8mm Forum: Why do you decide to move a print along?

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Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on March 21, 2015, 05:28 PM:

I read a post about a member saying he would never sell his print of "Wizard of Oz".
I have a few prints that I can never see selling. "Star Wars" is one. "Beauty and the Beast" is another.
But the ones I have moved along are ones that I never watch. I like saying I have them but I NEVER watched them. And so before I move them I watch it one last time and if it doesn't move me..along it goes.
I owned the "Wizard of Oz" for many years and yet I don't think I ever saw the whole thing through. So I sat down to watch it. And awoke to Reel 3 going..clack..clack. I fell asleep.
So members..what is your criteria to moving a print along? Besides financial of course! [Smile]

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on March 21, 2015, 05:33 PM:

For me Rik, it is something I hope I never have to deliberate any time soon given the disappointment felt after selling the lot last time around, some years later.

If someone really wants a print that I have but don't particularly value, then I would try and swap I think rather than sell.

Posted by Larry Arpin (Member # 744) on March 21, 2015, 08:10 PM:

Wanting another print more than the one I am selling. I sold T2 recently for about the same as I had into it. I bought it brand new. Had to have it re-recorded because the sound was so bad. So that added over $100 to it. I am still saving up for the print I want. You'll think I am crazy but it is the Holy Grail of Ray Harryhausen prints. I knew it existed but I never thought it would become available. I am still contemplating selling other things. I do have a super 8 print of it and I may sell that once I get the other. Will let you know when I get it.

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on March 21, 2015, 10:02 PM:

Now I"m really intrigued! To me the best Harryhausen is the Golden Voyage but then again its the only one I saw in the theatre!

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on March 22, 2015, 03:00 AM:

If you've spent a substantial sum on a new print, then selling can be an important decision, but I'd imagine that for many of us that isn't usually the case and we are selling prints that we were far from certain that we wanted to keep when we bought them. Particularly if you go to conventions, you have opportunities to buy films for far lower prices than by other means, so it's a chance to view digests, etc, that you are curious to see, knowing that you probably won't have too much difficulty getting at least most of your money back in future. I might be pleasantly surprised and opt to hang on to some, but otherwise reasons such as print quality, condition and incoherent editing might cause me to sell on a print. With regard to films that I was initially hoping to keep, apart from disappointing print quality, other factors might include getting a good 16mm print of the same films, fading or deciding that a film lacked repeatability.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on March 22, 2015, 04:49 AM:

This a good question.
I have in the past,(and I know I am not alone), sold films that I wished I hadn't, & just to raise a few quid at the time. Examples are Feature prints (and all mounted on 2 x 800foot quality spools), of Fright, Please Sir, That'll be the day to name only a very few. The reason I wish I had not sold these is simply because they were all in top condition and now when they come up they are either scratched, faded or sold before I get there or are now simply much more than I will pay.
However, the reason I do move items on now may be a little controversial but here goes,
Number one reason is that they are fading or we simply do not watch them enough to warrant keeping them on the shelf.
More importantly now is that with the eBay, (yuck ,spit), the reality is you can receive odd but higher prices for films, especially those that are not up to scratch. And as you all know, these sums are not asked for, they are simply what people are prepared to bid and pay, and if that's what they want to pay then so be it.
Do I miss out on this or simply join in?
So, in a nutshell I will generally eBay films to buy more films. The best example for us so far is the selling of two trailers, and I used the money to buy the 4 x 400ft feature of Carry on up the Jungle,(& I still had some change left over).
We have also found better prints of films we already have and then used ebay to sell our old one. The best and most recent example of this is, I very recently bought an excellent LPP print of Peace on Earth and sold our old copy which only had a slight tick tick on the sound, the best thing is, It went for double the price for the one I bought so in a way I've got it for free, or I use the leftover to buy another film.
So the answer is I will now sell films to fund my hobby and get new ones. And strictly speaking, this is at present the only way I can afford new films. Pretty much what a business would do all be it on a very tiny scale.
I should have kept a list of all the titles we have sold over the years but I never gave it a thought.
Do you all remember the days when the only alternative to the internet was to sell back to the dealers and get peanuts? Or the classified ads of the magazines. My worst ever dealers exchange was selling back to Derann the Iver 2 x 400ft of Helter Skelter and four stonking good trailers plus two excellent 200 foot films, castle of death and one million years BC both in top condition just to buy a new release of the Lion King Promo with Elton John, around a 150ft of film. This was one of my biggest super 8 mistakes, & I had to pay the postage to send it all up. To this day I think I was conned on that deal, as well as being a total sucker [Confused]

