This, combined with the fact that a simple bent paperclip could be stuck inside to retain the erase arm in place to make it a regular VHS tape, meant that it was really a desperate attempt that ...

If you were holding onto hope that VHS tapes would one day make a ... to load and eject the tapes — which meant said tapes would often get jammed or the film would get destroyed.

Thrift stores are full of crap no one wants, and this goes double for VHS tapes. Every secondhand store has ... multiple heads and maybe a even remote control strategically jammed inside the tape deck ...