Episode 106: Top 10 VHS Rentals of January 1986

In Episode 106 of the Sleepover Retro Countdown Show, Guido and Rob travel back forty years to January 1986, using the official Billboard Video Cassette Rental Chart dated January 11, 1986 to explore what Americans were actually renting during the peak of the VHS era. Working directly from the Top 40 rentals of that week, they count down the ten titles they would have brought home from the video store at the time—guided by in-the-moment rental instincts rather than hindsight, and including at least one title they hadn’t seen or barely remembered.

The episode offers a snapshot of mid-1980s rental culture, when tapes could remain popular for months, horror franchises were taking shape, teen movies dominated repeat viewings, and New York–set films helped define the cultural mood.

Our Top 10 VHS Rentals

• The Best of John Belushi
• Just One of the Guys
• Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend
• Starman
• Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning
• The Terminator
• The Breakfast Club
• A Nightmare on Elm Street
• Ghostbusters
• Desperately Seeking Susan

Also Discussed

The episode closes with a look at the actual Top 10 rentals from that week—including Ladyhawke, Fletch, Gremlins, and Beverly Hills Cop—highlighting the difference between mass-market hits and deeper catalog favorites.

Recorded by Sleepover Trading Co. inside the historic Community Theatre in Catskill, New York.

Be kind. Rewind your childhood.

Sleepover Retro Countdown Show – Episode 105

Top 10 Action Figure Playsets

This week, Rob and Guido head straight to the toy aisle and argue over what really makes a great playset. Elevators, trapdoors, laser games, falling chandeliers, questionable scale, and at least one monorail all come into play. From childhood grails to deep cut oddities, this countdown is all about big plastic worlds that took over our living rooms and imaginations. Bust out the figures and watch your step. Something is always about to fall apart. 📼🧸

Topics & Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to the Sleepover Retro Countdown Show

01:30 What counts as a playset and the rules for this list

05:10 #10 vs #9 battle begins

14:45 Micro Machines and the power of tiny detail

22:30 Turtles sewer hangouts and scale problems

32:10 Snake Mountain, skull faces, and electronic voice tricks

41:20 Phantom of the Opera and the loosest definition of playset

49:40 Mighty Max goes big with Skull Mountain

58:30 Thundercats Cat’s Lair and laser tag dreams

1:08:20 Eternia enters the chat

1:18:10 Final showdown and crowning the winner

1:28:00 Wrap-up and childhood repair memories

The Top Ten Countdown

#10 She-Ra Crystal Castle

Pink, impractical, and beloved. Fur rug included, somehow always missing.

#9 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Technodrome

Iconic villain HQ with a rotating eye and wildly questionable scale.

#8 Star Wars Micro Machines Royal Guard Playset

Tiny throne room packed with figures and big Return of the Jedi energy.

#7 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sewer Playset

More hangout than battlefield, complete with periscope fire hydrant.

#6 Phantom of the Opera Playset (McFarlane Toys)

A falling chandelier earns it the playset title. Barely.

#5 Masters of the Universe Snake Mountain

Purple menace with trapdoors and voice-modulating chaos.

#4 Thundercats Cat’s Lair

Massive, cartoon-accurate, and armed with infrared laser battle tech.

#3 Mighty Max Skull Mountain

Big skull energy with traps, fireballs, and Rube Goldberg mayhem.

#2 Masters of the Universe Eternia

Three towers, a working monorail, and an entire plastic kingdom.

#1 G.I. Joe Terror Drome

Cobra’s ultimate HQ with launching jets, prison cells, and room to actually play.

Available On

The Sleepover Retro Countdown Show is available on all major audio platforms and on YouTube for video.

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Retro toys, action figure playsets, 80s toys, 90s toys, VHS nostalgia

#RetroToys #ActionFigures #ToyCollectors #SleepoverRetro #BeKindRewind

Episode 104 – TOP VIDEO STORE MEMORIES + INTERVIEW W/ ALEX ROSS PERRY

In this special episode recorded live inside the Sleepover Trading Company store in Catskill, NY, Rob and Guido kick things off with a fast, nostalgic Top Video Store Memories Countdown before Rob sits down with filmmaker and video-store historian Alex Ross Perry to talk Video Heaven, clerk mythology, physical media, and how a decade-long research project became the definitive on-screen story of rental culture.

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Guest Bio: Alex Ross Perry

Alex Ross Perry is a director, writer, and producer whose work spans indie drama, experimental nonfiction, and deep-cut media archaeology. He made his feature debut with Impolex (2009), followed by acclaimed films including Listen Up Philip (2014) and Her Smell (2018), the latter named one of the AV Club’s Top 10 Films of the Year.

In recent years, Perry has created the ghost-concert film Right Here, Right Now, the experimental Pavement biopic Pavements, a segment for V/H/S Halloween, and his sprawling three-hour found-footage documentary Video Heaven—an epic built from 180 film and TV clips that traces the rise, mythology, and disappearance of the American video store.

He is also a former clerk at the iconic Kim’s Video in NYC and a lifelong student of physical media culture.

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Mini Countdown: Top Video Store Memories

Rob’s Top 3

3. Warner Bros. rental-only clamshell cases — those oversized, color-banded boxes that dominated shelves.

2. Hobgoblins + the infamously angry note — warning future renters of its… quality.

1. The Requiem for a Dream race — sprinting after school to snag the single copy before anyone else.

Guido’s Top 3

3. Being allowed to wander the aisles alone — early independence among the shelves.

2. Bootlegging beginnings — two VCRs, swapped labels, and a budding archivist.

1. The previously-viewed bargain bin — weekly treasure hunts that sparked a lifelong collection.

Keywords: retro video stores, VHS rentals, Video Heaven documentary, Alex Ross Perry interview, Kim’s Video, physical media, analog nostalgia, video store culture

#SleepoverTrading #VideoStoreMemories #VHSlife #AlexRossPerry #VideoHeaven #RetroMovies

Follow @SleepoverTrading • Visit SleepoverTrading.com • Check out the store!

Available on all major podcast platforms + full video on YouTube.