History KeepCirculatingTheTapes / Rescued

* Music/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor's demo tape ''All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling'' is perhaps the holy grail of indie fans. It's an OldShame, so it will never be reissued. It was limited to 33 copies, so the chances of a copy surfacing are naturally highly unlikely (with even band member Efrim Menuck expressing disbelief that it didn't resurface). And while one song was posted to Website/{{Reddit}} in 2013, the person about to rip and distribute the rest was driven off the site by rude users. The demo seemed destined to remain in limbo, but in February 2022 it was miraculously [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmgDLGpl9ME ripped and redistributed]], courtesy of a [[Website/FourChan /mu/]] user who casually posted it at 3 AM.

** ''Toy'', which featured re-recorded versions of some very early singles, was initially shelved due to a mix of logistical difficulties with its planned surprise release and hesitance from Creator/VirginRecords, who were in the middle of a financial downturn and saw the album as unprofitable. However, a draft of the album leaked online in 2011, being spread around through file-sharing sites and bootlegs. Ten years later, a completed version of ''Toy'' finally saw release, first as part of the BoxedSet ''Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001)'' before seeing an expanded three-CD release as ''Toy:Box'' at the start of 2022.

* The Creator/FrankSinatra film ''Meet Danny Wilson'' has yet to be released on DVD in the United States, presumably for music rights issues. However, the movie was released on VHS in the mid-90's and isn't too difficult to find. It ''was'' given a DVD release, [[NoExportForYou but only in the UK]].

* Music/DavidBowie's second leading man effort, and subsequent OldShame, ''Just a Gigolo'' (1978) only had a Region 2 [=DVD=] release in Germany until June 2021, when Shout! Factory dug it up for Region 1. For bonus points, unlike the late 1980s [=VHS=] release of the 98-minute American cut from 1981, this is the 105-minute U.K. version.

* Canadian indie pop artist JanaJana's sole album, ''Typical Girl'', was originally self-released through her website, www.janajana.com, which has long since shut down. It was later re-released to mainstream digital platforms.

* ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' was notorious for running for at least $150 USD after the game went out of print. It was finally re-released on Xbox LIVE Arcade for the low low price of $10 USD.

* ''VideoGame/JudgementSilversword'' was one of the most sought after UsefulNotes/WonderSwan games, being developed as a homebrew title during the [=WonderWitch=] contest in 2004 and gained a cult following in the shoot 'em up crowd. Due to its obscurity and limited print run, the game could go for upwards of ''hundreds'' of dollars at auction. Its {{gaiden game}}, ''Cardinal Sins'', was released as freeware for the [=WonderSwan=], but not in a form playable on emulators. These games however did see a re-release on the Xbox 360 bundled with their {{spiritual successor}}, ''VideoGame/{{ESCHATOS}}'', albeit was a Japan-only region-free import title, but it was later ported overseas to PC via Steam for a much more wallet-friendly price of $5 USD.

* Music/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor's demo tape ''All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling'' is perhaps the holy grail of indie fans. It's an OldShame, so it will never be reissued. It was limited to 33 copies, so the chances of a copy surfacing are naturally highly unlikely. And while one song did surface on Website/{{Reddit}} in 2013, the person about to rip and distribute the rerst was driven off the site by users being assholes. The demo seemed destined to remain in limbo, but in February 2022 it was miraculously [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmgDLGpl9ME ripped and put onto YouTube]], courtesy of a [[Website/FourChan /mu/]] user who casually posted it at 3 AM.

** In June 2020, ''[[VideoGame/TouhouFuujinrokuMountainOfFaith Mountain of Faith]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TouhouChireidenSubterraneanAnimism Subterranean Animism]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/TouhouSeirensenUndefinedFantasticObject Undefined Fantastic Object]]'' ([[FanNickname aka, the Moriya Shrine]] [[MemeticMutation Conspiracy games]]), were all released in Steam.

