Back from the Dead, VHS Tapes Trigger a New Collecting Frenzy

A video recorder, in 2016 KAZUHIRO NOGI AFP
A video recorder, in 2016 KAZUHIRO NOGI AFP
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Back from the Dead, VHS Tapes Trigger a New Collecting Frenzy

A video recorder, in 2016 KAZUHIRO NOGI AFP
A video recorder, in 2016 KAZUHIRO NOGI AFP

Long relegated to an obscure corner of the collectibles market, VHS tapes have been fetching eye-popping prices at auctions in recent months, thanks to nostalgia and an appetite for new investment opportunities.

At a sale by Heritage Auctions in June, a "Back to the Future" videocassette went for $75,000, while "The Goonies" and "Jaws" copies were sold for $50,000 and $32,500, respectively, AFP said.

Videotape collectors have been around since the late 1970s, when the format was first introduced, but these days most "VHS tapes are worth next to nothing", according to John, from Newmarket in Canada, who claims to have sold around 3,000 of them over span of more than 20 years.

"You'll be lucky to get $5 each", says this active eBay user, who declined to give his last name.

Until recently, only some movies that hadn't been released online or on other medium, as well as little known horror movies, could command higher prices, sometimes above $1,000.

But this new trend is mostly focused on blockbuster titles, particularly from the early 80s. To be deemed valuable, a tape has to meet some specific criteria, with a premium put on first editions and sealed copies. A limited edition, such as a larger box version of "Star Wars", would also draw interest.

The George Lucas sci-fi cult classic is widely considered a must-have and several copies have already been sold for over $10,000.

The Holy Trinity could be movies from the first slate ever released on the US market in 1977, namely "MASH", "Patton" and "The Sound of Music", by a financially troubled 20th Century Fox with Magnetic Video.

Jay Carlson, VHS Consignment director at Heritage Auctions, said these could reach "a six-digit number, maybe seven."

- Nostalgia meets investment opportunity -Many long-time collectors are wondering about the sudden surge, 16 years after the last release of a film in this format ("A History of Violence"). The last video recorders were manufactured in 2016.

"I think a lot of it is nostalgia and the compulsion to collect", says Philip Baker, who runs the www.videocollector.co.uk website. "One of the special things about VHS over the other formats is it was the first accessible way to watch a movie in your own home."

Host of the Completly Unnecessary Podcast, Pat Contri has a different take and draws a parallel between the current VHS trend and video games. He said both markets are flooded with "people who just decided to get into it. They said to themselves: 'I have money, let's invest in it.'"

Over the last decade, several of these cultural staples have become collectible asset classes, from sneakers to skateboards, thanks to a new generation of investors, many of whom grew up with them.

A whole industry is getting together, as shown by the growing number of dedicated Facebook groups, grading services assessing authenticity and condition, and auction houses willing to add VHS to their sales.

Contri is critical of the process, "where instead of letting a relatively new collecting hobby for the masses develop naturally, you sort of try to entice people with +FOMO+ fear", as in fear of missing out on a lucrative investment.

"There's people who are only open box guys, and they're very skeptical of sealed guys and what it means to their own collecting", Carlson said. "But I just think it's a good thing. It's just a difference in the way that you're collecting."

Carlson sees even more potential in VHS tapes than in video games, which recorded two sales for over a million dollar each last year.

"I know a lot of people who aren't into video games and don't play video games, but I don't know very many people who who wouldn't have a favorite movie."



Labubu Fans Dote Over Ugly-Cute Doll Trending at Comic-Con 

Customers walk around plush figures and toys on display in the first Pop Mart store selling Labubu toys in Berlin, Germany, 25 July 2025. (EPA)
Customers walk around plush figures and toys on display in the first Pop Mart store selling Labubu toys in Berlin, Germany, 25 July 2025. (EPA)
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Labubu Fans Dote Over Ugly-Cute Doll Trending at Comic-Con 

Customers walk around plush figures and toys on display in the first Pop Mart store selling Labubu toys in Berlin, Germany, 25 July 2025. (EPA)
Customers walk around plush figures and toys on display in the first Pop Mart store selling Labubu toys in Berlin, Germany, 25 July 2025. (EPA)

San Diego Comic-Con is the latest location where the ugly-cute dolls named Labubu have been trending, with fans carrying the plushies globally popularized by celebrities Rihanna, Lizzo, Dua Lipa, and Lisa from the K-pop group Blackpink.

The wide-eyed and grinning doll was created in 2015 by Hong Kong artist and illustrator Kasing Lung. In 2019, Lung allowed them to be sold by Pop Mart, a Chinese toy company that sells collectible figurines, often in "blind boxes".

"Blind boxes" are sealed boxes containing a surprise item that is usually part of a themed collection.

Naomi Galban, from San Diego, waited in line on Sunday at the Pop Mart booth in the San Diego Convention Center for a chance to get her first Labubu.

"Every time I go to a Pop Mart store, they're sold out," the 24-year-old told Reuters. She hoped to buy one for her little sister.

Emily Brough, Pop Mart's Head of IP Licensing, spoke to Reuters on Thursday about Labubu fans at Comic-Con.

"We love to see how fans are personalizing it (Labubu) for themselves," Brough said next to the Pop Mart booth.

While Brough noted that there were many people with a Labubu strapped to their bags and backpacks at Comic-Con, the doll's popularity did not happen overnight. Labubus had a huge boost in 2019 after Pop Mart began selling them, and in 2024, when Blackpink's Lisa, who is Thai, created a buying frenzy in Thailand after she promoted Labubu on social media.

Pop Mart saw sales skyrocket in North America that same year, with revenue in the US in the first quarter of 2025 already surpassing the full-year US revenue from 2024, Pop Mart said.

When he created Labubu, Lung gave the character, who is female, a backstory inspired by Nordic mythology.

He called her and his other fictional creatures "The Monsters."

Diana Goycortua, 25, first discovered Labubu through social media, and before she knew it, it felt like a "game" to try and collect the dolls.

"It's a little bit of gambling with what you're getting," the Labubu fan from San Diego said on Sunday while waiting at the Pop Mart booth, concluding that her love for the character made it worth trying blind boxes.

Goycortua already has three Labubus, and was hoping to score her a fourth one at Comic-Con.