Recording vs Buying In the 90's/2000's

[JustAlex1997]

As a child, my family used to record shows and movies to VHS as it was much cheaper than buying official releases. For shows with as many episodes as Dragon Ball, how did you choose to preserve them back in the day?

[MasenkoHA]

Preserving wasn’t really on the back of my mind as a kid. I just watched it as it aired on Toonami.

I think I saw most of the Garlic Jr saga-Fusion saga as it aired. Didn’t see much of the Saiyan and Namek sagas as done by the Ocean cast and I think I didn’t see any of tie initial Funi cast take over episodes until Goku was fighting Freeza

Also missed most of the Kid Buu saga for some reason

[ABED]

I bought the tapes and the DVD's.

[eledoremassis02]

I couldn't afford the sets, the Saga VHS sets were like 100 bucks at Suncoast video but it honestly never occurred to record it lol

[TheBigBoy]

Bummed tapes off the nerd across the street and waited for reruns if I missed anything. I was much more patient back then.

[Hellspawn28]

I would either buy or rent things from my local blockbuster. I used to go video rental stores from the day I was born until 2009 when my family got rid of their Blockbuster account.

[MyVisionity]

My parents would probably have killed me if I had spent my (their) money on collecting DB or any television series. I was raised in a rent/record environment, although there were some exceptions as I got older.

But anyway I wasn't particularly interested in owning the series back then. I watched as it aired on Toonami, making sure to set the VCR each day in case I was busy. Some stuff I taped over, some I held onto. The only exceptions were a couple of the DVD singles that I bought once I got a player. I was also downloading fansubs back then and borrowing subtapes from friends.

Despite this I did spend many many weekends in the Suncoast looking over all of the various releases.

[samuraix123]

Preserving wasn’t really on the back of my mind as a kid. I just watched it as it aired on Toonami.

I think I saw most of the Garlic Jr saga-Fusion saga as it aired. Didn’t see much of the Saiyan and Namek sagas as done by the Ocean cast and I think I didn’t see any of tie initial Funi cast take over episodes until Goku was fighting Freeza

Also missed most of the Kid Buu saga for some reason

This! In the past really the only time I recorded Toonami atleast, was when we weren't going to make it home in time from school or here and there just to have it.
The things I look for now are older broadcasts with commercials and promo's included but since most people didn't do that back in the day, it makes it a little difficult to find stuff fully intact. I still give my brother crap to this day because he would get mad if I recorded anything other than the show itself and he would say ''Why waste tape space on that stuff when we can add more without them?'' and that was solid logic for the time.
Since Toonami's return, I have taken it upon myself to actually preserve it for just the fun of doing it. I'm actually recording Toonami tonight! on VHS because I recently found 6 or 7 blank tapes at Goodwill and I want to use them. it sure looks weird though when I label it 3/7/2020 on a tape! who knew I'd still be taping in the year 2020 haha but other than that...other than the original Pioneer releases, the orange bricks were when I started collecting. technically. My friend actually jokes with me and says I'm going to be like the VHS seller in Cowboy Bebop were they went to look for a VCR. haha I take great pride in that job. Somebody's gotta rent out tapes to you fools when DVDs and Blurays collapse and disappear!

Edit - I guess I better add too! that I would buy official VHS releases when Funimation put them out and people would either pick them up for me when they were out and about or If I was at wally world and seen they released a new DBZ movie on VHS it made me so happy.

[JustAlex1997]

Preserving wasn’t really on the back of my mind as a kid. I just watched it as it aired on Toonami.

