Some good points, but the VCRs you mention have tbc's only in their prosumer and semi-pro models.
I was referring to dvd recorders to be used as passtrough not vcr .
I never experienced drooped frames when passtrough dvd recorder even on places where there is no signal or tapes that were severe damaged.
I found that recording to avi ( lagarith ) first, then software tweaking and error correcting ( avisynth vdub ) noise reduction ( some need lots of it some need only slight) then encoded with cce or mainconcept ref, gives superior pq over standalone dvd recorder recording even on xp mode. Maybe that's because almost all my tapes are family recordings or tv recordings from air i don't own any commercial tape so i dont know for them. This is with the equipment that is pretty much recommended by the most knowledgeable people here.
I heard allot of trash concerning easy cap but i do believe if set right ( and using dvd with ltbc or vcr with ltbc as passtrough) and using vdub as recording software it will give good results.

I see nobody mentioned median script that i learned from here and i had pretty amazing results with it ( and i think in your case will defeat all anomalies that you are experiencing not color problems but that's a start)