Set of Original ‘Rocky’ Films Sells for over $50k at Auction: ‘True Holy Grails of VHS Releases’

A set of Rocky VHS tapes was reportedly auctioned for more than $50,000 in February amid growth in the collectibles market.

Three VHS movies — Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), and Rocky III (1982) — sold at auction for $53,750 on the website through Heritage Auctions, the New York Times reported.

Heritage Auctions noted in an article from its official website that the films were originally part of a “time capsule” gifted to a man named Bubba Kroeger by his father, James Kroeger, who reportedly began compiling the box set in 1982, the year of his son’s birth.

Setting out to assemble a set of items for his son’s 40th birthday, Heritage Auctions recounted, Kroeger selected the newly released film Rocky III as one of the items. Reasoning that his son might also want to see the first two installments in the series, he added those too, paying about $60 per film.

Then in 2022, Kroeger learned that many sealed VHS tapes were now considered collector’s items. In response, he contacted Jay Carlson, the VHS and Home Entertainment Consignment Director at Heritage Auctions.

Carlson recalled informing Kroeger that his VHS tapes were a one-of-a-kind find, given that no other sealed first releases of the films were known to exist — “True holy grails of VHS releases,” he said.

“I was thrilled to get that call from James, to find out these Rockys were out there — something I might have considered unfathomable before he reached out,” he said. “These tapes stashed away for decades ago in that extraordinary time capsule were something those of us in the longtime collecting community had been chasing. And to have them just show up one day was extraordinary.

Ultimately, the films would become centerpieces of a February auction held by the company.

Citing a Bain and Company analysis, the Times noted that the global luxury goods market — including rare collectibles — grew 20 percent in 2022, in contrast with other stores of value such as real estate, stocks, and cryptocurrencies.