Art Vuolo ’s sound rang . He picked it up . The caller on the line identified himself as being an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation .
“ Yeah , right , ” Vuolo said . “ Give me your turn , then . I ’ll call you back . ”
Vuolo dial the number . The FBI answered .
“ They wind up come to my household , ” Vuolo tellsmental_floss , “ looking for contraband . ”
The only bootleg Vuolo could have possessed that day in 1980 was a Betamax corn liquor ofStar WarsorJaws , part of the early videocassette piracy that studios wereeager to strangle . With the coming of VCRs and only a smattering of pic released through prescribed channels , videophiles were in the habit of recording film from video program and then spread them among a connection of their equal from all over the country . Although Vuolo did n’t manage in bootlegs — agent had really heard him ranting against illegal written matter on a local radio receiver show — he did take part in the swaps .
VHS had not yet take command of the market . Betamax , with its superior optic and audio calibre , had earned a little but devoted pursuit , with enthusiasts sniffing at the comparatively second-rate lineament of the rival . They were truehearted enough for media industry veteran Vuolo and his champion , Ray Glasser , to mount a series of conventions in Ohio where Betamax partizan could receive for a weekend , talk workshop , and line up heaps of their machines so they could all take hold of recordings of the most pop picture show in circulation . Collectors would get from as far away as Canada and would leave with more than 20 taping , most of them titles that could n’t be meet anywhere else .
Vuolo had just one convention . He wanted to keep the location quiet .
“ We did n’t want to occur under scrutiny , ” he say . The Betamax group were dealer , not bootleggers , but all the same , he preferred not to invite the FBI to the party .
The stylish LV-1901.Wikimedia Commons
Sony ’s first Betamax machine , the SL-6200,was stuck in an expensive musical composition of sleazy furniture . Introduced in May 1975 , theLV-1901was a 19 - inch console television receiver sitting in a wooden shell intend to blend in in with living room décor . On the right side was the caller ’s first American Betamax unit , which was being marketed as a revolution in television wake , with a new concept call time shifting . viewer no longer had to be glued to their sets at an appoint time : they set a timekeeper so the political machine would record a programme they could check at their leisure .
This was spectacular news for Glasser , who work from 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. in a Cleveland , Ohio eating place and often leave out his favorite primetime shows . The job was that the SL-6200 was retailing for $ 2495 , or just about $ 11,103 in 2016 dollars . Glasser wait until June the following year before purchasing the SL-7200 , more or less the same machine but without the unneeded cabinet and goggle box . It was a sane $ 1300 .
“ There were people placing ad looking for television show likeThe Twilight ZoneorWild , Wild West , ” Glasser tellsmental_floss . “ A show might be escape in your neighborhood that someone wanted . They might have instalment ofThe Outer Limitsyou wanted . ”
Along with ally Gary Herman , Glasser place the following advertizing in theJune 1977issue :
“ The bragging thing was to have something uncut and without commercials , ” Glasser say . “ Someone might publish , ‘ I haveBlazing SaddlesorLive and permit Die . What do you have to offer ? ’ And you ’d trade . ”
The handful of collectors who had HBO , a comparatively new feed for unedited movies , admit the Betamax equivalent of a full household . Copies of film that aired on the premium line were extremely desirable , since collectors did n’t want their movies censored or otherwise interrupted . It also hold open traders the hassle of clip commercials from web broadcasts . Without remote controls , that commonly meant having the Betamax sitting within arm ’s reach , either with a chair right next to the television or the political machine ’s telegram extending out to a recliner .
Because the early Betamax tapes were only one hour in continuance , movies would typically have to be spread across two of them . A admirer of Glasser ’s who had HBO would have to set a timer to record the first hour one night and the second minute another night during an encore broadcast . Once , Vuolo want to record all three hours ofGone with the Wind : that was almost $ 60 in clean tape alone .
Amassing a solicitation took actual work , which is one reason collectors took a great amount of pride in their tape shelf . By 1979 , both Glasser and Vuolo — who lived in Detroit — decide it might be more efficient plainly to get a bunch of them in one way , hit gambol on one machine , and hit Record on 17 others .
The Video Collectors of Ohio meet up . Ray Glasser
The first meeting place of the Video Collectors of Ohio take place in the ballroom of a Ramada Innin Fremont , Ohio on February 5 , 1979 . Vuolo operate on a Betamax television television camera while Glasser , acting as the emcee , had him tear apart over a row of 17 Betamax machine all being fedSuperman : The Movie . Nearby , fancier from all over the state — as well as New Hampshire and Michigan — made small talk waiting for one of the other pre - appointed recordings to start . One valet de chambre sat patiently for three hours until someone began to playThe Rocky Horror Picture Show .
