Toppic Video (Germany)

(1983-1990s) Nicknames : "Please Stand By", "AHHHHHHHH, DISCO!!!!!"

Logo : We see a variation of a standby screen. On the top half of the screen, there are eight vertical bars that are each a different color (white, yellow, light blue, green, pink, red, dark blue, and black). The bottom half is a red background; on this background, we see the word Video(in a retro font, with a blue dot on the "i" and a white "e"). The standby screen fades out. Then, on a black background, the same "Video" used in the standby screen fades in, and a residue trail of "Videos" appears. We then zoom into the blue dot on the "i", which makes a box containing the word "Toppic" (in the same retro font, but not italicized) with a star replaced the dot of the i, tunnel in.

Variants :
 * Some tapes leave out the "stand by" screen and simply begin with "Video".
 * On an Australian release, the logo was very different where we begin with "Video" in cyhron /video feedback trail which has a larger amount of the text expanding in a trail and the text somewhat being smaller. Then the "Video" trail all simply transitions into a chyron trail of the Toppic logo.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor:  The "stand by" screen, the fading, the chyron/video feedback trail, and the tunneling in, which reek of 80s effects. Also, the woman screaming at the beginning of the right video variant is highly inappropriate and jarring, especially since sounds more like the beginning of a metal song (e.g. screaming first before the singing), rather than for the upbeat disco tune that follows it.

Music/Sounds:  None or the opening theme of the movie. The video on the right is one instance of the opening theme being used: it begins with a woman screaming in horror, which rather jarringly transitions into an upbeat disco tune. On an Australian release, it has what a appears to be a romantic tune of an opening theme.

Availability:  Extremely rare. Can be seen on some German tapes distributed by Polyband and WVG or just Toppic itself. This may also be found on some Australian tapes. The Toppic logo has been long out of print in many German DVDs and Blu-Rays distributed by "Polyband & Toppic Video/WVG" with only the Polyband print logo added in it.

Scare Factor:  It depends on the variant:
 * Silent/Opening Theme Variants:  Minimal. The chryon/video feedback trail of Video can scare some, but that's nothing compared with the other variant.
 * Right Video Variant:  Medium to nightmare, it all depends on your opinion of the loud scream at the start. You might be scared or simply dumbfounded by it. However, the music afterwards sounds rather nice.