Do They Still Make New VCRs?

Have you ever wondered if new VCRs are still being made? Is there still a company somewhere out there who are still cranking them out? We know the VCR is pretty much dead here in North America, but is there a remote country in some far-flung region of the world where the VCR is still king?

In this video, I examine this question. I talk about a specific company, and their history making the wonderful video cassette recorder.

As I mention in the video, I still have a fondness for VCRs and VHS tape. There are still old and obscure movies out there that have never been released on any digital format. Sometimes your only hope of finding that forgotten gem is on VHS tape. And it is obvious any time you visit a thrift store, there are still many old VHS tapes out there to be found, often at very low prices.

I recall vividly the 80s, and how major VCRs were at that time. Everybody and their dog seemed to have one, and renting movies on the weekend seems to be a golden memory of many an 80s kid. It was certainly a huge part of my youth!

But is there still enough of a demand for new VCRs to be manufactured? Are there people out there actually still looking to buy new VCRs? And are they being sold anywhere in the world? Watch the video to find out!

I still own a VCR, but as I mentioned, I only use it very minimally. As I said above, sometimes I need it to watch one of those obscure finds. Or maybe I need to digitize an old tape from long ago.

Do you still own a VCR? What brand is it? Do you actually still use it? Do you collect VHS tapes? Is there a prized tape in your collection? Feel free to share a comment!

On this channel I post videos relating to retro and vintage technology. Things like cassettes, CDs, old cameras, laser disc, radios, TVs, DVDs, vinyl, VCRs, home recording gear, microphones, mixers, synthesizers, drum machines, video games, and so much more. If this is your thing, please subscribe!

[tyjuarez]

a few inaccuracies
1. Funai is pronounced like foon-EYE.
2. Their VCRs were rebadged as many different brands in the 2000s. Sanyo, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Hitachi etc.
3. Sony discontinued Betamax much earlier than stated in the video. The format discontinued in 2015 was BetaCAM, a series of many different tape based formats used in the broadcast industry.

[videocouk]

I sit here surrounded by about 100 video cassette recorders. But that's what I do. Some people don't realise how many formats there are for home machines, camcorders and professional, including: SVHS Beta SuperBeta V2000 N1500 N1700 SVC CVC Video8 Hi8 Digital8 miniDV DV DVCAM HDV DVCPRO DVCPRO-50 DVCPRO-HD micromv U-matic U-maticSP Betacam BetacamSP Digital_Betacam HDCAM HDCAM-SR MII and more. I have working machines for all of these formats.

[patriciamuggli]

My autistic son (28) still wants to watch his favorite VHS tapes so I am always on the lookout for working VCRs. I have had poor luck at thrift stores, because the units never seem to work. I have recently purchased one through Facebook marketplace from a guy who refurbishes them. I would love to find a brand new one!

[semectual]

I still have my old Sharp VC-H982U VCR, 4-Head Hi-Fi Stereo from 1998, still in the living room and like you, I use it from time to time to copy old VHS tapes to DVD. The unit is still going strong after 26 years!

[JungKook-upws]

Watching movies on vhs tapes just feels different and nostalgic. It reminds me of how I felt when I was a child watching "tremors" and "honey i shrunk my kids" for the first time. The smell and sound of the vcr player, the way the vhs tape enters and clicks, all are very nostalgic to me.

