On this episode of The Physical Cut, Krloz sits down with Matt from Asterisk Video, a small physical media business based in West Virginia that grew out of Matt and his wife's own collecting habits.
What started with trying to downsize duplicate VHS tapes eventually became a business built around hunting, restoring, cleaning, testing and selling physical media at events across the country. Matt talks about what it actually takes to source vintage VHS tapes and other physical media, and why the work behind the table is often much more complicated than collectors realize.
The conversation also dives into the current state of VHS collecting, the rise of younger collectors discovering the format, collecting for nostalgia versus aesthetics, horror's relationship with physical media, boutique labels and artwork, and where Matt thinks the physical media market is heading.
And because no episode with a VHS collector would be complete without it, Matt shares the story of the time his rental copy of Scream broke at the worst possible moment.
In This Episode
- How Asterisk Video grew from downsizing a personal collection into a physical media business
- Building a business around VHS, DVDs, Blu-rays, 4Ks and other physical media
- Hunting for inventory through flea markets, yard sales, thrift stores and collections
- The work involved in cleaning, repairing, testing and restoring VHS tapes
- Why horror collectors have become such a major part of the physical media community
- The new generation of VHS collectors and the appeal of the format
- Nostalgia vs. collecting for aesthetics
- Why movie artwork can be just as important as the movie itself
- Original artwork, boutique labels and the debate over new cover designs
- What collectors often misunderstand about the physical media community
- The emotional stories and memories behind people's collections
- Rewind Rolodex and resources for VHS collectors
- Where Matt sees the future of physical media heading
- Advice for anyone starting a physical media collection
- Scream at 30: Matt's unforgettable story about renting Scream on VHS
Follow Asterisk Video on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with their inventory, upcoming events and latest finds.
Follow The Physical Cut on Instagram and visit KRPodLab.com to learn how to support our show by buying us a coffee.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 You could look at people in this community and
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 just say we're a bunch of weirdos or something
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 like that. But deep down, I think everybody's
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 just kind of reaching for something that brought
00:00:09 --> 00:00:22 them joy or brings them joy. Welcome back to
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 The Physical Cut, where films live beyond the
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 stream. My name is Carlos. Today, I am joined
00:00:27 --> 00:00:31 by Matt from Aster's Video, a conversation I've
00:00:31 --> 00:00:33 been wanting to have for a while now. Matt, I
00:00:33 --> 00:00:37 appreciate you being here with me today. Carlos,
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 I appreciate you saying your name out loud, so
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 I knew how to say it. I've been looking at your
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 name since you got a hold of me, and I'm like,
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 I'm going to have to figure out how to say that
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 name before we go on there. So thank you. Yeah,
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 there's a lot of Carlos's out there. So I just
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 decided to misspell mine. And now every Carlos
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 is now trying to do the same thing. And I'm like,
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 come on, man, be a little bit more original.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 For a while now, I've been following you guys.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 And one of the reasons, and everybody who listens
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 to the podcast knows that I created the podcast
00:01:06 --> 00:01:10 was to spotlight small businesses, small creators,
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 small collectors. And you caught my attention.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 You guys have an amazing small business that
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 is... growing. I've been seeing your posts and
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 for a while now we've been going back and forth
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 to sit down and have a conversation. So I really
00:01:23 --> 00:01:27 appreciate your time. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 And thank you for following along with what we're
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 doing, because you're not wrong. It started very
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 small. And it seems like every time we do a new
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 event, we walk away bigger and better. So super,
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 super happy with where we're going. That is the
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 goal. That is the goal. But just a few quick
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 questions before we get into a deep dive of how
00:01:46 --> 00:01:50 you collect. what physical media and this whole
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 hobby means to you. Obviously, we're here to
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 talk about Astrid's video. And my big interest,
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 because I know the story that you sent me, and
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 it's a very nice story about starting from a
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 small business. But one thing that caught my
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 attention was that you said you started the business
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 because you wanted to downsize, which is something
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 we don't know about. As collectors, we don't
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 know what downsizing means. So please tell me
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 a little bit more about how Astrid's video started.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:21 So, so really we started, we officially. I started
00:02:21 --> 00:02:25 the company Asterisk Video in 2023. But before
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 that, my wife was actually running kind of a
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 collectibles and antique shop in the small town
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 that we live in. We live in a very small town
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 in West Virginia. And it was not going well.
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 The only thing that we were really moving a lot
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 of were, you know, tapes and anything horror
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 related we could move. But with such a small
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 pool, it was really, really hard to get people
00:02:47 --> 00:02:52 to kind of notice what we were doing. So we decided
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 to completely pivot. We shut down our original
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 physical location that was an actual storefront.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 It was called something different. It was a whole
00:03:00 --> 00:03:04 different focus. And eventually we founded Astro's
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 Video and we started setting up at events and
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 we started, we moved into Eloquence Antiques
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 and Artisans, which is a kind of a large antique
00:03:13 --> 00:03:17 mall over in Morgantown, West Virginia. And yeah,
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 from there, we just kind of started to spread
00:03:19 --> 00:03:23 our. wings we were doing double triple even quadruple
00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 the business out of out of there than we were
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 doing at a whole storefront in our in our small
00:03:28 --> 00:03:32 town but i started the the business to uh to
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 get rid of To get rid of my duplicates, right?
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 I have a monstrous VHS collection, Blu -rays,
00:03:39 --> 00:03:44 4Ks, DVDs. I even have some 8mm film, 16mm film,
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 Betamax, LaserDisc, a little bit of everything.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:51 And as I would find better copies of those VHS
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 tapes, those Beta tapes, those LaserDiscs, I
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 would just say, what am I going to do with all
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 these now? I have all these other ones, all these
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 extras now. Where am I going to take them? What
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 am I going to do with them? I started selling
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 them with my wife. And like I said, we decided
00:04:06 --> 00:04:10 to pivot after her original store was not doing
00:04:10 --> 00:04:15 so well to mainly focus on physical media, some
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 other fun, weird, collectible, kitschy type of
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 stuff that we also love, but mostly physical
00:04:20 --> 00:04:25 media, mostly DVDs, Blu -rays, VHS, all the above,
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 records, anything you can think of that's physical
00:04:28 --> 00:04:31 media, books, we have all of it. Yeah, but should
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 I always say people forget? that books are physical
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 media. Yeah, not me. I'm a Goosebumps fanatic
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 from way back and Stephen King and really any
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 horror books I'll collect. Everybody who knows
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 me and follows me on Instagram as well knows
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 that every time I find a copy of... Even a book
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 that I have 100 copies of, I still grab it, especially
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 if it's a different edition. It's just a hobby
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 at that point. By the way, if any of your listeners
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 run across any William Johnstone horror books,
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 I am in the market to complete that collection.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:04 So I'm going to pitch that right now. William
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 Johnstone horror books. I don't think I've heard
00:05:07 --> 00:05:11 of William. I don't think. Yeah, the library
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 that I work at, William Johnstone is a prolific
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 Western writer. And all of the old guys who come
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 in, they all want to read William Johnstone Westerns.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 And out of nowhere, a couple of years ago, somebody
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 was like, oh, you know, William wrote some horror
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 books, too. And I was like, oh, no shit. So I
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 look them up and I finally run across one and
00:05:30 --> 00:05:34 I read it. And it is the most obscene horror
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 book I've ever picked up. And I'm like the guy
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 that writes all the old man Westerns. was pretty
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 cool back in the 1980s i've got a few but i'm
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 looking to fill in that collection so if anybody
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 has has any william johnstone though specifically
00:05:47 --> 00:05:52 the devil name series um look me up let me let
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 me know let me know what you want to sell so
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 yeah i probably have to start a podcast for books
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 because um yeah i do i do know more book collectors
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 i do know a lot of movie collectors but i also
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 know a lot of book collectors and um i don't
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 feel like those two worlds even though They're
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 both physical media. I don't think they've collided
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 yet. So I'm probably going to try to bring in
00:06:13 --> 00:06:17 some horror book collectors on the pod and expand
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 from that because, again, if we're talking about
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 physical media, we've got to talk about all physical
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 media. It's starting to collide. We can talk
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 about that when we get to the events and everything,
00:06:28 --> 00:06:29 but I'll talk a little bit about that because
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 it's starting to come together, I think. Yeah,
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 thankfully. Thankfully, because it is exhausting.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 Most of the time, my pictures for a movie gets
00:06:35 --> 00:06:39 more likes than my books. And even if it's a
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 horror book, it still doesn't get as much likes.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 But on my, no, it's still my page. It's still
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 physical media. And I'm just going to go ahead
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 and post it. So Matt, how does Aster's video
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 look like today? Because you did mention that
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 you started from a small, doing all the events
00:06:53 --> 00:06:58 and going from a smaller venue, like you said,
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 from a storefront. How does that look like today?
00:07:01 --> 00:07:06 So we've expanded the space that we have in Eloquence.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 So we have our original location there. And we
00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 also have, when you first walk into this place,
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 there's a... a huge display case that you have
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 to look at when you come in and it is all asterisk
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 video. So that was a relatively new addition.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 But mostly it's the events. It's the really,
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 really big events we've been doing. So in the
00:07:24 --> 00:07:29 last year, we've started to work with Killer
00:07:29 --> 00:07:33 Video doing their dead media markets. I personally
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 think those are the best. physical media events
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 I've ever worked and ever attended. The crowd
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 there is just, they're so knowledgeable. They
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 know what they're looking for. They know what
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 they're looking at. You don't get. A lot of the,
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 can you take less money for this type of crowd
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 there? You get a little bit of it, but for the
00:07:52 --> 00:07:53 most part, they know what the value is. They
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 know what they're buying. We recently did VHS
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 Fest for the first time, which was basically
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 like, that was like going to Woodstock for us.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 That was absolutely incredible. And we're also
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 kind of branching out, doing some drive -in events
00:08:06 --> 00:08:07 this year. So there were some other drive -in
00:08:07 --> 00:08:11 events. We're doing Sinister Horror Fest up in
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 Ohio. But mainly that's where it came from. Mainly
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 that's where we're moving. to is doing bigger
00:08:17 --> 00:08:21 and and and better um events where we get to
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 travel to you guys and and sell our movies and
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 and our our our fun stuff there um and versus
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 you having to come all the way to morgantown
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 west virginia because while it is a cool town
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 it's kind of a hard sell to get people to uh
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 to come to rural west virginia to buy movies
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 so That that's where we're, that's where we're
00:08:39 --> 00:08:40 headed right now is where we're going to try
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 to do more events. We're really going out and
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 finding these movies and we're taking apart and
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 we're cleaning them and we're testing them. And
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 these are real vintage VHS tapes, beta max tapes,
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 laser discs and stuff that we have. So it's sometimes
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 it's hard to find inventory, which I think we,
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 you want to talk about later anyway. So we'll
00:08:58 --> 00:09:02 save that. no i i agree i feel like people and
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 i'm glad i have you on on the podcast i spoke
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 to before we started recording i told you that
00:09:08 --> 00:09:12 i spoke to alex from coffin maker and yeah this
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 is the process behind it and i'm you mentioned
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 that people are like some people not everybody
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 it's like oh can i give you less money for x
00:09:19 --> 00:09:23 video i'm not I never dare to do that. Even when
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 you travel and they're like, oh, yeah, if you're
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 at a market, say in Mexico, offer them a peso
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 for whatever. And you're like, but this poor
00:09:32 --> 00:09:36 lady sat down and crocheted this Frida Kahlo
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 plushie. And I'm not going to be like, hey, señora,
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 do you want a dollar for this instead of your
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 regular 20s? They don't know the process behind
00:09:44 --> 00:09:47 it. They don't know the work. Like you said,
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 you're spending gas money. You're spending time.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 The worst thing you can spend is time because
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 that you can't get back. Like gas, you can't
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 get back either. They don't understand the whole
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 process behind it. So I'm kind of glad you spoke
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 about that. I'm assuming at some point or another
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 where our paths are going to cross at one of
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 these events, you're probably going to make it
00:10:06 --> 00:10:07 out to one or something like that. We're going
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 to get to hang out. Yes, I have. Yeah, hopefully.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 The thing about us, and this is something that
00:10:12 --> 00:10:16 I really take pride in, we... love to talk about
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 movies by way. I mean, me and my wife, Brittany,
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 who comes to all the events. If you're, if you're
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 one of our followers, you've met us, you know,
00:10:22 --> 00:10:26 that we love to talk. I will literally like lose
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 a cell because I'll stand and talk to somebody
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 and say, Hey, before you buy this, you should
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 go watch it on YouTube or go watch it on Tubi
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 because before you spend $45 on a rare tape,
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 make sure it's a tape that you actually want.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 Cause this movie to some people might not be
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 so good. We even like to talk to people that
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 come up. have no intention to buy anything um
00:10:46 --> 00:10:50 we we just love this community we love to talk
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 to everybody and anybody who comes to our table
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 can tell you that's that's true because we we
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 will i'll be talking to someone for 25 minutes
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 and realize i let 10 people walk by without even
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 talking to because i get so into the conversation
00:11:02 --> 00:11:07 i don't mind somebody who is who is a serious
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 collector coming up and asking me to take slightly
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 less money for a tape especially if they're buying
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 more than one. But you're not wrong. There are
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 a lot of people that don't understand where we
00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 have to go and what we have to go through to
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 get our hands on some of these tapes. I could
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 give you some stories from the trenches where
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 you would be like, holy shit. And they're true.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 These are things we actually go through to get
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 our hands on these tapes. That'll be part two
00:11:33 --> 00:11:38 of the conversation. Yeah. Sometimes I'll go
00:11:38 --> 00:11:42 buy 500 tapes to get my hands on 25. You know
00:11:42 --> 00:11:43 what I mean? And then I'm like, what am I going
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 to do with all these other teams? But yeah, yeah.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 I was going to ask you because like you said,
00:11:48 --> 00:11:52 you go to all these events and one of the questions
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 that I had sent for you to have an idea of what
00:11:55 --> 00:11:58 we wanted to talk about was because I like to
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 focus a lot on when it comes to small businesses
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 is what they mean to the community or how they
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 grow with the community. And I wanted to ask
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 that, how did you realize that there was a real
00:12:08 --> 00:12:12 community around what you were doing? So honestly,
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 it started when we had our original shop, like
00:12:15 --> 00:12:19 before we were just focused on movies and kind
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 of the horror culture and stuff like that. It
00:12:21 --> 00:12:25 started then when Brittany would come home from
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 running our original storefront. It was in Grafton,
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 West Virginia is where it was. And she would
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 tell me, oh, these people came in today and they
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 bought like 10 of your tapes. And they kept asking
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 me questions about them. And I was like, I don't
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 know. And I just wish you had been there to talk
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 to them about it. She's very knowledgeable about
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 movies, but she's knowledgeable in different
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 types of films than I am. She's much more of
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 a comedy fan, but she can run laps around me
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 talking about comedy history. But she would say,
00:12:52 --> 00:12:53 I wish you would have been there because they
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 had so many questions about where we found the
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 tape and what we, you know, what just all these
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 different things about the movies they were buying.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 And I just said to myself, man, this is this
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 is absolutely crazy that people are that interested
00:13:05 --> 00:13:09 in in talking about these movies, because for
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 me, it was. i just like watching movies yeah
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 i'm a collector but at the end of the day The
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 movie itself is the main thing I care about.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 I want to watch the film. But these people would
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 come in and buy these movies off of her and they
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 would have a million questions about the movies
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 they were buying and about where we get our movies
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 at and about how we clean them and whether we
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 can fix their tapes for them. Because she would
00:13:31 --> 00:13:35 say, my husband takes tapes apart all the time
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 and fixes them. And that's when I started to
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 realize there's something here. There's something
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 is kind of boiling under the surface that's probably...
