VHS OF THE WEEK: Alien

VHS RELEASE DATE: 1980

By far the oldest VHS we've featured thus far! This copy of Alien is from 1980 (over thirty years old!) and was released by the utterly forgotten Magnetic Video Corporation. The back of the video box doesn't even give a description of the film, but a listing of what other "videocassette programs" are available. 

What's even more fascinating is that, at the time, it looks like they didn't even master the art of packaging yet! On the front cover, the 'running time' text is slightly cut off at the bottom (notice the 'g' in 'running'), and what's more - the VHS hardly fits in the box! The box was made about a centimeter too short, so the VHS tape sticks out a tiny bit at the bottom. 

However, the true surprise has been saved for last. Observe the receipt:

$59.99 for a VHS tape back in 1980!? And we thought some Blu-Rays were overpriced...!