The revolution on the shelf? Why physical media still matters in the age of streaming TV

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In the world of TV collectables, some items are clearly priceless, others are priced to clear.

If you’ve kept old comic books and action figures in good condition, they could be worth a lot of money someday – almost like a retirement fund. However, VHS tapes of your favorite 90s sci-fi shows aren’t proving to be as valuable as you might think.

You can see for yourself if you come to my neighborhood in south London. I recently found Star Trek: Deep Space Nine VHS tapes at a charity shop for only 50p each!

It’s a little sad to see these old things now – cracked cases, faded colors. They used to cost ten ninety-nine each, and I remember saving up my allowance to buy them. Back then, we only got a couple of episodes on each VHS tape, so waiting for the next one was a big deal. We’d watch the same tapes over and over, memorizing every detail, just to pass the time until the new release!

If you grew up with instant access to shows on streaming services like Paramount+, it might be hard to imagine how different things were. Back in the 1990s, keeping up with TV shows took real effort. Before the internet and Wikipedia, we relied on magazines like TV Zone and Starburst to figure out when shows were coming out. We’d memorize snippets of information, study the cover art, and rush to stores like Virgin Megastore on release day, pockets full of cash.

Back then, everything felt more manual – you actually had to rewind tapes and physically change them! Autoplay seemed like something out of science fiction. But maybe that extra effort – the work of collecting things – actually made people appreciate them more. Do we lose something when accessing everything instantly with today’s easy scrolling and streaming?

It’s funny to think about how we used to make an event out of experiencing things, like a pilgrimage to see a favorite show. Now, everything’s at our fingertips, but it’s also incredibly easy to tune it all out. I was talking to a friend recently, and he described his son watching a Star Trek spin-off – Starfleet Academy – on his phone, propped up while he’s fully immersed in a PS5 game on the big screen. It really highlights how differently we engage with entertainment now; it’s available, sure, but is it truly being watched?

It’s great that Star Trek is still popular, but it’s a little sad to think about how we watch it now. The way I used to enjoy the show – really focusing on each episode – feels different because everything is competing for our attention with things like video games and social media. We used to fully engage with shows, but now we tend to just casually watch, knowing we can always catch up later whenever we want.

Could a segment of Gen Z be starting to shift their preferences? Are they beginning to realize that while streaming services seem great, you don’t actually own anything you watch? And is there a growing interest in collecting physical copies of movies and shows again?

According to a recent Los Angeles Times article, spending on 4K Blu-ray discs increased by 12% in 2025. The article suggests that younger consumers, tired of streaming services, are buying physical media as a way to push back against the current digital trends. Could this mean that older technologies are experiencing a revival as a form of protest?

One person involved in the project explained they wanted a physical copy – something they could actually own and keep. This highlights a concern about streaming services, where shows can be removed at any time due to licensing agreements, meaning you don’t have permanent access.

That one sentence really highlights how we’ve become too reliant on simply receiving information, instead of actively choosing what we consume. It’s like we’re renting access to content, rather than owning it – not unlike the old days of collecting VHS tapes. Maybe the desire to collect things never disappeared, it was just waiting for something new to focus on.

Does it really matter if old DS9 VHS tapes are gathering dust, unsold, at charity shops? The stories they tell are still relevant and popular. Even though the way we watch things has changed, the spirit of Star Trek lives on. The same could be said for our own desire to own physical media – streaming may have lessened it, but it hasn’t completely disappeared.

Streaming services have made watching TV incredibly easy, but that convenience can make enjoying shows feel less special. Interestingly, the current generation is often drawn to older content, suggesting that progress isn’t always linear. Just like revisiting a classic sci-fi film, there’s a real appeal in returning to things from the past.

Authors

David BrownDeputy Previews Editor, TopMob

I’m a big fan of David Brown’s work! He’s the Deputy Previews Editor at TopMob, and he really knows his stuff when it comes to crime dramas and fantasy TV. It’s no surprise he’s a regular contributor to major news outlets like BBC News, Sky News, and Radio 4’s Front Row – and his writing appears in publications like The Guardian, The Sunday Times, and the i newspaper. Beyond that, he’s clearly a talented storyteller, having worked on the National Television Awards and even contributed to documentaries about icons like Lenny Henry, Billy Connolly, and Take That. He’s a really versatile and insightful media professional.

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2026-03-04 13:35