Office refugee: Star Wars Video VHS first release 1982 (UK pre cert)

Star Wars VHS first release 1982 pre cert

Having written a post about pre cert VHS videos in the UK, I found myself looking more closely at the various first editions of Star Wars.

There didn't seem to be much information about the early UK editions or their values today (2023).

Star Wars A New Hope was first released on VHS, V2000 and Betamax by 20th Century Fox on 1 July 1982. For the first three months it was only available for rental. 20th Century Fox made available 20,000 copies to retailers when it went on general sale three months later. However, retailers were limited to just 10 copies each.

At the same time the video was made available for sale to the general public, Star Wars was shown on British television for the first time in October 1982. ITV initially claimed they had paid £1.5 million for the film but 20th Century Fox denied this and indicated it was much more. No doubt those lucky enough to own a video recorder preferred to record it than purchase the retail version. However, such a recording would have been spoilt by the addition of countless advertisements. Having said that, I'm sure that today a collector would be willing to acquire such a recording of the first showing on television for completeness.

British television network premier of Star Wars 1982

Star Wars Episode IV on British television 1982

The very first video release of Star Wars A New Hope had the words "Rental Library" at the bottom of the front artwork. At that time VHS video films were very expensive to buy (about £45) so the vast majority of people would rent a film. In fact video recorders/players were also very expensive to buy so these were also often rented. The retail version of Star Wars could be purchased directly by the general public from October 1982 and it used the same box cover artwork. The only difference was that it didn’t include the text 'Rental library' on the front cover. Both videos had a black box.

There's quite a variation in values on these first editions. A rental library version of a the first film A New Hope is worth around £50. The value depends on overall condition and originality. By originality I mean that it has the original box stamped with 20th Century Fox, original artwork sleeve and makers labels on the cassette.

A genuine seller will provide good photographs, description and welcome questions. Dealers often use generic descriptions with nothing specific about the actual item in the photograph.

Bear in mind that being ex-rental it's likely to have been viewed hundreds of times and could be somewhat worn. Those in the best condition may have escaped the rental shop shelves, but that would be rare. These could be identified by their lack of rental related labels attached to the box or the cassette. For example, it's common to find an adhesive label reminding the user to rewind the tape.

Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope (ANH) was released in the UK on VHS for the first time on 1 July 1982 for rental only. It was not for another three months before 20th Century Fox released a retail version. It comes in a black 20th Century Fox plastic box. Often described as 'small box' which was the standard size. Rental companies also adopted over-size boxes for many films, referred to simply as a 'big box'. The spine will indicate whether the tape is VHS or Betamax. The cassette has a makers label.

The VHS and Betamax tape boxes are identical from the front.

Star Wars A New Hope VHS and Betamax 1982

The smaller tape is the Betamax version

The spine label is identical on both except for a different serial number

20th Century Fox logo on the inside of the case

Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (ESB) was released on VHS video for the first time in the UK on 18 October 1984. By the time this was released 20th Century Fox had merged with CBS and became known as CBS Fox. ESB comes in a dark grey box embossed with CBS Fox along the top and bottom edge. The CBS Fox logo is also stamped inside the case cover. The CBS Fox logo is printed onto the cassette tape instead of using an adhesive label like the earlier ANH and later ROTJ videos. The ESB artwork is almost identical on the later issue, the only difference being the red text at the top which was only used on the first release edition.

Star Wars Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (ROTJ) was released on VHS for the first time in the UK on 27 February 1986. The case is white with CBS FOX embossed along the top and bottom edge. The CBS Fox makers details are printed onto the cassette with a self adhesive label. The CBS Fox logo is also embossed on the inside of the case. I've seen a few with grey cases like ESB but don't know if these were originally issued in grey. It's not uncommon to find ex rental tapes with different cases to the original issue ones. There's quite alot of these appearing on eBay and many sellers are 'trying' to get around £40 for them, although their true value is more like £15-£30.

February 1986 ROTJ Video release

Illegal copies known as 'pirate' videos were becoming more common during the early 1980's. Perhaps surprisingly, there were already some pirate videos of ROTJ in circulation at the time of it's cinema release in June 1983.

In June 1983 an entire 35mm copy of the film was stolen from a cinema in Hastings, England. Some pirate video copies of ROTJ were confiscated by Police in the West Midlands in June 1983, but experts from 20th Century Fox concluded these were not from the recently stolen 35mm tape reel. I'm not sure if they ever recovered the original 35mm print. Selling this openly was not an option because it was stolen. Perhaps since then it's found it's way into a private collection and may one day surface.

Here's all the first editions which were made available for private purchase for the first time. The example of A New Hope shown here is first promotional issue white box (later black box). The artwork is almost identical to the rental version but without the rental wording at the bottom and a different label on the cassette.

