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Cassette Tape Ads

Discussion in 'Brochures, advertising, data & specs...' started by Mister X, Feb 28, 2020.

  1. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    TDK 1987

    HiFi-Stereo-Review-1987 TDK.jpg
     
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  2. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    TDK 1987

    HiFi-Stereo-Review-1987 TDK.png
     
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  3. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Memorex never got any love, did they make any worthwhile tapes? I just have memories of issues with them and usually you didn't waste a lot of time on bad tapes, it was pretty easy to switch brands.
    1987

    HiFi-Stereo-Review-1987 Memorex.png
     
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  4. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Maxell 1987

    Screenshot_2020-04-24 HiFi-Stereo-Review-1987-04 pdf.jpg
     
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  5. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Discwasher Cleaning Tape, these were great for car stereos and yes they do work. I worked for a manufacturer and would measure how much tape residue we could pick up, bascially take before and after photos with a microscopic camera. Check out the hubs on these, they're fake, the media is wound up in the corners, maybe so you don't try and rewind it?

    HiFi-Stereo-Review-1987-07 DW.png
     
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  6. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    TDK from 1987 This ad was split from two different pages.
    TDK 1 1987.png TDK 2 1987.png
     
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  7. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Stevie Wonder and TDK from 1982

    TDK 1982.png
    Screenshot_2020-04-24 HiFi-Stereo-Review-1982-07 pdf.png
     
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  8. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Maxell buy one get one free, this looks like a great deal from 1982

    XLII-s 1982.png
     
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  9. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Sony UCX-S, listing at $5.00 USD, probably a little more expensive than Maxell's and close to TDK's Pricing, these most likely sold for around $2.75 USD when new. This is an interesting ad with a lot of information including the manufacturing in Texas and Alabama. I'm sure they were looking to the future with a ton of tape for all kinds of audio-video applications.

    HiFi-Stereo-Review-1982-Sony.png
     
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  10. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    This reminds me of the guys that scour flea markets for vintage Sears Craftsman Tools and turn them in for new products. Is Memorex still in business?

    Screenshot_2020-04-24 HiFi-Stereo-Review-1982-09 1.jpg
     
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  11. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Sony Metallic 90 from 1982

    Screenshot_2020-04-24 HiFi-Stereo-Review-1982-01 2.jpg
     
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  12. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    TDK SA-X C90 from 1982

    Screenshot_2020-04-24 HiFi-Stereo-Review-1982-01 pdf.jpg
     
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  13. Mystic Traveller

    Mystic Traveller Well-Known Member

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    Yep, no kidding, I still have circa 150 recorded tapes, don't listen to them but couldn't give them away or dump them either - memories from the past and a lot of money invested back in the day. :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2020
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  14. Mystic Traveller

    Mystic Traveller Well-Known Member

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    A lot of new really awesome ads!! Thanks! You've outdone yourself! :thumbsup:
     
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  15. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Yea there really was a marketing battle for the tape buyers, you can see the quality of the ads really went up. It's surprising that 3m Scotch didn't advertise more, they made a ton of tapes, I always got the crappy quality ones for gifts.
     
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  16. Mystic Traveller

    Mystic Traveller Well-Known Member

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    One of my oldies from 80s happened to be near:
    polygraphy carefully handwritten by my school mate..

    20200426_022159.jpg 20200426_022149.jpg
     
  17. Philip Taylor

    Philip Taylor Active Member

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    I love these ads. Well done MisterX . I also have to say what marvellous handwriting . What a school mate indeed . He must have won the handwriting competition
     
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  18. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    I think they spent the entire marketing budget on adverts for their video tapes



    I hope this isn't one of us next year (in 2021) when the advert is set.
    We should find a tape, wear it out and send it to 3M, although I suspect the best response we could expect is a refund of the 1984 RRP of £3.50 or whatever.

    Update. I have just found that someone asked 3M the question above back in 2008

    https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2008/02/01/scotchs-lifetime-guarantee-rerecord-not-fade-away/

    The answer, is that they would replace any worn out Scotch tapes with BASFs, presumably offloading any guarantee to them.
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2020
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  19. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    I love those old warranties, it'd be fun to see some kids find a handful of vintage products and hunt down the warranty departments and see if they can get any results. 3M has an interesting history, the last plant downtown in Saint Paul was torn down a few years ago, it produced either adhesive tape or media tape in the end. Local legend has it the city of Saint Paul taxed 3M out of the city, the new world headquarters is across the street from the city limits and all of the production is circled around the city.

    I'm not sure about the comment in Longman's Link about 3M VHS Tapes eating machines. Back in my tape cleaning tape days I had to measure head wear with cleaning tape, there was an "industry" specification where you had to show test data that your cleaning tape didn't abrade the heads too quickly, I have to believe the media tapes had similar specifications. I never had a machine that it wasn't pretty easy to exchange the heads, pop the top, three or four screws, an electrical connector and replace, easy. They were pretty cheap to buy.
     
  20. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    Back in the early 80s, when VCRs cost about £500 (or about a months wages) many people in the UK rented them as they knew that if the heads wore out it would cost them well over £100 to get them replaced. By the time VCRs were going out of fashion you could buy a new VCR for about £60 (and that doesn't take into account twenty years of inflation) so people weren't really worried about that. Just like with computers huge demand, and mass production drove costs down and down, while picture wise the last cheap machines worked very well.
     
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