Picked up a "beauty and the beast" tape at goodwill for 50 cents and it was still in the plastic wrap

Popped it in last night and the color was way better than any of my other secondhand tapes, must have been stored in a closet for 25 years. Anybody else ever find a sealed tape and notice the difference in quality?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathan28925d ago

Man, that's exactly it. I found a sealed copy of "Aladdin" at a thrift store a few years back and when I put it in, the colors were so bright and crisp it almost felt like watching a new release. The black levels were super deep too, way better than any of my other tapes that have been played a bunch. It really does feel like cracking open a time capsule when you're the first person to watch a tape after all those years. I always grab sealed ones now if I see them, even if I already have the movie.

lane.drew25d ago

I read a forum post a while back where a guy tested sealed tapes from the 80s and said the magnetic particles actually degrade slower without air exposure (which makes total sense if you think about it). A sealed tape basically locks the quality in at factory fresh levels, especially if it was stored in a cool dry closet like you mentioned. I found a sealed copy of "The Little Mermaid" a couple years ago at a flea market for a dollar and the colors popped way more than my old rental copy. There's something about that first unboxing of a 25 year old tape that feels like a little time capsule moment, you know?