This next example of mine is interesting as the sleeve is a colour photocopy and the box is not an original 20th Century Fox issue. However, the additional green U certificates are actual adhesive stickers placed on top. It's common to find these U certificates added to pre-cert boxes when the law changed and they had to be displayed. Any exising stock had the stickers added by the retailer or video rental shop. In this example, the fact that the U certificates are stickers suggests it's a period 'repair' and was actually used as a rental tape.

How to tell if the sleeve is a copy

With today's colour photocopiers and laser printers it's possible to print a very good quality sleeve, even from a digital image.

In the case of a Star Wars VHS from 1982 there are a few things to look out for. The first being the 'hologram' sticker at the bottom of the spine. This should reflect the light well whereas a copy would appear flat matt.

This is a 'photocopy' as the hologram is flat with no shine

The second is to look closely at the additional copyright text at the top left corner on the back of the sleeve. This was actually a sticker added to the case as seen below.

An original sleeve with sticker - notice the slight tear in the bottom right corner of the text

This copyright text at the top here is flat and is not a sticker

Apparently this example was purchased in the 1980's in good faith, but it's not an original sleeve or case.

This copy sleeve has also captured some strange imperfections which I suspect was damage to the original sleeve. If the copy does originate from the 1980's then it could be possible that the original sleeve and case were damaged and replaced. The image of the imperfections on the front sleeve almost appear as copies of holes. I could imagine that kind of damage would be caused from something hot, for example cigerette ash. It's possible a rental shop could have made a copy of the damage sleeve and replaced the case - a viable theory anyway. That would explain why the sleeve is a copy, but with 'original' post cert U certificate stickers, plus having a non- 20th century fox case. These video tapes were very expensive at that time so it make sense that someone would try and 'repair' it so it could still be rented out. I'm sure most people renting it would probably not even notice the imperfections on the cover design. The actual tape for this box is original.

Damage on the original sleeve has been reproduced on this copy

Damage caused by a cigerette?

I should also point out that the paper used for the sleeve copy is a similar weight and type to an original and not just a piece of standard weight A4 paper.

For someone with access to a good laser printer it wouldn't be too difficult to reproduce a high quality copy on the correct paper. The hologram would represent the biggest challenge.

At some point in the future, I'll provide some good quality scans of my original artwork sleeve. That won't be for a while though as my videos are in storage and not accessable to me just now.

US Versions

Here's the US first editions for comparison. These were produced with cardboard sleeves. There's even more of the US versions in circulation, despite some sellers asking unrealistic prices. Of course importing from the UK will incur significant additional costs. I imported these from the US about 20 years ago for less than £10 plus shipping. Seems there was little interest in them at that time.

Values

I've seen some old forums from years ago where people were advising they had very little value. I bought and sold some in 2004 and values were indeed very low. That coincided with the release of Star Wars Trilogy on DVD for the first time so perhaps people started off-loading their bulky and inferior quality videos.

There appears to be a slight revival of interest in VHS format in 2023. This has prompted some sellers on eBay to set some ridiculously high selling prices. Of course the market dictates the value and it's unlikely anyone is foolish enough to pay these prices. For example I've seen A New Hope with asking prices ranging from £50 to over £1,000.

Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope UK VHS first edition is currently worth about £50 depending on condition. ESB and ROTJ are usually less, around £20-30. Having said that, I managed to buy all three first edition VHS tapes on eBay for £51 in May 2023. Another similar set sold for £107 shortly beforehand.

I would recommend not buying from sellers who claim these are very rare and want more than the values I've quoted here.

There are enough of these first editions in circulation that you shouldn't have to wait too long before the next one is listed on eBay. During the early 1980's there were thousands of video rental shops in the UK and most, if not all would have had a copy of Star Wars A New Hope.

Stick to a sensible bidding limit and don't get sucked into a bidding frenzy. If you miss out this time, just wait for the next one.

Valuation update

In August 2023 a set of the original VHS trilogy films sold on eBay at prices which reflect their true value. The Star Wars ANH tape was in almost mint condition sold for £56, so you can forget about sellers asking hundreds or more for the same VHS. It seems you can expect to pay about £100 for a full set. These are often being listed on eBay so just be patient.

Star Wars £56
Empire Strikes Back £28
Return of the Jedi £14.50

This first edition VHS sold for a realistic £56

This next one sold for £96 on eBay in August 2023. It seems several collectors noticed this was a promotional edition available to the public to purchase for the first time. It came in a white case. Needless to say, the low starting price soon started to escalate over the last few days and hours of the auction.

Top 6 Ebay Crazy Prices countdown

Here's a selection of Star Wars first edition VHS tapes which were on sale in December 2023. As already mentioned, the true value of these tapes is £50-£60 for a tape in good condition. I have no idea why someone would think it's possible to get much more and even ten times this estimate. Buyer Beware!

If anyone is foolish enough to buy one of these videos below, they have very deep pockets and don't care about losing money since it's unlikely they would ever be able to sell again for what they paid.