CalStar Videos
I would have to agree with Evil Queen here. CalStar was making tickling videos way back when nobody else thought they could make a buck doing it. As a result of this, I probably own more CalStars than any other brand. I would only ask you to understand that they were the only game in town, and I (and apparently several others) felt that poor tickling, faked laughter, and the other 'negatives' were still better than nothing. Anyway, they did have some good looking models, and they did feature genital tickling from time to time, as Evil Queen also mentioned.
I also agree with 1golfer, in that CalStar is very hit or miss. Some of their early ones were better, in my opinion. Actually the first seven or eight of the "Tied & Tickled" series were produced by HOM, after which they turned it over to CalStar. To me, Barbara Behr of HOM exhibited a great understanding of tickling and tried to convey this in the early videos. I don't know why she got out of it...perhaps someone else has a clue. I suspect Kujman could tell us, but he's not around anymore.
Eventually, the CalStar vids began to be produced by a guy listed in the credits as Tony Sinclair. This was along about T&T 12 or 13. In my opinion, he ruined what little reputation CalStar may have had by over-emphasizing those inane plots in T&T 12 through T&T30. Titles like "Frankentickle", "Texas Chainsaw Tickler", "Count Ticula" and all those with similar titles merely exploited the original plots and did little to further anyone's interest in real tickling.
Renny, you don't really have to pay $80 for these tapes. If you put in a standard disclaimer with CalStar, and get on their mailing list, probably at least once a year they will have a 'special offer', which is often 2 tapes for the price of 1. Also there are some web-sites which sell them routinely for about $65, if you don't want to wait.
Actually, if you have a particular interest in "The Happy Woodcutter", I may still have my copy, which I'm willing to part with. You can e-mail me if you are interested, Renny.