Not to be harsh but magnetic tape was never a good medium, and as soon as it hit the industry was already looking to replace it. It degrades when you use it. It degrades when you dont use it.
And its not cost effective to get a new but obsolete car just because you have a couple gallons of old fuel left laying around. Better to move on to something better and you wont have to worry about suck things.
I know you probably spent a pretty penny on all those tapes, but you'd be wasting even more money to get a camcorder that you dont actually need. I recommend a modern flash or hard drive camcorder and from now on your recording medium will be a non-issue. One less item to worry about.
Go to walmart and pick up a cheap pocket recorder and have some fun. This is especially important if you HAVE to have it this weekend. You wont be finding a tape recorder anyway.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Your-Choic...-Card/14585282
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cam...black/4505-6500_7-33941237.html?tag=mncol;lst