I think I saw most of the Garlic Jr saga-Fusion saga as it aired. Didn’t see much of the Saiyan and Namek sagas as done by the Ocean cast and I think I didn’t see any of tie initial Funi cast take over episodes until Goku was fighting Freeza

Also missed most of the Kid Buu saga for some reason

This! In the past really the only time I recorded Toonami atleast, was when we weren't going to make it home in time from school or here and there just to have it.
The things I look for now are older broadcasts with commercials and promo's included but since most people didn't do that back in the day, it makes it a little difficult to find stuff fully intact. I still give my brother crap to this day because he would get mad if I recorded anything other than the show itself and he would say ''Why waste tape space on that stuff when we can add more without them?'' and that was solid logic for the time.
Since Toonami's return, I have taken it upon myself to actually preserve it for just the fun of doing it. I'm actually recording Toonami tonight! on VHS because I recently found 6 or 7 blank tapes at Goodwill and I want to use them. it sure looks weird though when I label it 3/7/2020 on a tape! who knew I'd still be taping in the year 2020 haha but other than that...other than the original Pioneer releases, the orange bricks were when I started collecting. technically. My friend actually jokes with me and says I'm going to be like the VHS seller in Cowboy Bebop were they went to look for a VCR. haha I take great pride in that job. Somebody's gotta rent out tapes to you fools when DVDs and Blurays collapse and disappear!

Hell, I have a tape from only a couple of years ago where I recorded myself playing GameCube games.

[samuraix123]

Preserving wasn’t really on the back of my mind as a kid. I just watched it as it aired on Toonami.

I think I saw most of the Garlic Jr saga-Fusion saga as it aired. Didn’t see much of the Saiyan and Namek sagas as done by the Ocean cast and I think I didn’t see any of tie initial Funi cast take over episodes until Goku was fighting Freeza

Also missed most of the Kid Buu saga for some reason

This! In the past really the only time I recorded Toonami atleast, was when we weren't going to make it home in time from school or here and there just to have it.
The things I look for now are older broadcasts with commercials and promo's included but since most people didn't do that back in the day, it makes it a little difficult to find stuff fully intact. I still give my brother crap to this day because he would get mad if I recorded anything other than the show itself and he would say ''Why waste tape space on that stuff when we can add more without them?'' and that was solid logic for the time.
Since Toonami's return, I have taken it upon myself to actually preserve it for just the fun of doing it. I'm actually recording Toonami tonight! on VHS because I recently found 6 or 7 blank tapes at Goodwill and I want to use them. it sure looks weird though when I label it 3/7/2020 on a tape! who knew I'd still be taping in the year 2020 haha but other than that...other than the original Pioneer releases, the orange bricks were when I started collecting. technically. My friend actually jokes with me and says I'm going to be like the VHS seller in Cowboy Bebop were they went to look for a VCR. haha I take great pride in that job. Somebody's gotta rent out tapes to you fools when DVDs and Blurays collapse and disappear!

Hell, I have a tape from only a couple of years ago where I recorded myself playing GameCube games.

It's funny you say that because when PlayStation came out me and my brother recorded us playing Final Fantasy 8 on it haha

[Robo4900]

As a kid, I didn't care much about "preserving", but I always kept any tapes or DVDRs recorded. Why would I throw them away? I loved Dragon Ball, and being able to watch these episodes any time I liked was great.

I still have some portions of the Boo arc and GT on tapes that I've never got transferred, probably haven't been played in well over a decade. Would love to get them transferred, but I really don't know what my options are for that.

'Course, far easier are DVDRs. My dad recorded TONS of DVDRs off TV. I've got three six-hour marathons of Animaniacs, I've got marathons of Looney Tunes, there's piles of movies and TV in folders somewhere in my parents' place, and of course, I've got about 7 episodes of DBZ, with 6 episodes of GT also included.
Sadly just a drop in the Ocean, compared to the overall run. If I'd asked him to, my dad could've easily recorded every single episode of Westwood's DB, Z, and GT onto DVDR, and I'd have pristine copies of every episode to this day. But, we didn't know what was on TV was different from what was on DVD, and by the time I realised there was this difference, the shows were off the air.

[MasenkoHA]

My parents would probably have killed me if I had spent my (their) money on collecting DB or any television series.

