Enter the time machine that is the 1981 Sears summer catalog LaserDisc

The internet has a seemingly unquenchable thirst for digging up and displaying the relics of the analog (or in this case, barely digital) era. But who’s complaining when it gives us the very Mystery Science Theater 3000 short-ready Sears 1981 Summer Tele-Shop Catalog. A true relic, only a handful of this LaserDisc version of Sears’ famous summer catalog were made for those lucky few who sent in their registration cards for Pioneer’s first LaserDisc player, the VP-1000. Network Awesome explains:

DiscoVision pressed only about 300 pieces and then shipped them to Atlanta, St. Louis, and Chicago. It was possibly the first laser disc packaged in a gate-fold jacket.

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The video catalog was received poorly by the public as it didn’t contain anywhere near the number of items available in the printed catalog.

The other reason it may have been received poorly by the public is that it was nearly 30 minutes of stilted acting, strangely edited fashion videos, and seemingly macabre set pieces, like this:

What happened to those women? Did they die? The catalog moves on, dauntless, to sell things like armadillo chain-link fences. The whole thing is well worth watching, though perhaps under the influence of some really good drugs.

[via Network Awesome]