[SPiRiT]

People will never understand the good old times, how exciting and good it felt to rent a movie 😩

[JoeNuttss]

In 2021 I managed to find myself a CRT TV with a VCR built in for £3 at a car boot sale, and to this day I still use it and occasionally watch VHS tapes on it. I do sometimes buy VHS tapes, and I have quite a large collection, but it's not too often when I actually sit down and watch a VHS tape nowadays

[sw]

I started repairing and servicing VCR in 1984. I continued to service and repair them right through til about 2002. Over the years I have found or been given various machines including some very nice ones - Panasonic S-VHS with TBC, Panasonic multi-system and various others. I kept many models featuring the National/Panasonic D series mechanism, they were very good machines. Top of that line was the NV-870 - Hi-Fi stereo. I still have one of those.
I don't know how long I will be able to keep these machines working properly however. Parts are pretty much unobtainable now and Panasonic used a lot of proprietary and custom parts in their machines. Upper cylinder drums ("heads") are very hard to find. I really only keep these machines for nostalgia and for digitizing any VHS cassettes that are given to me.
I don't use VHS for general viewing of movies etc as the format isn't great when it comes to resolution. Even in its heyday it was really only good for time-shifting.
The interesting thing is that VHS machines are still being sold second-hand here, and people continue to buy them. There is a steady market for used machines.

[baronhausenpheffer]

I think if some company out there started producing VCRs as a retro item -- even at $100, $120 -- there would be a small but strong boutique market for them. In the world of music, retro media players have made huge comebacks -- first vinyl, then more recently audio cassettes. Why there has been no similar revival for the VHS video format, which lasted considerably larger, had a bigger cultural impact, and whose movies are still relatively easy to come by -- is beyond me. VHS tapes are still all over the place. It's the working players and replacement parts that are getting scarce.

[lawrencelawrence]

I still use my VCR, I have 3, one day we had a storm and the internet was out for almost a week. I was able to watch movies and old TV shows I recorded many years ago on the VCR. I have a Memorex, Sony and Sharp brand VCR. The Sharp is a DVD/ VCR combo I bought in 2001. Still works great.

[adamgardner]

I bought a TV/VCR combo at an estate sale in 2021. There was a tape inside when I got it home. Rewinding and watching it to see if it was home movies the family might want back, it was just soap operas. I waited for a commercial and saw an ad for Black Friday for a big box store. The date on the ad was 2013. That set was still being used up to at least that point. I found it in a closet, so I wonder when it was unplugged and imprisoned there...

[coolbluelights]

Several years ago I got a NOS 1985 model JC Penney VCR that I still use today. I still have a lot of home video on VHS tapes.

[qaz]

Still have my old vcr and never planning on getting rid of it. Its a piece of history to me.

[BNWilliamGaming]

One day, I was digging through my parent’s basement when I found a stack of 20 SEALED 8-hour VHS tapes! That was one of my coolest finds EVER!

[krissjacobsen]

I still watch movies on VHS, and have gotten quite a collection of tapes. In fact, I watched a couple of VHS movies last weekend.

[Larry]

Was there ever a VCR made that had HDMI capabilities? Be interesting to see if any units upscaled footage to HD.

[timf-tinkering]

VCRs and DVD players co-existed for a long time because you couldn’t record on a DVD player so still needed something that could record from TV. DVD Recorders didn’t really become all that common (at least in my region of the world); it was really the PVR that finally rendered VCRs obsolete. That’s my recollection of events anyway.

[lukedougan]

Just about to watch one now!😂 sometimes the original movies on VHS are not censored so I still use my VHS today.

[idj]

Still have my Sanyo VCR player purchased as an used item in 1998 and a few "rare" VHS tapes to watch it on. But what makes this player that little bit special is that it has the ability to decode Closed Captions (or Subtitles here at the UK) signals off tape and display them on screen (have to look for the "Q" symbol on the sleeve cover). Gave the player a test run the other week and it all still worked fine with remarkably decent picture quality for what it is.

[PlayitagainVHS]

I play my vcr players on a daily basis.I always find vcr players in the wild.Thrift store's, yard sales etc.Plus i buy vhs tapes all the time.Sealed tapes and not sealed tapes i find all the time.VCRs make me happy.I loved them when they first came out and i love them today still in 2024.So i say, if you like to use them on a daily basis like i do.Then enjoy them.Nothing like putting a vhs tape in the vcr player on a friday night and making fresh popcorn 🍿