RCA Selectavision VHS 1979 TV ad

A 1979 commercial for RCA's Selectavision VHS vcr, back in the day when home video units were huge, heavy behemoths.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• TV
• electronics
• VHS
• vcr
• RCA
• 1979
• 1970s
• Selectavision
• commercial
• ad
• television
• home
• video
• tape
• cassettes

[h20DDs]

What in the Hell did he say at the end?

[robatsea2009]

@h20DDs "I would have bought it at one", referring to the free tape inclusion

[Thesurus05]

Four tapes that cost $100. That's $25 a tape!!! LOL! I dread to think how much the real machine cost back in those days.

[robatsea2009]

@Thesurus05 It was past the $1,000 mark. Tapes were variable in price; a September 1980 ad I have lists single tape prices for Sony's Beta at $22.95 (L-500), $31.95 (L-750) and $35.95 (L-830) while the Fuji L-500 was $25.95, and both Tohisba & Scotch L-750 tapes were $29.95. For VHS the Scotch T-120 was $32.95 and TDK T-120 $35.95. You got a discount if you bought 2 or more, and a larger one if you bought a case at a time (generally knocking $3 to $5 off each tape)

[YukoAsho]

@kittyscratchesboo And to think, people bitch about $30 Blu-rays.... Shame RCA just couldn't get CED off the ground, I can't help but think that we'd have been at Blu-Ray sooner if they had.

[kittyscratchesboo]

@YukoAsho That's right. You spend more more money having to purchase new disk for recordings and now there are machines that will not even allow you to record certain films from certain productions from your cable box. There is a reader in the machine that will hot block your recording attempts. Not so with VHS.The business is as now greedier than ever. Like I said, new doesn't always mean better. New just means, new problems, more money to spend.

[kittyscratchesboo]

@lefebvrer3289 In fact, the OLDER machines had fewer problems than the machines today. Sometimes, technology goes way ahead of itself to the point where you just want the old machine back. You could pause it longer than the models available today. And remember, not everything is out on DVD yet. "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" is STILL on VHS as well as a lot of the great classics, so, I have not quickly said goodbye just yet. DVDs are beautiful, but have some ways to go. Not all that is new is good.

[TheTubePortal]

Offer ends February 28th, so we still have almost two weeks to take advantage of it! Who could pass up this awesome deal? I know I can't!

[kittyscratchesboo]

@thatmuse76 Yes, I remember. "Shoot The Moon" was 89.99. And don't even think about "Star Wars" or any of the classics. They were asking for 100.00 per pop. Most smart people said to wait until these crazy asses fell off their greedy horses, and eventually they did. The machines were well made and lasted 25 years with proper care. It is a great investment if you were alone and did not have a family to feed. The lazer came out, and it just wasn't worth it. Pretty, but harder to maintain.

[kittyscratchesboo]

@TheTubePortal That's it. Nearly 75% of Americans could not , unless they were living large & in the suburbs at that time. I remember wanting one as a teenager & my parents never saying a word about it as they KNEW it was out of their price range. Most folks looked at this as a luxury item & not as a "need to have". It was just too great an investment and parents were mostly interested in getting their kids into college at that time. The priorities were different then. Now you can buy 3 for 1.00

[thatmuse76]

@Thesurus05

Even as late as 1984 when my parents bought their first VCR, those tapes were not cheap. Of course the price of pre-recorded movies back then was ridiculous.

[RetroCalgary]

In 1979, T-90's were $10, now they are $4. 30 years later we now use DVD's