Disney adults' — née Disney kids' — love of all things House of the Mouse is unparalleled — including the VHS tapes where you probably learned your first Disney musical numbers. Though largely defunct in our streaming age (thanks, Disney+), some people long for those physical touchstones of their childhood. Since enough time has passed to turn these once common forms of entertainment into something novel, there are some of these early Disney VHS tapes you'll want to hunt down at your local thrift store because of their secret high $$$ value.
Black Diamond Disney VHS Tapes Worth a Lot of Money
| Valuable Disney Black Diamond VHS Tapes | Recent Sales Price |
| Beauty and the Beast | $37,777.77 |
| The Fox and the Hound | $17,500 |
| Aladdin | $3,000 |
| Song of the South | $100 |
Known as the Black Diamond collection because of the black diamond on the cases' spines, the first line of Disney VHS tapes sold from 1984 to 1994 and included most of Disney's classic animated films, such as hits like Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid. Collectors love a first edition, and Black Diamond VHS tapes are as close as anyone can get to 1980s and 90s gold. While not every copy of these tapes is worth a ton of money, a few just might have you rummaging through your dusty VHS collection for a quick cash turnaround.
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast might be a tale as old as time, but it hasn't always been an expensive collectible. The Oscar-winning animated film was released in 1991 to critical acclaim. It had a killer soundtrack, a villain everyone could get on board with hating, and a digitally rendered ball sequence that blew little kids' minds.
When it comes to Disney VHS tapes, you can't beat Beauty and the Beast. In fact, one rare sealed Black Diamond copy, with the original sales barcode intact, recently sold on eBay for a pearl-clutching $37,777.77. Although this is far from the norm — since sealed copies usually sell for around $100 — it's not unheard of.
The Fox and the Hound
A lesser-known Disney classic is The Fox and the Hound, a film that explores the unlikely friendship of a hunting dog named Copper and a wild fox named Tod. Released in 1981, it didn't leave as much of a lasting impact as later films from the decade.
Yet, if you're a dedicated Disney collector, you absolutely need to add this less-popular title to your collection. And one collector did just that by buying a near-mint VHS on eBay for an eye-watering amount — $17,500 to be exact.
Aladdin
Classic live-action Disney might not be as popular as the animated stuff, but some home video copies can sell for a lot. A VHS of Disney's first Tron film sold for $1,375 at auction in 2023.
Song of the South
Although we're loathe to include a horribly racist film in this list, the fact that Song of the South has been returned to the Disney vault, never to be seen or streamed again, means that the European VHS copies are worth a fair amount of money. Even by the 1990s, many people hadn't seen the film, save for the catchy song Zip-a-Dee-Do-Da on Disney sing-along videos.
At the very least, if you happen to come across a copy of this in an attic somewhere, you can take the $100-$200 dollars you make off of it on eBay and donate it as a further kick in the rear to Disney for letting this one get made.
Disney Masterpiece Collection VHS Tapes With High Values
| Valuable Disney Masterpiece Collection VHS Tapes | Recent Sales Price |
| Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | $1,175 |
| Sleeping Beauty | $700 |
| Dumbo | $50 |
The Masterpiece Collection was really similar to the Black Diamond series and included a plethora of Disney's greatest hits from the 1930s-1990s. Interestingly, this series focused on less-acclaimed titles from the mid-century, which explains why that 90s nostalgia for the Disney Renaissance that's driving so much of the market's resurgence hasn't made these older films big-ticket items at online auctions. However, you don't have to pass over every Masterpiece Collection tape you find, and a few of these titles speak to certain collector's sentimentality — and bank accounts.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
If you're going for retro Disney, you can't get much more vintage than 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. A massive phenomenon unlike any animated film before it, this flagship film launched the Disney animated movie into the stratosphere. And while you probably aren't moved that much by the dated dialogue and vocals, some have a unique attachment to the film.
One fan put their money where their mouth is and spent $1,175 on a near-mint VHS Masterpiece copy from 1994 with the hard shell case intact.
Related: 7 Rare and Valuable Disney Collectibles Worth Searching For
Sleeping Beauty
You don't have to prick your finger on the spinning wheel to pay for this vintage Disney VHS using a blood contract. Nowadays, there's every type of Disney princess out there, but in the 50s and 60s, choices were limited. If you loved medieval mythology, then Sleeping Beauty was right up your alley. With light and dark fairies, kings and queens, dashing princes, and a dragon, what more could you ask for?