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 going to pop off pretty soon. There are so many
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 people that are obsessed with physical media.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 They want to own copies of the movies. That way
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 people can't remove them from streaming. That
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 way people can't. edit the movie that they're
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 watching to take things that might be slightly
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 objectionable out. They want to watch the movies
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 the way that the filmmakers intended them to
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 watch the movies. I think I realized that there
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 was a community building up around it probably
00:14:08 --> 00:14:11 in 2018 or 19 when we opened our original store
00:14:11 --> 00:14:14 because there were just, she would come home
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 with so many stories about people coming in and
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 wanting to talk about movies and buying VHS tapes.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 That was my first inkling that there was something
00:14:21 --> 00:14:25 there. You mentioned a lot about VHS. How is
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 the business of VHS today? Because I collect,
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 I still collect VHS, but to try to limit myself,
00:14:31 --> 00:14:36 I usually try to go for classics that I love
00:14:36 --> 00:14:40 or directors that I collect. For example, Kubrick,
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 anything Stephen King, or Scream, different editions
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 of that, or just films that I grew up with, like
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 Harriet the Spy. But I try to keep it very limited
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 to what I collect. But I see... people, one of
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 them. Just to throw his name out there, because
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 I think he has an impressive VHS collection,
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 which is the last movie standing. He collects
00:14:59 --> 00:15:03 a lot of VHSs, also a lot of editions of films
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 that he loves. But there's people out there that
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 are starting to collect VHS today that I don't
00:15:09 --> 00:15:10 know how they're starting to collect because
00:15:10 --> 00:15:14 they were not around when VHS was the thing.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 So I'm assuming they're trying to go for movies
00:15:17 --> 00:15:21 like Obsession now on VHS. Yeah, that's weird,
00:15:21 --> 00:15:24 right? Yeah. Yeah, back rooms on VHS. And I'm
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 like, I don't want to go on VHS. Screen four
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 that never got a VHS release suddenly got a VHS
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 release. I don't need those on VHS. Yeah, I don't
00:15:32 --> 00:15:33 need those on VHS because they were not around
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 when I was renting them. Sure. But how does the
00:15:35 --> 00:15:39 VHS business look like today? So what I'm noticing,
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 first of all, let me talk a little bit about
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 my VHS collecting habit. So me and my wife, we
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 first started dating all the way back in 2004.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:51 So we've been together 22 years. And over that
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 time, when we first got together, we were still
00:15:54 --> 00:15:57 buying VHS tapes to take home and watch. Like
00:15:57 --> 00:16:00 I remember going to Big Lots and buying a copy
00:16:00 --> 00:16:04 of American Psycho for 99 cents at Big Lots.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 And being like, oh, you have to watch this movie.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 And we watched it. We started going around to
00:16:08 --> 00:16:12 video stores in the early 2000s that were closing.
00:16:12 --> 00:16:15 And we would go in with 100 bucks and say, how
00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 many movies can we get for 100? and we would
00:16:17 --> 00:16:20 go clear out the horror section. I still have
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 most of those movies in my collection because
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 they came from video stores that we love to go
00:16:24 --> 00:16:29 to. The modern... VHS collecting world. I think
00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 you have a couple of different types of people
00:16:30 --> 00:16:33 that will come up and talk about movies with
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 us or ask about movies. You have the ones that
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 are just trying to fill in missing pieces from
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 their collection. So they're not really after
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 anything rare because they already have the super
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 rare stuff. They're looking for a lot of the
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 commons, just the little things that they want
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 to add in the cheaper stuff. You have the people
00:16:50 --> 00:16:53 that are the hardcore collectors and they want
00:16:53 --> 00:16:56 the rarest of the rare. They want the stuff that.
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 never made the jump from VHS to even DVD. You
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 can't even find it streaming anywhere. And then
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 you have the people that want everything on VHS.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:09 That is their preferred format to watch. That
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 is very odd to me that that's your preferred
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 format to watch a movie because my preferred
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 format is whatever the best looking format that
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 I can get, right? Like 4K. I collect a lot of
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 4K discs. There are a lot of movies that I'll
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 hold onto on VHS forever for various reasons,
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 mainly because they have some value to me because
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 a family member gave them to me. It's just a
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 box that I love a whole lot. I used to look at
00:17:33 --> 00:17:36 a bunch when I used to go and rent videos somewhere.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:39 The kids who are coming up, right? now and want
00:17:39 --> 00:17:43 to buy vhs tapes I don't ask them directly, but
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 I would be very interested to hear why they choose
00:17:46 --> 00:17:49 VHS. Like you said, why would you want Obsession
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 on VHS? And here's the thing. There are some
00:17:51 --> 00:17:54 people making some beautiful tapes. I am not
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 one of those collectors who's like, oh, it's
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 impure. You can't make these bootleg tapes. I
00:17:59 --> 00:18:03 say more bootlegs. If the studios can steal your
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 digital copy off of the Sony PlayStation Network,
00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 then it's fine to go make a bootleg of a tape
00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 so they can't take that from you. No, for real.
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 That's the way I feel about it. Suddenly pirating
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 doesn't feel so much like theft to me that the
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 studios are saying we can just take your movies
00:18:18 --> 00:18:21 that you bought away from you. Not to throw any
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 shade at anyone making bootlegs. I own some beautiful
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 bootleg tapes. There are some people in our community
00:18:27 --> 00:18:31 that make some of the best tapes I've ever seen.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 The transfers are spectacular. I think it's Cosmic
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 Debris. I don't know. Do you follow Cosmic Debris?
00:18:36 --> 00:18:40 I don't think so. You definitely should. He made
00:18:40 --> 00:18:44 some killer boots for VHS Fest. They're just
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 absolutely incredible. Everything he does is
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 top notch. The transfer is amazing. The tapes
00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 themselves are really high quality. The covers
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 are incredible. The slips that he makes. There
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 are some really great people out there making
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 some really cool bootlegs, but I'm with you.
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 I don't need to own obsession on VHS. I'll stick
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05 with my 4K on that one. I don't need Scream 7
00:19:05 --> 00:19:09 on VHS. I think. The ones that were available
00:19:09 --> 00:19:13 on VHS originally, I'm more inclined to buy those
00:19:13 --> 00:19:16 and hold on to them. But I don't need all the
00:19:16 --> 00:19:18 modern movies on VHS. It just doesn't make sense.
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 It doesn't make sense. There's no nostalgia behind
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 it. Yeah, the picture quality is not fantastic,
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 to say the least. And like you said, it's more
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 of a nostalgia thing. The people who have nostalgia
00:19:29 --> 00:19:33 for a timeframe, they weren't even alive is the
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 one that's odd to me. Like I get vinyl records.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:39 They sound fantastic. I understand that. But
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 VHS, it looks cool. I'll give them that. I mean,
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 that tape looks awesome. And it is fun to actually
00:19:44 --> 00:19:48 have a physical form of a tape. But I mean, a
00:19:48 --> 00:19:51 disc is a physical format too. Yeah, I feel like
00:19:51 --> 00:19:55 a lot of the kids, like you said, that are collecting
00:19:55 --> 00:19:58 today that don't have any sentimental connection
00:19:58 --> 00:20:02 with the VHS, because I don't think any of them
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 are going to be like, oh, yeah, I remember growing
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 up with Harriet the Spy and the Nickelodeon orange
00:20:06 --> 00:20:10 cassettes. They don't have that memory like we
00:20:10 --> 00:20:14 do, but they do like the aesthetic behind it.
00:20:14 --> 00:20:17 And they might not know what they're collecting
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 necessarily when it comes to a sentimental value.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:23 But they do know how to create great photography
00:20:23 --> 00:20:27 and aesthetic. aesthetically beautiful photos
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 yeah the way i feel about it is you you should
00:20:29 --> 00:20:32 collect whatever whatever makes you happy right
00:20:32 --> 00:20:35 i think everybody in in this whole world is just
00:20:35 --> 00:20:39 looking for something that brings a smile to
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 their face so if you get a smile on your face
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 because you own a copy of obsession on vhs go
00:20:44 --> 00:20:48 buy that copy of obsession on vhs right if it
00:20:48 --> 00:20:51 brings you some moment of happiness in the world
00:20:51 --> 00:20:54 that we live in today who can i who am i to say
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 that that It's a bad thing because it's not a
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 it's not a bad thing that they want to collect
00:20:58 --> 00:21:01 on VHS. I'm just I guess I'm just a grumpy old
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 man that doesn't understand why specifically
00:21:03 --> 00:21:07 VHS. I have talked to some people at events and
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 a lot of the times they're just like, oh, my
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 mom and dad told me about these. And when I was
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 growing up, my dad had a collection of these.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 What I'm going to be interested in are what once
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19 we get to the kids that whose parents never even
00:21:19 --> 00:21:23 had a collection of VHS tapes. My niece specifically,
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 I think. she's starting to get into VHS tapes
00:21:25 --> 00:21:28 a little bit because she was around me a lot
00:21:28 --> 00:21:30 and I had a ton of VHS tapes. So she's nostalgic
00:21:30 --> 00:21:33 for hanging out with me when she was younger
00:21:33 --> 00:21:35 and watching movies and looking at my collection
00:21:35 --> 00:21:38 and stuff like that. But the way I feel about
00:21:38 --> 00:21:41 it is whatever brings you happiness in this world,
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 you should go after it. So if that's a VHS tapes,
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 then Hey, more power to you. I'm glad they bring
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 you happiness. They do look cool as hell. They
00:21:48 --> 00:21:51 look great on a shelf. They look, I think like
00:21:51 --> 00:21:55 aesthetically. The old box art, stuff like that,
00:21:55 --> 00:21:58 it looks better than most DVDs, Blu -rays, 4Ks,
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 stuff like that. They look freaking fantastic.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 But before you decide to get into it, just understand
00:22:03 --> 00:22:06 they will literally break your back. A box of
00:22:06 --> 00:22:10 50 VHS tapes, that's a hell of a lot heavier
00:22:10 --> 00:22:13 than a box of 50 DVDs, just from personal experience.
