Video 2000

Did you ever call 1800 Reverse back in the day, trying to cram in a whole message when asked for your name? It was free for the caller, though exhorbitant for the person accepting the call.

Bonus Robots fact: the character Loretta Geargrinder had different voice actresses in Australia (Jackie O), the United States (Natasha Lyonne) and the United Kingdom (Cat Deeley) for marketing purposes. There were also a few other voice actor variations, most notably between the US and UK versions. If you come across the movie on streaming services these days, particularly in Australia, it’s likely defaulting to the US audio version.

I recently saw people buying movies with yellow Blu-ray cases for The Simpson’s movie and came across these at my local tip shop (recycle shop). As they were only $1 each, I decided to do a DVD version. There were some completely yellow case options, though I personally preferred the more transparent yellow from Surf’s Up. The Pizza Hut flyer promo is Australian, in case that sounds extra expensive.

My Zuru Mini Brands Vinyl collection!

Do you remember the blue clamshell VHS cases at Video 2000? They had engraved plastic inside that said ‘ANOTHER GREAT MOVIE FROM VIDEO 2000’ and ‘BE KIND, PLEASE REWIND’.

Who remembers cutting out video store coupons?

Video 2000 book label stickers! These movies came out between 1997 and mid-2000, so I suspect these were given out in the early ‘00s.

CRT’s are becoming both hard to find and expensive where I am. This Audiosonic is technically not that impressive when compared to something like a Sony Triniton, though it’s a relatively clean set and adds to my studies retro aesthetic! It has an old satellite TV box on top and a VCR connected, so I can watch old VHS tape recordings for the TV ads! I was also lucky enough to get this stand for $10 on Marketplace.

My VHS area with a few nostalgic favourites!

I picked this up as a fun Virgin Mobile collection piece! I love that the box references MySpace and Windows Live Hotmail (back when it was called that for a period of time). The mobile still works though I haven’t had a chance to explore it as it requires a SIM to be installed and I currently have an eSIM. There is something so nostalgic about “dumb phones”.

These images are from a 1999 Apple Centres catalogue from their Surfer’s Paradise (Australia) store. This was before they were known as Apple Stores. I love the colourful iMac G3’s and the Austin Powers promotion!

This is a Seinfeld promotional postcard for a Seinfeld marathon on the old Australian Pay TV channel TV1. Airing every episode back-to-back was claimed to be a world first. Did you watch Seinfeld back in the day or do you still watch it today?

Back in 2001, Berri Fruits released fruit juice boxes (also known as poppers in Australia) featuring images from The Simpson’s which could be cut out and collected. I recently came across a K-Zone magazine from 2001 with the above ad in it and got my hands on some of the cutouts!

I recently got my hands on an old Austar box that still powers on! For those who don’t know, Austar was a regional Australian pay TV provider, which was eventually purchased by Foxtel. The satellite box is functionally useless though a great collection piece!

I recently came across this burnt CD at a Brisbane tip shop. I had to purchase it as I listened to some of Wolfmother’s music back in the day and the burnt CD with printed artwork and the hand-written songs list takes you back to a different time. For those wondering, the burnt CD doesn’t play so well in 2026!