A trip down memory lane

[Arran]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I seem to remember that Woolworth's entered the video rentals business in the late 80s/early 90s, or at least our local store did. I don't think it lasted that long. I wasn't a member as we already had a few good shops far closer to home at the time. But that was the thing with video shops...there were lots around, but many didn't last long.

There were also many ethnic video shops that lasted well into the 1990s. I remember an Indian video shop and a Pakistani / Islamic video shop. They had some interesting stuff if you cared to look.

[tex]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I'm hoping they got put up into our loft, but I am not confident. I would love to skim through them again. Same with all my old computer mags and hundreds of comics--hopefully they are in a dark corner somewhere, but every search has turned up nothing. Mind you, our loft is chaotic and so I might find them one day.

Erm yeah but all the "computers" had staples through there stomachs

[staffslad]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Yes i had a pile of mags that my wife threw out aswell.

I'm hoping they got put up into our loft, but I am not confident. I would love to skim through them again. Same with all my old computer mags and hundreds of comics--hopefully they are in a dark corner somewhere, but every search has turned up nothing. Mind you, our loft is chaotic and so I might find them one day.

[staffslad]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Colourvision also rented out TVs, but as that market was contracting in the 1980s & guess they started to sell electronic goods as well.

I didn't know that they rented as well. I remember a lot of stuff they sold was cheap from obscure brands. They used to have a big advert in the Express & Star newspaper that I would like to check out. I bought an Orion VCR from them around 1990. I think it cost me £209 or so and had a talking remote control i.e. when you wanted to program it, it would guide you through what to press via voice prompts. I suppose it was a bit of a gimmick.

[tex]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I seem to remember that Woolworth's entered the video rentals business in the late 80s/early 90s, or at least our local store did. I don't think it lasted that long. I wasn't a member as we already had a few good shops far closer to home at the time. But that was the thing with video shops...there were lots around, but many didn't last long.

I also regularly bought two magazines, Video World and Video Today. Video World had a centre page Page 3 style pin-up, which was an added bonus. Both mags also had pages and pages of ads for adult videos companies at the back. They would have reviews on the latest video film releases and reviews of video equipment. I used to have a pile of those mags, but I am not sure if my wife threw them out when we got married.

At first many shops had sections for both VHS and Betamax, but gradually it became obvious that the Betamax section was getting smaller and the latest releases weren't always put out on Betamax. It was that realisation that made me buy a VHS VCR to supplement my old Betamax machine in 1985, and it allowed me so much more choice when renting films. I still have 3 VHS machines, but sadly my old Sanyo Betamax went to the scrapyard years ago.

Does anyone remember a chain of shops called Colourvision in the 80s/90s? I know they had a shop in Walsall and I bought at least one VCR from them. As well as well known brands there would also be brands that I had never heard of. As well as VCRs, they also sold TVs and Sky equipment.

Yes i had a pile of mags that my wife threw out aswell.

[Richard1978]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Colourvision also rented out TVs, but as that market was contracting in the 1980s & guess they started to sell electronic goods as well.

[staffslad]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I seem to remember that Woolworth's entered the video rentals business in the late 80s/early 90s, or at least our local store did. I don't think it lasted that long. I wasn't a member as we already had a few good shops far closer to home at the time. But that was the thing with video shops...there were lots around, but many didn't last long.

I also regularly bought two magazines, Video World and Video Today. Video World had a centre page Page 3 style pin-up, which was an added bonus. Both mags also had pages and pages of ads for adult videos companies at the back. They would have reviews on the latest video film releases and reviews of video equipment. I used to have a pile of those mags, but I am not sure if my wife threw them out when we got married.

At first many shops had sections for both VHS and Betamax, but gradually it became obvious that the Betamax section was getting smaller and the latest releases weren't always put out on Betamax. It was that realisation that made me buy a VHS VCR to supplement my old Betamax machine in 1985, and it allowed me so much more choice when renting films. I still have 3 VHS machines, but sadly my old Sanyo Betamax went to the scrapyard years ago.

Does anyone remember a chain of shops called Colourvision in the 80s/90s? I know they had a shop in Walsall and I bought at least one VCR from them. As well as well known brands there would also be brands that I had never heard of. As well as VCRs, they also sold TVs and Sky equipment.

[Mulletino]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Our local village video store was small, so small that i had nearly watched all the videos they had at one point (i was into martial arts at the time so rented all their dodgy martial arts movies). A far cry from later days when you'd spend ages staring at rows of movies trying to pick something. I think I still have Air America VHS which we rented from a then GF's local.