Oh, and I never sold back to a dealer since. [Big Grin]

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on March 22, 2015, 05:31 AM:

I admire your honesty Tom on those various different points. I fully understand why you would "exploit" the e bay merry go round.

If I was selling any films, I would do likewise and probably only sell them that way. I would include an honest description for better or worse, then I would always include screenshots.
I would also always state that due to the nature of film, these are sold as seen.

It's a shame things have to be this way, but there are rogues as both sellers and buyers and I never return prints even when there are times I really ought to have done.

Film is totally subjective and as a result, can be a complete gamble. The higher the amount paid, you like to think, the chances of buying near perfect are greatly increased, for the most part, this tends to be true...Just not always, as I've found on quite a few occasions.
If you're recycling method works for you Tom and allows you to keep active within the hobby, then so long as you are not blatantly ripping anybody off, which I don't believe you would, then good on you is what I say. [Smile]

I have the promo you speak of in front of my feature on this print,and while you are correct in thinking at the time you were perhaps somewhat robbed in your deal, now you would probably get as much for that particular promo if not more than the all the others you mentioned combined! Therefore I wouldn't feel too bad about it in 2015, just keep the promo in tip top shape to get the full value for it should it become one you decide to cash in on.

[ March 22, 2015, 06:36 AM: Message edited by: Andrew Woodcock ]

Posted by Brian Fretwell (Member # 4302) on March 22, 2015, 06:46 AM:

Myself, I have only sold one print, a badly edited extract of a film I didn't like. I had only bought it as I hadn't seen the film and it got a good review.

I must be a bit if a hoarder, unlike someone I saw at a film convention selling a print back to Derek Simmons saying that as usual he had only watched it once. It would seem he was a film fan and not a collector.

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on March 22, 2015, 08:15 AM:

A few years ago I sold off nearly all my collection, all the features that went are now highly prized and hard to get hold of, I had a couple of cutdowns and my own personal home movies left.I am self employed and went through a real quiet time so decided to sell my films to raise some funds, letting them go at the time was very hard but I had to, once they started to sell I found it a bit easier knowing they were going to be looked after and enjoyed plus raising the cash I needed. I now am not that bothered selling a film on and don't get that attached to them, if I have a watch and sell it I'm ok with that, I still like a few on the shelves but after going through that I am easy selling them when needed and hopefully finding them again, Mark

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on March 22, 2015, 01:55 PM:

Very true Andrew, and hopefully if you take a look at my copy of Rooster Cogburn I have put on e-bay tonight then you'll see that I, like you, have tried to be as honest as possible. E bay does have its downers, certainly there charges are becoming questionable, and I have had two bad experiences, but over came both via the resolution centre. Incidentally, the only reason I am selling it is because its more faded than I wished for, I purchased it from a dealer but think it unfair to return as faded as I was told so, I just didn't realise how much.
I have yet to find a good colour copy, damn Universal 8 for using such trashy stock. [Mad]

Mark, it must have been gutting selling most of your collection, however, like you I no longer get so attached to films, at the end of the day it is a movie. A question I have asked before is , do we sell now and get good bucks or do we hang on until one day you cant even give them away. I guess it is a hobby and as long as I can sell to buy, indeed sell high and buy low then perhaps it'll become a nice little circle of sell and buy. [Wink]

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on March 22, 2015, 02:52 PM:

For me it's not so much a case of "getting attached" to any one of my films, just more of a case of owning a library of films that I love to watch again and again.

To that end, I value some of my one off trailers as much as features like Die Hard, Robocop or Speed.

It all adds up to a really entertaining and encapsulating viewing experience when all these combinations are placed together for a one off screening in any combination on one big program reel, I find.

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