I actually think this is interesting. Maybe it just varied and my personal experience is different but it seemed like the concept of owning an entire series or watching an entire series from start to finish is relatively new and not as much of a thing in the 90s or early 2000s maybe not until about...the mid 2000s when every show started doing season sets on dvd ? I think part of it is television is so serialized now but it didn’t seem as big of a deal if you missed a bunch of episodes or only had some episodes on home video or didn’t start a show until the middle of a season/storyline

[samuraix123]

As a kid, I didn't care much about "preserving", but I always kept any tapes or DVDRs recorded. Why would I throw them away? I loved Dragon Ball, and being able to watch these episodes any time I liked was great.

I still have some portions of the Boo arc and GT on tapes that I've never got transferred, probably haven't been played in well over a decade. Would love to get them transferred, but I really don't know what my options are for that.

'Course, far easier are DVDRs. My dad recorded TONS of DVDRs off TV. I've got three six-hour marathons of Animaniacs, I've got marathons of Looney Tunes, there's piles of movies and TV in folders somewhere in my parents' place, and of course, I've got about 7 episodes of DBZ, with 6 episodes of GT also included.
Sadly just a drop in the Ocean, compared to the overall run. If I'd asked him to, my dad could've easily recorded every single episode of Westwood's DB, Z, and GT onto DVDR, and I'd have pristine copies of every episode to this day. But, we didn't know what was on TV was different from what was on DVD, and by the time I realised there was this difference, the shows were off the air.

I'm lucky that I can keep my tapes in the environments that I have them in. I have tapes that's knocking close to 30 years old with little to no mold on them but...we know they can't last forever. I gotta admit. before it became so easy to get all of the series in any format you wanted, I would use Kazaa and Ares and Morpheus? I think it was called? to get TV recordings. I remember it used to take me foreveeeeeeeeeeeer with dial up to download an episode and God bless ya if you was gonna try to download a movie lol you had no idea if it was subbed or dubbed because sometimes it would say Dragonball Z Movie yadda yadda English! you'd download it for 2 weeks and it'd be English subbed or not subbed at all haha man those were the good old days haha

[JustAlex1997]

As a kid, I didn't care much about "preserving", but I always kept any tapes or DVDRs recorded. Why would I throw them away? I loved Dragon Ball, and being able to watch these episodes any time I liked was great.

I still have some portions of the Boo arc and GT on tapes that I've never got transferred, probably haven't been played in well over a decade. Would love to get them transferred, but I really don't know what my options are for that.

'Course, far easier are DVDRs. My dad recorded TONS of DVDRs off TV. I've got three six-hour marathons of Animaniacs, I've got marathons of Looney Tunes, there's piles of movies and TV in folders somewhere in my parents' place, and of course, I've got about 7 episodes of DBZ, with 6 episodes of GT also included.
Sadly just a drop in the Ocean, compared to the overall run. If I'd asked him to, my dad could've easily recorded every single episode of Westwood's DB, Z, and GT onto DVDR, and I'd have pristine copies of every episode to this day. But, we didn't know what was on TV was different from what was on DVD, and by the time I realised there was this difference, the shows were off the air.

Westwood? I take it you're from the UK? I actually just watched a video about Dragon Ball in the UK last night.

[Robo4900]

As a kid, I didn't care much about "preserving", but I always kept any tapes or DVDRs recorded. Why would I throw them away? I loved Dragon Ball, and being able to watch these episodes any time I liked was great.

I still have some portions of the Boo arc and GT on tapes that I've never got transferred, probably haven't been played in well over a decade. Would love to get them transferred, but I really don't know what my options are for that.

'Course, far easier are DVDRs. My dad recorded TONS of DVDRs off TV. I've got three six-hour marathons of Animaniacs, I've got marathons of Looney Tunes, there's piles of movies and TV in folders somewhere in my parents' place, and of course, I've got about 7 episodes of DBZ, with 6 episodes of GT also included.
Sadly just a drop in the Ocean, compared to the overall run. If I'd asked him to, my dad could've easily recorded every single episode of Westwood's DB, Z, and GT onto DVDR, and I'd have pristine copies of every episode to this day. But, we didn't know what was on TV was different from what was on DVD, and by the time I realised there was this difference, the shows were off the air.

