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First came DVDs, then Blu-ray and now internet TVs, catch up services, SkyPlus boxes and live streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime mean that extra box under the telly is increasingly rare.

But there might be an upside for the millions of us that relegated out once-beloved VHS collection to the loft – some old tapes are now worth a small fortune.

“It’s interesting to see how certain VHS tapes have increased in value over the last 50 years or so,” said Will Thomas managing director at LoveAntiques.com.

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And old VHS tapes are just part of a growing band of old technology now being collected like antiques – leading them to coin the phrase “antech” to describe the new market.

“We feel that these antech items – or antechs – will only become more valuable investments to collectors as time goes on.

"It might sound strange that something like the VHS is defined as an antech, but when they can command thousands of pounds on account of their rarity, that’s exactly what they are,” Thomas said.

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What's worth most

It's unsurprising that – much like antiques – the rarer the tape the more it's worth.

But there are some remarkably common cassettes that are also worth a fair bit.

Experts said the way to check if something's likely to be worth a lot is to aim for films that have never been released on DVD or Blu-ray and are original ex-rentals.

For example, certain copies of better-known titles such as ‘The Evil Dead’ have also been valued at £200 each - and can be sold online at Amazon or eBay.co.uk .

But for a real windfall – here are the 10 most valuable VHS tapes:

Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (JVI) £1,500 The Beast in Heat (JVI) £1,200 Betrayed (Taboo) £1,100 Celestine (GO) £1,100 The Legend of Hillbilly John (Rainbow) £1,000 Journey Into Beyond (Citycenta GO) £1,000 Lemora, Lady Dracula (IFS) £900 Don't Open the Window (Films of the 80s) £900 Flesh Eaters (Knockout) £800 Black Decameron (Intervision) £800

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The expert’s advice is to avoid common mainstream titles that were released on labels such as Cinema Club and 4Front, because these would have been mass produced and are worth ‘next to nothing’.

Typically, the most valuable VHS tapes are one-offs, released in small batches within the ‘video nasties’ category – frequently on micro-budget labels such as Knockout and Trytel.

You can see the 25 most expensive VHS titles here

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