Are Beta tapes of any value/interest?

[Better Days]

I recently found some beta cassettes at a thrift store. I'm surprized that I have NEVER seen one, because I'm 40, and have used a vcr for 10 years, and I'm always looking through used things.

I don't have a beta vcr.
One tape had the "Statue of Liberty 100th aniversary" from July 4 '86. I remember that when it aired, and I like the mid 80's so I got the tape)

Everything is being transfered to dvd anyway. I'm wondering if these beta's are worth getting....maybe for the better quality?

[stoogedog]

hi, yes beta tapes are of interest, especially if they have rare hard to find shows. thanks stoogedog

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by stoogedog

hi, yes beta tapes are of interest, especially if they have rare hard to find shows. thanks stoogedog

That's right, Never pass-up anything beta especially if you can get it el-cheapo from a thrift store. One rule of thumb about beta, vhs or laserdisc is that if it hasn't been released on dvd, It's usually sought after by someone. You might want to keep your eyes open for a good beta vcr also, I purchased a Sony Hi-Fi with remote in the original box at a thrift store for $15 and unloaded it on eBay for $275. You can probably find one just as cheap if you look.

[Better Days]

Thanks. But is beta of more interest than vhs? If so, why?

[tv star collector]

Years ago, I copied all my Beta tapes (about eighty). It took about a couple years to finish transferring all of them to VHS, but I still have the Beta tapes. I held onto them in case I ever had to copy them again.

[T-Greg]

Yes. Like everyone has said, finding old Betas can be a gold mine. If you have a list of what you have, I'd be interested in seeing it.

[stoogedog]

hi, i would like to see the list as well. let us know what you have. thanks stoogedog

[tv star collector]

Originally Posted by T-Greg

Yes. Like everyone has said, finding old Betas can be a gold mine. If you have a list of what you have, I'd be interested in seeing it.

See revised list below (sorry for the duplicate post; there was a glitch somewhere when I first tried
to post it).

[T-Greg]

Originally Posted by Better Days

Thanks. But is beta of more interest than vhs? If so, why?

Beta was the first format that came out, so the oldest stuff will be found there. The VHS and DVD eras have overlapped, so lots of what you can find on VHS, you can get on DVD, except TV specials, TV movies and sporting events, which rarely make it to DVD.

[tv star collector]

I haven't used my Beta VCR in several years, so I don't know whether any of these tapes are still
watchable. (Missing numbers are damaged, misplaced or reserved tapes.)

