Oddity Archive: Episode 279.1 - Ben’s Junk: Videolok (VCR Anti-Theft Device)
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- Опубліковано 10 кві 2024
- Inconvenience and mildly annoy those evil VCR thieves with the Videolok!
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0:21 - Intro and Main Discussion
7:52 - VHS Tests
13:16 - Extra VHS Test
14:12 - Betamax Tests
Now I wanna see Lockpickinglawyer showing off the vulnerabilities of the videolok
By the mid-1980s, the best VCR anti-theft device was called Betamax.
Hehe, true!
Oh no.... Beta....
Nowadays, Thieves would probably more likely be stealing Beta VCRs as they're more valuable in the second hand market
@@newmedia2862 haha, true!! A good Betamax can fetch more than a good Digital Betacam! Despite the former costing 1% of the price of a new DigiBeta. Mad world!
I think a better use case would be parents not wanting their kids using the VCR without permission. Still a bit of overkill but more practical.
That is a secondary use listed on the back of the box! Also probably helpful if you had kiddos who can’t tell the difference between a VCR and a toaster
@@ScreamingAllTheTime My sister is 5 years older than me, I was a senior in high school(00), and one of her friends I knew well their kid after getting married who was just turning 3 stuck and entire PB&J sandwich in their VCR, so yeah something like this either included, or as an added on by a salesman would have been fantastic for this, as it would have saved me from having to deep clean a VCR for them. 😅
I used to sell a VHS child door lock at my shop. There was no key, it was more to keep toddlers from putting food in the door flap
That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw this, that it would be good to keep small kids from messing with an expensive VCR.
With as expensive as VCRs were back then, it makes sense that a product like this exists.
Particularly in the UK where everyone rented theirs for two reasons. Cost, as mentioned and they were unreliable in the early days. Renting meant you didn't have to shell out for repairs or purchase a new one.
@@tgheretfordwhat happened if someone stole one of your rented ones? I assume you were still on the hook for it?
@@kaitlyn__L I don't know, to be honest with you. When I was growing up, VCR's had got to the point where people could afford to own them.
My parents would have loved this when I was a kid, not for theft reasons I grew up when VCRs were dirt cheap but because I was a serial VCR abuser. Not only was I a food stuffer, I used to sit in front of the VCR and put a tape in just to eject it over and over and wear down the mechanisms
Back in the early 80s, when VCRs cost several hundred £££, video recorder theft was quite a big problem in the UK. Typically it would be the most expensive item in someone's home. Some manufacturers added a "display off" button, so that would-be thieves wouldnt see the clock (or flashing 12;00!) through someone's window. Also good for prolonging the life of the VFD, but the idea behind it was anti-theft.
I used to volunteer at a ymca kids camp in the 2000s and they still had one of these for the “rainy day” vcr. When I asked one of the leads why, they said they used to have an issue with rich kids and jr counselors bring in their own tapes on sleepover nights that were not…”camp approved material” and would sneak off in the middle of the night to watch them 😅
Anyone who went to steal your VCR, only to realise it was a V2000, would probably put the VCR back
Technically, you can disable just about anything with a sledgehammer.
The more crucial flaw on that Beta version is that the battery door faces outward, and can easily be slid out and the battery pried free of its contacts enough to disable the alarm -- all without removing the Videolok from the cage it has locked itself into.
This is so dad's "collection" doesn't have to go anywhere..
Anywho, it seems the key enables power, then a movement detector enables some electronic part that latches itself on and enables the piezo. That some part has probably failed. Or, it seems like it could have taken a few smacks in its day.. maybe a connection is loose
If someone was going to steal my VCR, most likely I'm not at home. There would be no one around to hear the alarm, assuming it goes off at all. If it doesn't go off the burglar won't know it is there until he gets it home. Meanwhile I'm out a few hundred dollars for the VCR, and to add insult to injury, out another thirty bucks or so for the worthless security device. I can see why they didn't catch on. I've loved your videos for years Ben. Thanks.
more than a few hundred dollars back in the early 80s! Adjusted for inflation, the equivalent of about $2k today.
OK, now lets see a DVD version.
I WANT To see a cassette or laserdisc version.
I have a very vague memory of these being sold in either Index or Argos.
There we are, British audio-visual engineering at its finest. Not since the development of the Pye Tube Cube has there been such a notorious piece of redundant equipment.
