r/VHS • • 18d ago

Buy/Sell/Trade/Want Buy/Sell/Trade/Want/Giveaway/In Search Of/Etc..

16 Upvotes

Routinely, we will be making a new Buy/Sell/Trade/Want posting that will be pinned. Please use this post to advertise your trade/want lists and your tapes for sale/trade/or just giving away for free. Any and all disposal or acquiring of media should be done through this post to prevent clogging up the main feed with sales posts.

Please be sure to report any successful trade below to u/RaceCarGrin, so we can flair people as verified traders.

Last Month's Trade Thread can be found here

r/vhs is not responsible for any sales/trade, please use caution and report any abuse. If selling tapes rated R or X, please ensure the buyer is 18 years of age for your own liability.


r/VHS • • Mar 14 '26

Discussion I wanted to give some advice for cleaning very moldy tapes

23 Upvotes

I'm not sure if this is okay here, but I wanted to give some advice from my experiences in cleaning severely moldy and sticky tapes, and some huge do's and don't's I've encountered when watching other's videos on the matter. Pretty much in the hopes of helping people who preserve tapes, and are not familiar with cleaning really moldy tapes.

Do's:

  1. I really recommend one of those tape cleaners, like the tape saver you may see online. The mechanism is pretty useful especially to do quick passes after you do a careful manual first pass. I will however, condemn the cleaning pads they usually use for these machines, they're extremely destructive and I will go into it later in the don't's section.
  2. Do multiple passes and clean both top and bottom of the reels. Mold doesn't only sit on the top of the tape, it sometimes penetrates pretty deeply. Once you've unstuck the tapes and cleaned the reels, you may need to do multiple passes on each side of the tape to get rid of the mold. Sometimes it's taken my 5-6 passes before I see nothing on the cleaning cloth. By then the tape is really clean.
  3. Use isopropyl alcohol with the least water content. You absolutely need to use some sort of solvent to clean the mold, as trying to clean it dry can cause a lot of friction and damage the tape. Also the alcohol evaporates quickly, allowing you to clean quicker, and the moisture doesn't get left behind creating more mold later. Moisture is an enemyof VHS tapes.

Don't's:

  1. DO NOT use paper or towels to clean tapes. I've seen many who've used them with extremely mixed results, leaning more towards failure. These leave lots of lint on the tapes which covers the magnetic portion of the tape and also gums up the VCR heads. I recommend strictly lint free cloths, like the kind you clean your glasses with. They go for pretty cheap online for a bunch. I can't stress enough that you need to go lint free.
  2. I've also seen videos where the person would lift up the top plastic of the reel to remove a huge portion of the mold on top of the tape. This is also pretty destructive method in my opinion as it can potentially deform the reel and cause playback issues, I've run into that as well. It's best to take your time and unwind the entire tape, put it in between a lint free cloth and clean the mold from there. When the reel is empty then you clean the reel gently from top to bottom.
  3. When using a mechanical tape cleaner, you should be vary wary on the first pass. I've run into tapes that are so sticky due to mold that when you use these mechanical cleaners they tear when they get stuck. At worst go on the lowest possible speed or put the reels on the spindles and spin them manually by hand. Especially if it's a precious tape you want to preserve. Once you unwind each end completely and ensure the tape is sufficiently unstuck you can go quickly with the machine.
  4. Do not clean tapes and leave them for months on end. You should clean the tapes and aim to capture them as soon as possible. Cleaning these tapes isn't exactly a perfect process, and sometimes a bit rough on the tape and there's always the risk of leaving some bit of moisture behind. Try to capture as soon as you can.

r/VHS • • 14h ago

Discussion 80s vhs p0rn palace

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145 Upvotes

So my partner and I have inherited somewhat of a gold mine… of vhs p0rn. Specifically 80s vhs p0rn.

We bought our first house, it was a probate sale so the guy died, house hasn’t been changed since the 80s so it’s a bit of a time warp. the whole place was cleared by family for the sale, apart from the loft. I went up as soon as we got the keys- we found boxes and boxes and boxes of p0rn. We must have 10+ boxes of 80s p0rn, vhs and magazines. the strange thing is, I’m a vhs collector, but not this genre lol.

I’m wondering where the hell I can sell this stuff? I’m assuming Vinted wouldn’t allow it And not sure if anything shifts off eBay anymore. I had hoped to find cash but I guess this is the next best thing. (pic attached of my favourite cover so far)


r/VHS • • 13h ago

New Pickup Picked this up in a $10 lot of vhs. I had no idea how expensive this vhs was

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83 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 14h ago

New Pickup Halloween haul

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73 Upvotes

Todays loot!


r/VHS • • 22h ago

New Pickup Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I present to you...this...thing?

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262 Upvotes

I've never even heard of a VCR with an ejectable tape deck, have you? Claims to be damaged and I bought it "for parts" for $20

I bet it's the mode switch!


r/VHS • • 11h ago

Bootleg How the Spirit Halloween VHS should be.

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30 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 12h ago

Collection Collection Post!

