How to make a Blockbuster VHS sleeve for any movie
It’s difficult to explain the Blockbuster experience to those who haven’t had the opportunity to experience it. If you never visited one of the video rental chain’s more than 9,000 locations in the VHS tape era, chances are you won’t even be able to understand the ritual of scouring the shelves for the perfect Friday night movie: the smell of hundreds of plastic cases, the distinctly garish interiors of the 1990s and early 2000s. It’s just a memory, unless you don’t make a pilgrimage to the last physical location of Bend, Oregon.
That doesn’t mean you can’t recreate at least some of that nostalgic aesthetic. A highly accurate tape case design was first posted online in 2024 by programmer Ryan Finnie. Back then, however, making your own sleeves required a lot of manual typing and adjusting. As spotted by BoingBoing, digital strategist and creator Tex Jernigan recently launched the simplified and free Blockbuster Sleeve Generator. As the name suggests, the website allows anyone to print custom, highly accurate tape case labels that look nearly identical to the iconic blue and yellow slips once seen in video store aisles. All the customizable elements are also integrated into a unique program for any movie buff hungry for a bit of VHS role-playing.
“[Blockbuster] closed in 2010, but it remains in our hearts as a beloved symbol of video rental culture,” Jernigan explained on the project’s website.
The generator is also integrated with a movie database to automatically populate back cover information such as cast, director, summary, year of release, and approximate runtime. To make your case Really looks like the real thing, Jernigan even gives it an inventory barcode. After using the site’s store locator tool (also free), users can identify the outlet number of the childhood Blockbuster store, then add the movie’s unique code as well as the copy number of the hypothetical inventory.
This is a nifty craft project for people looking for something to do with that old box of VHS tapes in the back of their closet. Jernigan also says Popular science This is the best way to port a show or movie onto a blank VHS tape (yes, they are still available for purchase).
“It’s funny, the best method is always the same: you connect a VCR to any TV, then press record and watch the TV while it records in real time,” he says, adding that there are also inexpensive HDMI-AV converters that you use to convert from a laptop or computer.
“It compresses 1080p video slightly to fit the screen. I think it does a great job,” he says.
Jernigan notes that it’s worth mentioning that his personal project is “focused on the design and nostalgic side” of VHS culture and is not intended to facilitate illegal copying or redistribution.
“I always try to encourage people to be mindful of copyright and local laws and to respect the original creators,” he says.
But for your own home, there are few ways to meet the pinnacle of video rental outlets better than trying Blockbuster Sleeve Generator.
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