Sean Joseph
A 1986 VHS tape of Back to the Future sold at auction recently for $75,000. The sealed copy of the classic movie was in near mint condition and set a new record for a VHS.
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The record breaking VHS was owned by actor Tom Wilson. He played Biff Tannen in all three of the Back to the Future movies. He decided to go the auction route with the movie after receiving a massive response when he originally listed it on Ebay.
According to Heritage Auctions in Dallas, the winning bid came in from a collector in New York. The world’s largest collectibles auctioneer said of the $75,000 winning bid that it was, “the highest price ever paid at auction for a sealed, graded VHS tape.”
Wilson’s Back to the Future VHS topped a first print of Star Wars from 1977 that sold at Goldin Auctions in December for $57,000.
The auction was Heritage’s first VHS event
The auction was Heritage’s first VHS event. Also sold at the event was a Goonies copy that sold for $50,000, a Jaws that sold for $32,500, a Ghostbusters that sold for $23,750 and a Top Gun giveaway that went for $17,500.
Wilson also had sealed copies of Back to the Future Part II that sold for $16,250 and a copy of Back to the Future Part III that sold for $13,750 in separate lots. The record setting VHS included a note from Wilson.
“This is a VHS tape of the first release of Back to the Future, sent to me by the studio at that time,” Wilson wrote via KIRO 7. “Since I knew that the VHS platform would be around forever, I saved it for later and now I can’t find a VCR. Oh well. Enjoy!”
We had no idea what was going to happen
Joe Maddalena, the executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, told CNN of the event’s success, “We had no idea what was going to happen, no one’s done this before and to see the success, it’s amazing. When you see that, it’s a great sense of accomplishment, not even the financial aspect of it but just a moment of, ‘I knew it! I knew nostalgic VHS tapes would be good.'”
Maddalena hopes the success of the auction will encourage more celebrities to part with their VHS tape collections.
