Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Did you grow up watching the old Transformers VHS tapes in the 80s?
85 views
Skip to first unread message
Steve L.K. Macrocranios
Mar 23, 2012, 7:09:24 PM3/23/12
to
Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
Shin Hibiki
Mar 23, 2012, 8:59:18 PM3/23/12
to
"Steve L.K. Macrocranios" <Evil.King.M...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
Yeah, I rented the crap out of the TF videos from the local
>Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
shop. I actually have an original copy of one of the F.H.E.
releases--Fire on the Mountain, I think--because the master tape had
gotten warped, a defect that carried over to releases subsequent to
that one. I think they were finally able to fix that for DVD...
- Shin Hibiki
----
The race ain't over yet, baby
It's only just begun
They thought they had it won, baby
But soon we'll have 'em on the run
Zobovor
Mar 23, 2012, 10:12:53 PM3/23/12
to
On Mar 23, 5:09 pm, "Steve L.K. Macrocranios"
remember my mom being pretty surprised that I actually wanted to watch
it, which is funny because I think I was actually into GoBots before I
was into Transformers. I don't care what anybody else says...it was
pretty cool.
I don't think I ever rented the Transformers TV show because it was
always readily available to me. Also, when I was a kid, I really
hated the artwork on the video packaging.) The Transformers: the
Movie was another story, since it wasn't being televised. I remember
being so upset when the guy at the local video store said that their
only copy had been stolen! A buddy of mine from sixth grade managed
to rent it and make an audio tape recording of it, which I in turn
made a copy of. I listened to it to the point where I had the entire
movie memorized. (This did in no way dilute my excitement when I
finally got a copy of the movie to call my very own from Suncoast
Motion Picture Co. for ten dollars, right around the same time they
started playing the episodes on the Sci-Fi Channel. Only tape I've
ever actually ruined from watching it too many times.)
I would have rented the hell out of Tranzor Z if I had ever seen it.
Even though I never really rented the show, I always, always checked
for Transformers tapes whenever we went to the video store. I think
it helped to validate my fascination with the show in my mind, or
something. The tapes eventually grew more and more scarce to the
point where you almost never saw them. One time when I was visiting
my dad over the summer, we went to the local video shop and they had a
typewritten list of children's videos, including one that they called
"War of the Dinobats." I remember being very offended that they got
this wrong.
I also remember being so excited around 1989, after the G1 cartoon
went off the air, when I found a copy of "The Return of Optimus Prime"
on tape at the video store that was actually FOR SALE! Unfortunately,
it was Beta, not VHS.
Truth be told, you know what I rented more than anything else? Video
games. I finished so many old NES games that I never actually owned.
A lot of them (Milon's Secret Castle, The Adventures of Bayou Billy)
were horrible. The ones I really loved (Adventures of Lolo,
Shadowgate, Simon's Quest), I ended up buying later.
Zob
<Evil.King.Macrocran...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
The first time I saw Battle of the Rock Lords was when I rented it. I
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
remember my mom being pretty surprised that I actually wanted to watch
it, which is funny because I think I was actually into GoBots before I
was into Transformers. I don't care what anybody else says...it was
pretty cool.
I don't think I ever rented the Transformers TV show because it was
always readily available to me. Also, when I was a kid, I really
hated the artwork on the video packaging.) The Transformers: the
Movie was another story, since it wasn't being televised. I remember
being so upset when the guy at the local video store said that their
only copy had been stolen! A buddy of mine from sixth grade managed
to rent it and make an audio tape recording of it, which I in turn
made a copy of. I listened to it to the point where I had the entire
movie memorized. (This did in no way dilute my excitement when I
finally got a copy of the movie to call my very own from Suncoast
Motion Picture Co. for ten dollars, right around the same time they
started playing the episodes on the Sci-Fi Channel. Only tape I've
ever actually ruined from watching it too many times.)
I would have rented the hell out of Tranzor Z if I had ever seen it.
Even though I never really rented the show, I always, always checked
for Transformers tapes whenever we went to the video store. I think
it helped to validate my fascination with the show in my mind, or
something. The tapes eventually grew more and more scarce to the
point where you almost never saw them. One time when I was visiting
my dad over the summer, we went to the local video shop and they had a
typewritten list of children's videos, including one that they called
"War of the Dinobats." I remember being very offended that they got
this wrong.