Oh and my local video shop also rented out Atari games and consoles, same with Sega ones later. Used to love renting those games out for a weekend.

[tex]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I remember the racks of computer games tapes in some newsagents for £1.99 or £2.99. They would be either original games or re-issues of older games that would have sold for £9.99 when originally released. I bought lots of these for my C128 and Atari.

I really miss video shops. It is very convenient having films at the click of a computer mouse, but it isn't like visiting a video shop. It was ideal for a cheap date with your gf. A couple of videos, bags of crisps and a bottle of pop...ideal for those like me who couldn't afford many trips to the cinema for two. There must have been 15+ video shops around here over the years and I was a member of most of them at one time or another. The first one I joined was in the autumn of 1980 and it was one of the earliest around here. Actually, it was a record shop that branched out into video rentals. If anyone knows the area and was around back then, it was A.S. Records in Cannock. When you joined you had to pay a £20 deposit, but that £20 was used up as you rented videos at £1 per tape per day. I preferred the independant shops to the chains as they were often quite quirky in their choice of stock and most you could chat to the owner about good films to rent. At some stores there was a free magazine that seemed to come out every month or so that featured new films that were coming out. This lasted into the 90s and was really just adverts for films but pre-internet it was useful to find out what was being released.

Invariably the tapes were returned without having been re-wound...so annoying, and most of them smelt of cigarette smoke...uggh!

[staffslad]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I remember the racks of computer games tapes in some newsagents for £1.99 or £2.99. They would be either original games or re-issues of older games that would have sold for £9.99 when originally released. I bought lots of these for my C128 and Atari.

I really miss video shops. It is very convenient having films at the click of a computer mouse, but it isn't like visiting a video shop. It was ideal for a cheap date with your gf. A couple of videos, bags of crisps and a bottle of pop...ideal for those like me who couldn't afford many trips to the cinema for two. There must have been 15+ video shops around here over the years and I was a member of most of them at one time or another. The first one I joined was in the autumn of 1980 and it was one of the earliest around here. Actually, it was a record shop that branched out into video rentals. If anyone knows the area and was around back then, it was A.S. Records in Cannock. When you joined you had to pay a £20 deposit, but that £20 was used up as you rented videos at £1 per tape per day. I preferred the independant shops to the chains as they were often quite quirky in their choice of stock and most you could chat to the owner about good films to rent. At some stores there was a free magazine that seemed to come out every month or so that featured new films that were coming out. This lasted into the 90s and was really just adverts for films but pre-internet it was useful to find out what was being released.

[tex]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Video shops are another thing gone the way of the dinosaur fellars and Jemima.. Many is the time I spent up to an hour rifling thru hundreds of VHS movie titles for something to watch with friends or the family. Was a cheap alternative to the movie theatre and more intimate. Look out if you returned the tapes late tho as there was a penalty.

Thats true but then i dont think anybody manufactures or indeed sells video players anymore either. a new dvd player can now be bought for £30, this will be next to bite the dust with the advent of streaming.

[Zincubus]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Video shops are another thing gone the way of the dinosaur fellars and Jemima.. Many is the time I spent up to an hour rifling thru hundreds of VHS movie titles for something to watch with friends or the family. Was a cheap alternative to the movie theatre and more intimate. Look out if you returned the tapes late tho as there was a penalty.

Remember the hours spent at Blockbuster scouring the endless shelves for films that looked interesting then reading the back cover to see the story ... all lies usually... at least we have IMDB and Amazon to read reviews


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[Donald the Great]

Re: A trip down memory lane

Video shops are another thing gone the way of the dinosaur fellars and Jemima.. Many is the time I spent up to an hour rifling thru hundreds of VHS movie titles for something to watch with friends or the family. Was a cheap alternative to the movie theatre and more intimate. Look out if you returned the tapes late tho as there was a penalty.

[Mulletino]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I once had a photo of the inside of a large newsagent c1986 with a display rack of computer games on cassette for £1.99 or £2.99. The newsagent still exists but it no longer sells video games.

Next door to the newsagent was a video shop I used to use in the 1990s. It is now a charity shop.

Aw man, shame you still dont have the photo, that would be amazing to see!

I used to love going into newsagents just for the smell, same with WH Smiths, living overseas it's a treat going in there when i'm back home and inhaling.

[zabadak]

Re: A trip down memory lane

I didn't get them all at once! Just one of them depending on which was around at the time.

I remember Thunder Clappers, loved the free gifts on comics, I remember getting a Kazoo, a boomerang thing, a clapper and heaps of other things.

Nah, couldn't even get one at a time!