00:22:13 --> 00:22:15 Trust me on this. And not just that, it's like
00:22:15 --> 00:22:19 right now they're so expensive. What I've done...
00:22:19 --> 00:22:22 just recently i haven't done the whole video
00:22:22 --> 00:22:26 or spoken about the latest hole that i did in
00:22:26 --> 00:22:29 in london but one thing that i've been doing
00:22:29 --> 00:22:32 is like if it's on dvd and i don't really care
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 for the movie or not that i don't care it's just
00:22:34 --> 00:22:37 in a movie that i might not need on 4k i get
00:22:37 --> 00:22:40 the dvd and there's two movies that i got and
00:22:40 --> 00:22:44 that's the bride and weather and heist the latest
00:22:44 --> 00:22:47 one and the only reason i got them is because
00:22:47 --> 00:22:51 as much as i like 4k and again i i sound like
00:22:51 --> 00:22:55 an old person myself when i say this is i don't
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 need everything in 4k and it's because if i like
00:22:57 --> 00:23:00 the box That's enough for me. And there's one
00:23:00 --> 00:23:03 thing that drives me nuts. And it's the banner
00:23:03 --> 00:23:07 on top where it says 4K Blu -ray digital. I don't
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09 need that there. I already know it should be
00:23:09 --> 00:23:11 there because I know how to read a backside of
00:23:11 --> 00:23:14 a freaking. So I got The Bride and Wuthering
00:23:14 --> 00:23:18 Heights on DVD because the UK editions, I don't
00:23:18 --> 00:23:22 know about the US ones, is a whole poster. from
00:23:22 --> 00:23:24 top to bottom and it always says dvd very small
00:23:24 --> 00:23:26 on the side i only wanted the movies because
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 of that i don't know if the movies are good or
00:23:28 --> 00:23:31 bad i haven't seen them but because there were
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 seven pounds were transferred to like nine dollars
00:23:33 --> 00:23:36 um i was like you know what i can spend the money
00:23:36 --> 00:23:39 on this and i i can take the risk with it yeah
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 and if i upgrade it later on because i like it
00:23:41 --> 00:23:45 i'm still gonna keep the dvd box because that's
00:23:45 --> 00:23:47 the reason i got is because i love the art On
00:23:47 --> 00:23:50 the box. Yeah. It's the generic posters, but
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 I do love the posters for the movies. So it's
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54 like, don't pick a book by its cover. But sometimes
00:23:54 --> 00:23:57 I do pick movies by their cover. Oh, that's.
00:23:57 --> 00:23:59 Yeah, sometimes they're shit, but the cover is
00:23:59 --> 00:24:01 so good. Like Creepazoid. Creepazoid is not a
00:24:01 --> 00:24:04 great movie, but I do like the 101 films cover.
00:24:04 --> 00:24:08 So it's like, I kept it. There is literally no
00:24:08 --> 00:24:10 shame in that, man. There's so many movies I
00:24:10 --> 00:24:13 have in my collection that I know are just not
00:24:13 --> 00:24:17 good movies because I love the covers. recently
00:24:17 --> 00:24:19 someone was on a claim cell on Instagram and
00:24:19 --> 00:24:22 they had the movie vampire journals on there.
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 Do you know about that? Do you know that? No,
00:24:23 --> 00:24:26 I just bought vampire kiss. That's the last vampire
00:24:26 --> 00:24:29 I know of. So it's like a, it's like a, um, have
00:24:29 --> 00:24:31 you ever heard of the subspecies movies before?
00:24:32 --> 00:24:34 I've heard of subspecies, but I haven't seen
00:24:34 --> 00:24:37 them. Okay. So vampire journals is like a, um,
00:24:37 --> 00:24:41 it's like a spinoff from, uh, from the subspecies
00:24:41 --> 00:24:45 films and it is absolutely horrendous. I don't
00:24:45 --> 00:24:47 like it. At all. It's just not a very, it's just
00:24:47 --> 00:24:49 not for me. It's just not my, my kind of movie.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:51 I love the subspecies films. This one just didn't
00:24:51 --> 00:24:55 grab me. And I've never picked up that BHS at
00:24:55 --> 00:24:57 any of the things I've been at because it's always
00:24:57 --> 00:24:59 so it's not expensive, but I'm like, I'm not
00:24:59 --> 00:25:02 spending that much money on that movie. And the
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 other day, someone was on a claim. So, and I
00:25:03 --> 00:25:06 think it was like $2 or $3. And I was like, there's
00:25:06 --> 00:25:08 the money I'm willing to spend to have that just
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 sitting on my shelf for the box art. You know
00:25:10 --> 00:25:13 what I mean? So I'm the same way. I will literally
00:25:13 --> 00:25:16 just go buy. something that's cheap because i
00:25:16 --> 00:25:19 think it looks cool i'm fine with that too oh
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 yeah i have no problem with as long as it looks
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23 cool i really don't care and that's why i keep
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25 saying like most of the ones that are my favorite
00:25:25 --> 00:25:28 i try to get different editions as long as i
00:25:28 --> 00:25:31 like the cover eyes wide shut i got because is
00:25:31 --> 00:25:35 it was on 4k but i just ordered through belial
00:25:35 --> 00:25:38 i think they're called the steelbook that has
00:25:38 --> 00:25:41 the original poster from from 99 i'm like nope
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 that's the one that i really wanted the entire
00:25:43 --> 00:25:46 time not i love it i love it when they do that
00:25:46 --> 00:25:49 this whole recent run of i think it's uh stream
00:25:49 --> 00:25:51 factory 4ks where instead of doing all the alternate
00:25:51 --> 00:25:54 art they're just using the original art i'm like
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 this is actually pretty this is pretty dope i
00:25:56 --> 00:25:59 really enjoy this yeah nobody asked for new art
00:25:59 --> 00:26:01 nobody asked for new art we just asked for a
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 restoration not new art we know the movie we
00:26:03 --> 00:26:06 like it because of the art or we want to buy
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 it with the original poster and then you do the
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 little flip thing around like the little how
00:26:09 --> 00:26:12 do you call it the reverse the reverse art i'm
00:26:12 --> 00:26:14 like why not just stick to one i don't want to
00:26:14 --> 00:26:17 be reversing it every five minutes yeah i i will
00:26:17 --> 00:26:19 i will not lie to you there's some of those like
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21 screen factory ones and and arrow ones where
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 i really like the art they come up with for it
00:26:23 --> 00:26:25 it's an artist that i really enjoy or something
00:26:25 --> 00:26:28 but most of the time i end up flipping them because
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 i'm like i just want to see the original art
00:26:29 --> 00:26:32 that's what sold it to me back in the late 80s
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 and early 90s anyway that's usually what i go
00:26:34 --> 00:26:36 with myself screen factories at least out of
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 some of the boutiques i think Scream Factory
00:26:38 --> 00:26:41 probably has some of the best art because Kino
00:26:41 --> 00:26:44 Lober sucks when it comes to art. Even in the
00:26:44 --> 00:26:46 disc, they suck when it comes to art. They don't
00:26:46 --> 00:26:49 even put the time behind it. Like, here it is.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:52 We don't have anything nice to say. Just don't
00:26:52 --> 00:26:54 say anything at all when it comes to Kino. I
00:26:54 --> 00:26:57 still buy some releases, but dang, man. Yeah,
00:26:57 --> 00:26:59 you're not wrong. I didn't notice that until
00:26:59 --> 00:27:01 somebody pointed it out. There was a YouTuber
00:27:01 --> 00:27:04 that mentioned that. I was like, oh, yeah, you're
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 right. I never noticed that they don't have art.
00:27:06 --> 00:27:09 on their disc it's just that that gray if it's
00:27:09 --> 00:27:12 black it's fading so like that gray disc i'm
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 like oh yeah they never put anything on their
00:27:13 --> 00:27:16 disc right i do i i have been enjoying there
00:27:16 --> 00:27:18 i'll give credit where credit's due with keno
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 the keno cult line is pretty cool there's there
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 are some pretty cool movies of the keno cult
00:27:22 --> 00:27:25 line um i never thought anybody would put out
00:27:25 --> 00:27:29 the the ilsa movies on 4k but here we are you
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 can go buy them if you want them i think it's
00:27:30 --> 00:27:34 pretty cool so You did mention earlier that you
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 wanted to talk about your inventory because that
00:27:36 --> 00:27:39 was a question I wanted to ask you too. And because
00:27:39 --> 00:27:41 we're talking about all this, not just the art,
00:27:41 --> 00:27:45 but just like all these random movies that are
00:27:45 --> 00:27:48 very cult classics. Yeah. Where do you find your
00:27:48 --> 00:27:51 inventory? Not just for VHS, but like in general,
00:27:51 --> 00:27:53 because you did mention that you go through.
00:27:55 --> 00:27:59 Yeah, that's a question. For the most part, we
00:27:59 --> 00:28:01 do it the old school way. And what I mean by
00:28:01 --> 00:28:04 that is we will leave on a Saturday morning and
00:28:04 --> 00:28:08 we will come home at 11 o 'clock at night with
00:28:08 --> 00:28:11 a car full of stuff. We go to flea markets. We
00:28:11 --> 00:28:16 go to yard sales. We go to secondhand stores.
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 Some of the big ones, I'll go in Goodwill and
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 take a look, even though they're getting a little
00:28:20 --> 00:28:24 pricey for my taste. They are. I'll go to Salvation
00:28:24 --> 00:28:28 Army stores if I see them out somewhere. Habitat
00:28:28 --> 00:28:31 for Humanity Restores, I'll go there. Like I
00:28:31 --> 00:28:34 said, I'll drive around any random town looking
00:28:34 --> 00:28:37 for yard sales. If I ever see a citywide yard
00:28:37 --> 00:28:41 sale that is advertised, I'll go to whatever
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 city it is if it's close enough and hit their
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46 citywide yard sale. When I say this to people,
00:28:46 --> 00:28:48 they think I'm exaggerating. I have literally
00:28:48 --> 00:28:52 dumpster dived to get tapes before. gotten in
00:28:52 --> 00:28:55 a physical dumpster using a ladder to pull tapes
00:28:55 --> 00:28:59 out of it i will go to the goodwill bins and
00:28:59 --> 00:29:01 and take a look actually the most the rarest
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 tape i've ever pulled what the most valuable
00:29:03 --> 00:29:05 tape i've ever owned came out of a goodwill bin
00:29:05 --> 00:29:09 for i think $1 .49 or whatever ended up being
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12 by weight literally everywhere and and i will
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 deal with the craziest motherfuckers you have
00:29:14 --> 00:29:17 ever seen in your life trying to get tapes i
00:29:17 --> 00:29:20 have been chased across the street by an angry
00:29:20 --> 00:29:22 man because i told him that The Chucky doll he
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24 had wasn't the one that was in the movie. I have
00:29:24 --> 00:29:26 seen some stuff, man. The answer is anywhere
00:29:26 --> 00:29:29 and everywhere. When I can, I buy collections
00:29:29 --> 00:29:33 off of people too. Just right before VHS, a gentleman
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 got ahold of me and wanted to sell me an entire
00:29:34 --> 00:29:37 collection. And I went and bought all of it.
00:29:37 --> 00:29:39 And I found some good stuff. I found some so
00:29:39 --> 00:29:42 -so stuff. I found a lot of stuff that had mold
00:29:42 --> 00:29:45 and had a lot of damage, but I can fix all of
00:29:45 --> 00:29:48 the above. So I still bought them. So anywhere
00:29:48 --> 00:29:51 and everywhere, man, like we. we scour the whole
00:29:51 --> 00:29:54 East coast of the United States looking for tapes.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:58 Um, I've been as far North as, um, Michigan.
