When was the last time you saw one of these intact ?

[Melvin England]

A purchase from Blackpool last weekend. Strange Report - Shrapnel - Part 1 (400')

It appears to be a brand new / old print as it has the Techno Films "Guarantee Seal" covering the center of the spool preventing anyone from having viewed it. I have not come across this before, but in this day and age I wonder how many of these Techno's made it this far without a broken seal ?





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Sadly, it wont remain like that for long.


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[Mark A. Mander]

I've had quite a few recently of the seal still in tact on the reel, now not in tact as I've watched them which was a nice feeling being the first to do so.

[Greg Perry]

Melvin,

That is very interesting. I have not seen this type of protective seal on a print. My question for you: Was it indeed a 'virgin' print?

[Douglas Meltzer]

One of the German companies also placed a seal on their 400' reels. Marketing had a similar "Film Seal" on the outer box that showed if the box had been opened.

[Steve Klare]

Interesting:

The other day I got a "new" (...to me) 16mm print and it had this over the spindle hole: (This was a school library print.)
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I'd never seen such a thing before (-and I have no idea how a film print would be "electronically inspected"), so in honor of the occasion I carefully peeled the smiley-face off and stuck it on the inside of the film case. (Whoever "JL" is, I hope they would be pleased!)

I've had a couple of S8 prints in the past few years that seemed to have never been projected. The first sign is the cut of the leader: if the corners are angled: Eumig, if it's a uniform curve: Elmo. I know of one machine that cuts the leader straight across: Kodak Moviedeck. Sound versions are unusual so I'm guessing "Never Projected" is at least as strong a possibility.

After that, it's the lack of lines and other road wear and just general condition of the whole thing.

I've had a few show up here with a straight cut leader, nicely taped down, nice-looking box and pristine looks on screen. I'm thinking when I see this, the odds are I have a very old, new film!

-doesn't always mean the color is good, but...

[Melvin England]

Greg - It is still a virgin. I wanted to see the responses to my question before I projected it. I will let everyone know what it is like when I do. I am expecting it to have a German soundtrack as I also have part 3 which lost its purity way back when, and I bought them together.

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[Mike Newell]

Funny, I’ve had 6 virgins this year. Must be the year for it. All untouched and sealed new.

Brand new Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, The Sand Pebbles, Coffy, The Desert Fox and The Seven Ups.

All held hostage in a dark lock up for 40 years. First non pink Coffy I have ever seen.

All Fox releases and amazingly have all kept their colour but did need a little lubrication as they squeaked going through the projector.

My latest Virgin is 400 digest promo of Dracula were Walter Mirsch waffles on about the making of his new Dracula and there are highlights of the film. I don’t hold high hopes as I expect all U8 to fade.

i had a virgin “The Sting “ for a couple of years and eventually yielded to temptation😈😈😈and opened it and played with it. It was new but faded.

i last bought this film in Virgin format 400 Dracula in 1986 for £4 but this Virgin cost £10 in 2024 which just goes to show Virgin like everything else. cost more these days.

If you look at eBay there does seem to be an array of Virgin sealed prints knocking about. I have an image of the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark with sealed super 8 films stored there.

[David Hardy]

A few years ago i bought some Marketing Films 200 foot and 400 foot titles from an Oxfam Charity shop . They still had the yellow seal and cellophane on them and they were priced at only £ 2 . 00 each .

[Brian Fretwell]

My last one was the Techno 2x400ft Department S "The Trojan Tanker" bought a couple of years ago at the Big Screen Scnene Revivial..