The VHS Corner: Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Borg Collective VHS Box Set (1996)

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing okay. I'm back with another edition of the VHS Corner. This week I'm going to be talking about another Star Trek VHS box set. It's a Star Trek: The Next Generation this time called Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Borg Collective. So let's get into it.

Originally released on November 19th, 1996, The Borg Collective is a collection of the first four Borg episodes which aired as part of season 2, season 3, season 4, and season 5 of TNG from 1989 to 1993. I got this for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa in 1996 as it was the first Christmas we ever had up at the cottage after Grandma and Grandpa had started living there full time and it was the same Christmas that we got Toy Story on VHS. As mentioned, this box set contained the home video releases of the first four Bog episodes, three of them had previously been released individually and this box set was the first time one of them had been released on home video. I'll talk about that more when I talk about the episodes. What was cool about this set is that the outer box that the tapes came in was designed like a classic TNG Borg Cube with the side that you see in the image above being a flap that you can open, revealing the four tapes in their individual packaging, the designs of which you will see shortly. I mean who wouldn't want a Borg Cube containing four TNG episodes on VHS sitting on their shelf? Let's get into the individual episodes themselves shall we?

First we have "Q Who?" from season 2. Originally released on its own on October 12th, 1994 as part of the season 2 home video line, I had already gotten this tape by itself from Nana and Grandpa, as a Christmas or birthday present in 1994. The cover design for season 2 was similar to the design for season 1, though instead of just the Enterprise-D flying through space, it looks like its flying through a nebula, and the planet that the screenshot from the episode was changed to an oval and moved to the bottom centre of the cover, with the episode title underneath it, removing the yellow box that the episode title had been in previously. The character art was updated too with Tasha Yar having been removed entirely, Doctor Crusher having been replaced with Doctor Pulaski, Commander Riker having gained his almighty beard, Wesley gaining his acting ensign's gray jumpsuit, and La Forge, Worf, and Troi updated to their season 2 look. I'm planning to do a big Star Trek VHS cover art overview in the near future, so look out for those in the future. The episode is pretty good and it pulls double duty because not only is it a Borg episode, but it's a Q episode as well, AND it's also the very first Borg episode ever. 

Next up is the season 3 finale, "The Best of Both Worlds Part I" and had originally been released on home video by itself on October 3rd, 1995 as the final season 3 release. Once again the cover art was changed. This time the episode screenshot is slightly bigger and has a pink arch at the top, in the shape of the top part of a circle. The Enterprise was removed entirely and the only difference in character art is that Doctor Crusher has returned and the uniforms introduced at the beginning of the third season are shown, rather than the jumpsuit versions used in seasons 1 and 2. This time the episode title is in a blue bar with the Starfleet delta symbol behind it. "The Best of Both Worlds Part I" was the very first time that a season of Star Trek ended on a cliffhanger and was a gamechanger for Star Trek as a franchise. I remember watching it on VHS as a really little kid because my dad taped it off TV at some point. I don't remember if it was when the episode first aired in 1990 or if it was a rerun that he taped. I just remember seeing it and "The Best of Both Worlds Part II" on for the first time, on VHS.

Speaking of "The Best of Both Worlds Part II" that's the next tape included in this box set. It was originally released on February 6th, 1996. The episode is great, and is one of my favourite Riker episodes. The cover art is completely different than the tapes from the previous three seasons. This time we have the season 4 cast shot, which includes Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan and has Wesley crusher in his late season 3/early season 4 Starfleet ensign's uniform rather than the provisional gray jumpsuit that he'd gotten in season 2, and there's a purple cloud with some stars behind them. The episode screenshot is in a triangle shape with a purple border at the top and a purple triangle at the bottom with the episode's title inside. Which is pretty cool since, like I said, the first three seasons were pretty generic. I haven't talked about the pre-episode stuff on the tapes yet. That's because for these first three tapes, there isn't anything besides the Paramount Feature Presentation logo, the Paramount warning card, and the Paramount Home Video logo. 

As you can see, "I, Borg", and the season 5 VHS releases as a whole, have a completely different cover design. This time the screenshot and episode title are on the top, instead of the bottom and the image is surrounded by a trapezoid with the episode title in an orange bar at the bottom of the image. Like season 4, the season 5 tapes have the season 5 cast shot instead of the generic character art from the first three seasons, and the Enterprise has been restored. However, unlike the seasons 1 and 2 VHS releases the image of the ship is actually a shot of the 1992 Playmates Toys Lights and Sounds Enterprise toy, which is what I have. Because the individual release of this tape didn't come out until late 1997, which was after this box set had been released, this is the first release of this episode on VHS on its own, since it was paired with the next episode, "The Next Phase" for the Columbia House Video Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Collector's Edition release, which came out in 1994. As a result this edition of the tape includes the Star Trek 30th Anniversary preview which features Kate Mulgrew in costume as Captain Kathryn Janeway on Voyager's Engineering set. The preview first appeared on the VHS release for Star Trek Generations, which came out on February 16th, 1996, the same day as "The Best of Both Worlds Part II". So that's cool.

And that my friends is the Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Borg Collective VHS box set. It's the only Star Trek TV show VHS box set I ever owned or saw when I was a kid. I'm probably never going to find it again given that it was a box set of episodes that were on VHS elsewhere and so I'd probably find the individual episode VHS releases before I find the box set. It was still pretty cool to own at the time though since I only had one other season 3 episode on VHS and no other episodes from seasons 4 and 5 outside of ones taped off TV by various family members. 

That's it for me for today, but I'll try to be back tomorrow for a comic book review. If not I'll be back on Thursday to share some thoughts on season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which starts on Thursday. And I will definitely be back for my review of the season 2 premiere of SNW on Friday. So until then have a great rest of your day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.