I also remember being so excited around 1989, after the G1 cartoon
went off the air, when I found a copy of "The Return of Optimus Prime"
on tape at the video store that was actually FOR SALE! Unfortunately,
it was Beta, not VHS.
Truth be told, you know what I rented more than anything else? Video
games. I finished so many old NES games that I never actually owned.
A lot of them (Milon's Secret Castle, The Adventures of Bayou Billy)
were horrible. The ones I really loved (Adventures of Lolo,
Shadowgate, Simon's Quest), I ended up buying later.
Zob
Velvet Glove
Mar 24, 2012, 6:44:49 AM3/24/12
to
On Mar 23, 7:09 pm, "Steve L.K. Macrocranios"
Velvet Glove (but I do have fond memories of buying old My Little Pony
videos on the secondhand market, when I was collecting the toys)
<Evil.King.Macrocran...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
We didn't even get a video player until 1990. Deprived child, me.
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
Velvet Glove (but I do have fond memories of buying old My Little Pony
videos on the secondhand market, when I was collecting the toys)
Irrellius Spamticon king of the Potato people
Mar 24, 2012, 10:22:35 AM3/24/12
to
On Mar 23, 6:09 pm, "Steve L.K. Macrocranios"
store around the corner. Transformer tapes were always a favorite,
since I never was home when the show was on. I begged for 2 years to
take the bus home after school instead of staying in the after school
program to be picked up until 7, and when I finally got home on the
bus, I was the very last stop on the bus, so I got to see the last 5
minutes of an episode.
I rented tons of tapes, the store only had 2 Transformer tapes, but I
rented them each at least 20 times. I also rented Silverhawks, MASK,
Toxic Avengers, Thundercats, Pee-wee's Playhouse, and Heman.
I rented the Ninja Turtles 1 and 2 games, Blades of Steel,
Afterburner, Megaman, but to this day I would always get stuck in the
sewers on the 3rd level in TMNT 1. I'd use a Game Genie to jump to the
next level, only beatable game that I'd consistently need a game genie
to beat. The only other game I'd use a game genie on was Solar Jetman,
a game I'd bought for $1 back in the 80s, the stores were clearing
them out as fast as they could, because a game glitch by the designers
had made the game un-winnable.
<Evil.King.Macrocran...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
Every week my parents would let me rent 1 video and 1 game from the
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
store around the corner. Transformer tapes were always a favorite,
since I never was home when the show was on. I begged for 2 years to
take the bus home after school instead of staying in the after school
program to be picked up until 7, and when I finally got home on the
bus, I was the very last stop on the bus, so I got to see the last 5
minutes of an episode.
I rented tons of tapes, the store only had 2 Transformer tapes, but I
rented them each at least 20 times. I also rented Silverhawks, MASK,
Toxic Avengers, Thundercats, Pee-wee's Playhouse, and Heman.
I rented the Ninja Turtles 1 and 2 games, Blades of Steel,
Afterburner, Megaman, but to this day I would always get stuck in the
sewers on the 3rd level in TMNT 1. I'd use a Game Genie to jump to the
next level, only beatable game that I'd consistently need a game genie
to beat. The only other game I'd use a game genie on was Solar Jetman,
a game I'd bought for $1 back in the 80s, the stores were clearing
them out as fast as they could, because a game glitch by the designers
had made the game un-winnable.
Zobovor
Mar 24, 2012, 11:28:32 AM3/24/12
to
On Mar 24, 8:22 am, Irrellius Spamticon king of the Potato people
that a franchise that was so popular with younger kids would have
spawned a game that would have been a little easier for them to
master. I finally got a copy of the game on eBay last year, thinking
that, surely, my memory of the game's difficulty was just exaggerated
because I was, like, 12 the first time I tried to play it.
Nope. It really is that hard.
Zob
<Ob1ken...@att.net> wrote:
> I rented the Ninja Turtles 1 and 2 games, Blades of Steel,
> Afterburner, Megaman, but to this day I would always get stuck in the
> sewers on the 3rd level in TMNT 1.
