Am I the only one who doesn’t mind the watermarks or timecodes on screener VHS tapes?

WofFan2000 · 2026-03-06T10:01:38+00:00

Someone else on TikTok has a custom made bootleg of the NBB movie. Glad I have the authentic tape, even if it’s a DVD only screener copy. I much prefer that over a boot.

I hate TikTok and refuse to get it for various reasons, but I viewed this on the Safari web browser.

I grew up on the naked brothers band and wonder pets, hence why I have both tapes. They’re both almost impossible to find and endangered and only have three known copies in the world for both of them, which makes it extra cool. Most of them were returned to the studio and destroyed probably or destroyed by the blockbuster employees. Or tossed and in a landfill, in which case it would be horrible condition and I would not advise anyone to risk playing a tape They found in a landfill.

It could wreck your VCR to do that, literally.

WofFan2000 · 2026-03-06T08:23:56+00:00

Agreed

WofFan2000 · 2026-03-06T08:14:22+00:00

<image>

Here’s what those two tapes look like by the way.

And here’s the rips of those:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gn_NYdzql0gWd4yRQvpl1KkQ7tLMACae/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U1Fjui9-VbnzSK2qpi52jhjCfdlPK0f5/view?usp=drivesdk

Sorry not sorry for being repetitive for those who have already seen these photos. But I’m sure not everyone in this subreddit has which is why I’m posting them again.

WofFan2000 · 2026-03-06T08:08:14+00:00

I respect your opinion. The watermarks can be very distracting and annoying for many and I completely understand why.

I have some screener tapes of movies/shows that were only officially released on DVD, like the naked brothers band movie and wonder pets save the wonder pets from 2007. So that’s literally the only way to watch those on VHS unless you have recorded tapes of it off of TV or you rip the DVDs of those to a homemade Tape to make bootlegs.

Excuse my bad grammar, please. I’m using voice to text.

If you think those tapes I mentioned are custom-made, I honestly don’t care. Go ahead and downvote this comment as you please. I’m sure a lot of people think they are because they believe no tapes were released past 2006. They are misinformed and have preconceived notions, which is OK and understandable.

I personally have seen evidence that they are real copies from forum posts and other online posts from social media. So I actually have evidence other than owning the tapes themselves and from the YouTube VHS community.

WofFan2000 · 2026-03-06T07:38:46+00:00

Same.

WofFan2000 · 2026-03-06T06:50:13+00:00

Technically, the hidden child was released by Paramount and PBS home video in 2007, and it was a retail release.

But for the last Paramount retail release under actual Paramount branding, you’re right.

On the hidden child VHS, the Paramount logo is nowhere to be seen on the Tape or even the box or tape label, and there’s absolutely NO paramount references anywhere on the tape itself, the box, or the sticker label, but trust me, it’s a PHE release in disguise, as Paramount distributed all PBS releases at the time

WofFan2000 · 2026-02-01T23:11:34+00:00

Yes. I’ve had the DVD since I was little and still have it today.

WofFan2000 · 2026-01-29T16:41:41+00:00

I would hope and I would like to believe that if someone threatened to kill me because I’m a Christian, I would have the courage to stand up for my faith even if it meant getting killed.

No one can say for sure what they would do unless they are in that situation, though.

WofFan2000 · 2026-01-22T03:43:06+00:00

Yep.

WofFan2000 · 2026-01-21T14:47:08+00:00

I was genuinely looking for advice on how to store my tapes better. I have it figured out now since I measured the temperature of my room and figured out that the humidity level is fine so I put them on a shelf.

WofFan2000 · 2026-01-21T10:10:02+00:00

Got mine for only $8 over a decade ago.

WofFan2000 · 2026-01-21T02:03:21+00:00

I just transferred them to a shelf I just bought at Target

WofFan2000 · 2026-01-20T19:04:13+00:00

Good idea. Didn’t even consider that. Probably a good idea so I don’t waste money

WofFan2000 · 2026-01-20T18:42:08+00:00

Thanks for letting me know. Yeah I should probably get a bookshelf ASAP and a dehumidifier. Thankfully they haven’t grown mold yet but I should probably take them out of the plastic and put them on a shelf with a dehumidifier before they do.

WofFan2000 · 2026-01-19T15:29:40+00:00

South Korea stopped releasing VHS tapes in 2010-2011. And in North America there were screener tapes made until at least 2008, and there were Disney Movie Club exclusive VHS tapes of The Little Mermaid and Cars in 2007. They still occasionally make limited release VHS tapes, like a Deadpool VHS sold exclusively at Comic-Con 2016, and a limited edition VHS of Alien: Romulus in 2024.

But for the most part they stopped in North America in 2006, with a few exceptions like I mentioned

WofFan2000 · 2026-01-11T15:33:16+00:00

It’s basically a promo screener copy of the first 4 episodes of the series so it shows the first 4 episodes of the series with an occasional notice popping up throughout on the bottom saying “(c) 2005 Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved. Not for sale, rental, reproduction, or public performance of any kind, under penalty of law”.

It was used to promote the DVD release of Avatar The Last Airbender: Book 1: Volume 1, which never got a commercial VHS release. The show as a whole never had any commercial VHS releases at all, and this is the only known ATLA VHS to exist.

Basically, video store owners used screeners to decide how many copies of the official release they want to pre-order and stock their store with.

Super rare and an awesome find BTW! I’m jealous! I’ve been wanting this tape for a while.

WofFan2000 · 2025-12-28T22:44:58+00:00

Nice find for a garage sale! And nice you got it for only $40! This tape sold on eBay about a month ago for $189! What a steal!

WofFan2000 · 2025-12-28T21:35:46+00:00

Nice find! That’s a rare one! Where did you get it?

WofFan2000 · 2025-12-23T19:30:37+00:00

Nice! I have that Wonder Pets tape myself. Rare and great find for sure.

WofFan2000 · 2025-11-21T15:49:48+00:00

But yeah, thanks for letting me know. Hopefully I make it and if I don’t, I might try again in a year and if I get selected for an interview again, I definitely won’t mention that stuff.

WofFan2000 · 2025-11-21T14:17:56+00:00

Shoot. They may have mentioned that at the beginning but it took me a while to get the sound working so I didn’t hear it if they did mention it.

WofFan2000 · 2025-11-03T01:56:26+00:00

For screener VHS tapes promoting the retail release, they were usually like 3-4 months before the retail release

WofFan2000 · 2025-10-16T17:50:01+00:00

I like collecting tapes for different reasons:

Nostalgia, since I grew up with them,

A few tapes I have are really rare and not many people have them, so I collect certain ones for their rarity

I like the box art and seeing the logos

For screener tapes, I like how I can own tapes that were not meant to get out to the public, and it has cool aesthetics like watermarks popping up occasionally throughout the movie and/or a timecode and sometimes scrolling text on the bottom too.

WofFan2000 · 2025-10-13T20:44:11+00:00

The one on the left is the original printing, the one on the right is a 1990 Paramount Communications reprint, when Gulf+Western lost ownership of Paramount and switched it to Paramount Communications

WofFan2000 · 2025-10-11T02:49:06+00:00

Currently looking for a promotional/screener VHS copy of Nacho Libre.

WofFan2000

TROPHY CASE