8mm Forum: Projex in Plymouth (Elf/Eiki)

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Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on May 17, 2009, 05:05 PM:

Projex in Plymouth had what must have been the UK's best stock of Eiki spares and projectors, so it's worrying that their website no longer seems to be operating. I wondered if Tom (as a Plymouth resident) or anyone else might know if they have shut down. The guy who ran it mentioned health concerns to me about 3 years ago, which might be the explanation. If they have closed, I hope someone buys all the spares as it would be terrible if they ended up in a skip.

Posted by Christopher Gillan (Member # 1440) on May 18, 2009, 05:34 AM:

Adrian

Do you know where in plymouth projex was i will check out next time i am there.

Regards Chris

Posted by Martin Jones (Member # 1163) on May 18, 2009, 05:55 AM:

He worked from a private house over in the Mountbatten? area. I'll try and locate his address from ACE back issues
EDIT: Last address I cvan find is ... 39, Abney (yes, ABNEY) Crescent, Roborough, Plymouth. PL6 6LH... Tel No.01752 214654.
This is from ACE Winter 2002 Issue.
Martin

[ May 18, 2009, 07:59 AM: Message edited by: Martin Jones ]

Posted by Stuart Reid (Member # 1460) on May 18, 2009, 10:06 AM:

Adrian, please report back if you have success - he was a great guy to deal with, did a lovely job serving my Elf Xenon a few years back.

Posted by David Erskine (Member # 1244) on May 18, 2009, 11:13 AM:

I spoke to him a few months ago - he'd been in hosp - but appeared to be intent on carrying on. Certainly hope so. David E

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on May 18, 2009, 05:46 PM:

Thanks for the replies. The address mentioned by Martin was certainly correct 2-3 years ago. The proprietor's name is Bob Halls. I found him very helpful but he could be a bit eccentric in the sense that I know of at least 2 people who were keen to buy spares from him but never managed it, because Bob never got back to them to advise of availability and price, however many times they tried asking! He had the rare distinction of being able to regularly order new spares direct from Japan, and I suspect that he was the only person in the UK able to do this without going through the official UK Eiki agents (AVM Ltd).

Posted by David Erskine (Member # 1244) on May 19, 2009, 06:21 AM:

He told me that AVM had handed all dealngs with real film to him and he had spares and could order direct as they weren't interested. DE

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on May 19, 2009, 07:53 PM:

That's probably a good thing if he's able to carry on, but not encouraging if he isn't. I did once manage to order something via AVM (a remote control for an Eiki ENT) when Bob thought he wouldn't be able to get one. I was told it was one of the last two left in the factory.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on January 04, 2011, 09:06 AM:

I wondered if David (or anyone) has heard anything with regard to Projex/Bob Halls since the earlier posts here? Their phone number can still be found on one or two sites so I just tried ringing, but it has been disconnected. I hope Bob is OK. It would be bad news for UK Eiki owners if Projex has permanently shut down, as if AVM are not interested, I don't suppose there's anyone else in the UK who has a stock of spares or can order from Eiki.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on August 02, 2014, 12:59 PM:

I don't suppose anyone has heard anything else about Projex since the previous correspondence? If Bob Halls had to abandon any plans to continue the business, it would be very sad if his large stocks of Eiki spares ended up in a skip! Sad also that we've lost David Erskine, who shed some light on this.

Tom (if you read this): as a Plymouth man, did you ever visit the Projex premises? If so, was it some sort of workshop with a lot of visible projector spares?

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