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Author
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Topic: Severe sanity check required to stay in cine
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Tom Photiou
Film God
Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted June 22, 2016 04:34 PM
Adam, i am sure you will sell The empire strikes back, and i know it will be great quality, but just looking on here recently at what films are being sold for what i think is barmy money is the very thing that's making me and my Brother think very hard as to weather to call it a day with cine. We probably wont jump out just now but looking at what’s being asked for some films is, (in my opinion), is laughable. We also have another thread selling the pod race asking £100, the film barley runs 13 minutes. Yes i fully understand it's all about supply and demand etc but over a grand for a movie? And clearly more and more long term collectors now selling some top titles clearly appear to be selling up while the goings good. Maybe? I am evening seeing prints going with scratches and what is described as pinking, i am sorry but i just dont get it. We are bemused by it all and if a film can fetch over a grand what's the point of it being sat on shelf for years without being viewed.
I set up my digital projector and watch a great film not available on super 8, The Mission in widescreen with 5:1 Dolby sound, the picture was perfect and there was no fade and not a single line or splice in sight, oh and no reel changes.
Would i prefer it on super 8, you bet i would, but it's never been available, would the sound on cine be as good? No way, If it was available would it be fading? probably, would it be line free? Probably not, if i had a copy would i have got it for £2.99, not a chance.
I am very very loyal to super 8 and have been a collector for 38 years but looking around at the cost of films that are actually worth buying is seriously making me question continuing.
The people selling off top titles are not chaps who have inherited, they are respected collectors.
Does anyone else on here get tired of spending good money with dealers only to receive shit thats scratched, fading, damaged or all three? I Know i am. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Joseph Randall
Master Film Handler
Posts: 437
From: Wyckoff, NJ, USA
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted June 22, 2016 08:23 PM
It really depends what you collect. Most of what I own, of course, has gone DOWN in price, so if I were ever to sell, it would be at a loss. The majority of my collection is old, classic, B&W comedies -- Laurel and Hardy and other Blackhawks, Castles, and Universal 8s. Dime a dozen these days.
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Andrew Woodcock
Film God
Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012
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posted June 23, 2016 04:03 AM
Its true to say as Alan points here, if this is a hobby you have always been involved in, rather than just beginning to become involved in, then it is no more expensive now RELATIVELY, than it ever was.
Yes the films are not new anymore,but if they have been carefully looked after, even some of the very highest prices you come across (with perhaps the exception of Star Wars and Empire) don't work out any more expensive than they ever were if you factor in inflation since the days they were made.
As everyone knows, these products were never cheap and for many when new,at that time of my life, a large collection of top titled features was nothing more than a pipe dream.
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"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"
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Andrew Woodcock
Film God
Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012
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posted June 23, 2016 04:03 AM
Its true to say as Alan points here, if this is a hobby you have always been involved in, rather than just beginning to become involved in, then it is no more expensive now RELATIVELY, than it ever was.
Yes the films are not new anymore,but if they have been carefully looked after, even some of the very highest prices you come across (with perhaps the exception of Star Wars and Empire) don't work out any more expensive than they ever were if you factor in inflation since the days they were made.
As everyone knows, these products were never cheap and for many when new,at that time of my life, a large collection of top titled features was nothing more than a pipe dream.
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"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"
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Tom Photiou
Film God
Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted June 23, 2016 03:29 PM
Very well put there Steve, yes it is very true, our hobby, (like many), can be expensive, certainly as expensive as one wishes to spend, we will not be selling up now having had a chat with the Brother. We do between us have a reasonably extensive collection with over 400 titles and over a 150 promo's trailers to go with it, my Elmo's are currently going through a good maintenance and service programme so it would be wasteful to sell up at this time.
I did look at him after a good show with Once upon a time in the West tonight and uttered those famous words, we can sell if you really want to but, Once its gone you will not get it back. Ever. I think that swayed him enough. We do of course agree that while the digital projection is excellent, there is a magic of reel film, we just need blinkers to avoid even spotting the barmy prices being asked for some films.
Tom Spielman, like you i am bemused at anyone selling off there personal home movies. I just dont get that at all. They are real treasure & should be kept as such for generations.
Remember that scene in National Lampoons Christmas vacation when Chevy Chase is locked in the attic and finds the projector & home movies, and the tears as he is watching himself as a child on super 8 film?
That is a great scene in an otherwise average comedy.Cant believe people actually bung that sort of treasure on ebay.
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Paul Suchy
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 199
From: Westchester, IL, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted June 25, 2016 07:59 AM
Good advice, Melvin. Sit back and enjoy. I have a good selection of features, digests, and trailers in different genres and I've decided not to buy any more film. The obsession to upgrade titles I have has become tiresome and I've had enough. I feel much better knowing that my shopping days are over and I can enjoy what's here. I know there are better prints out there but I don't care anymore (for me, that's a good thing). Does my print of The Wizard of Oz have issues? Yup. But it's the one I have and that's it. Are there scratches on some of my used digests? You bet. My friends and family aren't that critical anyway and enjoy what I show them. As for prices (the original topic before I went off), I've overpaid for stuff I wasn't patient enough to wait for, but I have had some pretty good bargains also. The main thing I've kept in mind over the years is the potential for repeated viewing. At least the films I paid too much for have been run enough to justify the cost. My friends would love for me to buy a full print of Empire Strikes Back, but they still enjoy the digests that I have and request them all too often (come on, guys, I have other films!).
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Paul Suchy
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Tom Photiou
Film God
Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted June 25, 2016 02:59 PM
Melvin,thank you for your kind words that's very much appreciated. When my brother came down Thursday For our weekly showing, One of the things I did come up with was very much in the same vein as what you said about enjoying what we have, I suggested that we will start a programme Beginning September the 1st,we are going to set up four projectors and each day,(maybe missing a day here and there), we are going to work our way through the entire collection to ensure each and every film is viewed, this way everything will be checked for fade and general condition and logged,as they already are so many of our films havnt been viewed in years, every evening all but a few will be a film evening even its its just a couple of shorts. I tried to work out how long it will take but my own guess is, a year or more.
Obviously The point of four projectors is make sure we don't wear one out. Not to show four at once. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Although I still enjoy film, Super 8 is mostly for shorts like "Look at Life" or Disney "Silly Symphony" that type of thing. An example how things have changed though, I put on for the grandkids "A Bugs Life" and Steven Spielberg Peter Jackson "Tintin" on Blu-ray projected on a VP lately and both looked and sounded just great ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
...price wise Tintin was only $10 dollars. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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