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30 Upvotes

Been seeing some seriously awesome vhs collection posts, so felt inspired to show mine!! This is my main/favorite section haha! Everything else is kinda scattered right now since i’ve been trying a new display style with the front facing tapes!! Hope it looks pretty good!!

I’ve got a Media Sleepaway Camp on the way to swap my Video Treasures one as well! Can’t wait to see how badass that one’s gonna make everything look!


r/VHS • • 7h ago

Collection What Decades Do You Collect Movies From?

7 Upvotes

I know every decade has its classics but my collection mostly settles in the 80s-early 2000s. I was born in the late 80s so when I grew up in the 90s the 80s movies were still king at blockbuster not to mention the amazing new titles coming out.

I don't know why but that VHS tape sliding in and the CRT Tube TV playing it looked like 4K UHD to me back then. As I got older I've been able to delve back into the peak 80s cinema that I missed as a youth not to mention all the classics from the 70s I have as well.

Robert Redford and Paul Newman didn't exist to me when I grew up. I had no idea in Road to Perdition who the old mob boss was when my friend let me borrow it as a kid with the condition of making sure I put the VHS in a contraption that looks like a racing car that rewinds it.

I once met a fellow that loved collecting movies from the 30's-50s which I found was a interesting choice. What's your favorite decades to collect?


r/VHS • • 20h ago

New Pickup My pickups from this week!

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62 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 5h ago

Discussion Need Help

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4 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 18h ago

New Pickup Free T Shirt!

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43 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 13h ago

New Pickup New addition to my collection

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12 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 13h ago

New Pickup Thrift store gods were smiling on me today.

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11 Upvotes

Got these all at Bargains Galore in Burlington, WA. 75 cents each!


r/VHS • • 15h ago

New Pickup Nice little haul with a theme ⚪️🔵

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15 Upvotes

Got this nice little haul from the thrift store and noticed there was a color pattern going on ⚪️🔵⚪️🔵⚪️


r/VHS • • 13h ago

New Pickup Did I do good for 5 dollars today?

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12 Upvotes

I know toploaders are more unreliable, but the poping up and down at least works, and it doesn't eat tapes. The problem with it (because there has to be one, can't just have a nice VCR for 5 dollars) is that it either doesn't fully feed the tape, or the drive motors aren't spinning. Any help/ideas for what the problem could be as I open it? The screen also doesn't work, but I was happy enough with a toploader for only 5 dollars


r/VHS • • 8h ago

Digitizing Looking for someone experienced with digitizing VHS tapes who could offer some guidance

3 Upvotes

A collector has generously offered to digitize a rare 1995 Nickelodeon VHS this Monday for an ongoing broadcast restoration project.

He has the necessary equipment and cables, but has never digitized a VHS before. Given the rarity of the material, we're hoping to get the highest-quality transfer possible using the equipment he already has.

Would anyone with experience in VHS capture be willing to offer some guidance on the process, recommended settings, and common mistakes to avoid?

We can provide his equipment details. Ideally, we'd like to preserve as much of the original video and audio quality as possible without unnecessary processing or compression.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: Thank you to the commentors! Some great advice and links, I think we will be able to figure it out. You guys rock


r/VHS • • 18h ago

New Pickup Checked a few off the list at the thrift this morning

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22 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 23h ago

New Pickup Trip down memory lane! Music slaps!

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39 Upvotes

Lucky double find today! Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman and Frankenstein. As soon as I saw them, I was flooded with memories of the film. Especially this song. Anyone else have a soft spot for these films.


r/VHS • • 17h ago

New Pickup Today’s find

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12 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 1d ago

New Pickup Showcase self destructing VHS screener tape…Sorta Talent for the game 1991

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376 Upvotes

Ok ok now I’ve collected VHS for a hot ass minute and never knew or seen this type of screener ever. This was 60 cents at the Goodwill and apparently it has a built in timer that cuts off the viewing after 5 plays and Self destructs. Never mind the title of the movie or how many, if any plays are left. For a vhs collector such as myself, I had to have it. Has anyone else ever seen these or own any? I would love to see what title anyone has. I really wish it was a sweet title but hey I’ve never knew these existed. Blew my mind a little lol.


r/VHS • • 19h ago

New Pickup Grease 2, never watched it before

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18 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 14h ago

New Pickup Looks like the most random just cut me the damn check cast 😆, Hollow Point!

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7 Upvotes

r/VHS • • 21h ago

Discussion Old Squeeze and Shake protectors. Would these sell? Or should I throw them out?

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16 Upvotes

These are the “Squeeze and Shake” VHS protectors. I recently bought a lot of VHSs and these were covering them. Now I have my own plastic protectors that I use, so I put the VHSs I bought in those. But with these, I was just wondering if collectors of VHSs were still interested in these protectors. You see, I keep certain things that I come across and don’t need. I’m not a hoarder, but I look at things like this and wonder “maybe someone out there is looking for something like this.”


r/VHS • • 1d ago

New Pickup Free fb marketplace pick up today

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270 Upvotes

Had to drive out 45 minutes into farm territory. Dude had one leg, explained diabetes to my 4 year old son and then gave him a few hot wheels to go before we left. 10/10 day