* ''Film/TheOscar'', a campy melodrama from 1966 co-written by Creator/HarlanEllison and featuring the only acting performance of Music/TonyBennett, had a VHS release in the mid-1980s...and that was it for three decades. Creator/{{TCM}} plays the film occasionally, but is forced to use an older pan-and-scan master (unusual for the network). This is very telling of the film's current demand because for a time it was included in many "Worst Films of All Time" lists as well as the Medved brothers' ''Golden Turkey Awards'' and even warranted a ''Series/SCTV'' parody, but appears to have been overshadowed by more recent films that are a lot worse and more infamous. Ultimately, Kino Lorber released the film on Blu-Ray in February 2020, with a new 4K remaster, and two audio commentaries, with one of them featuring (of all people) Creator/PattonOswalt as a participant.

* ''Film/TheOscar'', a campy melodrama from 1966 co-written by Creator/HarlanEllison and featuring the only acting performance of Music/TonyBennett, had a VHS release in the mid-1980s...and that was it for three decades. Creator/{{TCM}} plays the film occasionally, but is forced to use an older pan-and-scan master (unusual for the network). This is very telling of the film's current demand, because for a time, it was included in many "Worst Films of All Time" lists as well as the Medved brothers' ''Golden Turkey Awards'', but appears to have been overshadowed by more recent films that are a lot worse and more infamous. Ultimately, Kino Lorber released the film on Blu-Ray in February 2020, with a new 4K remaster, and two audio commentaries, with one of them featuring (of all people) Creator/PattonOswalt as a participant.

* ''The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'', a George Pal superproduction that was one of only two non-documentary films shot in the specialty Cinerama format[[note]]the other being ''How the West Was Won''[[/note]], has never had a DVD release; Turner Classic Movies occasionally airs it but only in a letterbox format which distorts the wraparound imagery. While it was believed the original negative was too water-damaged to restore without prohibitive expense for a niche title, [[https://www.in70mm.com/news/2020/grimm/index.htm?fbclid=IwAR29rxmuNjjFVDJfPKefbCYKGqqjHPG4Yd1l63QAA7xJu-KTPJTxFyq5xg8 this proved not to be the case]]. A Warner Archive release of a 4K restoration is tentatively slated, though it missed a 2021 release.

* ''Anime/GrimmsFairyTaleClassics'' only had a few long-out of print VHS releases during its Nick Jr. run in North America and a few DVDs from Fox Kids Europe in the early to mid 2000s. The English and Japanese dubs were unavailable for years after Disney's rights lapsed, until Discotek Media announced a bilingual release in 2021.

* The 1991 book ''Duck in a Raincoat'' by Maura Curley, a damning unauthorized biography of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lan_School Elan School]] founder and Maine gubernatorial candidate Joseph Ricci, saw a low print run during its initial publication, and by the late 1990s was fairly rare (as recounted in ''Webcomic/JoeVsElanSchool''). That said, an updated second edition was eventually released for the Kindle in 2012, a year after Elan School's closure and eleven years after Ricci's death.

* Due to a lawsuit filed by a paparrazo who alleged improper reappropriation of a spy photo he snapped on the set of the film that became our first look at the Iron Man suit, ''Film/IronMan1'' was unavailable in its original version until 2021, when Disney released the IMAX Enhanced version to its Disney+ service with the original picture on ''The Chronicle'' intact.

** Mill Creek Entertainment released a Blu-Ray [=Steelbook=] of the movie in March 2021 and will serves as #46 Mondo X [=Steelbook=] collaboration with some totally rad artwork.

* ''[[Anime/SenkiZesshouSymphogear Symphogear]]'' only had a release on Funimation's website in 2011, until their rights expired a few years later. In July 2019, Discotek Media announced a DVD and [=BluRay=] for the series. It is also currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'', a very late release (2001!) UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor game by Creator/WayForwardTechnologies. It sold less than 100k copies during its release (only about 77k, if numbers are to be believed), [[AcclaimedFlop but word of mouth (and reviews) spread stories of the game's excellent quality]]. Copies routinely go for ''over $100'' on eBay, and people who attempted to play the game through [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil slightly cheaper methods]] were out of luck, as the most common Game Boy Color emulator did not even ''run'' it correctly. Its rarity was even lampshaded by WFT themselves on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STfLWs6XGkM official Risky's Revenge soundtrack release video]]. Come 2013, when WFT announced that they were working on a port of the game for the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console, and eventually released said port in July that year. Another enhanced port of the game was later for the Nintendo Switch in 2021.

