Pre Internet Creates a Tiny Blockbuster Video Packed With Twelve Hundred VHS Tapes

Connor of Pre Internet set out to construct the world’s smallest Blockbuster Video, a scratch-built miniature that captures the late-nineties strip-mall version of the chain with a fully stocked interior lined with 1200 tiny VHS tapes. He began by researching a specific Dallas location that matched the familiar aesthetic of blue awnings and open floor plans, tracking down county records and reaching an architect through LinkedIn who still held the original blueprints.

A three-quarter inch plywood sheet provided a solid foundation for this replica. Under the checkout counter, he installed a laser cut tile piece painted in the iconic Blockbuster blue and finished with actual grout, the works. The rest of the floor received a coat of carpeting that ended at a basic black paper threshold.

The interior walls were hastily cut from Canson art board purchased at a hobby store, and he then spray painted them in the characteristic yellow that used to cover every real store. It’s the kind of look that immediately takes you back to the good old days. The outer walls did their best to capture the strip-mall profile, complete with the required two exits per fire code, a peephole on one door, and a hydraulic door closer that occasionally malfunctions. One of the door knobs was originally a headlight from a World War II Panzer tank, which was then reused and painted to match the rest of the hardware.


Shelves filled the space with 1200 small VHS tapes. He designed them so that the aisles felt as full as they did in real stores, or as crowded as they appear in your memory. Anti-fatigue mats are behind the bar, next to a collection of vintage computer displays, keyboards, and phones that appear to have been pulled right from the 1990s. Posters for Forrest Gump and Toy Story are tacked to the walls, which are painted the distinctive yellow. A previously viewed shelf is waiting for returns, and the counter includes a QuikDrop space. Oh, and a standpipe goes up one wall, much like the fire-hydrant connection that every Blockbuster used to have.


The ceiling has been fitted with approximately 100 separate cardstock tiles that were all cut and glued into place, followed by sprinklers, smoke detectors, and, of course, the perimeter mirrors that allowed staff to keep an eye out for shoplifters from the comfort of their own little’security office’. The fluorescent lighting has also been properly wired to provide the same soft glow as the original stores.


You can almost smell the popcorn and candy coming from the displays near the register. These were always the profitable aspects of the business, the continual upsells and impulse purchases that propelled the chain to the top of the industry. In the background, you can hear conversations with former employees remembering about the Friday night excitement of picking a movie and how the big chain’s deals with the studios successfully pushed out the small independent businesses. Connor believes that the magic of a miniature is what could trigger childhood memories in ways that a photograph or image cannot. So every detail, from the doorway mats to the taped notes on the cabinet doors, was given the same amount of attention as the walls and shelves.


Once the ceiling was installed and the blue awning with the Blockbuster logo was completed, the entire setup was placed in an underground storage vault that Connor created within an abandoned Cold War fallout bunker. The rest of his miniatures are also housed there, allowing this modest business to sit among all the other abandoned places, waiting for anyone who wants to learn about how people used to spend their evenings back then. With only two large Blockbuster stores left on the planet, this small model is about all that remains to preserve the appearance and feel of the thousands that once lined the roads.