00:29:58 --> 00:30:01 I've been as far South as Georgia looking for
00:30:01 --> 00:30:04 tapes and buying tapes. And that's why, cause
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 we get asked a lot. Why don't you guys do more
00:30:05 --> 00:30:07 events? We want to see you come to more events.
00:30:08 --> 00:30:11 I only have so much inventory. I've got a store
00:30:11 --> 00:30:14 that I have to stock and I can't show up with
00:30:14 --> 00:30:17 the same stuff every single time or no one's
00:30:17 --> 00:30:20 going to buy it, right? Between going out and
00:30:20 --> 00:30:23 finding tapes and then bringing them home and
00:30:23 --> 00:30:27 cleaning them if they have mold, testing our
00:30:27 --> 00:30:30 inventory, rewinding all of them, pricing them,
00:30:30 --> 00:30:32 doing all that stuff. It's a full -time job.
00:30:32 --> 00:30:34 It's more than a full -time job. We've been through
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36 the ringer trying to get tapes. And sometimes
00:30:36 --> 00:30:38 we hit big and sometimes... Sometimes we completely
00:30:38 --> 00:30:41 strike out. Is there anything specific that you
00:30:41 --> 00:30:44 like to look for when it comes to VHS or just
00:30:44 --> 00:30:47 in DVDs in general, or just like a generalized
00:30:47 --> 00:30:51 pickup? It depends on what we're looking for,
00:30:51 --> 00:30:54 right? If we're going to do an event, most of
00:30:54 --> 00:30:57 the events that we do, aside from like VHS and
00:30:57 --> 00:31:00 the dead media market, most of the other events
00:31:00 --> 00:31:03 that we do. are horror -centric. Horror people
00:31:03 --> 00:31:06 love physical media. To me, they're the driving
00:31:06 --> 00:31:09 force of keeping physical media alive. The horror
00:31:09 --> 00:31:11 community has embraced physical media like no
00:31:11 --> 00:31:14 other community has. And I think it's just because
00:31:14 --> 00:31:16 they're just so passionate about what they collect.
00:31:16 --> 00:31:19 They love horror. Horror resonates with them
00:31:19 --> 00:31:21 for some reason. So if we're doing, if we know
00:31:21 --> 00:31:24 we have a horror event coming up, we strongly
00:31:24 --> 00:31:28 move towards horror. And that's mostly what we
00:31:28 --> 00:31:31 look for. If we're looking for our shop, Mostly
00:31:31 --> 00:31:35 try to stock very common stuff in our storefront
00:31:35 --> 00:31:38 because that's what most people are coming in
00:31:38 --> 00:31:41 and buying. They don't want to walk in and get
00:31:41 --> 00:31:44 sticker shock with a $300 VHS tape. They want
00:31:44 --> 00:31:47 to buy the common stuff. Believe it or not, most
00:31:47 --> 00:31:50 of the people buying from our store are like
00:31:50 --> 00:31:53 college -age kids who are buying physical media,
00:31:53 --> 00:31:56 whether it's DVDs or whatever else. I still heavily...
00:31:57 --> 00:32:00 skew towards horror at our storefront but i also
00:32:00 --> 00:32:04 try to put weird aerobics tapes out there those
00:32:04 --> 00:32:07 always i always put comedy out because that's
00:32:07 --> 00:32:10 always going to be popular anything like kevin
00:32:10 --> 00:32:13 smith that vein we sell a lot of i will always
00:32:13 --> 00:32:16 buy horror vhs no matter what they are i pick
00:32:16 --> 00:32:19 them up because horror hounds are fanatics about
00:32:19 --> 00:32:21 horror and they're always going to sell i'm never
00:32:21 --> 00:32:24 going to sit on them for too long but i'm also
00:32:24 --> 00:32:27 not afraid to pick up other genres and And I
00:32:27 --> 00:32:29 just look, I look for weird. I look at it and
00:32:29 --> 00:32:32 I say, would I watch that? And if the answer
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 is yes, I pick it up. It's really that simple.
00:32:34 --> 00:32:37 And it's a great segue because even though I
00:32:37 --> 00:32:40 usually like to talk about, in general, physical
00:32:40 --> 00:32:44 media, a lot of the base listeners are horror
00:32:44 --> 00:32:47 fanatics, but that's because I collect horror
00:32:47 --> 00:32:50 as well. And like I said, a lot of the, I would
00:32:50 --> 00:32:53 say the likes that you get on Instagram is more
00:32:53 --> 00:32:58 horror. oriented kind of post that i do it's
00:32:58 --> 00:33:00 funny because this is a small segue because you
00:33:00 --> 00:33:02 started talking about horror and that was going
00:33:02 --> 00:33:05 to be our next topic but it's not just when it
00:33:05 --> 00:33:08 comes to physical media that i'm seeing it yesterday
00:33:08 --> 00:33:11 that i had a chance to go see paranormal activity
00:33:11 --> 00:33:15 on broadway and the play and it's just funny
00:33:15 --> 00:33:18 because last year this year at the beginning
00:33:18 --> 00:33:22 of this year you had the lost boys musical arrive
00:33:22 --> 00:33:26 also on broadway i think last year was stranger
00:33:26 --> 00:33:31 things and you have this whole kind of like wave
00:33:31 --> 00:33:34 of horror that is also taken broadway which i
00:33:34 --> 00:33:36 thank god because broadway was starting to suck
00:33:36 --> 00:33:39 there was a while that we didn't go to broadway
00:33:39 --> 00:33:41 shows just because they were too expensive and
00:33:41 --> 00:33:44 i was like i'm only going out if i want to really
00:33:44 --> 00:33:47 pay for something i really want to see But I'm
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 kind of glad you talked about horror because
00:33:48 --> 00:33:51 we've been seeing it more, not just on VHS, but
00:33:51 --> 00:33:54 also on stage with Obsession, which I spoke about
00:33:54 --> 00:33:58 with John Spooky Season a few episodes ago, how
00:33:58 --> 00:34:02 that took everything by storm and Backrooms and
00:34:02 --> 00:34:06 now the upcoming one, Other Mommy. You have all
00:34:06 --> 00:34:10 this wave of horror that is pretty well done.
00:34:11 --> 00:34:14 Insert director name here said Hollywood should
00:34:14 --> 00:34:20 stop hiring YouTubers to direct horror. Why?
00:34:21 --> 00:34:26 They had two successful movies. Do you hate money?
00:34:26 --> 00:34:28 No, two kids might not know how to wipe their
00:34:28 --> 00:34:32 own ass because they're too young. But one of
00:34:32 --> 00:34:35 them did a horror movie that. recouped and then
00:34:35 --> 00:34:37 the other one did a horror movie that is still
00:34:37 --> 00:34:39 making money and it's still running in theaters
00:34:39 --> 00:34:42 so what's your problem that your movie was so
00:34:42 --> 00:34:44 bad even though you have a name attached to it
00:34:44 --> 00:34:46 because you were an inglorious bastards for five
00:34:46 --> 00:34:48 minutes and now it's like you're complaining
00:34:48 --> 00:34:51 about that and i'm like we can't let the horror
00:34:51 --> 00:34:55 community grow because we want to gatekeep everything
00:34:55 --> 00:34:57 so i'm kind of glad these new kids that are coming
00:34:57 --> 00:35:01 out they're not too gatekeepers to put it that
00:35:01 --> 00:35:03 way they're not good at gatekeeping i'll tell
00:35:03 --> 00:35:05 you what i'm impressed with is they're not getting
00:35:05 --> 00:35:08 rattled at all like all the like don't get me
00:35:08 --> 00:35:10 wrong they're getting the majority of people
00:35:10 --> 00:35:12 are throwing nothing but love their way but they're
00:35:12 --> 00:35:14 also getting a lot of they're getting a lot of
00:35:14 --> 00:35:16 shit from the old guard right they're they're
00:35:16 --> 00:35:19 getting and and that's all it is it's pure gatekeeping
00:35:19 --> 00:35:22 that's literal that's all it is and these kids
00:35:22 --> 00:35:24 are making fantastic movies if you could go watch
00:35:24 --> 00:35:27 obsession and not walk out feeling something
00:35:27 --> 00:35:29 from that movie then then you probably need to
00:35:29 --> 00:35:31 go talk to like a therapist or something because
00:35:31 --> 00:35:33 there's there might be something going on there
00:35:33 --> 00:35:36 same with back rooms it wasn't my favorite movie
00:35:36 --> 00:35:38 i there were things i i personally would have
00:35:38 --> 00:35:40 wanted to see done maybe a different way but
00:35:40 --> 00:35:43 it's not my movie it's not my it wasn't my production
00:35:43 --> 00:35:45 and it was still fun to watch it had some really
00:35:45 --> 00:35:48 fun moments i thought it had some really great
00:35:48 --> 00:35:51 ideas at play anybody who says you have to stop
00:35:51 --> 00:35:54 hiring youtubers to make horror movies here's
00:35:54 --> 00:35:56 the thing they're literally working on their
00:35:56 --> 00:35:58 craft every day they're making content every
00:35:58 --> 00:36:01 single day so they're out working you by by simply
00:36:01 --> 00:36:04 just going out and doing it And that's making
00:36:04 --> 00:36:07 them better. When they make a video that doesn't
00:36:07 --> 00:36:09 do well, they can look at it and say, well, why
00:36:09 --> 00:36:12 didn't that do well? And they can adjust on the
00:36:12 --> 00:36:14 fly, which is something that the old school folks
00:36:14 --> 00:36:17 just don't seem to be able to do. I think that's
00:36:17 --> 00:36:19 what it is. I think they're literally just working
00:36:19 --> 00:36:23 every day. They have a nonstop schedule of we
00:36:23 --> 00:36:25 have to get this content out or we're going to
00:36:25 --> 00:36:28 get buried in the algorithm. So they just work
00:36:28 --> 00:36:31 their asses off. They have great ideas and they
00:36:31 --> 00:36:33 have great work ethic and it's beating. everybody
00:36:33 --> 00:36:35 else instead of complaining go yeah join them
00:36:35 --> 00:36:38 because that's a that's a thing too late you
00:36:38 --> 00:36:40 have a lot of you have a lot of collectors not
00:36:40 --> 00:36:42 just youtubers but in general in instagram because
00:36:42 --> 00:36:45 not every instagram that has 10k followers is
00:36:45 --> 00:36:48 translated into a youtuber and some people can
00:36:48 --> 00:36:50 adapt to that some people can and i feel like
00:36:50 --> 00:36:52 the people who complain about youtubers doing
00:36:52 --> 00:36:55 films which again don't get me wrong i've complained
00:36:55 --> 00:36:57 about some of them but that's because those movies
00:36:57 --> 00:37:00 were horrible But yeah, if the movie's bad, you
00:37:00 --> 00:37:03 know. Yeah. I might not have loved Obsession.
00:37:03 --> 00:37:05 I don't hate it, but I didn't really love it
00:37:05 --> 00:37:07 because I've been watching horror all my life.
00:37:07 --> 00:37:09 But if you just started watching horror with
00:37:09 --> 00:37:10 Obsession, yeah, of course you're going to love
00:37:10 --> 00:37:13 it. But I give it credit where credit is due.
00:37:13 --> 00:37:17 It was a $400 or $700 budget movie and now it's
00:37:17 --> 00:37:20 doing millions. And this girl got signed in by
00:37:20 --> 00:37:22 Marvel. You're not going to catch me talking
00:37:22 --> 00:37:25 about Marvel, but you will now. I think Curry
00:37:25 --> 00:37:27 made that movie on, like you said, like $700
00:37:27 --> 00:37:30 or $800 . With Curry Barker, I think
00:37:30 --> 00:37:33 the even more impressive than that was Milk and
00:37:33 --> 00:37:35 Cereal. He made that movie for, I think, $800.
00:37:36 --> 00:37:39 And he parlayed that into a movie that would
00:37:39 --> 00:37:41 end up, I mean, grossing, what, $300 million?