Attending the conventionalism ask more consignment than just driving long distance . meeter supplied their own automobile , which intend hauling45 - poundBetamax vertical flute to and from the hotel . At the inaugural gather , Glasser watched as the massive units that were sync to record at the same time blew a fuse .
“ Sometimes we ’d have mini stations if only a few citizenry want a sure movie , ” he says . Saturday and Sunday were devote to well-nigh non - stop dubbing , with breaks for meals . woman were a rarified tidy sum , unless someone brought along a wife or girl ; hoard video seemed to be gender - specific . Collectors would return home with one or two XII tapes to add to collection that grow to number in the hundred and often grand .
Sometimes Vuolo would bring in a laserdisc role player , an even more undivided data formatting , to feed the Betamax recorders . He once popped inLove Story , but it refused to win .
“ This , ” he told the camera , “ is bugging me like kings . It was wreak beautifully . ”
In another tantrum , Glasser is panning over the rows of Betamax whole that were top - loading , meaning they could n’t be stacked to economise outer space . It looked like a saleroom . “ Let someone differentiate us VHS is better ! ” Vuolo said .
At another con , Vuolo and Glasser made a pilgrimage to a friend who had something even sound than HBO : a C - isthmus planet knockout capable of find fault up multiple channel feeds , all of which could cater fertile signal for the bargainer .
Video footage of the convention would finally go out to those who could n’t make it , imploring them to stress and assist the next one . “ If you wantMoonraker , ” Vuolo once advised viewing audience , “ be here in six months . ”
A Sony SL-7200 . cosworth532 viaeBay
“ At the sentence , it was a frisson to have something no one else had , ” Vuolo says . “ That just fell by the roadside . ”
So did Betamax . Although it was trust to be the superior data formatting , Sony was never able-bodied to appeal consumers who dislike the short running meter of the tapes . ( They did finally turn two - hour cassette , but by that meter , VHS was shoot a line of pep pill that could make a tape recording last four hours . ) Video depot did n’t want to go through the expense of stocking both . By the mid-1980s , Betamax had dwindled to just a fraction of the home telecasting grocery store .
“ There were still a lot of traders want old television system display , ” Glasser pronounce . “ Movies were a dime bag a XII , but old show were harder to recover . ”
Those early adopter became the Betamax faithful , preferring the video quality of their durable machine over the comparatively hapless quality of VHS . They continued to record off - air programs , with Glasser finally building up a program library of 2500 tapes . “ I ’ve got some rare thing , like NBC ’s anniversary special and an entireTomorrowshow with theStar Trekcast from 1976 , " he say , things that ca n’t well be streamed or tossed into Amazon ’s shopping pushcart .
Despite the immediateness of content services , there are still a number of collectors who see Betamax as the television sports fan ’s version of vinyl — an passee format that has a very finicky look and experience that digital sources ca n’t duplicate .
Mike Markowski was n’t born when the SL-6200 was let go but produce concerned after seeing some of Glasser ’s vintage machines on YouTube . The two met and hit it off , with Glasser unloading 500 mag tape that he desire to clear out ; Markowski later bought a player on eBay . Then he bought nine more , six of which really work .
“ I feel like Sony got the shaft , ” he tellsmental_floss . “ It ’s a ranking data formatting . ”
The tapes that Markowski favors are commonly unedited primetime blocks from the 1980s and 1990s — typically NBC ’s Thursday nighttime job - up , which once includedFamily TiesandCheers . Being able-bodied to view it as it was originally transmit , he says , is part of the appeal . “ It land me back to being a nipper . My friends and I watch the commercial message from the ‘ 80s . It ’s great . ”
The units are in plentiful supply on eBay . Solidly built , they were made to be amend , not sky . When a machine halt working , some aggregator reverse to on-line servicemen well - versed in nursing the unit back to health . The cassettes themselves do n’t seem to be susceptible to the form of decay that everyone dread magnetised tapeline would be prostrate to suffering . Most , Markowski says , look like they were recorded yesterday .
“ The picture quality , the sound , I sleep together all of it , ” he say . “ I love put the mag tape in and take heed theclunk , hearing the birr of motor , and pressing Play . It ’s a ritual . ”
Glasser and Vuolo still have many of their Betamax cassettes and both are still active in the collecting community , though not to the extent they were when the machines were first introduced .
“ The earned run average has number and pass , ” Glasser says . " It was interesting to see it from start to finish . ”
But Markowski is n’t quite certain it ’s over . “ I ’m eventually give-up the ghost to get an honest-to-god console - style TV to hook the Betamax up to , ” he say . “ It ’ll calculate a little fleck well that way . ”
extra source : From Betamax to Blockbuster .
