When I was a kid and all throughout my teenage years, when it came to watching movies outside of a cinema, VHS was king and I loved nothing more than to pop a tape in my VCR and lose myself in one film or another.
When DVD started to take over from VHS, I began the process of upgrading my collection and I parted ways with my VCR, yet my love for VHS never really went away. There was something very fun and very tactile about those clunky cassettes and chunky cases and the further we move away from that whole era, the more I want it back.
So, a few weeks ago I decided to reconnect with VHS. I’ve been going through a physical media resurgence, which has included curating a collection of DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K discs, as well as incorporating a nod to the Blockbuster days, and I decided I wanted a bit of VHS back in my life too.
VHS was huge in the ’80s and ’90s, and although the technology has been superseded many times over the past few decades, it doesn’t mean there isn’t space for some VHS love. The great thing about VHS was just how chunky and tactile it was, and also many, many cassettes came housed in some fantastic cases.
And this is what I wanted most of all. I wanted some great looking VHS cases, which could make excellent display pieces on my shelves.
Of course, you can’t just pop back into Woolworths to pick up a copy of the latest films on video these days, because a.) Woolworths doesn’t exist anymore, and b.) no new films are being released on video cassette. However, there are options available online.
VHS collecting is a big thing at the moment, and if you look on Instagram, Etsy, or eBay, there are plenty of tapes knocking around. Most are original copies from the ’80s, ’90s, and early ’00s, but there are a handful of creators who produce custom VHS cases too, if that’s your thing.
I did snag a custom VHS case and tape, which I’ll talk about in a moment, but what I wanted to add to my collection first was a set of display pieces. I wanted four or five VHS cases, with bold artwork which evoked the era in which VHS was dominant, and which I could proudly put on show.
I opted for films such as RoboCop, Predator 2, Vampire Hunter D, Alien 3, and The Punisher. Not all of these movies were great examples of being top quality entertainment, but all of them had great covers.
I then chucked a few others into the mix (Spider-Man, Jurassic Park, etc) so I could switch things around from time to time. I wanted to create a line of VHS cases on one of my shelves as a neat little display, which I can re-jig every once in a while when I want to keep things fresh.
One of the good things about the VHS-era is the strong artwork, which often relies on one key character to sell a movie. As we moved into the late ’90s and ’00s, film posters started to get a bit lazy, and artwork from excellent artists was lost in favour of cheaply slung together designs which essentially equated to endless actor headshots.
This laziness sadly continues today and I’m sure it won’t be long before all the major studios start ditching graphic designers and using A.I. to produce all their work. Imagination is sadly in short supply, and many of the big studios simply don’t care.
However, this great artwork still exists on those VHS cases and now it is on display on my shelves. It is also accompanied by another bit of fun, which I managed to pick up from eBay.
As you can see in the picture above, I now have a rather dramatic looking copy of Jaws on VHS… covered in blood! Fear not, the blood splatter is just paint, but as I’m sure you’ll agree, it looks very effective.
I bought this tape from a custom seller on eBay. Once again, this was purchased as a display piece, to bring a bit of nonsense to my physical media collection.
There are many VHS collectors out there who buy tapes because they enjoy watching them on their VCRs. I currently don’t own a VCR, and I doubt I’ll pick one up anytime soon, because I don’t feel the need to.
But whether I want to watch tapes or not, I do like having some VHS in my life. The cases look great on display, offer up a call-back to a great era of film collecting, and I believe they can enhance any physical media collection.
As I continue to build out my curated collection of physical media, I want to add elements which highlight my love for film. I believe a bit of VHS does this, and even if the format is considered old school in the age of digital, it doesn’t need to be overlooked and can sit perfectly alongside DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K releases.
The point I’m trying to get to here is, if you are re-building your physical media collection like I am, then build it however way you want, and make sure your love for film is brought to the forefront. If this means reviving some VHS tapes, or even collecting VHS, then do it and make your collection the best it can be!
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Thank you for taking the time to read this post about curating a physical media collection. For more useful posts on It’s A Stampede!, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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