VHS Pillowcases and Duvets: Be Kind, Relax and Rewind

While VHS tapes clearly won the format war against Betamax, I was always more of a Beta fan because I’ve always been an outsider-slash-tech snob. Regardless of the kind of videotape you chose back in the day, your blank tapes almost certainly came in a boldly designed box with colorful line art graphics. Now, you can enjoy the classic VHS tape look every time you lie down to go to bed.

Clothing and accessory brand MoonLambo makes a variety of fun items decked out to look like classic VHS art, including a VHS tape pillowcase, and two different VHS-inspired duvet covers: one in a white/yellow/orange/red color scheme, and another in a black/gold/RGB combo. All three are labeled as “T-120” which means that they can record up to 2 hours of low-quality video in SP mode, 4 hours of mediocre video in LP mode, and 6 hours of “shot on a potato” quality video in EP mode. And if you start to see squiggly lines while you drift off to sleep, try adjusting the tracking control.

And if you have a particularly memorable dream of Heather Locklear coming out of the swimming pool that you don’t want to forget, be sure to punch out the write-protect tab to prevent someone in the house from overwriting your precious fantasies with a bad episode of Silver Spoons.

Old VHS Tapes Repurposed as Planters: Captain Planet Would Be Proud

Remember when VHS tapes were the gold-standard in movie rentals? Seems like forever ago, doesn’t it? And where are all those VHS tapes now? I mean, besides my packrat parents’ basement? Landfills? Well, Etsy shop niftyrecyclables is doing their part to reduce, reuse, and recycle by selling VHS tapes that have been transformed into little planters. I’m going to grow a Blu-Ray tree!

Planters range in price from $25 – $30 depending on the movie title. You can even request a specific movie and, provided it isn’t too rare, niftyrecyclables will procure the VHS and turn it into a planter for $30. Obviously, Little Shop of Horrors is a must.

Provided you already have the movie you want to use, I can’t imagine modding a VHS tape for use as a planter is too difficult, even without instructions. Granted there’s no way I could do it, but I’m less of a do-it-yourselfer and much more of a destroy-it-yourselfer.

[via DudeIWantThat]

Blockbuster Video Inspired Eyeshadow Palette: For Browsing The New Releases

Blockbuster: once the powerhouse of VHS and DVD rentals, now a bygone dinosaur, killed by the meteor that was its inability to adapt to a changing marketplace. But to harken back to the days of actually having to drive somewhere to rent a movie, Hot Topic is selling these $14 Blockbuster inspired eyeshadow palettes, which even come in what looks like a VHS rental box.

I assumed the colors would all be blue and yellow, but there’s actually a variety, named after the different sections of a Blockbuster store, including (from top left to right): New Releases, Adventure, Classics, Drama, Family, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Fantasy, Cartoon, Horror, Action, and Television. Obviously, there are bonus points if you apply the eyeshadow with your Blockbuster membership card, which I still have in my wallet because you never know when the company might turn around.

When my local Blockbuster closed, the space went up for rent and it was eventually renovated into a cycling studio, which, and this might come as a surprise, I visit far less frequently than I did the Blockbuster. Or ever really.

[via geektyrant]

Was Beta Really Better than VHS?

Back in the ’80s, I was a huge proponent of BetaMax videotapes, though it was less about the image quality for me and more about the audio quality Beta Hi-Fi, which offered up far better sound quality than other video formats at the time. But for years, it’s been thought that Beta offered superior image quality, despite its ultimate loss in the home video format wars.

However, the reality is that most of us never saw a real comparison of the technologies, and just believed what we read in magazines (remember magazines?) To put to rest the great Beta vs VHS battle once and for all, the guys at Technology Connections decided to do a proper side-by-side faceoff between the two competing tape formats.

The video puts the two formats up against each other in a variety of split-screen showdowns, and if nothing else is a great way to see how far we’ve come in terms of image quality with today’s ubiquitous HD and 4K digital formats.

In the end, I found it really hard to tell the difference between most of the footage, and it seems as if it had more to do with which tape speed you recorded at (i.e. SP/LP/SLP, or Beta II/III), than the format of the recorder. Watch the video, and decide for yourself.

VHS Box Art Pillows: Be Kind, Unwind

Etsy store The UFO Party makes 9″x 16″ throw pillows printed with box art from VHS movie releases. Although the pillows don’t have a fluffy tape inside, they do have front, rear and spine graphics.

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The UFO Party has a handful of stock designs from classics such as Jurassic Park and Alien, but for a small extra fee you can request a specific movie cover art for your order. Obviously the store doesn’t guarantee that they can find any movie, but if it’s a well-known flick you’re probably good.

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The UFO Party makes custom VHS pillows for $32 (USD), while their stock designs go for $25 each.

[via ThisIsWhyImBroke]

Portable VCR Turned into Raspberry Pi Media Center: Very Cool Retro Case Mod

Instructables member Mister M loves to convert old gadgets into their newer incarnations. For his latest project, he turned a 1981 Sharp VC-2300H portable VCR into a media center powered by the Raspberry Pi. Thanks to its tall boombox-like shape, Mister M was able to add a 15″ HD screen on the back of the VCR.

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Mister M removed most of the VCR’s components but chose to keep the tape eject mechanism intact for that old school charm. But he wasn’t planning on playing VHS tapes on it so he used an old tape to hide four powered USB ports. He also placed electroluminescent strips and the Raspberry Pi logo on the cassette.

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He loaded Raspbmc on his Raspberry Pi B+ as his media center software. He then mounted the Pi on the side of the VCR where a handful of ports used to be to make it easier to remove or install.

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One thing that you may have taken for granted if you’re not familiar with the original VCR is Mister M’s paint job. The Raspberry coat blends well with the gadget’s style.

Head to Instructables for more on how Mister M put this mod together.