Candy Candy is one of the more elusive videos released on the Mastervision label. Released near to the end of the run, the dubbed anime video is unusual in the fact that it shares the same catalogue number (MV059) with another title in the range (Sport Over The Edge). This has happened before with Mastertronic’s video games range and could simply be attributed to a lack of any formal planning to the number system than anything else.
In terms of its rarity, we don’t have any indicators as to the sales figures or production runs of any of the releases for the Mastervision range. However, it does seem apparent that some are easier to find than others and the more obscure releases such as this one are the ones that were either produced in smaller quanties or – as is the case for many VHS once DVD arrived – were destined for the local tip.
However, one seller on eBay earlier this year seemed convinced that he had found the holy grail of VHS when attempting to sell a copy of this tape. He initially listed it for sale at an astonishing £399 and put the following in the description:
Candy Candy – VHS video UK PAL *VERY RARE*.
So rare the internet knows nothing about it. Never seen one for sale. Candy Candy Facebook group have never seen it.
It is unknown if any more episodes were dubbed for the American market. None of these have been subsequently reissued on VHS.
This tape is NOT a Media Home or Family Home edition!
The sleeve design isn’t like any other release of Candy Candy on VHS.
So if you were to believe this seller, he was the first person to discover this “rare” tape. However, both myself and Derek Glen who also works on this site have known about this cassette for several years and had it on our wants list. An entry has existed for it on Amazon (but showing as out of stock), and several years ago we spotted one on eBay but just a little too late as it had recently sold.
So it certainly wasn’t something unknown. Far from it. And as for value… while some of the rarer Mastervision tapes can demand higher prices, certainly not £100+, let alone what he was asking. In fact, the most I have ever paid for a tape was £90 and that was one I didn’t even know existed until it turned up in a random ebay search.
The seller obviously realised he had overpriced it quite quickly as he dropped the price numerous times over the course of a few weeks before it finally sold for around £60. And as you can expect, just like buses, several more have since turned up online!
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