New VHS Rental store in Liverpool

Technocentral

Think it would catch on here? They rent the players too.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/people-tell-im-mad-opening-14825811

Technocentral

Technocentral wrote: »

Think it would catch on here? They rent the players too.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/people-tell-im-mad-opening-14825811

I don't think it can catch on. The market of people who know that VHS is a cooler experience then digital is probably even smaller then those who know it for Vinyl vs digital music. No volume is achievable, so you have to charge a high price. And with things being free these days if you look hard enough as a business model I would say its not even remotely sustainable.....unfortunately.

nix

Christ, what an awful idea

4068ac1elhodqr

Likely self-funded, as no bank would approve a business loan for a non-viable, purely hype based, business plan.

Chances are the lad got inspiration from the two beards that run the novelty 'retro cereal box' bar.
Food however is something that you can't do without for longer than 30days, VHS is history book stuff.

Mrcaramelchoc

Why would you want to go from a Crystal clear picture back to a ****e one.

Technocentral

I like the nostalgia appeal of it, would have to have a 4/3 tube tv to watch them on too though. I'm 50 though, obviously younger people wouldn't get it at all.

lawred2

Technocentral wrote: »

Think it would catch on here? They rent the players too.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/people-tell-im-mad-opening-14825811

What's the point?

Sad Professor

It's a hipster thing. It's more about being seen in such a place and having VHS tapes scattered around your gentrified apartment than it is about having a preference for the format. There's no vinyl-like consumer analog format for movies that one could actually prefer to digital.

brevity

Technocentral

lawred2 wrote: »

Technocentral wrote: »

Think it would catch on here? They rent the players too.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/people-tell-im-mad-opening-14825811

What's the point?

Fuzzy retro appeal of a simpler age.

Tony EH

Technocentral wrote: »

Think it would catch on here? They rent the players too.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/people-tell-im-mad-opening-14825811

No. Hipster nonsense. Probably appeals to the same set of gobshites that pay for Tayto crisps sandwiches.

As someone who grew up in the video age, I have fond memories. But, I wouldn't want to go back there.

nix

Tony EH wrote: »

No. Hipster nonsense. Probably appeals to the same set of gobshites that pay for Tayto crisps sandwiches.

As someone who grew up in the video age, I have fond memories. But, I wouldn't want to go back there.

Terrible memories also, popping the lid to try your best to untangle/straighten/clean the tape, messing with tracking for ages, rewinding videos before you return them to the rental store. Waiting for a tape to fully rewind so you can watch it again.. The video player eating your fav video tape :eek:

Atlantic Dawn

Good luck trying to connect a video player to any modern tv.

Tony EH

nix wrote: »

Terrible memories also, popping the lid to try your best to untangle/straighten/clean the tape, messing with tracking for ages, rewinding videos before you return them to the rental store. Waiting for a tape to fully rewind so you can watch it again.. The video player eating your fav video tape :eek:

Well, we had super fast rewind Nix. So :P

nix

Tony EH wrote: »

Well, we had super fast rewind Nix. So :P

pffft that didnt make a difference, just made it sound like your video player was about to travel through time.. :pac:

Tony EH

nix wrote: »

pffft that didnt make a difference, just made it sound like your video player was about to travel through time.. :pac:

We had a button on ours that did that as well. It was called "Timer". But we never figured out how to use it.

That's it. I'm convinced. We should all go back to VHS. Or Betamax...which was better than Blu-ray according to some people.

CyberGhost

I have to admit, I have a warm nostalgia to the 80s and 90s world and VHS movies.

Mrcaramelchoc

The video head cleaner tape with the little bottle of liquid that you injected into it.your head would be sparkling after it.happy days.

Tony EH

/\

I remember opening my video to clean the heads with some alcohol. My dad took a look inside and went "Jaysis...is that it? A big box of nuthin!"

Chev_Chelios

A unique idea but can't see it taking off tbh. Streaming services are the future now. Even though renting a movie at the weekend might spark some nostalgia I don't know if that can compare to modern technology.

mooseknunkle

Blue movies were a hassle with all the tracking and then rewinding and fast forwarding to your favourite part ,i wonder does he have the blues on the top shelf

pinkypinky

I still have a VHS player and a pile of videos but I can't connect it to the smart tv I bought last year...

branie2

The owner will have to deal with unrewound video tapes when they are returned

Sleeper12

Like the Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park there are some things should stay extinct. VHS is definitely one of those things!!!

branie2

Remember fast-forwarding the trailers to get to the film?

Sad Professor

branie2 wrote: »

Remember fast-forwarding the trailers to get to the film?

Yeah though I usually watched them again. Some of the trailers were really good and it became part of the experience of certain movies. I must have seen the Braveheart and Shawshank trailers a thousand times.

NIMAN

I wonder will the BBC and the media cover this store shutting down in a couple of weeks?

Del2005

branie2 wrote: »

Remember fast-forwarding the trailers to get to the film?

That's the only good thing about video being able to fast forward past all the crap the companies force you watch when you have a DVD/BlueRay.

NIMAN wrote: »

I wonder will the BBC and the media cover this store shutting down in a couple of weeks?

I'd like to see a follow up in 12 months and while I'd hope he's made a success out of it I highly doubt it, even with all the free publicity.

dan1895

mooseknunkle wrote: »

Blue movies were a hassle with all the tracking and then rewinding and fast forwarding to your favourite part ,i wonder does he have the blues on the top shelf

Long time since the blue side of Liverpool was on top of anything.

Fysh

There are no companies manufacturing VHS players any more - IIRC the last one shut down production 7 years ago or so. Which means the shop is relying on keeping an existing set of players working. (Charity shops still get a regular influx of VHS tapes and occasionally players, which more often than not they don't want as few people want them or will buy them).

