Last week, we did an interview and company spotlight with Rotten Rentals creator Tim K.C. Canton. So this week, as a follow up, we're doing another unboxing and review of the Sleepaway Camp VHS Pack. Rotten Rentals is a mystery box company that ships out their surprises in old school, clam shell style, VHS cases. After watching the review, go ahead and head over to the Rotten Rentals website and buy your own VHS mystery box! |
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If you have been on A Slice of Horror before you may already know of our passion for nostalgia--especially for VHS and video rental. Last month we spotlighted Lunchmeat Magazine, a publication dedicated to the collectors and lovers of VHS. This month we are excited to have the chance to interview Tim K.C. Canton, creator and owner of Rotten Rentals. Rotten Rentals is a mystery box company, part of the new wave of horor mystery boxes on the market, that specializes in nostalgia. Their mystery boxes arrive at your door in a clam shell VHS case with the classic VHS cover of your choosing. And they have a plethora of horror movie art--old and new--to choose from. Inside these "VHS Packs" are an assortment of nostalgic goodies. Most notable is the inclusion of classic vintage trading cards! Additionally, there are little toys such as cockroaches, zombies, and more. And to top it off, they sometimes include exclusive items that you can usually only get at conventions. This is the ultimate throwback to the good ol' days of rental stores and collectible items. But enough from me. Let's hear about this awesome company from Tim himself. In your own words, Tim, just what exactly is Rotten Rentals? Rotten Rentals are nostalgia tucked away in a throwback VHS case that contains 2 - 5 packs of vintage trading cards spanning from 1975 - 2010. Each VHS case also includes a miniature zombie figure chomping at the bit to break out of its black plastic grave. But that's not all - you’ll also get randomly inserted movie promo items. Think of them as horror grab bags - you never know what unique item might be waiting for you as you crack the case open. With each purchase of Rotten Rentals at an event you’ll have a chance to pull redemption cards for larger prizes such as autographs, movie collectibles and toys. Whatever is shown on the card you win! Why the name Rotten Rentals? I was trying to capture something that took us back to the video store and the grimy authentic experience that local video stores often projected. They had a certain smell and feel about them. I started thinking of melted VHS tapes left in the sun too long and the typeface developed from that idea of a melting rotten liquid. Teaming up with the rental store feel and the name ROTTEN RENTALS was born. What does the company do to contribute in and among the horror community? It brings back the old artwork we loved. While some VHS movies are being lost due to the lack of digitizing them, the artwork continues to live on. Something I personally love about them is each person seems to buy them for a different reason. Some people use them to protect their old cardboard VHS clam shells since they fit into our plastic clams. Other customers buy them for the artwork to display on the shelf of their movie room. I personally like them because it's an item you can have signed at a horror convention that I can display on my shelf instead of a poster that I have to frame and takes up a lot of wall space. So I would like to think Rotten Rentals contributes to the horror community in many different ways outside of just the items inside the box. How did Rotten Rentals get started up as a company? I had seen subscription boxes starting to rise to prominence but at the time there wasn't anything really catering to the horror fan. Rotten Rentals first started in January of 2012 during a special screening of My Bloody Valentine. The VHS packs were used as prizes to the fans that showed up to our V-Day party. About a year later we started setting up at events and local conventions. They went over so well I created a website in a couple of days over Thanksgiving weekend. Later that week FearNet ran an article on it to help spread the word and things just sorta blew-up after that. The original idea that came to mind was to start something like Loot Crate but combined the conductibility of Mondo posters and artwork. Tell us a little about your product service. The original idea was to release series of Rotten Rentals with themes. So Series 1 might be "Terrible Teens", Series 2 might be "Evil Dead Legacy" Series 3 might be "Summer Camp" etc. However, one week I decided to offer all the covers I had in my library and it was far more popular with customers. After that week I continued to offer the full collection and have so ever since. I briefly experimented with a Video of the Month Club subscription service but since it's a one man show it became overwhelming filling subscriptions, daily orders and running an entertainment site (Boom Howdy) and planning a yearly flim festival (Panic Fest). Not to mention my full-time job as an interaction designer. Due to these contributing factors I decided to go back to offering our single VHS pack service where you can pick from over 100 covers. I see a lot of online reviewers try to compare our VHS packs to other subscription services which is a bit unfair. Most subscription boxes are much bigger than the VHS clam shell that our items come in. Due to that factor they can often fit more in their box and much larger items. I like to think our box is just as collectible as the products we put in them - so for that fact they are unique compare to most subscription box services. What kind of audience is your products and service most geared towards? Mainly the die hard horror and science fiction fans that long for the nostalgia of the video store experience. From the cover art to the VHS clam shells I wanted to bring back memories we all had as a kid going into the video store and picking a movie based on the cover art. How often can fans expect new VHS packs to be released? I try to release a few new packs every couple of months. However there is not set schedule for new releases mainly because I like to surprise customers. Something else I like to do is collaborate with fellow artist to create original VHS covers that are limited to #25 or #50 VHS packs. They often cost between $20 - $35 per VHS pack. Many people think more items come in these boxes and most do include more items but the cost is higher mainly because you are buying a limited edition run. The clams feature original artwork - so when they sell out we don't carry that particular cover anymore. Is there a way for fans of the company to follow along for the newest updates? Mainly through our Facebook and Twitter channels. @RottenRentals Do you provide other services or products besides the VHS packs you put out? We do provide custom VHS Packs for special events or indie films. There is a minimum order of 25 VHS packs and you can choose if you fill them with our goodies or if you just want the VHS cover created and clam shell. When I setup at events and conventions the Rotten Rentals table features a "trading card bar" full of vintage trading cards along with action figures and movie promo items. Anything else you want to tell readers and horror fans about the company? Just want to thank everyone that has placed an order, told a friend or that did a product review for Rotten Rentals. I truly appreciate your support and would ask you continue to support indie horror companies. Whether it is film studios or toy designers it is the fans that make this fun for us and let us continue to create things we love. We may have some big news coming soon about Rotten Rentals - but I cannot comment on specific details at this time. Stay tuned and "Stay Rotten!" Thanks again, Tim, for this look into the awesome and exciting world of Rotten Rentals! We hope for many more exciting and interesting VHS Pack releases to come! Make sure to support Rotten Rentals by buying a VHS Pack today!
This year, in 2016, we are beginning our new monthly series of company spotlight articles. Each month we will spotlight a new company, distributor, creative team, etc. in the horror community. And to start us off during this new year we are highlighting Lunchmeat VHS magazine! Lunchmeat is a specialty niche magazine targeted at fans and collectors of old school and out-of-print VHS tapes! Each new issue focuses on VHS reviews (of both old and new print VHS tapes), interviews with members of the indie horror and VHS communities, spotlight and how-to articles for collectors, and even the occasional crossword puzzle and games. And to learn more about the company and their publication what better way then to ask the creative mind behind the project: Josh Schafer. Here is our interview with Josh and what he can tell us about the magazine. Why the name Lunch Meat VHS? Because it’s delicious! No, VHSeriously, there is a little story behind it. I used to work for an indie metal label (Relapse Records) and while I was there, I met Ted Gilbert, who would end up co-founding Lunchmeat with me. We’d eat lunch together nearly every day and discuss strange, obscure flicks that we watched, mainly on VHS. Once we decided we wanted to do a print zine about VHS, we threw around some names, but nothing really stuck until Lunchmeat was brought up. It just clicked. Lunch Meat is an obscure VHS-only backwoods cannibal flick that I personally adore and really embodies the essence of obscure VHS, and honestly, when we were talking every day at lunch about all these weird movies… you know what we were eating? Sammiches filled with… LUNCH MEAT! It just made sense to us. We thought it was a good, fun fit. How did Lunch Meat get started up as a company? Well, I guess the previous answer gives a little insight to that, but we’ve continued to build the coverage Lunchmeat offers, adding a website a few years back, and then just