8mm Forum: Please help identify this mini projector

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Posted by Clinton Hunt (Member # 2072) on August 09, 2013, 01:06 AM:

Hi all,
I just won this in New Zealand on Trademe,
I can't find any infomation on it and it doesn't have too much info in the projector or films...It works quite well for a toy...The film runs on a loop.
Here's the description from the auction -
it is a hand-held mini movie projector,,,and 7 films - probably from the 1950's.....???
the little yellow projector measures: 7cm by 4 and a half cm by 4cm....
it has writing embossed on it: UK Design..1020381...Made in Hong Kong..
there are 7 movie cartidges: Mighty Mouse...Laurel and Hardy...Charlie Chaplin Slapstick...Abbott and Costello...Superman Mechanical Monsters...and two with the labels unreadable...(one of these needs screwing together- screw enclosed)...
there is a mixture of black/white and colour cartridges..
the cartridges measure: just over 4cm across and 2cm wide...14cm in circumference..
there is writing on the cartidges: Hong Kong...UK Pat 1593591/2 UK Design 1020380...
the thing works by putting a film cartridge in the projector...switching it on..and pressing the black button....peep through the eyeglass hole..and WHALLAH!! running movies...
NOW....it is hit and miss...works sometimes,,,sometimes not....inside the workings is a little white wheel (which turns when you press the button)..this has knobs on it..most of these are missing..so it just doesn't turn consistently..
it runs on one AA battery...

Any ideas?????

Cheers,
Clinton
Here are the pictures

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on August 09, 2013, 01:22 AM:

Is it standard 8 ? From the picture (but I see them on my mobile phone), it seems much recent that the fifties.

Posted by Clinton Hunt (Member # 2072) on August 09, 2013, 01:41 AM:

.....the size of the perfs are super8 in hole size.....i agree on the age,looks like maybe a 1970's toy?.....

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on August 09, 2013, 04:56 AM:

See "8mm on toy projector". Who knows...

Posted by Jim Schrader (Member # 9) on August 09, 2013, 12:28 PM:

yes it looks like a toy projector the cartridges fit in it and it either hand cranks or runs off a battery looks like it missing something.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on August 09, 2013, 01:35 PM:

Looks like one of those mini "key-chain projectors" that were around alot in the 90's.

I had a red one, with a cartridge for "Superman-Volcano" cartoon. We discussed these a while back, but I remember the back of the packaging it came in listed cartridges for different scenes of "Dirty Dancing", which totally surprised me.

James.

Posted by Carter Bradley (Member # 984) on August 09, 2013, 05:44 PM:

Hello all.
I too had several of these keychain "projectors" in the late 80s which I bought at a Hallmark card shop! I had about twenty of the film cartridges (super 8 film inside) with a number of Hannah Barberra subjects and Warner Bros. cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner. After my "projectors" stopped working I removed a film from the cartridge in order to run it through my Chinon super 8 projector and discovered something interesting. These cartridge films were printed using only about every other frame of the original film (I guess to speed up the action) which wasn't noticeable in the keychain "projector" but was when projected on a screen. The Fisher-Price hand-cranked projector films of the 70s/early 80s were printed the same way (about every other frame). And yes, I destroyed some of those cartridges trying to project those films on a big screen!

Posted by Clinton Hunt (Member # 2072) on August 09, 2013, 11:45 PM:

A fellow film guy sent me this link

http://www.filmstips.com/page-6.php

And it shows a few of these types of viewers.

Posted by Mark L Barton (Member # 1512) on August 10, 2013, 03:43 AM:

I seem to remember that the band, Take That, released as a promo one of their videos (albeit shortened of course and no sound) as a mini keychain projector and loop of film, came in a metal box. My daughter had it, as a fan, and am sure its in the house somewhere. I also remember a Stallone Judge Dredd mini keychain viewer.

Posted by Clinton Hunt (Member # 2072) on August 10, 2013, 07:43 AM:

Amazon and ebay have these - they call them micro movie viewer from 1980s to 1990s [Smile]

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on August 10, 2013, 01:31 PM:

Finally comfirmed! Dirty Dancing on Super 8!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fascinations-Presents-Dirty-Dancing-Micro-Movie-Viewer-Key-Chain-/251293963447

I wonder who printed the film?

James.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on August 11, 2013, 10:09 AM:

I have one of the viewers, with versions of 'Terminator 2' and one of the Batman films! Considering how grim the viewing experience was, I'm surprised there was much demand, but perhaps there wasn't! It would be interesting to extract the film from a cartridge and check the quality via a projector, though.

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