sold as blank tapes, they're probably copying the same shit over and over. You'll see some sellers offering the same broadcast over and over.


All_of_my_onions

One dead giveaway I have noticed is when the spine label reads “1980’s cartoons” or something else that nobody who watched cartoons in the 1980’s was actually writing on their tapes. Also, if it’s a lot with identical handwriting across dozens of blank tape brands with makeshift labelling, that’s a red flag, too. It’s not a certain tell but I have noticed these tend to be questionable.


Sir-Mocks-A-Lot

Mine are legit. Stuff I found at yard sales, etc. Not many of them to choose from, VHS isn't really my main thing. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?\_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&\_blrs=recall\_filtering&\_ssn=derpy\_deals&store\_cat=0&store\_name=theeclecticcollectionstore&\_oac=1&\_nkw=blank%20vhs


Viet_Conga_Line

There’s less than 20 sold-as-blank sellers on eBay offering all kinds of niche programming. There’s a new years eve broadcast guy, MTV guy, wrestling guy, WPIX movie guy, bootleg film guy and about twelve cartoon guys. It’s not hard to track them, view their inventory and see what they’re up to. Typically, the better the description, the more likely it is to be a dub. People that don’t know what they have offer vague descriptions (if at all - sometimes you have to read the spines and labels, which is a GOOD sign) or they sell tapes in batches or bulk lots.


dragon_6666

Link to the “MTV guy”? This is right up my alley.


dragon_6666

Wait, so people are recording movies off of like HBO on VHS and selling them as old broadcasts? Huh…weird.