Panasonic Late 1980s VCRS

[tvcollector]

As most of us remembered that Panasonic made VCRS dominated the market in the 1980s. Now does anyone remember the models in the late 1980s, 1988 I think was the exact year, when they slimmed down there VCRS to a really small size? Almost small as the cassette tape, They did away with the front display and clock and most of the functions, and of course all of them had the blinking timer led. I wonder what was the purpose? and how long did these slim VCRS lasted until they brought back the functions and time display on there VCRS? I think if I remember correctly it was only shorty after, in 1994 when VHS VCRS became middle loading instead of the left side. I think these Panasonic Slimline VCRS started the whole blue screen OSD, because I remember people buying them like hotcakes and all VCRS eventually had blue screen OSD. I remember the remotes having many functions etc. and the problem was, if the remote got lost, the only thing you could do with the VCRS is Play/Stop/Eject and Power on/off unless you bought a replacement or universal.. I went to a local thrift today and found a Magnavox version, It being only $4.99, I had to buy it, and of course it works, but no remote..