“I started collecting VHSes that were sealed in the box like three years ago ’cause I was really high one night,” Davidson told the late-night show host. “So listen to this, guys: In 2026, it’ll be 20 years since the last VHS was made, right? So 20 years goes by — that’s enough time for people to be like, ‘Oh, that was cool, remember?’ Like vinyl? So I bought all the sealed ones that exist — like, three to five thousand tapes.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW8tBLKT_Xw
So, is he right?
Here at GoCollect, you’ve no doubt read countless articles about holding onto collectibles while they “mature” in the market, and with recent speculation around the world of VHS collecting, he definitely has done his research.
His comments then led to snickering by Jimmy Fallon and the audience, but he followed up with, “As of a month ago, sealed VHSes are now going for 20 to 30,000 grand a pop!” he said. “Rocky just sold for $27,000. It’s my GameStop. I own all of them, dude! Dude, no one believed in me! It’s gonna happen, you guys!”
To back up his claim, we can verify that a February 2023 sale of Rocky went for $27,500 at Heritage Auctions.
The VGA 85 NM+ copy has a 20th Century Fox Watermark on the rear and is believed to be the only known factory sealed copy of the original retail release.
With the 3000 to 5000 copies he claims to have, it is hard to know if he has any gems. There is also a bit of confusion as to what he ment when he referenced the Rocky VHS sale - sites have been reporting that he sold the copy personally, which doesn’t appear to be the case. Sources show that Jay Carlson of Massachusetts was the seller of the tape.
In the same auction, a copy of Rocky II sold for $12,500 while a copy of Rocky III went for $13,750.
If we’re looking at the sales data to support his argument, let’s take a look at a few more items, shall we?
In June of 2022, a sealed copy of Back to the Future sold for $75,000 at Heritage Auctions. This sealed VGA 80+ NM copy was from the personal collection of Tom Wilson (aka Biff Tannen). It also featured a personal, handwritten note from the seller.
As we reported last year, a sealed (IGS 9.5 mint) copy of Terminator (1984) sold for $32.5k at ComicConnect after only three days in auction. Also In December of 2021, a copy of Star Wars sold via Goldin for a whopping $57,600.
(Note: I wrote this article, so I'm really just quoting myself.)
Is it time to run out to buy VHS?
It’s too early to know what rare gems the SNL alum managed to snag, but with some sealed copies (ungraded) going for hundreds of dollars, it is reasonable to assume he could turn at least a small profit. It’s quite possible he has some first pressings due to the sheer volume he’s collected, that could make such a big lot purchase worth it in the long run.
These high dollar sales have been anomalies in the market and most graded sales have sold for around $200-400. With any "new" collectible it's perfectly normal to be skeptical, especially when such scarce data exist out there.
Pete claims if he’s wrong about this then “he’ll be on the road forever” but with recent appearances in The Suicide Squad (2021) and the newest Transformers film, we think he’ll do just fine.
While we have you here let’s take at those last two Pete Davidson-related pieces.
While Davidson’s appearance was very short, he did in fact make a cameo appearance in James Gunn’s 2021 Suicide Squad film as Blackguard. The character made their first appearance in Booster Gold #1 (1986). A recent 9.8 CGC graded copy sold for $305 on Ebay.
Lastly, The King of Staten Island himself voiced Mirage in the newest 2023 film Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The first comic appearance of the character was in the 1984 Transformers mini-series run. A 9.8 CGC copy from a recent July sale went for $1,500 on Ebay.
So all of that to say, if you’re reading this Pete Davidson, trust your gut, and if these latest comic sales tell you anything, invest in yourself.