That first Turtles game is exceptionally challenging. You'd think
> I rented the Ninja Turtles 1 and 2 games, Blades of Steel,
> Afterburner, Megaman, but to this day I would always get stuck in the
> sewers on the 3rd level in TMNT 1.
that a franchise that was so popular with younger kids would have
spawned a game that would have been a little easier for them to
master. I finally got a copy of the game on eBay last year, thinking
that, surely, my memory of the game's difficulty was just exaggerated
because I was, like, 12 the first time I tried to play it.
Nope. It really is that hard.
Zob
SBlackfoot
Mar 24, 2012, 3:16:37 PM3/24/12
to
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS
> tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z
> or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
>
Only the movie. We rented the hell out of that one. Realistically, in
> tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z
> or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
>
hindsight, we really shoulda just bought it in the first place and saved a
huge amount in rental fees. The local rental place that we frequented at the
time didn't have any episides up for grabs. :^(
...Also Known As Thunder
Mar 24, 2012, 10:39:46 PM3/24/12
to
Ditto. I rented it a couple of times and could never make much headway
either. I loved the TMNT arcade games they had too...
t.k.
either. I loved the TMNT arcade games they had too...
t.k.
Ultra Magnotron
Mar 26, 2012, 11:25:37 AM3/26/12
to
before school. However, when my family moved to another state I could
no longer find the show on television, so I stopped watching it
and just enjoyed playing with the toys.
When G2 aired I watched part of episode one, couldn't stand that cube
thing, and tuned off the TV.
That was about it for watching Transformers, until Beast Wars aired.
Sadly I was completely disconnected from the fandom and had no idea
it was a continuation of Transformers until much later. I watched it
in bits and pieces because I thought it was a rip-off of the franchise
for a short while...
...silly me. I did go back and watch it in it's entirety soon after I
realized how wrong I was.
--
My Transformers Prime Calendar:
http://tfprime.timeshout.com/?how=month&std=2012-03-07&end=2012-03-21
Onslaught Six
Mar 26, 2012, 2:43:13 PM3/26/12
to
On Mar 23, 7:09 pm, "Steve L.K. Macrocranios"
<Evil.King.Macrocran...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
That'd be miraculous since I wasn't born then.
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
Steve L.K. Macrocranios
Mar 26, 2012, 3:15:06 PM3/26/12
to
> That'd be miraculous since I wasn't born then.
It doesn't matter as long as you watched them. Maybe I should have written "the old tapes FROM the 80s" instead of "in the 80s". I'm just looking for any VHS tape watching memories.
I was renting Transformer tapes from a video store in Tucson, Arizona as late as 2002.
Chad Rushing
Mar 26, 2012, 3:20:57 PM3/26/12
to
On Mar 23, 6:09 pm, "Steve L.K. Macrocranios"
episodes recorded to tape off of cable TV and would watch them
repeatedly. I also had the entire season of Visionaries recorded plus
some of the major episodes of G.I. Joe:RAH. Voltron was already off
the air in my area by the time my family got a VCR, but I did watch
the entire series when it was released on DVD.
- Chad
<Evil.King.Macrocran...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
I didn't rent or own any official VHS tapes, but I had many G1
>
> Does anybody here have fond memories of buying or renting the old VHS tapes of Transformers (or GoBots or Voltron or Mighty Orbots or Tranzor-Z or Robotech or any other robot shows) way back in the 80s?
episodes recorded to tape off of cable TV and would watch them
repeatedly. I also had the entire season of Visionaries recorded plus
some of the major episodes of G.I. Joe:RAH. Voltron was already off
the air in my area by the time my family got a VCR, but I did watch
the entire series when it was released on DVD.
- Chad
Onslaught Six
Mar 26, 2012, 3:55:51 PM3/26/12
to
On Mar 26, 3:15 pm, "Steve L.K. Macrocranios"
In any case, most of my VHS memories are of TMNT and Power Rangers.
Oh, and Pokemon--we didn't get WB, the only channel that aired it
during the original run. They would put three episodes on a tape and
charge upwards of $15. Ridiculous. Can't believe I made my parents
spend that.
<Evil.King.Macrocran...@gmail.com> wrote:
> It doesn't matter as long as you watched them. Maybe I should have written "the old tapes FROM the 80s" instead of "in the 80s". I'm just looking for any VHS tape watching memories.