00:37:42 --> 00:37:44 Probably more by now. You can love them or you
00:37:44 --> 00:37:47 can hate them, but you can't deny. that they're
00:37:47 --> 00:37:50 talented that's it's as simple as that that to
00:37:50 --> 00:37:53 me anyway so i don't know the people who want
00:37:53 --> 00:37:55 to complain because their movie's not doing well
00:37:55 --> 00:37:57 like make a better movie i don't know what to
00:37:57 --> 00:37:59 tell you man like it just didn't hit right yeah
00:37:59 --> 00:38:02 and the horror community is very adaptable too
00:38:02 --> 00:38:05 it's very always you know forgiving yeah they're
00:38:05 --> 00:38:08 also very forgiving it's not the marvel bros
00:38:08 --> 00:38:11 that it's like oh if you didn't do marvel like
00:38:11 --> 00:38:13 in the 1990s every movie now sucks it's like
00:38:13 --> 00:38:16 well not every movie as the first captain america
00:38:16 --> 00:38:17 which was bad you just don't want to admit it
00:38:17 --> 00:38:20 because everything else have sucked still the
00:38:20 --> 00:38:21 only good thing marvel has done was the original
00:38:21 --> 00:38:24 x -men movies and after that it just went downhill
00:38:24 --> 00:38:26 for me and a lot of people agree with that but
00:38:26 --> 00:38:28 i don't really care for them i am so superhero
00:38:28 --> 00:38:31 overloaded that i just i quit watching all of
00:38:31 --> 00:38:33 it i'm like i just can't it's not no shade on
00:38:33 --> 00:38:35 anybody that wants to go watch it if that again
00:38:35 --> 00:38:38 if that's what makes you happy i say go do it
00:38:38 --> 00:38:40 but It's just, it's one of those things for me
00:38:40 --> 00:38:43 where I'm like, I only have so many. Hours and
00:38:43 --> 00:38:46 years and time. I only have so much time in my
00:38:46 --> 00:38:49 life. And do I want to spend it watching something
00:38:49 --> 00:38:51 that I think is just so subpar and like just
00:38:51 --> 00:38:53 people running around in front of a green screen?
00:38:53 --> 00:38:58 I just don't. It's a reboot for me. I get that
00:38:58 --> 00:39:01 horror does reboots, but not as constantly as
00:39:01 --> 00:39:04 DC and Marvel do. Agreed. I haven't seen a lot
00:39:04 --> 00:39:06 of the new Jasons just because I saw a few of
00:39:06 --> 00:39:08 the first and I was like, this is horrible. This
00:39:08 --> 00:39:10 is not for me. Same thing with Friday the 13th.
00:39:10 --> 00:39:12 I didn't know there was one in the 2000s. But
00:39:12 --> 00:39:14 guess what? Besides the Freddy versus Jason.
00:39:14 --> 00:39:17 But I'm like, yeah, no, this is not for me. There's
00:39:17 --> 00:39:19 nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong
00:39:19 --> 00:39:20 with looking at something and saying, this is
00:39:20 --> 00:39:23 not a good use of my time. Like, this isn't what
00:39:23 --> 00:39:25 I want to watch. But then you don't have the
00:39:25 --> 00:39:28 people that are coming up also know. Lin Shay
00:39:28 --> 00:39:32 and all these people who started horror. So it's
00:39:32 --> 00:39:34 not like they're being disrespectful. Oh, we
00:39:34 --> 00:39:37 have a new horror queen now. So everybody else
00:39:37 --> 00:39:40 sucks. No, horror people are not necessarily
00:39:40 --> 00:39:42 like that. If something is bad, I feel like the
00:39:42 --> 00:39:45 whole community agrees it's bad. They watch it
00:39:45 --> 00:39:47 because they love to hate watch. Half of horror
00:39:47 --> 00:39:49 is hate watching anyway. You're laughing at how
00:39:49 --> 00:39:52 bad it is. I think it was, I think there's a
00:39:52 --> 00:39:55 quote somewhere from Kevin Smith and he was talking
00:39:55 --> 00:39:59 about Batman v Superman, the DC. movie. And he
00:39:59 --> 00:40:01 said he was talking about how when it came out,
00:40:01 --> 00:40:03 he was like, I don't think I was very nice to
00:40:03 --> 00:40:06 it. He said, I'm not going to focus on how much
00:40:06 --> 00:40:08 I hate it because I would rather spend my time
00:40:08 --> 00:40:10 talking about what I love than talking about
00:40:10 --> 00:40:13 what I hate. And it's kind of the way that I
00:40:13 --> 00:40:15 do it. If I watch a movie and I don't like it,
00:40:15 --> 00:40:16 I'm kind of like you. I'm like, it just wasn't
00:40:16 --> 00:40:19 for me. I'm going to move on from that. But no,
00:40:19 --> 00:40:20 you're not wrong. There's a lot of hate watching
00:40:20 --> 00:40:24 going on in the horror community. But I think
00:40:24 --> 00:40:27 there's also a lot of people that just. I think
00:40:27 --> 00:40:29 they just love horror. And I think like you mentioned,
00:40:29 --> 00:40:32 they're very forgiving when it comes to horror.
00:40:32 --> 00:40:34 A horror movie can be, you have your, your fans
00:40:34 --> 00:40:37 of found footage because you reminded me of found
00:40:37 --> 00:40:39 footage because you were talking about paranormal
00:40:39 --> 00:40:42 activity and they'll watch any found footage
00:40:42 --> 00:40:44 movie and they love it. You have the people that.
00:40:44 --> 00:40:47 watch any slasher movie and they find something
00:40:47 --> 00:40:49 that they love. You have the people that can
00:40:49 --> 00:40:51 watch any creature feature and they find something
00:40:51 --> 00:40:53 that they love that. I think that's why horror
00:40:53 --> 00:40:58 is, is a very successful genre because I think
00:40:58 --> 00:41:01 horror hounds will just go watch horror. And
00:41:01 --> 00:41:03 if they don't like it, they might get a little
00:41:03 --> 00:41:04 vocal about it. I've been seeing some of that
00:41:04 --> 00:41:07 recently too, but also some of them will just
00:41:07 --> 00:41:09 move on and they're like, yeah, it's not for
00:41:09 --> 00:41:11 me. And they'll move on. I think obsession got
00:41:11 --> 00:41:13 a lot of that. I think the people that didn't
00:41:13 --> 00:41:15 like it. even looked at it and said, I don't
00:41:15 --> 00:41:17 like it, but this is impressive. So I'll just
00:41:17 --> 00:41:20 move on and I'm going to let Curry have his moment,
00:41:20 --> 00:41:22 which I think is a great thing. Horror is an
00:41:22 --> 00:41:25 easier field to do well in because people just
00:41:25 --> 00:41:27 love horror. They just want to watch horror movies.
00:41:28 --> 00:41:31 You build a business around not just horror,
00:41:31 --> 00:41:35 but just around collecting. I want to know, at
00:41:35 --> 00:41:37 least from your point of view, because you covered
00:41:37 --> 00:41:39 a lot of the stuff that I wanted to ask. When
00:41:39 --> 00:41:42 you sent me your paragraph describing a little
00:41:42 --> 00:41:44 bit about your company, because I knew of the
00:41:44 --> 00:41:47 events you've been to, something that I wanted
00:41:47 --> 00:41:50 to ask you about was, what do you think people
00:41:50 --> 00:41:55 tend to misunderstand about us? collectors or
00:41:55 --> 00:41:57 just anybody who collects this stuff just from
00:41:57 --> 00:42:01 vhs to dvds to even books from your point of
00:42:01 --> 00:42:03 view from your business what do you think people
00:42:03 --> 00:42:06 misunderstand about us as collectors I'll tell
00:42:06 --> 00:42:09 you the first thing that pops into my head. If
00:42:09 --> 00:42:12 you go to a lot of the events that we go to,
00:42:12 --> 00:42:15 there are a lot of, and I use this term in the
00:42:15 --> 00:42:18 nicest way possible because I'm also this, there
00:42:18 --> 00:42:20 are a lot of weird people walking around, right?
00:42:20 --> 00:42:22 There are a lot of people with a lot of tattoos.
00:42:23 --> 00:42:25 There are a lot of people with a lot of piercings.
00:42:25 --> 00:42:29 Their hair is always really cool, crazy colors.
00:42:29 --> 00:42:33 And there's always people who just, they just.
00:42:33 --> 00:42:37 don't have anywhere else to fit in. And I think
00:42:37 --> 00:42:40 the main thing that... If you were not familiar
00:42:40 --> 00:42:43 with the physical media or horror culture in
00:42:43 --> 00:42:45 general, and you went to one of those events,
00:42:45 --> 00:42:47 you would say, well, this is just a bunch of
00:42:47 --> 00:42:49 weirdos walking around doing whatever they're
00:42:49 --> 00:42:51 doing right now. But when they, when you actually
00:42:51 --> 00:42:54 go to those events and you, you sit down and
00:42:54 --> 00:42:57 you really talk to these people, you start to
00:42:57 --> 00:42:58 realize really quickly that they're just very
00:42:58 --> 00:43:02 sentimental people. Like of all the movies I
00:43:02 --> 00:43:03 have in my collection, this is maybe the best,
00:43:03 --> 00:43:07 the best way I know to state this. of all the
00:43:07 --> 00:43:08 movies i have in my collection the one that means
00:43:08 --> 00:43:13 the most to me is a copy of the terror the Roger
00:43:13 --> 00:43:16 Corman flick. I'm a Roger Corman fanatic because
00:43:16 --> 00:43:21 of this movie, right? And back in the 1990s,
00:43:21 --> 00:43:23 my parents and my grandma, they took a road trip
00:43:23 --> 00:43:26 together. And while they were out, they stopped
00:43:26 --> 00:43:28 at, get this, because again, I'm from West Virginia,
00:43:28 --> 00:43:30 all right? We're a little bit behind the times.
00:43:31 --> 00:43:34 They saw Walmart and we didn't have Walmart in
00:43:34 --> 00:43:36 West Virginia at the time. So they were like,
00:43:36 --> 00:43:38 we're going to stop at Walmart and we'll get
00:43:38 --> 00:43:40 all the kids something to take home. And what
00:43:40 --> 00:43:42 my grandma brought me. was a copy of the terror
00:43:42 --> 00:43:45 it was a good times video copy of the terror
00:43:45 --> 00:43:49 so every time i look at that movie all i think
00:43:49 --> 00:43:52 about is her every time i play that movie i'm
00:43:52 --> 00:43:56 not just watching a movie that we used to watch
00:43:56 --> 00:43:58 together i'm watching the movie that we used
00:43:58 --> 00:44:01 to watch together It's not just a tape to me.
00:44:01 --> 00:44:05 It's a time capsule. It's a reminder of someone
00:44:05 --> 00:44:07 that I cared about a lot who cared about me a
00:44:07 --> 00:44:10 lot when she was still alive. So I think there's
00:44:10 --> 00:44:12 a lot of that in the physical media world. I
00:44:12 --> 00:44:15 think there's a lot of people that just have
00:44:15 --> 00:44:18 great memories of watching these movies with
00:44:18 --> 00:44:20 the people that they cared about a lot. I get
00:44:20 --> 00:44:22 that a lot. There was a lady who stopped at our
00:44:22 --> 00:44:26 booth back at Horror Ground. this past February.
00:44:26 --> 00:44:31 And she really wanted a copy of Big Trouble in
00:44:31 --> 00:44:34 Little China. And I was talking to her and she
00:44:34 --> 00:44:37 said, my husband recently passed away and he
00:44:37 --> 00:44:40 had, this was his favorite movie. And years ago,
00:44:40 --> 00:44:43 he decided to sell his copy and I would give
00:44:43 --> 00:44:45 anything to have that movie. I didn't have a
00:44:45 --> 00:44:48 copy of it. I literally went home. I took her
00:44:48 --> 00:44:51 information. I went home. I called a couple of
00:44:51 --> 00:44:53 friends who I knew might have a copy of it. I
00:44:53 --> 00:44:55 got a copy of it and I just gave it to her. I
00:44:55 --> 00:44:57 just mailed it to her because it touched me so
00:44:57 --> 00:45:00 much to hear her tell the story. So I think there
00:45:00 --> 00:45:03 are just you could look at the physical media
00:45:03 --> 00:45:05 collectors. You could look at people in this
00:45:05 --> 00:45:07 community and just say we're a bunch of weirdos
00:45:07 --> 00:45:09 or something like that. But deep down, I think
00:45:09 --> 00:45:12 everybody's just kind of reaching for something
00:45:12 --> 00:45:15 that that brought them joy or brings them joy.