I think you can actually thank Phillips for that particular monstrosity! But yes...the UK HiFi/tv/video scene was pretty dire on the whole. When I worked at Technicolor, out near Wembley, I had the displeasure of walking past "Binatone House" each morning on my way to work. To make things even worse, my train ran past Amstrad HQ as well. Ughhh! So grim.
@@njm1971nychaven’t seen the name Binatone in a long time!
@@kaitlyn__L thankfully, eh?! I think they're still going, though! Mostly dealing in budget-priced telephones and stuff like that, these days.
Just further to my previous comment, you're not wrong about it being Pye, but at that point Pye was just a badge that Philips were using. In other markets it was sold as Philips, AFAIK. 🙂 It was their dreadful creation 🤣
@@njm1971nycAmstrad was the best 😂
the beta alarm scared the crap out of my cat lol
9:11 About $86 in 2024 money.
I didn't need one of these in 1984. I had a Betamax. Nobody was going to steal that.
Anyone else notice that the alarm is at the same pitch as the trumpet note that starts off "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by Cake?
Sucks to be my parents! I totally shoved toast into the VCR when I was a kid because they hid my superman vhs haha
All it takes is insert a 5" knife blade underneath the tape and separate that tab from the cassette compartiment and pop that sucker out with no effort.
I used to see a lot of these in my late 90s car boot sale (bigger version of your yard sale) days. 1984 was when we got our first VCR so they should've been advertised then but I don't remember them.
That's a bizarre one. And very impressive that you got the Beta version as well, I'd expect the VHS version to be rare today, and the Beta version far rarer. As a Beta junkie, if I came across it somewhere like a thrift store, I don't think I could resist adding it to my collection. (Not that I need any more collection-stuff to store.) I think their marketing dept. missed an opportunity -- I could also see this being used as a parental control device, to keep the kids from using the VCR unsupervised.
It's mentioned on the back of the box. Probably wanna keep the battery out if it's only intended to keep junior from feeding his peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the VCR though.
@@OddityArchive I kinda figured junior could still make the PB&J fit around it, but I was thinking kids home "sick" from school hoping to watch videos while parents are at work or the store. Not that I ever did that... or was so engrossed in The 39 Steps that I didn't hear Mom come home from the store and got busted.... Ok, maybe there's a reason that use case occurred to me....
I don't remember anything about The 39 Steps (the Alfred Hitchcock one, right?) being all that racy or violent.
@@OddityArchive Yep, Alfred Hitchcock. Not racy or violent, just a very good Hitchcock, quite suspenseful, and I'm a Hitchcock fan... and it was my 1st time watching it, so I was really into it. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure it was one of my Viking Video Classics scores, LP mode, write the title on the blank label yourself, etc.
I think I get it. Your folks didn't want you using the VCR at all.
and the alarm sound was exactly what I expected, 70s/80s smoke detector horn
I don’t think that device was meant for anti theft but more so the kids could not use the video player 😂😂😂
I remember seeing something like this (but cheaper-looking, I think) in some junky dollar store, years ago. Had a picture of kids holding things like sandwiches and bananas, near a Y2K-style VCR. Might be worth a couple of bucks to a parent... not the $80 in today's money. that the Videolok™ cost.
its heat staked together
Low margins on this would dictate this...
As a former child, whenever one is considering buying things like this to prevent access by children, plan ahead and avoid having any troublesome children to begin with. Saves all sorts of money, time and bother!
00:01:50 you are herby so authorized to jam a flat blade screwdriver in there to discharge capacitors.
Bad caps or bad speaker. Could probably drill what look like screw holes slightly to remove the melted portion and pop it open, and glue it back together afterward.
I had to remove one of those from a VCR once. It got hung up in the mechanism and did a little damage. I think it was probably inserted wrong.
Wonder if there was a similar 'child lock / tamper alarm' thing for kids at the time and this was the "remanufactured ink cartridges" eqivilant of a loophole for making the same thing. (anti-theft)
Imagine the company's liability with releasing a poor security device.
Neat torture device.
I need one of these! I'm on my 5th vcr...
it can be bypassed easy. take the cover off the tape player and take the tape out
Reminds me of some useless Ron Popeil nonsense.
Just add "-o-matic" to the name...instant Ronco!
You would have to be an underachieving thief to boost a Betamax VCR from someone's home. 😅
There was a Beta version??😮
I'm sure someone found a good use for this somehow
We had to use this and anti masterbation gloves at the retirement home.
Videolok: Deathlok's underachieving kid brother.
Amazing what people will come up with. A good concept but way overpriced and cheaply made. This was enjoyable.
what a waste of 9.73 currency units