Tintin Forums

I have the possibility to buy the Black Island and Shooting Star made by Belvision on a vhs-cassette. How much would you say it is worth? Not that I would want to sell it, but I want to know how much money is fair. My limit is about 120 euros and the bid right now is about 40 euros.

It used to be a rental, so the condition is similar to Good-Very Good when grading comics.

I don't know the actual monetary value of the videos, but unless they're the original 60s releases (on Sony's label, I think) they're probably not worth 40€. If you just want copies to watch then the 80s GB releases (Virgin, Lollipop, Video Collection) would be the way to go; they can be picked up cheaply, generally under £5 each.

There's a copy of The Shooting Star on eBay at the moment, starting bid £2.99. If you keep checking every so often, most of the series tends to appear.

Richard

unless they're the original 60s releases (on Sony's label, I think)

I’m not sure what distinction you are making here, Richard; are you suggesting that Sony put the Belvision cartoons out in some form in the 1960’s (surely not?), or that there are various versions on VHS, from the Eighties onwards, of which the Sony releases are the best? Or have I just missed something (entirely possible - I’ve had a busy day!)

I meant that Sony released the episodes on home video in the 1960s (perhaps US-only releases?). They were in cardboard sleeves, not plastic cases, and I think all episodes were released except The Calculus Case. On Amazon zShops copies are generally listed for 60-70$US.

The series was released in the UK during the 80s on a few labels, notably Virgin Video (all except Crab and Island), Lollipop, The Video Collection, Kaleidoscope, and another one I can't quite remember - Amtel, or something.

I don't know, but I presume, that the Sony series was the first home video release of the episodes?

Richard
meant that Sony released the episodes on home video in the 1960s (perhaps US-only releases?)
Wow! That would have been highly unusual, as there really weren’t any domestic video recorders in the 1960's, and the formats available in the early 1970’s were only really to be found in schools and colleges, and there weren’t sell-through titles available - you simply recorded off-air programmes onto open reel or single spool cassettes (which ran about half an hour). Sell through tapes in the UK didn’t take off until the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 or 82, when it was released at the £20 mark - previously pre-recorded tapes were the domain of the video shop and were for rental; if you wanted to buy, you had to pay upwards of £60 per tape…

The school where my dad worked got a Philips VCR N1500 or perhaps an N1700 in about ’73 or ’74, and that was over £500 even then, and that was a real rarity (given that that probably comes to c. £4500 in today’s money!). I remember being taken to see a programme being recorded one night (in colour! The wonders of modern technology!). The programme was broadcast with a break in it - although it was a BBC broadcast, so no commercials - to allow for those institutions who might be recording it to re-wind their tapes and spool on another cassette…

I’d be really interested if you could furnish further details, Richard, as the existence of such early pre-recorded tapes was completely unknown to me...

I guess I have to clarify some matters here. The vhs which is up for sale is a swedish dubbed version probably released in early eighties and I have only seen them as rentals. This is an ex-rental and seems to be in fairly good condition. The current bid is for about 60 euros, and my limit is about 120 euros. Do you think that it is worth that much. The Nelvana series is widely available in Sweden but the old Belvision ones are quite rare.

EDIT: had a look on the one on Ebay, but how can one tell which one it is, the Belvision or Nelvana. It doesn't say anything in the description.

By the way, the Belvision episodes have far better dubbing in Sweden than the now released Nelvana episodes which is medioker.

Hmm, chances are that I'm wrong on this one! Actually, having read your post and Wikipedia's history of recording formats, I definitely am. The website mentioning the video - Amazon Zshop's listing - is quite ambiguous, I suppose I should have weighed up the source more.

So to get back on topic a little, the Sony releases probably aren't worth the $65 asking price; they may well have been the only US release of the episodes, but since you're after VHS copies it'd be better to look on eBay for the Virgin Video (etc) releases.

Edit:
labrador road 26
had a look on the one on Ebay, but how can one tell which one it is, the Belvision or Nelvana. It doesn't say anything in the description.

There's not really a precise science to it, but if you look at a few of the different videos released you'll be able to tell. Also the Virgin ones all have the "VHS - mono" symbol in the bottom corner of the cover. The newer series had digitally-coloured covers, the difference is quite striking between those and the original painted covers.

So to get back on topic a little, the Sony releases probably aren't worth the $65 asking price; they may well have been the only US release of the episodes, but since you're after VHS copies it'd be better to look on eBay for the Virgin Video (etc) releases.
I'm not after vhs copies, I'm after the Belvision versions in any way possible, and right now there is one up for sale.

Tried to google for Tintin and Sony but haven't found any release yet. But I did find this intresting dvd:
http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/films/17196

If I'm not mistaken this is the first release ever for the film Prisoners of the sun for home viewing.

No problem, Richard! It’s a confusing issue even if, like me, you were there at the time - so you younger people must be slack-jawed at the idea of us scurrying home in our hansom-cabs to crank up our black-and-white gas-powered tele-vision-o-grams… ;-)

I think the main confusion of dating these things comes from when the date given is the original release of the contents, not the tape itself.

I would myself have thought that the Virgin tapes were the first release of Tintin (Belvision) in the UK, but I think that that must have been the first sell-through version, as on checking, I found that I had an earlier one.

I just dug out of the cupboard an ex-rental pre-recorded tape of Prisoners, which is on the Artel lable from 1980. Curiously the cover (a cardboard slip case original, which has been cut down to fit a plastic sleeve) is divided in two, to show the covers of both Crystal Balls and Prisoners, and the film has been given the two titles on-screen.

I also may have somewhere an even more curious item: I bought a “blank” BASF tape in the late eighties, but as a free gift you got a pre-recorded Tintin adventure on it - mine had Shooting Star on it. I don’t think I taped over it…

Back on topic, I think the cost of the tape lr26 is looking at would be too high for me, but then again, it depends how much you want to see it. As Richard says, the older UK releases can be obtained quite cheaply. I paid two or three pounds for the Artel tape a few years ago, and likewise I have found a couple of the Virgin tapes in second-hand shops for similar.

Nowadays, with the new boxed-set in the offing, I’d imagine that the other Belvision stories may get a release on DVD some day.

Just too let you know the value of Belvision episodes in Sweden. The vhs with Black Island and Shooting Star went for about 160 euros, and no, it wasn't me who bought it.