Original Rocky VHS tapes sell for more than $50k

Sealed VHS copies of the first three Rocky movies sold at auction for $53,750…more than Sylvester Stallone’s salary on the first.

Yo, Adrian! I did it! I just bought a Porsche by selling three Rocky tapes! Original, sealed VHS copies of the first three Rocky movies just sold at auction for $53,750. To give that a little perspective, that’s around 20% of the original movie’s budget and significantly more than Sylvester Stallone’s salary.

Sold at the Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, the Rocky VHS tapes were brought to attention by Jay Carlson, who not only is an avid VHS collector (sealed only), but serves as consignment director for Heritage. He also runs a nifty and nostalgic Instagram called rareandsealed. It was there he posted more on the Rocky VHSes:

“2 days after our last auction where we sold the only known 1982 drawer box releases of Rocky, Rocky II and Rocky III, these EVEN EARLIER 1982 copies popped up. The main tell is the die cut that you’ll see on the bottom left of the front that wraps around to the spine, where VHS is printed directly on the drawer box that slides out of the side of the box.” So, something to keep an out for the next time you head to Goodwill, where these were purchased…for 49 cents! Carlson offered some words of hope for future VHS hunters: “Rare, early VHS tapes aren’t easy to find, but they are still floating around out there waiting to be discovered at yard sales, second hand stores, antique malls and thrift stores…” You might want to be on the lookout for Back to the Future, as one sold for $75,000 just last year.

VHS hounds may be delighted by the news, but you can be assured that Stallone probably wishes he had a few sealed copies of Rocky sitting around–hey, he’s got to profit from it where he can…

While vinyl records outsold CDs this year for the first time since 1987, the chances of VHS doing to the same to other home media formats seems unlikely. Still, there is definitely a crowd for it, as there are various organizations and events throughout the country devoted to the format, like Pennsylvania’s The Mahoning Drive-In’s annual VHS Fest, which features dozens of vendors.

What do you think of the Rocky movies selling for so much on VHS? Do you still have some of your old VHSes? If so, are any sealed? Let us know!