Cassette Tape Ads

TDK 1987

 

TDK 1987

 

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

 

Maxell 1987

 

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?

 

TDK from 1987 This ad was split from two different pages.

 

Stevie Wonder and TDK from 1982

 

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

 

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.

 

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?

 

Sony Metallic 90 from 1982

 

TDK SA-X C90 from 1982

 

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.

 

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.