[cheebacheeba]

I collect VHS but not on a regular basis, and while I have a number of VHS tapes I wouldn' actually call myself a collector.
Though they do have an appeal to me.
I know the digital medium is kind of picking up pace in this one, but I have always noticed that it seems less horror films have made it to dvd/bluray than most other genres - this holds their value well to me.
Part nostalgia too, I like the feeling of a VHS cover opening up...there is a tactile memory held there for me, and it's nice to revisit.
The box art, if nobody has mentioned this already there's some cool covers that I saw updated or completely changed post vhs.
Old movies that I might not have seen, of all types - it's a good chance to get a look at them.
I like the sound of them rewinding. Also rewinding itself...even if someone hadn't re-wound a movie you're about to watch, sticking it on rewind wasn't so bad, it actually became something I was so familiar with, that actually doing it became a bit of the overall "tradition".
Not above all, but up there, is the fact that they're very cheap...well, for the non-collector collector. I don't have anything in mint condition
(Though I do have a darkman tape that I managed to pick up sealed brand new, with had a star trek TNG vhs pamphlet in there for $2! Near mint, now opened and watched once)
and I don't really need the whole brand new look...as long as they work alright and aren't soundfucked/stretched, I'm ok with the exterior. In fact, a bit of wear holds a kind of appeal to me, why I don't know.
One final thing on the VHS appeal that might sound completely stupid...I loved recording things on them and re-recording over tapes too.
Like audio mixtapes, there was an art to it, the pausing and unpausing at precisely the right moment, and there you have it, your own copy of *insert movie/show here* that you could take over a friends place...a bit like the oldskool version of transferring files via USB but a bit more wffort involved, and somehow just more fun.

They weren't perfect, but they were gooD technology that hosted an incredibly huge library of film in it's lifetime. I believe that the VHS is one of the most important friends to movie enthusiasts that there ever was or will be.

Edit - Agreed on the previews. Kind've like at the movies, but not. Yeah, looking back to see what was released at the same time was always cool.