Star Wars, Betamax, Rental Library tape, 20th Century-Fox Video USA, 1982

The rental library version was released in May 1982 on VHS and Betamax. The tape had a rental-only window until September of that year, but many retailers jumped the gun. On playback there is a watermark protruding from the upper left corner which says "FOXVID 5". (See detail to the right, click image to enlarge). This would not have been visible back in the day, with the excessive overscan on old tube TVs. You'll note there's a sticker missing from the lower, right corner of the back. All these rental copies carried individual serial number to help track them. It seems someone didn't want this tracked. There should be a corresponding sticker on the rear flap of the actual tape. The sticker can be seen on the VHS version. The box makes no mention of stereo sound. This would indicate they remastered the tape for stereo for the sell-through release on Beta in 1984. These show up every so often, and almost always in excellent physical condition. The box was made of sturdy plastic, and the artwork is sealed inside. My tape, however, is heavily worn and plays back with dropouts and streaks. This was bought on eBay in 2009.

Assorted screenshots:

Fox fanfare	Title card	Crawl (Cropped)	Star Destroyer	Cropped binoculars
Greedo subtitles	Ben's saber	S-foils in attack position	End credits	FBI warning