YouTubers spark debate after destroying 100 VHS tapes just one make one more valuable

Two YouTubers said they demolished more than 100 copies of a VHS tape for the 1987 South African sci-fi film Nukie to increase the tape's value for charity – but the act sparked debate online.

On 30 December, hosts Richard Evans and Mike Stoklasa of the movie review YouTube channel RedLetterMedia, shared a video on the platform discussing the trend of VHS tape collections which can often go for a hefty price on sites like eBay.

"As the owners of 1000s of crappy VHS tapes, we were curious to dig deeper into this trend, as well as examine what makes something valuable and collectible," the channel's video caption read.

The duo was inspired to conduct this experiment with the news of a sealed copy of the movie Back to the Future.

According to The Hill, the tape was sold for $75,000 in June 2022.

And as a result, Evans and Stoklasa took matters into their hands, considering the factors that make a VHS tape valuable. The tapes condition and rarity are two of the vital elements.

The channel, which was created by Stoklasa, an independent filmmaker, had a running joke of collecting copies of the "forgotten terrible film" Nukie.

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They also explained that they chose the copy that was in the most pristine condition and sent it to a service to be graded for quality and authenticity. And their copy of Nukie had an impressive score of 8.5 out of 10.

When it came to destroying the other copies of the film, they appeared to run them through a wood chipper as the cassettes and spools of magnetic tape flew all around.

Towards the end of the video, they said the final tape was listed on eBay for auction, and the proceeds would be given to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Wisconsin Humane Society.

We Finally Watched Nukie: The VHS Grading Videowww.youtube.com

The tape was officially sold for $80,600 in an eBay auction.

Once people online caught wind of the VHS copies, many didn't see the issue with the tapes being destroyed.

One person on Twitter wrote: "Nukie was the perfect movie to do that experiment with, and RLM did nothing wrong."

"Imagine reading that RLM destroyed 100 VHS tapes of "Nukie" to show what a scam VHS preservations are and raise $80,000 for charity, then sitting back and saying "wow, that's scummy, what about media preservation :/ "Absolute clown shoes."

However, others felt it was unnecessary to do with someone writing: "I knew there was a reason I didn't like these guys. Let's not destroy physical media to manipulate the market like this," one added.

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