00:45:15 --> 00:45:18 and in their hearts they're just great people
00:45:18 --> 00:45:20 who who want to watch movies that that remind
00:45:20 --> 00:45:24 them of why they love movies i guess what do
00:45:24 --> 00:45:27 you think the physical community goes from here
00:45:27 --> 00:45:30 at least like right now we're just I wouldn't
00:45:30 --> 00:45:34 say afraid, but we're very cautious and alarmed
00:45:34 --> 00:45:38 with the whole, not just AI, but just, I spoke
00:45:38 --> 00:45:42 about Sony with Super Bowl Jump recently about
00:45:42 --> 00:45:46 Sony taking out discs for games. And so I wouldn't
00:45:46 --> 00:45:48 say we're paranoid either because half of us
00:45:48 --> 00:45:50 can be like, we told you so. And we don't like
00:45:50 --> 00:45:52 to be right. I think we're all having that moment
00:45:52 --> 00:45:54 right now, right? We're telling all of our friends,
00:45:54 --> 00:45:57 we told you so. I'm never wrong. I'm just waiting
00:45:57 --> 00:46:00 for people to prove me right. And I feel like
00:46:00 --> 00:46:03 we saw, as collectors, we saw that coming. There's
00:46:03 --> 00:46:05 always the alarmist that is like, oh, physical
00:46:05 --> 00:46:07 media is dying. No, it's not. It's just you.
00:46:07 --> 00:46:09 You're asking for too much. And realistically,
00:46:10 --> 00:46:13 not all of us can purchase everything. We don't
00:46:13 --> 00:46:17 all get stuff sent by Universal or Kina Lover
00:46:17 --> 00:46:19 or Barnes & Noble to do videos with. So we can't
00:46:19 --> 00:46:22 all afford it. You can't even afford yours. That's
00:46:22 --> 00:46:24 why you have a YouTube channel and you try to
00:46:24 --> 00:46:26 make money out of it. We all collect in different
00:46:26 --> 00:46:30 ways. Moving forward, because again, we've seen
00:46:30 --> 00:46:33 the resurgence of VHS. Like I said, I started
00:46:33 --> 00:46:35 collecting some DVDs and this new generation
00:46:35 --> 00:46:39 is mostly focused on DVD. And one thing I actually
00:46:39 --> 00:46:41 want to speak to, and that's a conversation I
00:46:41 --> 00:46:46 have pending, is the... The sales and the importance,
00:46:46 --> 00:46:50 I would say, or priority of DVD in Europe. Every
00:46:50 --> 00:46:53 time I travel there, everything is just DVDs
00:46:53 --> 00:46:56 and brand new DVDs and 4K transfers, 2K transfers
00:46:56 --> 00:47:00 with DTS 5 -point. I'm like, wow. We don't even
00:47:00 --> 00:47:03 get a 2 -point over there for a new release.
00:47:04 --> 00:47:08 And that's their main sale. Yeah, that's why
00:47:08 --> 00:47:11 the best investment. is an all region player
00:47:11 --> 00:47:14 right now that's the best investment oh yes yeah
00:47:14 --> 00:47:16 i i keep telling people that i'm like i got one
00:47:16 --> 00:47:19 for 99 go ahead and get yours i'd rather buy
00:47:19 --> 00:47:23 stuff on on ebay even if it's region locked and
00:47:23 --> 00:47:26 just use my my blu -ray player because it's cheaper
00:47:26 --> 00:47:29 too but if you can order of and a good amount
00:47:29 --> 00:47:33 of dvds or blu -rays from ebay from london or
00:47:33 --> 00:47:35 wherever they sell them it's actually cheaper
00:47:35 --> 00:47:37 than just buying them here too i'm interested
00:47:37 --> 00:47:39 in knowing what do you think is going to happen
00:47:39 --> 00:47:42 within the physical media community when it comes
00:47:42 --> 00:47:46 to new physical releases i'm going to say something
00:47:46 --> 00:47:49 that that i genuinely believe right now i think
00:47:49 --> 00:47:52 we are right now we're living in and maybe the
00:47:52 --> 00:47:55 golden age of physical media releases, thanks
00:47:55 --> 00:47:58 to people like Arrow, thanks to people like Vinegar
00:47:58 --> 00:48:02 Syndrome, thanks to Screen Factory. We have more
00:48:02 --> 00:48:06 access to physical copies of rare, hard -to -find,
00:48:06 --> 00:48:10 cool movies than we've maybe ever had in my lifetime.
00:48:10 --> 00:48:14 I'm 40, and I remember early, really early, I
00:48:14 --> 00:48:16 couldn't find the movies that I can find now.
00:48:16 --> 00:48:20 But I am concerned that the bubble is going to
00:48:20 --> 00:48:23 pop. Because it will. I mean, eventually everything
00:48:23 --> 00:48:25 does. If you're Vinegar Syndrome, if you're Severin
00:48:25 --> 00:48:28 Films, if you're whoever it is, you can only...
00:48:29 --> 00:48:33 rediscover and come up with these bizarre off
00:48:33 --> 00:48:36 the beaten path movies for so long before eventually
00:48:36 --> 00:48:39 you're just re -releasing the same movie in a
00:48:39 --> 00:48:43 new format or or in a like an upgraded version
00:48:43 --> 00:48:45 and i feel like we're already starting to see
00:48:45 --> 00:48:48 it i think a lot of these boutique labels are
00:48:48 --> 00:48:53 just re -releasing their films um with upgraded
00:48:53 --> 00:48:55 versions and some of the newer releases have
00:48:55 --> 00:49:00 been just movies that are just not not Like they
00:49:00 --> 00:49:02 like I can't remember what movie it was recently
00:49:02 --> 00:49:04 that I picked up and I was like a DVD of this
00:49:04 --> 00:49:07 would have been way more than enough. I think
00:49:07 --> 00:49:09 we're I think we're watching the bubble potentially
00:49:09 --> 00:49:13 start to pop. Do I think it goes away? No, I
00:49:13 --> 00:49:15 think like anything else, it just sort of resets
00:49:15 --> 00:49:18 and then comes back around. I think people in
00:49:18 --> 00:49:20 my line of business, which is selling mostly
00:49:20 --> 00:49:25 secondhand or vintage copies of these movies,
00:49:25 --> 00:49:27 I think it's at the end of the day, it'll probably
00:49:27 --> 00:49:30 be good for us. because we'll have better access
00:49:30 --> 00:49:34 to more stuff. At the same time, I think it'll
00:49:34 --> 00:49:37 be maybe some bad news for the companies that
00:49:37 --> 00:49:40 are doing that type of business. I think it stays.
00:49:40 --> 00:49:43 I don't think physical media in our lifetimes
00:49:43 --> 00:49:45 will go anywhere. It'll certainly keep getting
00:49:45 --> 00:49:48 smaller, but just because less people are manufacturing
00:49:48 --> 00:49:52 it now. I just recently read that Blu -ray players
00:49:52 --> 00:49:55 are... now gone i don't think anybody's making
00:49:55 --> 00:49:57 new blu -ray players or there were down to just
00:49:57 --> 00:50:00 like one place making new blu -ray players i
00:50:00 --> 00:50:02 could be wrong on that fact check me if you want
00:50:02 --> 00:50:05 to i think it is true i think sony stopped i
00:50:05 --> 00:50:07 think it's panasonic the one who's still doing
00:50:07 --> 00:50:09 them i think they're i think they're the last
00:50:09 --> 00:50:11 holdout so i think that's going to be the main
00:50:11 --> 00:50:16 prohibitive thing is that people are i think
00:50:16 --> 00:50:19 that companies are going to stop making it and
00:50:19 --> 00:50:20 you're going to have you're going to have to
00:50:20 --> 00:50:24 start relying on very small very boutique places
00:50:24 --> 00:50:27 doing it right until it gets more wind in its
00:50:27 --> 00:50:29 cell again so i i think right now we're at the
00:50:29 --> 00:50:33 the zenith of of where we go as collectors and
00:50:33 --> 00:50:35 i've just been waiting the last couple years
00:50:35 --> 00:50:38 for the bubble to burst and i remember telling
00:50:38 --> 00:50:40 my wife one time i was like i think when we start
00:50:40 --> 00:50:42 to see them re -releasing the same movies over
00:50:42 --> 00:50:45 and over again i'm going to start worrying and
00:50:45 --> 00:50:47 this last year i've been very concerned super
00:50:47 --> 00:50:50 concerned because i've been seeing a lot of it
00:50:50 --> 00:50:52 so yeah you try to prepare for the apocalypse
00:50:52 --> 00:50:55 every time every time physical media is dying
00:50:55 --> 00:50:58 you try to prepare for the apocalypse every vcr
00:50:58 --> 00:51:01 that i can realistically get working i buy every
00:51:01 --> 00:51:04 blu -ray player that i know still works i pick
00:51:04 --> 00:51:07 it up because i sell them to our customers i
00:51:07 --> 00:51:10 hold on to them for myself and And eventually
00:51:10 --> 00:51:13 those are going to be gone and having good versions
00:51:13 --> 00:51:15 of them that still work is going to be really
00:51:15 --> 00:51:18 important because even since I started doing
00:51:18 --> 00:51:20 this, it's become harder and harder and harder
00:51:20 --> 00:51:24 to find working examples of these things. I was
00:51:24 --> 00:51:25 going to ask you because I was going through
00:51:25 --> 00:51:27 your Instagram page and I saw something about
00:51:27 --> 00:51:31 Rewind Rolodex. What is Rewind Rolodex? Okay,
00:51:31 --> 00:51:34 so that is actually not something that we put
00:51:34 --> 00:51:36 together. Have you ever heard of VHS's life before?
00:51:37 --> 00:51:42 No. Okay. I think you tagged them, right? Yeah,
00:51:42 --> 00:51:46 absolutely. You did a story just now with VHS.
00:51:46 --> 00:51:48 I think I started following them today or yesterday.
00:51:49 --> 00:51:52 You definitely should because Tony runs VHS's
00:51:52 --> 00:51:56 life and what Tony did for our community is spectacular.
00:51:57 --> 00:52:00 He created a machine that you can use to clean
00:52:00 --> 00:52:04 the mold off of your VHS tapes. So you can take
00:52:04 --> 00:52:08 your tape apart. You can basically put the reels
00:52:08 --> 00:52:11 on a spindle and you can run it through and you
00:52:11 --> 00:52:14 can use alcohol to clean. The, the mold off of
00:52:14 --> 00:52:16 your tapes, while you have it apart, you can
00:52:16 --> 00:52:18 go through the actual tape housing itself and
00:52:18 --> 00:52:22 you can clean it all up. So Tony started VHS
00:52:22 --> 00:52:24 his life. He makes these machines literally in
00:52:24 --> 00:52:28 like his garage. He makes these himself. They're
00:52:28 --> 00:52:31 being used by, I think he said the Smithsonian
00:52:31 --> 00:52:35 has one. Several major museums over in Europe
00:52:35 --> 00:52:38 are using them now. I use them on our tapes.
00:52:38 --> 00:52:41 If we ever get any that have mold, I clean them
00:52:41 --> 00:52:45 and reassemble them and fix any error, any issues
00:52:45 --> 00:52:48 that they may have. Change the little pins, do
00:52:48 --> 00:52:51 all that stuff. So Tony, the reason I bring him
00:52:51 --> 00:52:54 up, he started the Rewind Rolodex, which is a
00:52:54 --> 00:52:57 website that you can go to where you can find
00:52:57 --> 00:53:00 just tons of resources for people who are physical
00:53:00 --> 00:53:03 media collectors. So he's got a tab on there
00:53:03 --> 00:53:05 for video stores. So if you wanted to find the
00:53:05 --> 00:53:08 closest video store to you, you can go on there.
00:53:08 --> 00:53:12 He's got online resources, like people who sell
00:53:12 --> 00:53:14 their stuff online. He's got resources for people
00:53:14 --> 00:53:17 that can clean and repair tapes and VCRs and
00:53:17 --> 00:53:21 CRT TVs. He's got just this amazing directory.
00:53:21 --> 00:53:25 We're on there both as a video store and as a,
00:53:25 --> 00:53:29 we do digitizing and tape cleaning and fixing
00:53:29 --> 00:53:31 broken tapes and all that. So we're all there
00:53:31 --> 00:53:34 for that too. So it's just a really cool directory
00:53:34 --> 00:53:37 that you can go on there and find just a million
00:53:37 --> 00:53:40 resources for anybody that's in this world. So
00:53:40 --> 00:53:43 yeah, I saw his pictures and I was taken aback.
