Saturday Night Live actor Kyle Mooney lives pretty much like a few New York 30-somethings you probably know — in a sparsely furnished walk-up apartment decorated with a few select movie posters.

It's inside here, however, that lies a treasure that has no price tag. To him, anyway.

On eBay, the hundreds of VHS tapes he's amassed over years of careful collection probably go for a few bucks each, if that. Together, though, they make up not only an impressive ode to family cinema of the '80s and '90s but a tribute to his youth. Priceless memories.

"Generally, I'm attracted to videos that hit me some way nostalgically." says Mooney, who doesn't know exactly how many tapes are in his collection but knows only that they're very heavy and inconvenient to relocate when you move from Los Angeles to New York City.

"[I tend to collect] ones I used to rent a ton as a kid, or just seem vaguely familiar in a way I can't always put my finger on — sometimes, I just go by covers I remember from when I used to go to the video store."

'SNL''s Kyle Mooney digs through his VHS collection. Image: Lili Sams/Mashable

Mooney was, like so many, a Blockbuster kid. The youngest of three boys, he was often into the same movies as his brothers, but, he jokes, always three or four years after they peaked popularity. His collection didn't start to build in earnest until he was in college, though, when the move to DVDs began to happen and discarded VHS's were suddenly really easy to come by.

Now, the usual suspects line his shelves — Ninja Turtles, Disney, popular stuff like ET and Gremlins, a genre he calls "critter pics" (defined by Mooney as anything with animatronic puppets or beings; think 1988's Mac and Me). Thanks to his SNL hook-up he also has a few signed videos, including Little Monsters and Beetlejuice.

But the real joy when browsing his shelves comes is spotting lesser known titles. Things like Barbie's Dance Club, which was still in his VCR from a recent viewing. Or a title called Video Girlfriend, in which a woman talks directly to the camera and the viewer goes on a video "date" with her. He even has something called Adventures of Prayer Bear, a Christian video.

A look inside Kyle Mooney's video collection. Image: Lilli Sams/Mashable

Mooney has a penchant for straight-to-video movies — the lower the production value, the more charming, he says.

"The Christian kids movies are fun because so many of them are made with low production value, but they're still trying to appeal to a broad audience like a Sesame Street or something," he says. "It's always fascinating to see how hidden or obvious they want to make their message. Also the acting in them can be pretty fun."

It's within these stranger offerings, too, that Mooney finds inspiration for his work at SNL.

"I'm always pretty influenced by stuff from when we were younger," he says. "I can't think of specific sketches I've written at the show that stole from the VHS I have, but thematically and stylistically they've all kind of seeped into my subconscious, and I probably reference them without even knowing. Some of the stuff is in the same world as 90s TV, which we've definitely referenced in a handful of our sketches."

All of this, of course, begs the question: Why?. Unlike those who swear by, say, vinyl, movies on VHS are not superior in quality. And many of the videos are now available for streaming.

But for Mooney, it's not about picture quality; it's about the seeing them again exactly how he remembers them from childhood, grainy but nonetheless great.

BONUS: Kyle Mooney's Top 3 holiday videos

Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas "Our parents taped it off the TV as kids. It's got the California Raisins in it, and 2 dinosaur hosts that I think are supposed to be Siskel and Ebert. Also some pretty rad animation." Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: We Wish You a Turtle Christmas "Honestly, I don't own this one yet, but have watched the whole thing on YouTube. There's a song the Turtles sing called "Gotta Get a Gift For Splinter" that is definitely worth checking out." Uncle Nick and the Magic Forest: Christmas in the Magic Forest "We used to put this video on at holiday parties. It's got super low production value, and is some sort of educational video, with an old man named Uncle Nick, some kids, and a series of people in animal costumes. At the very end of the video as a bunch of the kids hang around the Christmas tree, the dude playing Uncle Nick definitely seems to be making out hard with a dog."