Fantasy Tapes

The premier online site for 

all your 8-track, Cassette and Reel To Reel tapes!

Please note:
All 8-tracks are sold in an un-altered state unless specified in the notes for that specific tape and will usually need to be rebuilt before playing them.

If you are new to 8-track collecting let me explain.

Almost all 8-track tapes have either felt or foam pads that hold the tape up against the player’s head and a metallic foil splice that keeps both ends of the tape together to form a continuous loop for playing and allows the tape to change tracks as it passes over the track change sensor.
Over time the felt and foam pads deteriorate and go bad and need to be replaced and the glue holding the foil splice dries out and falls off.
Pretty much ALL tapes Used OR New/Still Sealed will need the pads and foil splice replaced for them to work properly and continue to work for years to come.
The tapes sold here have not been rebuilt unless otherwise stated in the description for that tape.
Many collector’s prefer to rebuild the tapes themselves, when purchasing you have the option to have us rebuild the tapes for you for a small fee of $3.99 per tape.
Once you have made your selections of tapes click the link on the 8-track tape category drop down menu and select “Tape Repair Services” you can then add “Tape Rebuild” to your order, just select the quantity of tapes in your order that you want to have rebuilt and add it to your cart before checkout and your tapes will get serviced and rebuilt prior to shipping.

NOTE ABOUT TAPE REBUILDING:
Sometimes opening the tape requires cutting the labels and/or poking a hole through the label to be able to open the shell to replace the pads and change the splice, it’s an unfortunate design flaw but something that at times there is no way around.. we will always do our best to keep it to a minimum when we can.

RCA and other tapes with a “SEALED” tape shell will have to be cut open in some cases to rebuild them.. other tapes can have old plastic that is fragile and breaks when trying to open them up.. in the case of both we will usually glue them back together with a dab of hot glue on all 4 corners or where needed when putting the tape back together, or in some cases use a piece of clear tape in a space where it is barely visible to seal them back shut, other places use super glue to put shells back together but i find the hot glue to be more aesthetically pleasing and should you have any problems with the tape later down the line it’s simple to open back up, Super Glue can cause the tape shell to discolor around it and you run the risk of damaging the shell should you need to open it back up.. with hot glue the excess on the outside just peels right off and most of the time you can’t tell it’s even there.

8-Track PLAY TESTING:
All tapes rebuilt are play tested before shipping out and stopped at the splice, when play testing we will run it through one track, during that run through we will change tracks once or twice to make sure there is music on all 4 tracks.
In the case where tapes are sold as is if the tape has not become separated we will run it through to the splice and stop it there, while we might not always be listening to it the correct music is guaranteed to be there, if not we will gladly exchange it for another if available or issue a store credit towards something else.

Cassette Tape Play Testing:
Cassette tapes are play tested as follows: We play them for 30 seconds at the beginning. 30 seconds in the middle. 30 seconds at the end then rewind.
All cassettes will go out with pads in place, however similar to old 8-tracks the glue on the back of the pads can get old and make the pad fall off.. if that happens during shipping you can glue the pad back on with a dab of super glue and then put the pad back in place and let it dry. There are plenty of youtube videos out there that show how to do it.

Reel To Reel Tape Play Testing:
Reel to Reel tapes are usually play tested the same as cassettes, 30 seconds in the beginning, 30 seconds in the middle, 30 seconds at the end then rewound.

TAPE GRADING:
8-Track tapes are graded based on the condition of the label, tape shell and overall wear, If it comes with a cardboard slip cover that will be mentioned in the comments as well.. it’s important to keep in mind that even brand new/still sealed tapes can have lots of factory bubbling to the label(s) and light scuffing to the edges of the shell straight out of the pack.. it’s also not uncommon to see small amounts of glue residue around the edges of the labels as a lot of times they were just slapped on quick and the unevenness of the glue being spread on the back of the label was a common cause for the bubbling.
Cassette Tape grading is based on the condition of the actual cassette tape shell and the J-card, we do not grade the plastic case as they can easily be swapped out with another, if a cassette tape shell is in rough shape we will replace it with a decent one before sending out.
Reel To Reel tape grading is based on the condition of the box and any label on the tape reel.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us – we’re here to help!