Archaic by today’s standards the technology may be, but yes, young’uns, there was once a time when movie collections were both a tangible commodity and a nuisance threatening to rob you of precious living room space.
Playing a pseudo jigsaw puzzle with VHS tapes and cases in the home has long become a frustration of the past, of course, but that doesn’t mean collectors aren’t willing to shell out a pretty penny for the defunct blocks of plastic, especially if they sport a franchise name as recognizable as Star Wars.
As if able to perceive a future timeline where sealed copies of old VHS tapes could fetch a tidy sum at auction, the owner of a sealed copy of Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope (known simply as Star Wars back in 1977) has put the memorabilia up for sale on Goldin Auctions, where it’s expected to fetch in the region of $60,000.
Unsurprisingly, the auction — and others like it — has prompted longtime fans of a galaxy far, far away to start reminiscing over the retired VHS format. Take a trip down memory lane (or, if you were born post-Millennium, get an impromptu history lesson) below.
Some fans, on the other hand, aren’t so convinced that a copy of the film, no matter its rarity (in such good condition) is worth the asking price.
Either way, it’ll be fascinating to see just how much this ancient artifact goes under the hammer for when bidding closes later this month.