>
> I was renting Transformer tapes from a video store in Tucson, Arizona as late as 2002.
Yeah, I figured, I'm just being a jerk. :)
> It doesn't matter as long as you watched them. Maybe I should have written "the old tapes FROM the 80s" instead of "in the 80s". I'm just looking for any VHS tape watching memories.
>
> I was renting Transformer tapes from a video store in Tucson, Arizona as late as 2002.
In any case, most of my VHS memories are of TMNT and Power Rangers.
Oh, and Pokemon--we didn't get WB, the only channel that aired it
during the original run. They would put three episodes on a tape and
charge upwards of $15. Ridiculous. Can't believe I made my parents
spend that.
Steve L.K. Macrocranios
Mar 26, 2012, 4:55:33 PM3/26/12
to
> In any case, most of my VHS memories are of TMNT and Power Rangers.
> Oh, and Pokemon--we didn't get WB, the only channel that aired it
> during the original run. They would put three episodes on a tape and
> charge upwards of $15. Ridiculous. Can't believe I made my parents
> spend that.
When they came out in June '85, the first two F.H.E. volumes "More Than Meets the Eye" and "The Ultimate Doom" were $24.95 (in 1985 dollars) and they also had three episodes each! So I guess we all had our parents spending crazy money for not a lot of entertainment. But kids do tend to watch things over and over so maybe it balances out.
> Oh, and Pokemon--we didn't get WB, the only channel that aired it
> during the original run. They would put three episodes on a tape and
> charge upwards of $15. Ridiculous. Can't believe I made my parents
> spend that.
In our family we only started picking up the Transformers tapes after FHE lowered the prices on the individual episode releases. I didn't have those first two volumes as a kid or any of the big box releases. I had the budget priced grey box ones.
Chad Rushing
Mar 26, 2012, 7:17:18 PM3/26/12
to
On Mar 26, 3:55 pm, "Steve L.K. Macrocranios"
1985 dollars would be $52.79 today. Imagine some kid getting his
parents to buy three animated episodes on a DVD for $53 today ... not
very likely. See here for the calculator:
http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
So, that means the U.S. dollar has lost over half its purchasing power
in the past 27 years. It's no wonder Hasbro has been shrinking the
toys while mildly raising their prices lately.
- Chad
<Evil.King.Macrocran...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> When they came out in June '85, the first two F.H.E. volumes "More Than Meets the Eye" and "The Ultimate Doom" were $24.95 (in 1985 dollars) and they also had three episodes each! So I guess we all had our parents spending crazy money for not a lot of entertainment. But kids do tend to watch things over and over so maybe it balances out.
Wow, according to the official USA inflation calculator, $24.95 in
>
> When they came out in June '85, the first two F.H.E. volumes "More Than Meets the Eye" and "The Ultimate Doom" were $24.95 (in 1985 dollars) and they also had three episodes each! So I guess we all had our parents spending crazy money for not a lot of entertainment. But kids do tend to watch things over and over so maybe it balances out.
1985 dollars would be $52.79 today. Imagine some kid getting his
parents to buy three animated episodes on a DVD for $53 today ... not
very likely. See here for the calculator:
http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
So, that means the U.S. dollar has lost over half its purchasing power
in the past 27 years. It's no wonder Hasbro has been shrinking the
toys while mildly raising their prices lately.
- Chad
Irrellius Spamticon king of the Potato people
Mar 26, 2012, 7:26:18 PM3/26/12
to
in 1984. I prefer my deluxes to be $12 or better yet, $9.99
Tim Roll-Pickering
Mar 27, 2012, 11:43:39 AM3/27/12
to
significant falls in real term prices over the years thanks to economies of
scale - technological developments have cut production costs, the winding
down of the VCR format war meant only a single format needed to be used with
all the savings that brought, ownership of VCRs rose steadily until the DVD
era meaning greater sales on tapes and lower unit costs, and the market
reorientated itself from primarily renting with retail as an afterthought
(and priced often at the same amount as rental wholesale) to retail being
the major component., not just of home entertainment but sometimes of entire
movies.
Mid 1980s video prices seem hilarious by today's standards but were not
priced for anythig like today's market.
--
My blog: http://adf.ly/4hi4c
Steve L.K. Macrocranios
Mar 27, 2012, 2:31:43 PM3/27/12
to
> Videos are not a good point of comparison for inflation.