1 - Rocky & Bullwinkle ("Box Top Robbery")
2 - Incredible Hulk (TV pilot) / Cartoons / Tales of the Gold Monkey
3 - Batman (Adam West) / Super Friends / Wonderful World of Those Cuckoo, Crazy Animals
(Documentary) / Three Stooges / Cartoons
4 - Yabba Dabba Doo! The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera
6 - Beatles (cartoons) / Fonz & the Happy Days Gang / Charlie's Angels / Paul McCartney
7 - Mr. Magoo & Gerald McBoing-Boing / Wonder Woman (pilot) / Dudley Do-Right
8 - Flintstones ("Ann-Margrock Presents") / Incredible Hulk ("King of the Beach") / On Vacation
with Mickey Mouse
9 - Rainbow Over Texas (1946; Roy Rogers) / Bonanza ("Ponderosa Matador") / Mel Blanc
10 - Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Summer Vacation
11 - Ziggy's Gift / That's What Friends Are For (Hanna-Barbera retrospective) / Winnie the Pooh &
Tigger, Too / Fantastic Funnies (hosted by Loni Anderson)
12 - Li'l Abner (1959)
13 - Return to Mayberry / Zorro (cartoon)
15 - Whatever Became Of ...? / Beatles (cartoons) / Cisco Kid / B.C.: The First Thanksgiving
16 - Incredible Mr. Limpet (Don Knotts) / Cartoons
18 - Walt Disney: One Man's Dream
19 - Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In / Woody Woodpecker / ABC Saturday Preview / A Chipmunk
Christmas / Laurel & Hardy in "The Music Box" (poor quality; bad TV reception)
20 - Lone Ranger / Here Comes Garfield / A Charlie Brown Celebration / Betty Boop (poor)
21 - Superman: The Movie / Casper & Friends
22 - Hey There, It's Yogi Bear / Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (poor) / Monkees
23 - Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All (1979; animated TV-movie)
24 - Gay Purr-ee (fair) / Flintstones (1st Pebbles) / Walter Lantz / George Reeves / Paul McCartney
25 - Amazing Spider-Man (1977; TV pilot; fair) / Beverly Hillbillies (pilot; fair) / Marvel Action Universe
26 - McLintock! (John Wayne) / Don Adams / Linda Ronstadt / Buffalo Bob Smith / Dale Messick
27 - Marvel Superheroes (Captain America cartoon) / Gillgan's Planet / Blondie in Society (1941)
29 - Merv Griffin interview with Disney artists Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston / Thank You, Mr.
President (J.F.K. press conferences) / Star Wars / John Lennon & Yoko Ono
31 - Addams Family / Thundarr the Barbarian / F-Troop (poor) / Gary Collins interview with June Foray /
Davey & Goliath / Beatles (cartoons) / Amos 'n' Andy (poor)
32 - Beatles (cartoons) / Sneak Previews (Beatles movies) / Muppet Movie / Gidget (pilot)
33 - Oh! Heavenly Dog / Jackson 5 (cartoon) / Gary Collins interview with cast of sitcom "Dennis the
Menace" / Little Lulu (ABC Weekend Special; poor)
34 - Jennifer Slept Here (1982; Ann Jillian; pilot) / Facts of Life (guest star Jermaine Jackson) / The
Maltese Falcon / Interviews with June Foray, Bill Scott, Bela Lugosi, George Burns, Janet Waldo,
and Brigitte Nielsen ("Red Sonja")
39 - V (1984) / Inspector Gadget / Honeymooners Reunion
40 - Prince Valiant (1954; Robert Wagner; poor) / Masters of the Universe (cartoon) / Cosby Show
42 - Dinosaur! (1986 documentary hosted by Christopher Reeve) / Dumbo / Scooby-Doo
43 - Magical Mystery Tour (1967; The Beatles) / Flying Nun / Bugs Bunny-Looney Tunes All-Star 50th
Anniversary (1986) / NBC Nightly News (Jan. 29, 1986; Challenger space shuttle tragedy) /
Laff-a-lympics
45 - Annie / NBC's 60th Anniversary Celebration (1985; Pt. 2; see also #47) / Twilight Zone
46 - Incredible Hulk ("Prometheus") / ABC's Wide World of Sports 25th Anniversary
47 - Disney's Robin Hood (cartoon) / NBC's 60th Anniversary Celebration (1985; Pt. 1)
48 - Flintstones' 25th Anniversary / Footsteps of Giants (NASA documentary) / Twilight Zone / My
Friend Liberty (1986 animated special) / Amazing Stories
50 - Small Wonder (pilot; fair) / Columbo (fair) / Twilight Zone / I Love Lucy ("Lucy Makes a Commer-
cial" / Defenders of the Earth
51 - Andy Griffith Show (Gomer Pyle, USMC pilot) / ALF / Splash
53 - Sign of Zorro (1960; Guy Williams) / Great Moments in Disney Animation (with Carol Burnett) /
Silver Hawks (continued on #58)
54 - Twilight Zone ("Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; fair) / Topper (2 episodes) / The Three Stooges Meet
Hercules (fair)
56 - Star Trek / Smurfs / Three Stooges / Superman (1953; George Reeves)
57 - The Spirit (1987; TV-movie; Sam Jones) / Yogi's Treasure Hunt / Three Stooges / Jem
58 - Silver Hawks (see #53) / Charmings / Max Headroom (pilot) / Jonny Quest / Jetsons / G.I. Joe
59 - Ghostbusters / ALF (cartoon) / Disney's Alice in Wonderland / Sledge Hammer! / Charmings /
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
60 - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock / Knight Rider / Honeymooners / Gunsmoke (guest star James
Drury)
61 - Shaggy Dog (1959) / Francis (1950; Donald O'Connor; 1st in the series) / Godzilla (1956)
62 - Cosby Show / The Empire Strikes Back / Wyatt Earp
63 - The Wolfman (1941; Lon Chaney Jr.; poor) / It's Howdy Doody Time! A 40-Year Celebration (1987)
/ Barbie & the Rockers / Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (fair)
64 - Frosty the Snowman / A Charlie Brown Christmas / How the Grinch Stole Christmas / Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer / A Garfield Christmas Special / A Claymation Christmas / Santa Claus: The
Making of the Movie
66 - Werewolf / ALF / Television: Comedy / Wizard of Oz / Superman's 50th Anniversary (1988)
67 - Hollywood Legends: Marilyn Monroe / Bacall on Bogart / Beauty and the Beast
68 - Darby O'Gill and the Little People / Superman II / Twilight Zone
69 - Creature From the Black Lagoon (poor) / Tarzan and His Mate (poor) / Mighty Mouse / Happy
Birthday, Garfield
71 - Bob Hope: Happy Birthday, Bob--50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC (1988) / Incredible
Hulk Returns (1988; TV-movie) / Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures
72 - Dukes of Hazzard / Charmings / Blue Lagoon / DuckTales ("Back to the Klondike"; fair)
73 - Yogi's Treasure Hunt / ALF / Family Ties / Bewitched / Beany & Cecil (1988; poor)
75 - Yogi's Gang / Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next / The African Queen (1951)
(Nos. 76-82 are VHS.)
83 - Linda Ronstadt / Jetsons / The Three Stooges / Superboy / Happy Days

(Whew! You can see why it took over two years to transfer all the shows!)

[surfergirl]

Originally Posted by Better Dayys

One tape had the "Statue of Liberty 100th aniversary" from July 4 '86. I remember that when it aired, and I like the mid 80's so I got the tape)

Hi, I was wondering when you get this transferred if you could list the celebs who were featured? I'm curious who was featured. Of if you need it transferred, I'd be happy to do it for you, I have a beta vcr and can put it on dvd and send the dvd/beta tape back to you!

surfergirl

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by T-Greg

Beta was the first format that came out, so the oldest stuff will be found there. The VHS and DVD eras have overlapped, so lots of what you can find on VHS, you can get on DVD, except TV specials, TV movies and sporting events, which rarely make it to DVD.

Cartrivision and U-Matic tapes preceded beta but those are hard to find and players aren't cheap. I found a U-matic player at Goodwill 2 years ago but it didn't have the power supply and I haven't found one for it yet.


Cartrivision



U-Matic

[tv star collector]

That's interesting. I didn't even know there was a format that preceded
Beta. Now I don't feel quite so "ancient."

[Lastdaysofrain]

Beta is a better format visually than VHS and the tapes are heartier, most broadcast companies still use Beta (if they haven't switched to digital) becaues of the quality.

That list you posted of your Beta tapes is pretty great, I'd love to get a hole of some of that stuff. I know some people on this board are capable of transfering Beta to DVD

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by tv star collector

That's interesting. I didn't even know there was a format that preceded
Beta. Now I don't feel quite so "ancient"!

Don't feel bad, When I bought the JVC U-Matic player, I thought it was a portable vhs unit. I didn't notice that it wasn't until I tried to insert a tape and seen that it was too small. It was only after researching the model # online that I was finally able to learn exactly what I'd bought.