Great Scott! Back to the Future Biff Actor Just Sold A 1986 VHS Tape For $75K
Basically, the plot of Back to the Future II just happened IRL, without a time machine.
As adults, we hope to make good financial decisions to be able to live comfortably and care for our families. And a lot of us are probably kicking ourselves in the butt right now wishing we had a time machine — à la Doc Brown — to convince our past self to keep our original Back to the Future VHS. Apparently, it’s worth a whole lot of money right now. Here’s what you need to know.
According to CNN, a new record was set for the priciest VHS tape after a near-mint, sealed 1986 VHS tape of Back to the Future sold at auction. Hearing this immediately brings up two questions: who would pay that much money for a VHS tape and who still had a sealed copy of the original VHS?
As it turns out, Tom Wilson — aka the actor who played Biff Tannen from Back to the Future — still had a copy on VHS, sealed and untouched. He first listed the tape on eBay — along with some other original movies — but when he realized how big the interest was, he pulled it from the listing and took it to auction. Which turned out to be a smart move. To be clear, this is not a joke. The real-life Biff seemingly had enough foresight to not open his copy of the first Back to the Future, which really makes you wonder if his older self traveled back and time and gave him the tip to begin with.
The original VHS went up for auction with Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, where a bidding war ensued, with the final bid reaching $75,000. With that sale it became “the highest price ever paid at auction for a sealed, graded VHS tape,” according to CNN.
Tom Wilson in 2018. Sometime before (or after?) he traveled back in time and and told himself not to open a certain VHS tape.
"We had no idea what was going to happen -- no one's done this before and to see the success, it's amazing," Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, told CNN. "When you see that, it's a great sense of accomplishment, not even the financial aspect of it but just a moment of 'I knew it! I knew nostalgic VHS tapes would be good.'"
Good news for Tom, too, because that wasn’t his only copy of a classic, sealed VHS tape either. He also has a sealed and graded VHS copy of Back to the Future II, Back to the Future III, and the ‘90s Back to the Future trilogy boxed set.
This is heavy! Time to start digging through all those boxes the attic again.