For around $10, you can stream the movie on Disney+, but you can't beat the authenticity of watching it on your old VHS tapes. Pass on your well-loved tapes to kids with a passion for the past, or if you've got the limited edition Masterpiece copy, list it at an auction. You might be lucky to find a buyer who's willing to pay $700 for it.
Dumbo
Dumbo is an undeniably underrated Disney movie, if only for the way Dumbo never speaks a word and yet makes you cry your eyes out. Although it does have the special Disney brand of racist background characters that movies from this period always had, laughing with friends over the "Elephants on Parade" scene while utterly sloshed makes it worth having an early VHS tape of it.
While you've been drinking, you probably can't remember your Disney+ password, but you can trust that ingrained muscle memory for setting up a VHS to kick in. If you're finished enjoying that rediscovered Masterpiece copy of Dumbo, you can list it on eBay and try to get about $50 for it. At least it's enough to buy a mid-shelf bottle of your favorite adult juice.
Honorable Mentions Worth Some Money
Beyond the standard collections of VHS tapes that Disney made in the 80s and 90s were a slew of unique tie-ins, straight-to-video sequels, and limited edition copies. Just like how people have niche favorite Disney movies, so too are their niche VHS tapes you can find littering online auctions. In their best condition, these Disney tapes can fetch $50-$150. That's a nice chunk of change to add to your rainy-day fund.
"Banned" Little Mermaid
Disney animators were no saints, and some of the things they got past the censors have become legend to naughty Disney adults. For instance, there are rumors about explicit words being written in the clouds in The Lion King, and the priest marrying Prince Eric and Ariel seems a bit too... happy to be joining the two in holy matrimony.
But one of these that Disney caught was the noticeably phallic shape of the castle on The Little Mermaid's VHS case cover. This 'banned' VHS is collectible in its own right, with copies being listed on eBay and Etsy for around $50.
Disney Sing-Alongs
If you were born in the early 1990s and were nursed on Disney VHS tapes, you probably remember learning all the lyrics to the company's films with their bouncy sing-alongs. These compilation videos traveled from one hit song to the next, showing you a snippet of a scene from the movie and teaching you all about pace and lyrics using a bouncing ball across subtitles.
These tapes are totally obsolete now, but some millennial parents want to give their kids a 'proper' Disney education. In fact, one factory-sealed three-pack of these sing-along VHS tapes recently sold for $129 on eBay. That's a huge amount for a VHS that doesn't include a single feature-length film in it.
The Original Cars VHS
DVDs had been around well before 2007, but Disney tapped into the nostalgia market with their specialty Cars VHS tape. Like Shrek, Cars has made a huge comeback with young zillennials, helping to skyrocket the original VHS tapes' value. In 2023, one sealed copy sold for $8,750 through Heritage Auctions.
Related: 8 Rarest & Most Expensive Star Wars Toys & Action Figures
Tips for Making Money off of Disney VHS Tapes
You don't have to have your own successful Etsy shop or booth in a local antique store to make some money off the House of the Mouse's vintage VHS tapes. In fact, this can be your first and only foray into selling collectibles online or otherwise. But, if this is your first time, you should consider a couple of things before gifting them to your 90s-obsessed teenage neighbor.
- Factory-sealed clamshells are the way to go. Disney adults have a hunger like no other, and they're ravenous to have every possible piece of Disney merch the mouse ever made in their collection. While VHS tapes aren't super high on their lists, they'll pay the big bucks for factory-sealed clamshell cases with nary a fingerprint or rewound tape in sight.
- List where your audience is looking. You should always be discerning with where you list things you want to sell because you want the people who are interested in your products to find them. So, for vintage Disney products, you can stick to less hoity-toity places like eBay, Etsy, and Facebook Marketplace.
- Popular titles aren't the only coveted ones. Naturally, you know that popular titles like Beauty and the Beast and Lion King's VHS copies would draw some interest, but lesser-known titles like Robin Hood and The Fox and the Hound have their own appeal because they can complete someone's collection.
Declutter and Make Money the Disney Way
No one can deny the power of the Y2K renaissance that's rampant in social media and pop culture. Capitalize on all the dusty boxes of your childhood knickknacks by seeing which Disney VHS tapes you can find. Most of these well-loved tapes won't bring in more than about $20, but you could sell the odd copy to a fanatical Disney adult for thousands. Don't cheat yourself out of the possible big win by throwing away these mostly defunct tapes. Take a few minutes to browse through the pile and envision just what kind of fairy tale life you might be able to make for yourself.