00:53:43 --> 00:53:47 I was like, wow, it was a lot. It's a process,
00:53:47 --> 00:53:50 again. We talked about it at the beginning. People
00:53:50 --> 00:53:53 don't understand what it takes to restore all
00:53:53 --> 00:53:56 these things. Yeah, I don't feel so bad now paying
00:53:56 --> 00:54:00 $40 for a Blu -ray. Exactly. I mean, you think
00:54:00 --> 00:54:03 about these box sets that they put out, the ones
00:54:03 --> 00:54:06 that Severin puts out, where it's like the full
00:54:06 --> 00:54:09 -corner box set that they did, the Al Adamson
00:54:09 --> 00:54:13 box set. You're getting like... 30, 25 or 30
00:54:13 --> 00:54:16 movies or something. And it's like 150 to $200.
00:54:16 --> 00:54:19 And when you look at the mammoth amount of work
00:54:19 --> 00:54:21 that these companies are putting into these releases,
00:54:21 --> 00:54:25 whether it's restoration or whatever it is, all
00:54:25 --> 00:54:28 the packaging design, I don't even know how they're
00:54:28 --> 00:54:30 making money with all the work they have to put
00:54:30 --> 00:54:34 into it because it's crazy. I mean, for me, I'll
00:54:34 --> 00:54:36 find a tape and it might be a tape that's worth
00:54:36 --> 00:54:42 15 to $25 and cleaning it. repairing it, pricing
00:54:42 --> 00:54:44 it, doing all that stuff. It takes me an hour
00:54:44 --> 00:54:45 to do that, right? It takes me an hour, sometimes
00:54:45 --> 00:54:48 two hours to work on some of this stuff. And
00:54:48 --> 00:54:50 then all of that to have someone come up at a
00:54:50 --> 00:54:52 convention and say, your prices are too high.
00:54:52 --> 00:54:55 And I'm like, okay, thanks. I appreciate that.
00:54:55 --> 00:54:58 At one of the most recent ones that we did, I
00:54:58 --> 00:54:59 was talking to some of the other vendors and
00:54:59 --> 00:55:02 there was this kid that came up and he called
00:55:02 --> 00:55:05 me a scumbag reseller. And I was like, well,
00:55:05 --> 00:55:08 you're at a vintage. What do you think everybody
00:55:08 --> 00:55:11 here is doing? They're all reselling. I've had
00:55:11 --> 00:55:13 people come up with, come up to me and like literally
00:55:13 --> 00:55:16 pick up a tape and, and look at me and say, you're
00:55:16 --> 00:55:18 crazy. This isn't worth that. And just put it
00:55:18 --> 00:55:20 down and walk off. And so many times I just want
00:55:20 --> 00:55:23 to say, okay, the next time you. actually climb
00:55:23 --> 00:55:26 your ass in a dumpster and pull out that tape
00:55:26 --> 00:55:29 and then take it apart and clean it and repair
00:55:29 --> 00:55:32 it and test it and then put it in your car and
00:55:32 --> 00:55:35 drive it six hours to get it to you. You can
00:55:35 --> 00:55:37 talk to me about prices. I get that the price
00:55:37 --> 00:55:40 is high, but it's a real vintage piece. It's
00:55:40 --> 00:55:43 tested. It's working. It's clean. It's not going
00:55:43 --> 00:55:46 to infect your VCR with mold, but. For the most
00:55:46 --> 00:55:50 part, like 99 .9 % of the people that come up
00:55:50 --> 00:55:53 and talk to us, the most genuinely great people
00:55:53 --> 00:55:56 on earth. But yeah, the restoration piece of
00:55:56 --> 00:55:59 it, specifically with those tapes, man, it's
00:55:59 --> 00:56:02 a lot of work. We even go out and buy tapes that
00:56:02 --> 00:56:05 don't have slips and my wife will design covers
00:56:05 --> 00:56:07 for them. We call them naked tapes and we put
00:56:07 --> 00:56:09 them in a clamshell and she makes her own custom
00:56:09 --> 00:56:12 cover for it. And we sell it at a discount because
00:56:12 --> 00:56:14 we understand it's not the original cover, but
00:56:14 --> 00:56:17 it is an original. take and i think they deserve
00:56:17 --> 00:56:20 to have a a new life we do everything we can
00:56:20 --> 00:56:23 to be as fair as possible but like through all
00:56:23 --> 00:56:25 the the restoration work that we have to do the
00:56:25 --> 00:56:27 cleaning everything like that there's going to
00:56:27 --> 00:56:29 be an upcharge to some things it's just kind
00:56:29 --> 00:56:32 of the way it works yeah before we close i still
00:56:32 --> 00:56:35 want to ask you a few more questions about asterisk
00:56:35 --> 00:56:38 video what's coming up next for asterisk video
00:56:38 --> 00:56:40 There's going to be a big update on something
00:56:40 --> 00:56:43 that we've been working on for two years coming
00:56:43 --> 00:56:46 this, this winter. So I can't say what it is
00:56:46 --> 00:56:48 yet because there's still a couple of things
00:56:48 --> 00:56:50 you've got to iron out, but we've got some cool
00:56:50 --> 00:56:52 stuff coming up. We're working on something new
00:56:52 --> 00:56:54 that I think people are going to be really excited
00:56:54 --> 00:56:56 about, especially the people that already follow
00:56:56 --> 00:56:59 us. So be on the lookout for that. But as far
00:56:59 --> 00:57:02 as. events and stuff like that we have a ton
00:57:02 --> 00:57:06 coming up we just like literally today i signed
00:57:06 --> 00:57:09 up for i signed us up for another event like
00:57:09 --> 00:57:12 an idiot we may be hosting our own event maybe
00:57:12 --> 00:57:14 this november we're looking into that trying
00:57:14 --> 00:57:17 to bring some people to morgantown west virginia
00:57:17 --> 00:57:20 to do uh to do a cool um tape trading day so
00:57:20 --> 00:57:23 that could be potentially coming up in the very
00:57:23 --> 00:57:25 near future. It depends on when this episode
00:57:25 --> 00:57:29 comes out, but on August 29th, we'll be in Youngstown,
00:57:29 --> 00:57:33 Ohio at Rewind or Die. That is a wrestling event
00:57:33 --> 00:57:36 coupled with a movie screening where they're
00:57:36 --> 00:57:39 showing Predator and I think they live. I believe
00:57:39 --> 00:57:41 that seems like a fun event. After that, we're
00:57:41 --> 00:57:46 going to be up in Pennsylvania at Mr. Extravaganza,
00:57:46 --> 00:57:48 I think is what it's called. They're doing like
00:57:48 --> 00:57:51 a George Romero screening up there. We got invited
00:57:51 --> 00:57:53 to that one and I was super stoked about that
00:57:53 --> 00:57:55 because I love drive -ins. Then we're going to
00:57:55 --> 00:57:58 be back at our normal dead media markets in Akron,
00:57:58 --> 00:58:00 Ohio. And then we're going to Sinister Horror
00:58:00 --> 00:58:03 Fest after that. We got a couple more before
00:58:03 --> 00:58:05 the end of the year, before we take a break.
00:58:05 --> 00:58:07 Because we always take a break in November and
00:58:07 --> 00:58:09 December. spend time with our families. We don't
00:58:09 --> 00:58:12 go out and buy tapes or anything like that. We
00:58:12 --> 00:58:15 just take it easy. That's the time to dedicate
00:58:15 --> 00:58:20 to the family. See their faces. Yeah, and it's
00:58:20 --> 00:58:22 one of those things where what's coming up for
00:58:22 --> 00:58:24 us is just we're going to keep working. We're
00:58:24 --> 00:58:27 going to keep on showing up at our events. We're
00:58:27 --> 00:58:29 going to keep on trying to rescue as many tapes
00:58:29 --> 00:58:31 as we can and get them into the hands of people
00:58:31 --> 00:58:33 that want them. DVDs, Blu -rays, all that stuff
00:58:33 --> 00:58:37 too. But we do have something cool coming up.
00:58:37 --> 00:58:39 Like I said, I can't go into too much detail
00:58:39 --> 00:58:41 or I might make that deal fall through because
00:58:41 --> 00:58:45 I'm very excited about it. You can tag me when
00:58:45 --> 00:58:48 it's out and I'll speak about it here. You can
00:58:48 --> 00:58:49 just come back and talk about the project later
00:58:49 --> 00:58:52 on. Anytime you want to hang out and talk, I'm
00:58:52 --> 00:58:55 down to hang out and talk. Where can people find
00:58:55 --> 00:58:57 Astro's video and yourselves for that matter?
00:58:58 --> 00:59:00 We're on Instagram. We're on Facebook. Those
00:59:00 --> 00:59:03 are the main two places that you can find us.
00:59:03 --> 00:59:05 I invite anybody who's listening to this or anybody
00:59:05 --> 00:59:08 in general, just come up and hang out with us.
00:59:08 --> 00:59:10 We love hanging out at shows and just talking
00:59:10 --> 00:59:13 about movies. When I say I. I love doing what
00:59:13 --> 00:59:16 we do. I mean it. I could hang out at these events
00:59:16 --> 00:59:18 and talk movies all day long. Like I've said
00:59:18 --> 00:59:20 a couple of times, we live in a very small town
00:59:20 --> 00:59:23 in West Virginia. Love the small town life. Love
00:59:23 --> 00:59:25 living here. Wouldn't trade it for anything in
00:59:25 --> 00:59:27 the world. I think I live in the greatest state
00:59:27 --> 00:59:30 in the nation. Even though loads of people would
00:59:30 --> 00:59:31 disagree with me, you should come here and hang
00:59:31 --> 00:59:34 out. It's cooler than you think. Sometimes I
00:59:34 --> 00:59:36 need to go out and talk to my movie people. And
00:59:36 --> 00:59:38 that's what these events are for for us. It's
00:59:38 --> 00:59:41 getting out and talking. I would say come out
00:59:41 --> 00:59:43 to it. If you see us vending something and you
00:59:43 --> 00:59:45 want to come out and bullshit a little bit and
00:59:45 --> 00:59:47 talk about movies and not even buy a tape, I
00:59:47 --> 00:59:48 don't care. Come up and talk. I'll give you a
00:59:48 --> 00:59:50 sticker and you can hang out at the table for
00:59:50 --> 00:59:52 a while. I'll let you run the table for a while
00:59:52 --> 00:59:55 if you want. I don't mind. That's the coolest
00:59:55 --> 00:59:57 thing. I'm going to be tagging all your information
00:59:57 --> 01:00:00 here on the show notes below so everyone can
01:00:00 --> 01:00:02 find you guys. A last question regarding collecting.
01:00:03 --> 01:00:06 If someone listening today to this episode is
01:00:06 --> 01:00:08 going to start collecting physical media, what's
01:00:08 --> 01:00:12 the best advice you can give them? Not to take
01:00:12 --> 01:00:14 any money out of my pocket, Facebook marketplace,
01:00:15 --> 01:00:17 because if you're just getting it, if you're
01:00:17 --> 01:00:20 just getting into collecting and you want to
01:00:20 --> 01:00:23 find a lot of movies for cheap and you're not
01:00:23 --> 01:00:25 necessarily looking for like the, the high end,
01:00:26 --> 01:00:28 cause it gets, let's be honest here, man. And
01:00:28 --> 01:00:30 you can attest to this cause you've already said
01:00:30 --> 01:00:33 it on this. It gets expensive. Sometimes price
01:00:33 --> 01:00:36 is very prohibitive for people getting into this
01:00:36 --> 01:00:38 world. But my advice would be go to Facebook
01:00:38 --> 01:00:40 marketplace, look for DVD collections because.
