Overheard a guy at Goodwill say tapes warp if stored flat, is that true?

I was digging through a bin in Portland last Tuesday and this older guy told his friend to never stack tapes flat because the weight warps the reels over time. I've always kept my collection sideways on a shelf, but I have a few big clamshell boxes that only fit flat. He said even 5 or 6 tapes piled up can mess with the playback after a couple decades. My thrift store finds are mostly 80s horror and I don't want to ruin them. Anyone here actually run into warped reels from flat storage, or is that more of an old wives tale? I'd rather find out before I lose a copy of Sleepaway Camp to a wobbly tape path.

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nina_sullivan612d ago

Flat storage is like a game of tape roulette, you never know which one is gonna crack under pressure. I had a box of old VHS in the attic for ten years, stacked like pancakes, and only the bottom two came out sounding like they were chewing gravel. The rest played fine, so it's not a guarantee, but why take the chance with Sleepaway Camp? That movie is a masterpiece of terrible acting and anyone who ruins it deserves a lifetime of rewinding with a pencil. Those big clamshell boxes are the real traitors though, they always look so sturdy and then betray you when you least expect it. Honestly, I'd lay them flat but only if you're prepared to accept the chaos, kind of like trusting a guy named "Chad" with your secrets. If the tape path starts wobbling, just blame the Portland humidity and move on.