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Topic: Collectors Club
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Jonathan Sanders
Film Handler
Posts: 82
From: Bath, England
Registered: Oct 2005
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posted January 24, 2008 08:17 AM
Although this question was addressed to Lee, I hope nobody will mind if I also answer, as I was a member of Collectors Club from 1971 until its (gradual) demise. I also still have almost every newsletter they issued from June 1974 (no.1) to November 1979 (no.69)! It may have continued beyond that but I started university that autumn and perhaps lost interest.
When I joined (through an advert in Exchange & Mart offering an initial film for less than £1) there was no general newsletter, simply a monthly offering of a one-reel silent comedy as the Film of the Month and a two-reel silent comedy as the Alternative Choice. If you did nothing, you got the one-reeler automatically, but you had to post off a slip if you wanted the two-reeler, or both, or neither! Occasionally, there were feature films like THE GENERAL, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, THE GOLD RUSH and METROPOLIS, all helpfully available on a "reel-a-month" basis (you were sent one reel each month automatically) if you couldn't afford them in one go. There were also a few non-comedy silent shorts available. Occasional lists of previous releases were issued. I don't recall having to buy a minimum number of films.
Prices were generally about 50% of the most expensive companies (e.g. Walton). In 1974 the films were about £2 per reel (silent) with Super 8 a bit more expensive than Standard 8. Most films were available in both formats.
When the newsletter was introduced (or perhaps shortly after this), they abandoned the "Film of the Month" procedure and you simply listed the films you wanted - they would even supply up to three reels on credit!
In July/August 1976, Collectors Club issued their first sound films, TRAILS OF TERROR (horror trailers, price £4.99) and Buster Keaton in THE CHEMIST (price £9.95). The sound catalogue gradually expanded and they also sold releases from other companies (including Walton) at a discount. So the "Club" idea gradually disappeared and they even opened a shop at 389 Kilburn High Road, NW6, though as I lived in Lancashire I never visited there.
Most of the films I bought as a teenager came from Collectors Club. They kept prices low by releasing everything in plain boxes - and perhaps by cutting corners a bit on print quality, but some of their releases were remarkably good - a nice print of Keaton's silent feature SEVEN CHANCES, for example, which I don't think was issued elsewhere.
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Lee Mannering
Film God
Posts: 3216
From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006
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posted January 25, 2008 01:32 AM
Some of the things I liked best about Collectors Club were that they offered affordable vintage titles, and later when the sound prints came in you could build your own library for a very modest sum which suited my very small pocket at that time.
Subject matter varied from documentaries about museums to classics of the silent screen, and it was probably CC who were responsible for my interest in Bela Lugosi as fans were well catered for here.
I signed up via an advert in the paper and your first
Prints were variable, but at the price they were excellent value for money I would say. As I mentioned previously, all my Collectors Club prints still run perfectly and I would not part with a single reel of pure nostalgia for me.
Prices were kept low by using yellow or later blue boxes and just printing the films title on the white flap at the front. These were printed by hand and with a simple rubber stamp, and all this simple packaging helped to keep the price low. Spools were quite brittle, clear and you may find a film where the reel has cracked.
Monthly advertising was always sent to members promptly, simply printed and with clear information. I retained much of these over the years and they still make good reading even today.
Happy days they were….
[ March 30, 2012, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: Lee Mannering ]
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Robert Crewdson
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1031
From: UK
Registered: Jun 2013
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posted June 24, 2013 12:53 PM
I joined Collectors Club in 1973: I used to buy Exchange and Mart in the 60s while still at school and read their adverts and dream one day of owning my own film collection. The films were always supplied on 200ft spools, so a 400 footer was supplied on two reels, when I joined the films together I found the frame lines needed adjustment. The copy of The Great Train Robbery (1903) was the only disappointment with its comic comments and jumpy picture (I eventually got a print issued by Perry's). I remember it being announced in Movie Maker that the proprietor was having new negatives made; after this, all 2 reelers and features were supplied on 400ft spools, and the quality was greatly improved. They had William S. Hart's last film Tumbleweeds taken from the 1925 release, rather than the 1939 reissue, issued by Niles Films. I bought quite a number of their sound films, L&H interviews, Popeye cartoons, and L&H in Tree in a test tube. Their release of Ain't Misbehavin, starring Fats Waller, along with a few L&H silents, were issued in plastic library cases. Happy days.
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Mark L Barton
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 621
From: Bristol, South Glos, England
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted December 27, 2018 02:50 PM
Jumping on this thread of rememberence, and teh names of Collectors Club and Mailmaster. Does any one remember the adverts by Scientific and Technical (Of Southend on Sea, if memory serves) who used to advertise in teh Sunday papers, offering a projector, camera, roll up hanging screen and several 50' films, all in COLOUR (no sound) for about £19.99 plus postage. I bought this back in the early 70's (The projector and camera were Italian, the projector only ran forward, swap the reels to rewind, the lamp was 10 watts, a Gioca make and the camera was a ZETA, which always stopped with the shutter open, so every scene change was butted against a flash frame) I eventually upgraded to a Royal Sound projector (50 watt lamp) I happy introduction to a hobby i have been in for over 40 years now.
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Melvin England
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 707
From: Hull, East Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Feb 2016
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posted December 27, 2018 05:56 PM
Mark L.Barton - You have just answered a question for me that I had wondered about for the last 40 years!
In the 1970's my friend started out in super 8 by investing in this offer by Scientific and Technical. And, yes, HIS super 8 camera did the same thing.... flashed before each change of scene signifying the shutter stayed open and not shut. I had just assumed he had just got a naff camera, even though it still pleased him, but now appears they were all like that. Question now answered!!
I always thought it was a shame that so many people then were introduced to super 8 through this offer as, quite frankly, the projectors and cameras were a complete pile of crap. The Royale was no better regardless of the "bright" 50 watt light output, as I discovered when he "upgraded." Pleased to say that when he ventured into sound, he bought a "proper" projector...a Chinon...and a "proper" Bell & Howell camera.
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"My name is for my friends!"
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