Recently a customer sent me a VHS tape for transfer which looked like this:

I didn’t even attempt to play it in my machines as I didn’t want to be cleaning the transport all day but I did find an interesting U.S. based company that specialises in restoration of very damaged video tape.

http://www.videointerchange.com/video_recovery.htm

I have no direct experience of this company but from their site they seem very knowledgeable and can transfer some very, very obscure formats from the past.

Growing up in the 1970’s and 80’s I had a lot of these and still do but they’re covered in my scrawly handwriting unlike the fine collection here:

http://zabava.septem.cz/Blbustky/obrazky/kazety/

I think this is originally form a Japanese site that ‘disappeared’ from the web some time ago - it’s nice to see it back anyway! I’m tempted to do my own version with the huge piles of tapes I own and love and have collected recently.

I don’t know where it came from but the green and blue style is everywhere at the moment. You must have seen it - a bright lime green and a clean ultramarine type blue. 

Here’s a good example of it - http://www.joomlashack.com/

I’m not even sure if I like it anymore, it’s almost become a ‘blue and red’ type design but not as blunt and common in the Tesco, Screwfix, National Express kind of way.