This is a
temporary place holder
more to come
BLANK (well --
mostly not) BETA TAPES
The BETA format is (well.... was) the best video tape format ever to
be
marketed.
Unfortunately Sony, the company that came up with this terrific
consumer video format, decided to throw in the towel as of the early
1990s. Betamax machines are not longer sold here in the US. Not sure
if they are still sold in Japan either for that matter. DVDs have more
or less replaced the tape format in our ever changing consumer market.
Even though I loved my ancient Sony HF-900, the old workhorse
finally
crapped out in early 2000. So, reluctantly, I've decided to say bon
voyage
to my beta collection.
So, if you are a beta-phile and are
looking for blank video tapes
in this format -- READ ON!
A little history:
Sometime in 1978, flush with a few loose bucks from a great new job, I
walked
into Madman Muntz's stereo store in the San Fernando Valley and bought
my first Betamax videotape recorder. The old man himself was there
haunting his customers. He even tried to talk me out of buying the
beatmax. He practically bullied me into purchasing a VHS machine, the
old crank!
My first betamax was a top loading Toshiba that worked flawlessly until
about 1985 when the loading system failed.
By then I had purchased a new stereo beta machine so the Toshiba ended
up in its box in storage and eventually I passed it on.
Starting in 1978 I purchased several cases of blank tapes (a case = 10
tapes) and began recording TV shows. At the time I thought I'd just
record a few and watch them, then erase the tapes by recording over
them. Made sense.
I ended up wanting to keep almost everything I recorded -- like a
library.
How's that for silly? But who knew way back then that TV shows would
eventually be re-released in DVD?
Because hard editing tended to cause video and audio breakups, a
majority of these tapes include the commercials from that time. So you
could think of these as time capsules, little mylar and iron oxide
museum pieces. A lot has changed in 29 years...
___________
So the following library of tapes are for sale, as BLANK
MEDIA. I have to sell these as
blank media for legal reasons. If you desire to know what is on these
tapes I can provide the
information after the sale. I won't
"publish" the list here. Suffice it to say that due to the age of some
of these tapes, the quality varies from excellent to good to poor. Many
of my earlier recordings were captured with an antenna or rabbit ears
before the advent of cable.
You will notice that not all the tapes are listed
as available for sale as I am transferring some
of them over to DVD for
my own personal use. Those exceptions are noted
with a blue "HOLDING" label.
Over time the entire collection will become
available.
I have 376 blank beta
tapes. I will sell them individually --
in groups of two or
more -- or the entire collection!
ITEM STATUS:
If
an item is being witheld for copying purposes, a blue HOLDING
label will occupy that number
IF AN ITEM GETS SOLD: A RED
LABEL WILL INDICATE "SOLD" -- THAT
ITEM WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE ANY MORE.
IF AN ITEM IS PENDING SALE: A
GREEN LABEL "SALE
PENDING"
WILL ACCOMPANY THE DESCRIPTION.
$1.00
per tape!!
Buyer will assume the
shipping costs.
Depending on the number of tapes you
order, and the combined weight,
shipping is actually cheaper if you buy in bulk.
E-MAIL ME
to make arrangements.
Key:
L-750 = Tape length
Sony = Brand Name
NB = No Box
BETA TAPE BLANK MEDIA LIBRARY
Updated: 3-2007
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