Popular YouTube channel Red Letter Media is getting a lot of attention. Again. Their most recent video, “We Finally Watched Nukie: The VHS Grading Video,” saw a whopping 1.2 million views. The climax of which saw them destroying all but one of their 104 VHS copies of “Nukie,” an E.T. knock-off so bad it doesn’t even warrant a letter grade. But it seems like a lot of outlets are missing the point.
The channel, run by Mike Stoklasa, Rich Evans, and Jay Bauman is known for their movie critiques and Plinkett reviews of “Star Wars.” Their “Half in the Bag” videos cover mainstream films, while “Best of the Worst” covers bad movies and instructional videos, many sent by fans. The latter videos almost always end with the destruction of the least favorite in delightfully outrageous fashion.
This time around, the video was a bit different; enjoyably so. It proves these film buffs are more than just critics. In a twist from their usual fare, the “VHS Grading Video” was more documentary-style and investigation of a recent trend: factory sealed movies on VHS as highly prized collector’s items.
“There’s been a growing trend in VHS collecting, which has created an entirely new market for professional VHS grading, very similar to what’s been happening with video game cartridge grading. As the owner’s of 1000s of crappy VHS tapes, we were curious to dig deeper into this trend, as well as examine what makes something valuable and collectible.”
It’s Beanie Babies All Over Again
Recently a sealed VHS tape of “Back to the Future” sold for 75k. The video immediately points out that “Back to the Future” is in no way rare. You can get the movie anywhere in several forms. If it were, for instance, a film so rare it only ever saw a VHS release of 1,000 copies, it would be different.
To further their investigation, Mike and Rich question the “experts” that grade these tapes and deem them valuable. Who is an expert in VHS tape condition? Evans brings up a valid point in the video. That this could simply be a “friend of a friend of a friend” situation. Where they receive the tapes, give them a cursory once-over, and send them back, making a quick buck while doing no work. So the duo packaged up some of the movies in their own collections, including their only sealed copy of “Nukie” out of 90+, and a fake.
Impressively, the tapes return with proper grading and a letter suspecting the fake. But it still begs the question: Why are VHS tapes being treated as valuable? Especially for a form of media that isn’t built to last. VHS tapes wear out, warp, and fade. The boys reference the Beanie Baby craze that swept the nation in the 90s. That the uniqueness of flaws or filler quality for the stuffed animals drove up value that got out of hand.
Rich elaborates on that idea. That a sealed tape of “Jaws” could be sitting on a shelf in perfect condition. But if it were, say, next to a magnet that entire time, you’d be purchasing a blank tape for several thousand dollars. At which point, what are you grading? The quality of the plastic? The box? What is it that you’re actually buying? Where is the actual value?
What Makes Something Valuable?
At its heart, the video is an examination of why value gets placed on something, and what makes it valuable in the first place. This is where “Nukie” comes in. Over the last decade, RLM has had a running gag of collecting tapes of “Nukie”. Either sent by fans, or purchased off of Ebay. As of the video’s posting, they’d collected 104 copies, claiming that they might have the largest collection of the VHS in the world.
Now, as previously stated in the article, “Nukie” is a movie that only had a VHS release. So copies are limited. So, considering that rarity is also something that drives up the value of an object, the boys couldn’t get away without adding some destruction to their videos. They decide to impose scarcity on their sealed copy. How? Easy. They take all 103 copies — including one they’d just been sent that morning — and feed them to a wood chipper.
It’s glorious. The wood chipper obliterates the plastic shells, spewing out reels of film in shiny tendrils. And the boys drop tape after tape in with reckless abandon. Can’t deny the catharsis of destroying something, and they’re having a blast. Prior to the chipper, they announce that their sealed copy of “Nukie” will be auctioned off. The proceeds are divided between the charities of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the Wisconsin Humane Society..
Value Is Easy To Create, But It Needs Significance
By the time the auction ended, the final bid for the movie was approximately $80,600. But what did the boys actually do here? They created value by turning it into a silent auction towards cancer research and animal well-being. “Nukie” isn’t valuable, it isn’t good, it isn’t important, and has no historical significance. But RLM made it valuable by giving it significance outside of itself. It proves how easily you can give worth to something worthless.
Which circles right back around to their point about this VHS tape trend. Manufactured value is used to make money, but what we value out of sentiment is more significant. Don’t buy something because it’s cool or the “it” thing. Buy it because it’s worth it to you.
