This Full Set of ‘X-Men: The Animated Series’ VHS Tapes Has Us Jealous

The beloved X-Men: The Animated Series premiered 26 years ago today and what better way to celebrate than by appreciating a fan’s excellent collection?

Okay, the best way to celebrate is probably just by watching X-Men: The Animated Series, which holds up very well, especially its first two seasons. Seriously, go watch “Night of the Sentinels,” you’ll thank me.

But if you don’t have time for that, instead you can just check out the collection posted to Reddit by user Dnunn, who has a complete set of X-Men: The Animated Series Season One VHS tapes, from “Night of the Sentinels” through “The Final Decision,” as well as both X-Men Creators Choice VHS tapes. The tapes were available at Pizza Huts as part of a promotional partnership. The first volume has both parts of “Night of the Sentinels” and the second has the episodes “Enter Magneto” and “Deadly Reunions.”

As a bonus, the user also has a VHS copy of “Pryde of the X-Men,” the pilot for an animated X-Men series that preceded X-Men: The Animated Series and went undeveloped, as well as a VHS copy of “A Firestar is Born,” an episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends that guest-starred the X-Men. Finally, the photo includes three out of print X-Men novels – Empire’s End, Prisoner X, and Codename Wolverine – and the Fantastic Four novel Redemption of the Silver Surfer.

X-Men: The Animated Series ran on Fox for five seasons, ending in 1997. To celebrate the show’s 25th-anniversary last year, creator Eric Lewand released a book titled Previously On X-Men, the Making of an Animated Series, taking fans behind the scenes of the series. While doing press to promote the book, Lewand revealed what he might have done if the show continued for another season.

“I had honestly never thought about it for all these years, but now that you mention it, an idea for a season just came to me: The five-season series ends with a dying Charles Xavier being whisked away to space by Lilandra, where she can maintain his fragile body, but where it seems he will be gone forever from his beloved X-Men. It’s like a death,” Lewald began. “Season Six could open, months later, with the X-Men in disarray – a few gone, the ones remaining at each other’s throats. They miss their leader. Then somehow they are called to – and transported to – an existential crisis on Lilandra’s distant world. The team grudgingly reunites ‘for Charles,’ heads off to space, solves the crisis, and a somehow-healed Charles Xavier is either able to return to Earth with them or, if he can’t, his heroic final sacrifice heals the team’s wounds and they return to Earth as the proper X-Men again.”

If you’re not the VHS hunting type, X-Men: The Animated Series has been collected into a series DVDs. You can also have a laugh with the X-Men the Animated Series Honest Trailer.