* The original widescreen version of ''Film/WestSideStory'' inexplicably disappeared from DVD shelves in the mid-2000s. All the [=DVD=]s produced during the remainder of the decade presented the movie in PanAndScan, although movie boxsets contained the uncropped version. Widescreen [=DVD=]s finally became available again in 2011, in honor of the movie's 50th anniversary.

* Creator/DavidCronenberg's feature film debut, ''Film/{{Shivers}}'' (aka ''They Came From Within'') saw only scant and OOP video release over the years despite Cronenberg's godlike status among horror fans and the general good success of his films (like ''Film/TheFly1986'', ''Film/{{Scanners}}'', and ''Film/AHistoryOfViolence''). It's odd that Anchor Bay released a special edition VHS, but didn't re-release it on DVD. Strange and infuriating. But British cult film label [[http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shivers/ Arrow Films]] released a new Blu-Ray of the film in the fall of 2014, and Lionsgate has announced a Region 1 Blu-Ray for the back half of 2020 (for those who can't wait, it's also available on the free-with-ads streaming service Tubi).

* ''The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'', a George Pal superproduction that was one of only two non-documentary films shot in the specialty Cinerama format[[note]]the other being ''How the West Was Won''[[/note]], has never had a DVD release; Turner Classic Movies occasionally airs it but only in a letterbox format which distorts the wraparound imagery. While it was believed the original negative was too water-damaged to restore without prohibitive expense for a niche title, [[https://www.in70mm.com/news/2020/grimm/index.htm?fbclid=IwAR29rxmuNjjFVDJfPKefbCYKGqqjHPG4Yd1l63QAA7xJu-KTPJTxFyq5xg8 this proved not to be the case]]. A Warner Archive release of a 4K restoration is tentatively slated for 2021.

** As of April 14,2018 Live and Reloaded was finally re-released through the Xbox One's Original Xbox backwards compatability.

* All of the four episodes ''WebVideo/FCCDSpongeBobSquarePants'' have been made private, alongside all of Fried Chilli Cheese Dogs' videos, and despite what was said, they are still private, thankfully, various Youtubers have reuploaded each episode, alongside almost all of FCCD's video library.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' and its two films Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, despite comprising one of the most influential anime franchises of all time, was this for all intents and purposes. The last time in the US that the series was released on DVD was in 2004 by ADV Films, and went out of print because of the company's closure. Because of this, box sets have been noted to go for up to $300 on sites like eBay. However, there was a moment of return that made waves for the anime community. Studio Khara waited until they finished the Rebuild of Evangelion films to begin re-licensing the original series in the English-language marketplace. In August of 2021, an announcement was made that in the US, Gkids would release the series on Blu-ray in the US in a boxset that will include Episodes 21-24 in their director's cut forms and the two movies with both their original ADV dub track and the new dub track on Netflix. The base set will release in November, while the special editions will launch in December.

* The English version of the first arcade ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'', so obscure that it used to be CommonKnowledge that it was an unlicensed bootleg, is included in the 2019 Nintendo Switch "SEGA Ages" version of the first ''Puyo Puyo''. The closest this version has come to being ported elsewhere is the hidden translation in the Game Gear version (that never left Japan) some 25 years prior.
** Despite the rights to ''Puyo Puyo'' and parent series ''Madou Monogatari'' being divorced following Sega's receipt of the ''Puyo'' series, the vast majority of the ''Madou Monogatari'' games have been released on PC throughout TheNewTens thanks to D4 Enterprise (who owns the rights to the ''Madou Monogatari'' games themselves) working with Sega.