I purchased a few rare soaps on VHS tapes back in the 90's from a place called "Moviecraft Home Video" out of Illinois. A fun mixed bag of stuff:
SEARCH FOR TOMORROW from 1953 with Don Knotts, from 1960 with Larry Hagman, and from 1952 with the guy who played the principal on "Welcome Back Kotter" in the 70's! Anthony George, btw, was on "Search" in the early 70's as Dr. Tony Vincente.
THE SECRET STORM from 1966, with Peter White (who most people remember as Linc Tyler on 'All My Children').
THE EDGE OF NIGHT from 1964, with Teri Keane as Martha, broadway actress Penny Fuller as Geri, and James Mitchell (Palmer Courtlandt on 'All My Children') as a crooked cop.
THE GUIDING LIGHT from 1952 with Charita Bauer (Bert) and James Lipton (from "Inside The Actors Studio") as a young doctor.
LOVE OF LIFE from 1952 with spunky Peggy McCay (who still plays Caroline Brady on "Days Of Our Lives").

..And the original commercials (like Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes hawking "Fluffo" shortening). Definitely a blast from the past.

Yes, HAA deserved more air time - particularly because his scenes with Lara Parker and Grayson Hall were so dicey and fun to watch (and re-watch).
My fave scene was when [spoiler]Angelique was on the loose, "vamp"ing poor Barnabas. Julia Hoffman caught wind of it, brought a stake and mallet to Nicholas' house, prompting Nicholas to wryly comment "A memento of your visit, Doctor?"[/spoiler] Only Julia had the guts to push the envelope with our favorite warlock... well, Angelique did too... but she got a slap across the face for her defiance. Now that I think about it, Nicholas and Julia share the honor of being the only two characters to ever smack Angelique upside the face.

VICKI: Waiter, I'll have another Burke please.

I tend to agree with Prof. Stokes - I felt the later episodes were sort of herky-jerky in the pacing - scenes were short or hurried, too many extraneous characters drifted in while other mainstays were dropped or under-used... my preference is late 1968 through early 1970 as DS' best years. There seemed to be a real "repertoire" sense with the cast during that stretch of time.

I once knew an acquaintance who, when prompted for memories of DARK SHADOWS, would smile and say, "Remember Dr. Hoffman?!" and raise his hand over his face as if to block the "horror" before him... just like Julia. Did we ever count the number of times Grayson made that gesture on the series?

AMY: (singing) The sun will come out tomorrow......

MAGGIE: Now, Annie.... er, Molly.... um... Amy... you're a far cry from Broadway.

MRS. JOHNSON: Well, if you're really able to burn this place down, you'd rescue me from a lifetime of thankless dusting.

QUENTIN: You're a descendant of a gypsy, Amy. Here, read my palm - tell my future.

AMY: I see you in a place called Falcon Crest, and it'll make Collinwood look like Wonkaville.