But taken as specific points in time, couldn't the home video markets of 1985 and today be similar enough that they are a good comparison? Many of the cost savings developments in the home entertainment industry you mentioned were already in place by the time the Transformers episodes on VHS were released. By 1985 the format war was largely won, with Betamax at only like 8% of the market here in the US. So we have a single format largely dominant back then as we do today.
VHS pricing began to stabilize at its lowest point by the time F.H.E. released their TF videos. Granted, the Transformers' first two volumes at $24.95 were kind of steep but still nowhere near rental pricing, which was traditionally between $70 and $130 US for a single movie. Then they got even lower when F.H.E. dropped the prices of their VHS releases to $9.95 in February of '86. That was about as budget priced as VHS ever got for non-bootleg cartoons. Yet that's still just over $20 adjusted for inflation, and that's what FHE wanted for a single episode! I think if we were comparing what we got for the dollar back then vs now, the '86 budget priced releases would be the best point in time to do it. But the real issue here is what F.H.E. expected people to pay vs. what they could have fit on a VHS tape.
If I may rant a little, had there been more than one episode per VHS it would have been more reasonable. The final volumes of F.H.E.'s original TF run did have multiple episodes on them but that was just the last three. For the majority of their home video releases my mom had to pay $9.95 per tape, which was really high. F.H.E. should have been cramming 3-5 episodes on each one but I felt they milked these for all they were worth.
> Mid 1980s video prices seem hilarious by today's standards but were not
> priced for anythig like today's market.
Tim Roll-Pickering
Mar 27, 2012, 8:17:28 PM3/27/12
to
Steve L.K. Macrocranios wrote:
> > Videos are not a good point of comparison for inflation.
> But taken as specific points in time, couldn't the home video markets
> of 1985 and today be similar enough that they are a good comparison?
> Many of the cost savings developments in the home entertainment industry
> you mentioned were already in place by the time the Transformers episodes
> on VHS were released. By 1985 the format war was largely won, with
> Betamax at only like 8% of the market here in the US. So we have a single
> format largely dominant back then as we do today.
(As an aside I'm not sure that's true today - between DVD, downloads and Blu
> > Videos are not a good point of comparison for inflation.
> But taken as specific points in time, couldn't the home video markets
> of 1985 and today be similar enough that they are a good comparison?
> Many of the cost savings developments in the home entertainment industry
> you mentioned were already in place by the time the Transformers episodes
> on VHS were released. By 1985 the format war was largely won, with
> Betamax at only like 8% of the market here in the US. So we have a single
> format largely dominant back then as we do today.
Ray there's multiple formats for some stuff certainly, and DVD & Blu Ray do
at least bring back the problems of multiple formats for both publishers &
retailers.)
A number of the factors had occured on paper but often in home entertainment
it takes some time for these realities to make it through to retail prices.
A slightly more recent example are CDs - prices started off high because of
the smaller take-up and the inclusion of set-up costs in the price, but (at
least here) they notoriously stayed high for many years after those costs
cam down because everyone in the industry felt they could get away with
charging the older prices and consumers had little choice.
However a really big factor that's shaken up prices is the internet. In the
1990s it was my experience that videos tended to stay at their RRP for years
after release and only came down either in store sales or occasionally when
the publisher did a deliberate reprinting of back catalogue titles at
reduced prices (I have memories of the excitement around some such reissues
at 75% of the original price - unthinkable now). Nowadays the internet is
forcing prices down and many non-limited releases can be picked up for much
cheaper prices if you're prepared to wait a while.
> If I may rant a little, had there been more than one episode per
> VHS it would have been more reasonable. The final volumes of
> F.H.E.'s original TF run did have multiple episodes on them but
> that was just the last three. For the majority of their home video
> releases my mom had to pay $9.95 per tape, which was really
> high. F.H.E. should have been cramming 3-5 episodes on each
> one but I felt they milked these for all they were worth.
or three episodes from the outset (apart from a few budget releases that
came later), though I think the earliest tapes were 1986. Single episodes at
those prices are really way too much. The practices may be similar but what
consumers will put up with, and how the market works in downward pressure on
prices, has had much more impact in more recent years than then.
0 new messages