01:00:41 --> 01:00:43 Even if you get some and you don't want all of
01:00:43 --> 01:00:46 them, you can re -gift those to friends. You
01:00:46 --> 01:00:48 can give them to your local library. We'll probably
01:00:48 --> 01:00:52 take donations from you of DVDs. There's little
01:00:52 --> 01:00:55 free... blockbuster things all over the country
01:00:55 --> 01:00:56 now that you can put the ones you don't want
01:00:56 --> 01:00:58 in and just take the ones you do want but like
01:00:58 --> 01:01:01 i i find dvd collections all the time for like
01:01:01 --> 01:01:03 20 bucks on facebook marketplace and that's a
01:01:03 --> 01:01:06 really good place to start um the other thing
01:01:06 --> 01:01:08 that i'll that i'll always tell people to do
01:01:08 --> 01:01:11 because this is my my tactic for my personal
01:01:11 --> 01:01:16 collection um is uh go to vinegar syndrome seven
01:01:16 --> 01:01:18 films places like that when they do their big
01:01:18 --> 01:01:21 sales especially vinegar syndrome when they do
01:01:21 --> 01:01:24 their subscriber week sales those are even better
01:01:24 --> 01:01:26 than their black friday and halfway to black
01:01:26 --> 01:01:29 friday sales and you can get loads of movies
01:01:29 --> 01:01:32 for a hundred bucks. There's some really fun
01:01:32 --> 01:01:35 stuff in there that will almost always hold its
01:01:35 --> 01:01:36 value too. So you're not going to like lose a
01:01:36 --> 01:01:38 bunch of money if you have to get rid of it and
01:01:38 --> 01:01:40 chuck it on eBay or something like that. Go to
01:01:40 --> 01:01:44 your local library. I'll throw that out there
01:01:44 --> 01:01:46 because your library probably has a massive collection
01:01:46 --> 01:01:49 of physical media and they probably have ones
01:01:49 --> 01:01:51 they're getting rid of that they would be willing
01:01:51 --> 01:01:54 to give away. You can always go ask. Flea markets
01:01:54 --> 01:01:56 are really good places. But if you're going to
01:01:56 --> 01:02:00 get into VHS, check your tapes for mold. I can't
01:02:00 --> 01:02:03 tell you how many people have come up to me at
01:02:03 --> 01:02:04 events and been like, I bought these from somebody
01:02:04 --> 01:02:07 else and they're covered with mold. I've had
01:02:07 --> 01:02:09 tapes on my table and someone's opened it and
01:02:09 --> 01:02:11 like, oh, you've got mold on this. That's the
01:02:11 --> 01:02:14 world of VHS tapes, guys. They get mold on them.
01:02:14 --> 01:02:16 I have literally stood at our table with a screwdriver
01:02:16 --> 01:02:19 and shown people how to take a tape apart and
01:02:19 --> 01:02:21 how to clean mold off of them. I don't want to
01:02:21 --> 01:02:24 gatekeep. I can clean the mold for you, but you
01:02:24 --> 01:02:26 can also save money and just do it your damn
01:02:26 --> 01:02:29 self. It's not that hard. We used to. Yeah. Yeah.
01:02:29 --> 01:02:32 We used to grow up. We used to. Yeah. Ask your
01:02:32 --> 01:02:34 parents if they have any DVDs they don't want
01:02:34 --> 01:02:36 to keep anymore. They'll probably let you take
01:02:36 --> 01:02:39 all of them. They don't want them anymore. The
01:02:39 --> 01:02:55 physical cut presets scream at 30. Well, Matt,
01:02:55 --> 01:02:58 before we go, we did speak at the beginning.
01:02:58 --> 01:03:00 I did mention to you that throughout the year
01:03:00 --> 01:03:04 I'm doing a silly tribute, but it means a lot
01:03:04 --> 01:03:09 to me, for Scream, the original, the OG, 1996.
01:03:10 --> 01:03:13 Can I, so super quick, can I tell you a story
01:03:13 --> 01:03:14 about Scream really quick? Oh, yeah, because
01:03:14 --> 01:03:16 I was going to ask you for you to tell me your
01:03:16 --> 01:03:18 story, so go ahead. Oh, is that what you're after,
01:03:19 --> 01:03:21 is the story? Oh, oh my God, so listen. Don't
01:03:21 --> 01:03:23 worry, you answered my question in the whole
01:03:23 --> 01:03:26 outline, no worries. This is a real story. This
01:03:26 --> 01:03:28 actually happened to me. So when I was growing
01:03:28 --> 01:03:31 up, I grew up in a small, in a town called Logan,
01:03:31 --> 01:03:33 West Virginia, down in the Southern cold fields
01:03:33 --> 01:03:37 of West Virginia. And my local video store was
01:03:37 --> 01:03:41 stalling this video. I worshiped this place.
01:03:41 --> 01:03:44 Like I would, I was like, I would go check out
01:03:44 --> 01:03:47 six movies and I would be right back at 10 a
01:03:47 --> 01:03:49 .m. the next morning when they opened, bringing
01:03:49 --> 01:03:52 those six back and getting six more. I basically
01:03:52 --> 01:03:54 had an open line of credit with Stalin's video
01:03:54 --> 01:03:59 and I checked out our rented screen. Because
01:03:59 --> 01:04:01 my parents wouldn't take me to the theaters and
01:04:01 --> 01:04:03 see it. I was only 10 years old when that movie
01:04:03 --> 01:04:05 came out. So I rented it because my parents also
01:04:05 --> 01:04:08 were like, listen, if he wants to rent R -rated
01:04:08 --> 01:04:10 stuff, anything but what's behind the curtains,
01:04:10 --> 01:04:12 he can check them out. He's pretty advanced for
01:04:12 --> 01:04:14 his age. I don't think that's R -rated behind
01:04:14 --> 01:04:16 the curtain. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's a little
01:04:16 --> 01:04:19 more extreme. So I rent Scream, right? And I
01:04:19 --> 01:04:21 take it home. And I swear to God, I put this
01:04:21 --> 01:04:24 tape in. It goes through the upcoming attractions.
01:04:24 --> 01:04:27 It goes through everything. And I'm watching
01:04:27 --> 01:04:29 this movie and the whole opening where she gets
01:04:29 --> 01:04:32 the phone call and she's answering the questions
01:04:32 --> 01:04:35 and he turns on the light and you see her dead
01:04:35 --> 01:04:37 boyfriend. He's sitting there and he cuts his
01:04:37 --> 01:04:40 gut. His guts fall out. I'm like, holy shit.
01:04:40 --> 01:04:44 Yeah. Sorry. Spoiler. Spoiler. You can put spoiler
01:04:44 --> 01:04:47 alert to the end when it gets to the part where
01:04:47 --> 01:04:51 she's running. And. And then her parents see
01:04:51 --> 01:04:53 her. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Spoilers.
01:04:53 --> 01:04:56 Oh, no. I was joking about the spoilers. When
01:04:56 --> 01:04:59 it gets to the part where her parents come home,
01:04:59 --> 01:05:00 the house is filled with smoke and they come
01:05:00 --> 01:05:03 out and her mom is screaming and you see her
01:05:03 --> 01:05:05 hung from the tree where their guts hanging out.
01:05:05 --> 01:05:10 The fucking tape broke. Oh, the tape broke. And
01:05:10 --> 01:05:14 I was like, what? What? And I pull it out and
01:05:14 --> 01:05:16 I'm like, what time is it? It was like midnight.
01:05:16 --> 01:05:19 Right. So I'm like, oh, no. What was like, what
01:05:19 --> 01:05:21 am I going to do? And I go, I go and tell my
01:05:21 --> 01:05:23 dad, well, listen, this tape broke, we got to
01:05:23 --> 01:05:25 fix this. And he's like, I'm not taking that
01:05:25 --> 01:05:27 apart because that's not ours. And I'll get in
01:05:27 --> 01:05:28 trouble for it. You got to take it back then
01:05:28 --> 01:05:31 tomorrow. So I go back to the video store the
01:05:31 --> 01:05:34 next morning and I'm like, this broke. I need
01:05:34 --> 01:05:36 another copy. And he's like, dude, every copy
01:05:36 --> 01:05:39 of that movie is out right now. And I was like,
01:05:39 --> 01:05:41 okay, when is it going to come back in? He's
01:05:41 --> 01:05:42 like, there should be one back in the day. But
01:05:42 --> 01:05:45 I have a list of people waiting for the movie
01:05:45 --> 01:05:47 and why they have so many copies. I had to wait
01:05:47 --> 01:05:51 two fucking months to finally see that movie
01:05:51 --> 01:05:54 after the tape broke. All I knew about the movie
01:05:54 --> 01:05:57 was that much. And then right when the Scream
01:05:57 --> 01:06:00 logo came up. boom the tape broke and i was screwed
01:06:00 --> 01:06:04 so that movie became just complete legend in
01:06:04 --> 01:06:08 in my personal canon because it was like this
01:06:08 --> 01:06:12 extreme for me at the time, extreme horror moment.
01:06:12 --> 01:06:14 And then the tape broke and I had to go for two
01:06:14 --> 01:06:17 months. So by the time I finally got to watch
01:06:17 --> 01:06:19 it, I was like, this is the greatest thing I've
01:06:19 --> 01:06:22 ever seen. And it's to this day, still my favorite
01:06:22 --> 01:06:25 slasher movie, just my absolute favorite slasher
01:06:25 --> 01:06:28 movie. And it's just because probably the tape
01:06:28 --> 01:06:31 broke when I was watching it. So all of you kids
01:06:31 --> 01:06:33 who think that you're going to love VHS tapes,
01:06:33 --> 01:06:35 wait until one breaks when you're really into
01:06:35 --> 01:06:37 it. Then you'll see how much you love VHS tapes.
01:06:37 --> 01:06:40 I had to buy mine. I had to buy mine. I kept
01:06:40 --> 01:06:43 mine for about two months. And I spoke about
01:06:43 --> 01:06:46 that already on the pod that the store owner
01:06:46 --> 01:06:49 told me to buy it from him. And when you have
01:06:49 --> 01:06:52 a video store. a home video so you have to pay
01:06:52 --> 01:06:54 for licensing so he said just pay me the license
01:06:54 --> 01:06:56 and you can just take the vhs because you've
01:06:56 --> 01:06:59 had it for so long you keep paying you could
01:06:59 --> 01:07:01 have bought it by now and back then i didn't
01:07:01 --> 01:07:04 know besides blockbuster i didn't really buy
01:07:04 --> 01:07:06 movies because they were expensive yeah and i
01:07:06 --> 01:07:09 was probably 14 ish i don't even know how old
01:07:09 --> 01:07:13 i was at 97 or 98 and so he would say yeah just
01:07:13 --> 01:07:16 buy it so i paid him 98 from my allowance for
01:07:16 --> 01:07:20 the vhs just to pay off everybody yeah and i
01:07:20 --> 01:07:22 kept that and i lost it because i moved around
01:07:22 --> 01:07:26 a lot so i lost it and i hunted down a good edition
01:07:26 --> 01:07:28 of the vhs and i finally found one for like about
01:07:28 --> 01:07:31 25 bucks which which i assume to pay at least
01:07:31 --> 01:07:34 100 more just because of inflation and it's one
01:07:34 --> 01:07:36 of my favorite slashers but it's also wes craven
01:07:36 --> 01:07:39 is very good at what he does i think him and
01:07:39 --> 01:07:41 john carpenter are pretty very good at what they
01:07:41 --> 01:07:45 do and it's a staple i own every time i see a
01:07:45 --> 01:07:47 vhs copy of that movie i buy it just in case
01:07:47 --> 01:07:49 it's better than the one that i currently have
01:07:49 --> 01:07:52 i also don't have my original anymore it got
01:07:52 --> 01:07:54 destroyed years and years and years ago but i
01:07:54 --> 01:07:56 have a good I have a couple of good copies of
01:07:56 --> 01:07:58 my collection now, so I'm pretty happy, but yeah,
01:07:59 --> 01:08:01 scream is, I feel like that's one of the movies
01:08:01 --> 01:08:04 you had to be there in the mid nineties to understand
01:08:04 --> 01:08:06 that in the Blair witch project, you kind of
01:08:06 --> 01:08:09 had to live those to understand why. And I still
01:08:09 --> 01:08:12 say like when people ask what are like, cause
01:08:12 --> 01:08:14 I will say sometimes there are movies that should
01:08:14 --> 01:08:21 be watched on VHS instead of other formats. Thank
01:08:21 --> 01:08:23 you so much, Matt, for joining me here today.
01:08:23 --> 01:08:26 But if you are listening to this, you can follow
01:08:26 --> 01:08:30 Matt and Brittany at Asterisk Video on Instagram.
01:08:30 --> 01:08:33 I'm going to be linking those here below. You
01:08:33 --> 01:08:35 can follow The Physical Cut at The Physical Cut
01:08:35 --> 01:08:38 Pod on Instagram. And you can also check out
01:08:38 --> 01:08:41 our website at krpodlab .com. That's K -R -P
01:08:41 --> 01:08:44 -O -D -L -A -B dot com. Thank you so much for
01:08:44 --> 01:08:46 listening to The Physical Cut, where films live
01:08:46 --> 01:08:48 beyond the stream. And I will see you guys next
01:08:48 --> 01:08:48 time.