Westwood? I take it you're from the UK? I actually just watched a video about Dragon Ball in the UK last night.

Yeah, man. Westwood Media's dubs recorded by the Ocean Group in Vancouver for Z, and Calgary for DB & GT. Most of the cast from the Saban Z dub were back for the Westwood Z dub, and while there was a little rough startup time, everyone was in good form pretty quickly. DB&GT had somewhat amateurish acting at times, but the scripts, particularly for GT, were excellent, and both were honestly pretty solid dubs. I wish I could get these dubs in a boxset; I'd probably almost never watch the show any other way.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

As a kid, I didn't care much about "preserving", but I always kept any tapes or DVDRs recorded. Why would I throw them away? I loved Dragon Ball, and being able to watch these episodes any time I liked was great.

I still have some portions of the Boo arc and GT on tapes that I've never got transferred, probably haven't been played in well over a decade. Would love to get them transferred, but I really don't know what my options are for that.

'Course, far easier are DVDRs. My dad recorded TONS of DVDRs off TV. I've got three six-hour marathons of Animaniacs, I've got marathons of Looney Tunes, there's piles of movies and TV in folders somewhere in my parents' place, and of course, I've got about 7 episodes of DBZ, with 6 episodes of GT also included.
Sadly just a drop in the Ocean, compared to the overall run. If I'd asked him to, my dad could've easily recorded every single episode of Westwood's DB, Z, and GT onto DVDR, and I'd have pristine copies of every episode to this day. But, we didn't know what was on TV was different from what was on DVD, and by the time I realised there was this difference, the shows were off the air.

Westwood? I take it you're from the UK? I actually just watched a video about Dragon Ball in the UK last night.

Yeah, man. Westwood Media's dubs recorded by the Ocean Group in Vancouver for Z, and Calgary for DB & GT. Most of the cast from the Saban Z dub were back for the Westwood Z dub, and while there was a little rough startup time, everyone was in good form pretty quickly. DB&GT had somewhat amateurish acting at times, but the scripts, particularly for GT, were excellent, and both were honestly pretty solid dubs. I wish I could get these dubs in a boxset; I'd probably almost never watch the show any other way.

I've seen some clips of bits from Westwood Z and BW DB and GT and overall they seemed like pretty decent dubs to me even with being edited and i'd really like to see some full eps at some point for curiosity viewing in particular given FUNi's own dubs are so so/meh even though i primarily watch the latter two subbed in Japanese.

[Planetnamek]

When I was a kid, I didn't record things on tape because I wanted to preserve them, I recorded things when I knew I wasn't going to be around to watch them live. For example there were a couple of times as a kid where I wasn't able to watch Yugioh on Saturday mornings because my dad forced me to do something else with the Boy Scouts, so I made sure to tape the show.

[samuraix123]

Idk why but I figured i'd share this funny moment with ya'll. So as I said the posts above that I was recording Toonami right? Well, I was in the living room and when My Hero Academia went off I went back in my room to watch TV(Our living room only has a big Standard def TV) I seen Toonami on and seen the ship on my 50'' 4k TV and it about knocked my eyes out lol Oh Toonami reviewed the new dbz game woohoo! Haha

[sangofe]

As a child, my family used to record shows and movies to VHS as it was much cheaper than buying official releases. For shows with as many episodes as Dragon Ball, how did you choose to preserve them back in the day?

Well, in the 90's Dragon Ball wasn't even available on home video. I recorded big portions of the French dub on VHS and bought English fansubs in the mid 90's to early 2000's.

[Danfun64]

You were able to get English fansubs? I was under the impression that most of those were sold in the US. The NTSC/PAL difference probably didn't help matters either. How were you able to acquire them?