getting more involved with all kinds of VHS-centric projects and events, becoming a brand that champions the VHS format and all of the culture that has surrounded it historically along with all of the newfound collecting culture that’s popped up in the past several years. I’ve co-produced a VHS Collecting focused documentary called Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector, produced numerous VHS releases, and offer radical rewind-inclined merchandise, and much, much more, all to help spread the love of VHS. What does the company do to contribute in and among the horror community? Quite a lot, really. Like I mentioned above, Lunchmeat has become a brand that’s synonymous with VHS love. The magazine offers celebration, appreciation and preservation of VHS-only movies, all kinds of incredible analog content and lots of coverage on obscure and cult actors, directors and other artists. While the website has that stuff, too, www.LunchmeatVHS.com mainly focuses on the current world of VHS collecting and culture. I’m also involved with a lot of VHS-centric productions and events from VHS releases to VHS screenings to just about everything you can think of the champions the VHS format. We aim to be the ultimate beacon for VHS appreciation, celebration and preservation. What is the main focus of the magazine? Does each issues have a different specific theme? The main focus is obscure VHS content and culture. We review VHS-only flicks that will probably never make it to any other format, and really just embody the essence of the video era. We also interview obscure yet absolutely wonderful actors, directors and other artists that are relevant to the VHS era and wouldn’t really get any airtime elsewhere. There is no specific theme per se. We really enjoy mixing it up as much as possible. There is always lots of horror, sci-fi, action, cartoons, and comedy since that’s the kind of stuff we really enjoy, but we always toss in random obscurities that are of interest. We also cover culture-based stuff like forgotten analog era gadgets, some wondrous video era promo materials, VHStrange but True items, and really just dig up the weirdest, most fun VHStuff out there. We’re always digging deeper and deeper and trying to make each issue as unique and exciting and informative as possible. How often does a new issue come out? We usually do two a year, but we’re always trying to do more. It’s tough since LM is really a passion project that is done on the side of my day job. Doing an indie magazine is a lot of work; it takes a tremendous amount of time and energy, so mixed with all of the other work I do with LM (e.g. online content, production projects, events, etc.) it gets tough to get it out more than twice a year. However, there is a ton of content online with the blog, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. There’s no shortage of coverage from LM on obscure and esoteric VHS culture – that’s for VHSure, man! Is there a way for fans of the publication to subscribe to the magazine? We did do subscriptions for a while, and got a great reaction with them; however, I stopped offering subscriptions because after issue #9 (which will be out in the Spring) LM #10 is going to be something very special, in a totally different format, that will cost a bit more than a regular issue, so I decided to stop with subs. That said, LM #10 is going to be something extremely exciting, and everyone can stay updated on everything LM by staying tuned to those online outlets I’ve listed above! We’re always cooking up something VHSpectacular, man! Do you provide other services or products besides the magazine? Absolutely. If you want to check out all the LM wares, just groove to the site and hit the Meat Market or visit LunchmeatVHS.Storenvy.com! We offer all kinds of VHS-lovin’ goodies from shirts to stickers to pins to Limited Edition VHS releases. Anything else you want to tell readers and horror fans about the company? Just that for the fan of obscure horror and cult cinema, the VHS format is utterly indispensable. That’s one of the essential missions of LM: to celebrate, appreciate and share out about some of the most insane, unknown and absolutely increible genre films only available on VHS; we want to spread the love and nostalgia that abounds within the video era. If you’re the kind of person that still has a VCR and loves watching weird movies, or is reading this and is scratching their head saying, “Why VHS? Who cares?”, then all the more reason for you to check out what LM has to offer. It’s all about diggin’ deep and showcasing some of the strangest entertainment material out there. Because you know what? It’s all on VHS. You have my rewind word on it. Make sure to stay tuned to A Slice of Horror for all the newest reviews, interviews, and promotions in the indie horror community. Next week we will be doing a Terror Video Review to look at a few issues of Lunchmeat VHS Magazine! |
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