If You Own An Original 'The Little Mermaid' VHS, You Could Be Sitting On A Small Fortune

Way back in the day, before DVDs and streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and HBO reigned supreme, people used to watch and record movies on VHS tapes.

These were also the glorious tapes that brought the magical world of Disney movies to our tube televisions. We all had a stash of these VHS tapes at home while growing up, but when VCRs became obsolete, they no longer had a place in our lives.  

However, some of us found it hard to throw away such important pieces of our childhood, so we stored it somewhere in our basements or attics and forgot about them.

If you were among those people, then it may be time to dig them out and dust them off because they could be worth a lot of money.

In fact, if you own one of the original copies of The Little Mermaid, you could be sitting on a gold mine.

According to some claims on the internet, the "Black Diamond Collection" version of the movie is more valuable than the others because it was a limited-edition release. But as it turned out, this is more of a rumor than fact.

While there are some Black Diamond Collection tapes listed on eBay, the real money fetcher is the version of The Little Mermaid with an error on the cover art.

See, The Little Mermaid was first released in theaters worldwide in 1989, but it wasn't until May 1990 that Disney made it available on VHS as part of the Walt Disney Classics line.

However, shortly after the tape started making its way into people's hands, a controversy was born. People noticed that there was a phallic shaped structure on the golden castle.

The designer responsible for the cover insisted that it was an accident, and Disney was prompted to remove as many copies of the flawed cases as possible from store shelves.

But they weren't quick enough. By the time they issued a recall, many people have already gotten their hands on a copy.

If you were one of the lucky few who still a copy of the movie with the questionable design, then you could rake in a small fortune. The rare version of The Little Mermaid has been listed for thousands of dollars eBay.

One seller has a banned cover copy currently listed for $7,796!

Since there have been talks about a remake, there's a very good chance that this VHS will make you even more money. If you don't have The Little Mermaid in your collection, you can still make some decent cash by selling the Black Diamond Collection of The Lion King for upwards of $4,000.

Do you have the banned copy of The Little Mermaid?