Re: Anime Rants

In article <e7vhm.2100$nh2.177@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Brian Henderson
<BrianL.Henderson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Invid Fan wrote:
Actually, the price was due to the idea that ONLY rental stores would
be buying them, and thus with no profit sharing in place like we have
now the studios took all their profit up front. There were always tapes
priced for consumer sales, but it was expected that people would rather
rent a movie once or twice instead of own it. After all, few people had
ever owned copies of movies before then. As time went on, they found
there was money to be had with cheap, $20 copies of popular films.

I used to walk into video sales stores like Suncoast back in the 80s and
paid between $75-100 for the few commercial videotapes I ever bothered
purchasing. I remember plunking down about $80 for the videotape of
Star Trek IV and that might have been discounted since I pre-ordered it.
I just went to look if there was an SRP on the tape but couldn't find one.

I don't think I ever bought a pre-recorded tape until the late 80's,
buying not only anime but $30 Blakes 7 tapes. Ah, the days when a name
brand blank video tape would run you $8, more if you went for "high
quality" :)

If you wanted something cheap, you could buy used rental movies for
about $20-30 and take your chances, sometimes you figured out why they
were getting rid of them, the tape was wrinkled or you got a lot of snow
and breakup.

And remember, the first subtitled anime released here in the US cost
$40 for a one episode OAV, Madox-01 from AnimEigo. They dropped the
price for later releases to $35 an episode, and Streamline started
their dubs with a $30 Akira.

And, I don't know of anyone who copied rental tapes on a regular basis.
Taped movies off of TV, yes, but few would have bothered getting two
VCRs.

I started out borrowing a VCR from my cousins down the street because
VCRs were incredibly expensive to start, I think my first VHS cost
between $600-700. There were times when I'd rent a player, the ones
that came in little gray plastic suitcases, and use that to copy over
movies. There were plenty of ways to do it and pretty much everyone I
knew did exactly that. It just wasn't financially feasible to purchase
all the movies we wanted at the prices they wanted to charge.

Ah. We were "poor", not getting a VCR until around 1985 (dad gave us a
choice of a second TV or a VCR). We also got cable for the first time
not long after that.

--
Chris Mack *quote under construction*
'Invid Fan'
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: No Time Left For VCRs?
    ... folks who do tape shows while away or at work-- when June 12 rolls ... Who has bought a VCR recently? ... every last one is available on DVD. ... already understood that I BOUGHT THE VCR BECAUSE WE HAVE MOVIES ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)
  • Re: No Time Left For VCRs?
    ... folks who do tape shows while away or at work-- when June 12 rolls ... Who has bought a VCR recently? ... every last one is available on DVD. ... already understood that I BOUGHT THE VCR BECAUSE WE HAVE MOVIES ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)
  • Re: No Time Left For VCRs?
    ... folks who do tape shows while away or at work-- when June 12 rolls ... Who has bought a VCR recently? ... Since movies aren't a life necessity, ... every last one is available on DVD. ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)
  • Re: No Time Left For VCRs?
    ... folks who do tape shows while away or at work-- when June 12 rolls ... Who has bought a VCR recently? ... every last one is available on DVD. ... already understood that I BOUGHT THE VCR BECAUSE WE HAVE MOVIES ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)
  • Re: Anime Rants
    ... and thus with no profit sharing in place like we have ... If you wanted something cheap, you could buy used rental movies for about $20-30 and take your chances, sometimes you figured out why they were getting rid of them, the tape was wrinkled or you got a lot of snow and breakup. ... I started out borrowing a VCR from my cousins down the street because VCRs were incredibly expensive to start, I think my first VHS cost between $600-700. ...
    (rec.arts.anime.misc)
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