Christmas is now less than a week away which means household budgets are likely depleted and that January pay cheque couldn’t come soon enough.
If you’re feeling the pinch this festive season then it’s worth having a root around in your cupboards as you may unknowingly be sitting on a small fortune.
Households are urged to check if they have any old Disney VHS tapes lying around as some rare editions could be thousands of pounds.
The Walt Disney company is notorious for only making its films available on home release for a short period of time before putting them ‘in the vault’ and during the 80s and 90s – in the heyday of VHS – it would put its classic films on sale for a while and then not make them available again for 10 years.
Disney says this was a way to control the market and allow its films to be fresh for new generations.But because of this, certain Walt Disney Classics VHS films became rare collectables once they had been returned to ‘the vault’, with the collection becoming known as the ‘Black Diamond’ collection.
These rare VHS tapes all feature a black diamond-shaped “Classics” logo on the upper spine of the VHS case and at the beginning of each tape. The collection of animated features spans from 1984 to 1994, with Robin Hood being the first release and The Fox and the Hound being the last.
The Black Diamond tapes initially consisted entirely of older animated features from before the mid-1970s, but the success of The Little Mermaid led to more recent releases being added from 1990.
Ebay has listings of these Disney Classics tapes for thousands of pounds, so if you’re eager to make some cash before Christmas it’s worth checking if you have any as they could fetch a hefty sum.
A new and sealed copy of 101 Dalmations is currently the priciest Black Diamond VHS listed on the website, at a staggering £15,000. Copies of The Little Mermaid are also listed at £6,200, £5,500 and £3,500, while a new and sealed copy of Aladdin is priced at £5,065.
Of course there are some listings at slightly lower prices but even then sellers are still asking for hundreds, suggesting you could still fetch a fair amount even if you don’t have a brand new copy. A pre-owned copy of The Little Mermaid, for example, is listed for £500, and pre-owned copies of Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia and Sleeping Beauty are all selling for the same price.
Explaining why these VHS tapes are so valuable, Screen Rant says: “Thanks to how prestigious the House of Mouse continues to be, rare Disney VHS tapes often fetch impossibly high prices. It is a testament to the fans’ love of fictional stories that they will invest in such expensive tokens reminding them of their favorite characters and stories.
“The Disney VHS tapes that sell for lots of money usually boast special artwork and other features. Many rare Disney tapes are part of the Black Diamond collection, for example, a label bestowed upon certain Disney classics when released on VHS. Hopeful sellers on eBay include as many details as they can to get the highest price for their Disney treasure. Even though VHS players are rare today, many Disney VHS tapes are deemed to be worth a small fortune.”
So it’s worth checking if you have any of the vintage tapes stored away at home as they could fetch you thousands. Disney films in the Black Diamond collection to look for include:
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Robin Hood – 1984
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Pinocchio -1985
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Dumbo – 1985
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The Sword in the Stone – 1986
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Alice in Wonderland – 1986
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Sleeping Beauty – 1986
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Lady and the Tramp – 1987
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Cinderella – 1988
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Bambi – 1989
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The Little Mermaid – 1990
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Peter Pan – 1990
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The Jungle Book – 1991
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Alice in Wonderland – 1991
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Dumbo – 1991
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Robin Hood – 1991
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The Sword in the Stone – 1991
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The Rescuers Down Under – 1991
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Fantasia – 1991
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101 Dalmatians – 1992
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The Great Mouse Detective – 1992
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The Rescuers – 1992
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Beauty and the Beast – 1992
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Pinocchio – 1993
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Aladdin – 1993
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The Fox and the Hound – 1994
