Blew $80 on a used VCR from a garage sale in Bakersfield just to watch my old Nick at Nite tapes
I found a box of like 30 VHS tapes I recorded off cable back in 1996 and got way too excited about rewatching them. My old VCR died years ago so I hit a garage sale in Bakersfield and grabbed one for $80, which felt steep but the guy swore it worked. Got it home and the thing ate my tape of a Nick at Nite block with I Love Lucy and Bewitched on the first try. I opened it up and the belts were basically mush, so I found a repair kit online for $15 and spent a Saturday rebuilding the thing. Now it plays fine and I've been watching old Comedy Central commercials from 1995 like they're a time capsule. Anyone else keep a VCR alive just for old recordings, or am I the last person on earth doing this?
Bought a similar VCR off a guy in Fresno last year for my buddy who had a box of tapes from when he taped the MTV spring break stuff back in 97. His machine chewed up a tape on day two so he did the same belt swap you did, ordered the kit, watched a YouTube video, and got it running again. He says the commercials are half the fun, like seeing ads for Blockbuster and old cereal brands he forgot about. Something about hearing the tape whir and click makes it feel more real than a digital file ever could.