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| Goodbye to all that |
When I bought my flat in 2005, my parents decided it was probably time that I stopped using my old bedroom at their house as a store for my old sci-fi rubbish. One afternoon, my dad drove up with lots and lots of books and two bin bags full of videos. Ah, I can still remember the delighted look on the Dr's face...
(It was not a delighted look on the Doctor's face.)
For readers born after the Flood, video was a slower, chunkier versions of DVD, with a more gravelly image and no special features. (Well, some of the later ones and very brief ones, or came with a separate video providing a commentary track.)
My collection of videos sat in my attic, building up an impressive collection of dust and dead spiders, for the five years I lived in that flat. I gave some away when I could find someone who wanted them. But when we moved home last year, I still had a whole binbag of tapes and nothing to watch any of them on.
I'd looked into selling the tapes, or sending them to people who asked for them, but the hassle of actually packing the damn things kept meaning I never quite got round to it. Videos are heavy, so any kind of postage was going to be stupidly expensive.
But on Sunday, a nice man from the local RSPCA shop came round and took the lot. Having also posted back a tape I borrowed from Ian Potter an aeon ago (with no actual way of watching it), as of Monday - and for the first time since 1984 - I live in a home without videotape.
Yes, I know it's not exactly the most exciting watershed moment in all history, but once the tapes had been taken I must have looked suitably forlorn 'cos the Dr gave me a hug.
(If you want them, the videos will be in the new RSPCA shop opening next month at 267 Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon, CR0 6RD.)
6 comments:
The Shada box too. That's bold. The Baker narration's not appearing on the dvd is it?
We purged our huge tape collection a few years ago now.
But kept a few things - like the unexpurgated Star Wars trilogy, not that we have anything to play them on.
I did the same thing about about 18 months ago when we moved.
The good news: I've only once thought "I should check out that..." to be reminded I no longer have the tape.
The bad news: it happened at all.
Stuart: I don't know what's on Shada. But I'm not enough of a collector to need everything. I've also given away my old DVDs of Tomb etc. after getting the Revisitations sets, and not all the extras were carried over.
We still have various old tapes of some sentimental value; not much pre-recorded stuff as that's nearly all replaced by DVD. So on finally buying a newfangled flattish wideish telly this week, I moved our old VHS player into the new TV stand. It's massive and only just fits. It's not plugged in, or fully connected. It's kind of in the way, frankly. But there it sits, just in case...
You're making me feel much more adequate about my own hording instinct.
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