From the vaults

[altariel]

Right. The bulk of what's lurking under the stairs is a vast pile of video cassettes, mostly stuff taped off air in the late 80s, early 90s. What the hell shall I do with them? I feel like I shouldn't be shoving video cassettes into the bin for landfill. (I'm umming and ahing over whether to keep the off-air copies of Blake's 7 from 1980 and 1981, which must be unplayable by now.) Any ideas? There's over 100.

I also have a large number of back issues of Starburst, going back to issue #1, and up to something like #180, if my memory serves me correctly. (I haven't pulled them out yet to check, will update when I have.) Back issues of Starburst are going for peanuts on eBay and frankly I can't be bothered with all the fuss. Any thoughts? Do you think a library would be interested? They're a bit musty.

I also have a box file of Horizon newsletters, again slightly musty (issues 18-30 from 1987-92, and also issues 38 and 39). Anyone want them? They're going in the bin otherwise. (Horizon is the Blake's 7 Appreciation Society: these are A4-sized magazines with a glossy cover.)

Comments

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

The Cambridge Recycling Directory has this to say on the subject of reusing video tapes:

"Music CDs, DVDs and videos
As well as taking these to charity shops there are also Music banks at the following
neighbourhood Recycling Points:
· The Ship public house, Northfield Avenue
· Sainsbury’s, Brooks Road
· Lammas land car park
· Waitrose, Hauxton Road"

and this on recycling them:

"Plastics (rigid)
There are currently no facilities in Cambridge for recycling plastics other than plastic
bottles (see ‘Bottles’). At the time of writing, there is a reprocessor running a trial in
Hertfordshire at the Household Waste Site, Beverley Close (off York Way). This site
can accept rigid plastics for recycling including: garden furniture, toys, video cassettes
(with the film removed), plastic containers of any size or colour, bottle tops and yoghurt
pots. The site is open 8am-4pm daily."

To be honest, I'd just landfill them if you can't find someone to reuse them. They're not hazardous waste, there's no market for recycling the type of plastic that makes up the cassette case (which is why you can only recycle plastic bottles at the kerbside in Cambridge), and stripping out the video tape sounds like a right pain in the tits.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you, Iain. The pre-recorded ones are going to charity, but these others are ones that were originally blank and are full of stuff I taped off the telly. Since I can't get out to Hertfordshire easily, it sounds like landfill is the way to go. Thanks for all of this.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

As for the B7 zines and other paper items, I'm pretty sure absinthe_shadow would adore them. I promised her that I'd send her similar items of mine, but I just couldn't afford the postage to England. If you e-mail me, I'll give you her snail addy if you want to send them to her.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Awesome! They're newsletters rather than zines (i.e. not fiction), but if you think they'd be enjoyed I'd be delighted to pass them on.

I have had various computer crashes this year and no longer have your email address: could you email me? umm10 AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk (or else perhaps absinthe_shadow could email me if interested)?

[owlfish]

If you're willing to post the off to a recyling place, here's an option:

Keymood UK accepts CDs, DVDs, vinyl, cassettes, VHS videos, computer equipment and mobile phones. Reclaims electronic and electrical products including all IT equipment, redundant office equipment and domestic goods. Turns your excess into cash. Electronic assembly experts. Takes pride in routinely exceeding guidelines on percentage of materials recycled, minimising landfill costs and providing clients with security. Full certification and auditable reports on sensitive goods.

Contact details:
Tel: 01989 566288
Fax: 01989 566977
Email: recycle@keymood.co.uk
Location: Ross-on-Wye

(Info from here)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That is fantastic, thank you very much! There's over 100 of them, so I'm going to do a bit of pricing and see whether it's something I can stretch to. Thank you!

[steverogerson.livejournal.com]

If you want to hang onto them for a few months, the bring 'n' buy stall at Redemption might shift the Horizon and Starburst stuff.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oh, good thought, yes - thanks!

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

(I'm umming and ahing over whether to keep the off-air copies of Blake's 7 from 1980 and 1981, which must be unplayable by now.) Any ideas? There's over 100.

You could try playing a small sample to get an idea of whether your assumption is correct. You might be surprised. Even though you no doubt now have DVDs which are of much higher quality, there might be someone out there who would like them if they are still plsyable.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely going to test the B7 ones and see how they've done. There's some other tapes in that set that my brother made in the early 80s, and I don't want to throw them much either. This cupboard under the stairs had a big hole in the wall for years, and a lot of what's been in there has got quite damp, unfortunately. I'm also going to keep the recordings of Jim Henson's The Story Teller: last time I checked, the DVDs were astronomically expensive.

There's so much stuff: loads of films and TV series. I'm a little anxious about advertising it on something like Freecycle because of copyright issues.

[manna]

and a lot of what's been in there has got quite damp, unfortunately.

You might be lucky with them. A friend of ours had a flood in his basement, which soaked a lot of his old VHS tapes. Although it looked like they were ruined, surprisingly, once they'd really *thoroughly* dried out, they played fine.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Wow! Well, I really hope so with these B7 videos. The last time I looked at them (c. 1994?) they played pretty well, considering they dated back to 1981!