I can sort of see the interest if they have a significant stock of good-condition VHS tapes of films that haven't had subsequent DVD/bluray/digital releases. But I still think an archiving project converting those films to DVD would be more useful, personally.

As for the connectivity issue, it's not that hard - plenty of TVs still have composite or SCART inputs, and I've seen a few combo VHS/DVD player units that actually have HDMI output. Whether the upscaling is any good I couldn't say...

corcaigh07

Actually reading the article, he has vintage gaming and coffee to sell as well and if the VHS novelty brings in punters for that, then he might be ok.

Fysh

corcaigh07 wrote: »

Actually reading the article, he has vintage gaming and coffee to sell as well and if the VHS novelty brings in punters for that, then he might be ok.

It sounds like he's doing the gaming & coffee for members, as well as the private screenings. If he's been smart about it he's already done the legwork to confirm that there is an audience for this kind of thing. It's hard to imagine it working as more than a niche audience thing, but maybe it doesn't need to go beyond that to be viable.

NIMAN

He might attract a few hipsters for a few months....but can't see them staying.

Who really wants to play Manic Miner these days?

Technocentral

Chev_Chelios wrote: »

A unique idea but can't see it taking off tbh. Streaming services are the future now. Even though renting a movie at the weekend might spark some nostalgia I don't know if that can compare to modern technology.

Thats the whole idea, its not meant to compare to modern technology, its an antidote to the modern, digital world!

NewbridgeIR

Fysh wrote: »

There are no companies manufacturing VHS players any more - IIRC the last one shut down production 7 years ago or so. Which means the shop is relying on keeping an existing set of players working. (Charity shops still get a regular influx of VHS tapes and occasionally players, which more often than not they don't want as few people want them or will buy them).

I can sort of see the interest if they have a significant stock of good-condition VHS tapes of films that haven't had subsequent DVD/bluray/digital releases. But I still think an archiving project converting those films to DVD would be more useful, personally.

As for the connectivity issue, it's not that hard - plenty of TVs still have composite or SCART inputs, and I've seen a few combo VHS/DVD player units that actually have HDMI output. Whether the upscaling is any good I couldn't say...

Last VCR manufacturer shut down two years ago - https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/last-vhs-manufacture-funai-to-halt-production/


Between 1986 and 2006, I recorded anything that looked remotely interesting so have a amassed a large collection of tapes that I still watch. Didn't buy too many films or television series on VHS due to the poor value for money (£20 for two episodes of The Prisoner in the early 1990s) but have hung on the likes of Only Fools And Horses (fewer cuts than the DVD releases), Steptoe and Son Christmas specials (uncut - unlike the DVD which used the UK Gold broadcast print) and other films that I haven't got round to buying on DVD/BD yet.



Can't see this venture lasting though.

Technocentral

NIMAN wrote: »

He might attract a few hipsters for a few months....but can't see them staying.

Who really wants to play Manic Miner these days?

Can't understand the hatred of Hipsters on here, young, liberal people doing harmless things, I reserve my ire for racists, homophobes etc.

JaMarcus

Technocentral wrote: »

Can't understand the hatred of Hipsters on here, young, liberal people doing harmless things, I reserve my ire for racists, homophobes etc.

Thankfully, I have bucket loads of ire to go around, so plenty left over for hipsters and cyclists after the racists, killers and homophobes get their allocation.

NIMAN

Technocentral wrote: »

Can't understand the hatred of Hipsters on here, young, liberal people doing harmless things, I reserve my ire for racists, homophobes etc.

I don't hate hipsters per se, just pointing out that they are the kind of customers this guy is going to get for the 1st few months. People who want to be seen to be doing the trendy thing, the wacky thing, even though its a bit crap.

They'll be sitting there in their silly beards with their skinny jeans and no socks!

Jerichoholic

I can promise you the owners have beards.

Chev_Chelios

Betamax is coming back, you heard it here first.

pixelburp

So have we finally hit peak nostalgia?

Ipso

pixelburp wrote: »

So have we finally hit peak nostalgia?

No, nostalgia isnt what it used to be.

Mr Meanor

BorneTobyWilde

Reminds me of this movie.
Good little movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7C8nHAAs70

conorhal

I think we have reached peak hipster......

Del.Monte

I still have several VHS players, the head cleaning tapes and bottles of liquid but the the VHS era belongs in a museum. I had a machine for the kids growing up when you could get a shed load of tapes for a few Euros. Streaming, Netflix, YouTube is the future and DVDs in the charity shops are now the price that VHS tapes were a few years ago and there's precious few buyers even for them.

I still have quite a collection of videos that never made it to DVD including this epic which doesn't appear to have even had an English language VHS release despite being filmed in Ireland.

dense

From the report:

Andy Johnson amassed a huge number of VHS tapes from his own time working in a rental shop, and it is this collection which forms the basis of his new venture, called VideOdyssey.

Hope the shop owner doesn't find out.

K.Flyer

Chev_Chelios wrote: »

Betamax is coming back, you heard it here first.

Would have given the idea more kudos had it been a Betamax venture.

pixelburp

Aside from anything else, won't the quality of these older VHS tapes be even more atrocious than normal, given how poorly magnetic tape degrades over time? Half the stock would surely be unwatchable for whoever is foolish enough to rent these tapes...

Jerichoholic

It's probably out of business already.

wonski

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Good luck trying to connect a video player to any modern tv.

Euro scart or whatever it was called is still on mine, think I remember connecting it between VHS player and TV back in the day.

Resolution, not sure how those HD deal with signal now...

Good old memories, but no, I don't want it back. I can barely stand SD channels these days