[manna]

Someone has very recently set up a community called fancycle, which might be worth a try for some of the stuff. They have rules against bootleg copies, but probably old tapes of series which aren't easily available on DVD would be okay. You could always check with the mods first.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Brilliant idea - thanks for the link. Most of these tapes are off-air copies of things like Red Dwarf and Babylon 5, so I suspect that would be pushing it. However, I do have three Doctor Who NTSC cassettes which someone might find a home for. Thank you!

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

Um, you could try to find someone on your f-list interested in various items? It's fandom after all: The one fan's rubbish is the other fan's treasure!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I think I've found a home for the B7 items, I'm glad to say.

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

Hooray!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

If I lived over there, I'd buy those Starbursts. The freight would be a killer though.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

What a shame, I'd love you to have them. My brother painstakingly collected them, so I'd really like to think they were going to someone who would care for them.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I have a couple and they had good short stories in them (if I'm thinking of the right magazine). Never mind. I hope they go to a good home.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That's interesting, I don't remember it having short stories, but that's probably because I haven't looked at them in years. It's chiefly an SF media magazine, reviewing film and TV, although its TV column, TV Zone, eventually became a separate publication.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I got it wrong. I do have two Starbursts, but I was thinking of two Amazing magazines from 1999 and 2000 I found at the local pawn shop along with all those 50s and 60s mags I bought.

As you were. :-P

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-D

[raspberryfool.livejournal.com]

The tapes should be okay, it might be worth running a couple of FF - REW cycles. If they're humid, you can open the cassettes and air-dry them for a few days. Be careful with those video heads - they're very delicate.

You mean you have a recording of *that* BBC announcement?

I recently went through my old betamax tapes - no B7 but some ads and a 1991 play called 'Out of the Blue' with Colin Firth and Cath Zeta-Jones before they rose to mega-stardom which i'd kind of forgotten about. Old adverts can be fun too - you could spend *ages* watching those again!

There's always the option to archive anything special to DVD before disposal, again if you have the time, the kit and the patience. If you need a video capture card, I'd lend mine, but you'll need Win98 or ME as it doesn't work under XP.

If you had Horizon no. 40, i'd say 'yes' because i never received that one.
I was rather miffed about the way *ahem* treated the editing staff, and never bothered to renew my sub.

I hope you find good homes, it's a shame to throw stuff completely. Maybe someone who does a dealers' table at cons could help dispose of them.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all this advice, much appreciated. It's been pretty humid here the last few days. I run Vista, so your card wouldn't work, but I really appreciate the offer.

I don't think I have a recording of *that* announcement, because my brother only started taping during the repeats of the third season episodes that were on before the fourth season. So it wasn't the original transmission of B7.

The bitter quarrel between viewers of B7 and viewers of Coronation Street was the reason my father got a VCR. My brother never fails to remind me that I backed the Corrie viewers (I was sucking up to my older sister).

I definitely won't throw the magazines, too much effort went into collecting them. But most of the taped stuff is available on DVD. I suppose things like adverts and continuity announcements are interesting.

[raspberryfool.livejournal.com]

The bitter quarrel between viewers of B7 and viewers of Coronation Street was the reason my father got a VCR. My brother never fails to remind me that I backed the Corrie viewers (I was sucking up to my older sister).

Ah, sibling rivalries :-) I was furious when my sister wouldn't let me watch the last episode of 'Into the Labyrinth' because she *had* to watch Blue Peter. Fortunately, my sister was normally out on Monday evenings, my dad was usually in the kitchen and we all hated Corrie anyway, so Monday was very much *my* tv night, before the 9:00 news that is!

I hope the clearout goes well, anyway. A final thought - you could see if anyone on the Redemption or B7 LJ communities are interested.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

you could see if anyone on the Redemption or B7 LJ communities are interested

Ooh, excellent idea, thank you. I've offered them to a friend of executrix, but if they're not wanted there, that's what I'll try next.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

Playing catch-up here, I just wanted to pop in and express my admiration for your care in disposing of hard-to-unload stuff.

During the course of Project Empty, I've given, in more often than I care to admit, to the expediency of just throwing stuff in the bin.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I've had to chuck the video tapes, sadly: they're full of stuff I taped from the telly, and I can't think of a way of advertising them on Freecycle without running the risk of getting done for copyright theft. The recycling option was too expensive: £20 charge, and I'd have to pay postage on sending out 100+ tapes :-(

I've pulled out the prerecorded videos, though, and they'll be going to charity shops. And I still have my really old (c. 1981) tapes to go through. I'll probably keep those.

I've found a really good home for the Blake's 7 newsletters, and I've got a couple of ideas of what to do with the Starburst magazines, so all in all this clear out has been pretty successful. A lot of what we have is collectible of or interest in some way, so you can usually find someone who is interested enough to take them.