Universal 8 cases

[Rich Malmsten]

I have several Universal 8 films and they have three different styles of plastic cases, and I was wondering if anyone knows how or why U-8 came to have so many different types of cases. The types are:

-- 2-part cases with a blue bottom and a clear cover that has a loose sheet of paper with the artwork inserted into the cover
-- 2-part cases with a white cover and bottom with artwork pasted onto the cover
-- clamshell cases of white plastic with a paper sleeve that fits around it

Does anyone know if these different types were sold in different years, or did U-8 sell all the styles at the same time? Was the same film available in multiple styles over the years, or did each film come in just a single style, like a random assignment?

I don't really like any of them, but the clamshell with the paper sleeve is my least favorite. The sleeve is susceptible to wear each time it's slipped on and off, and just having to remove it to open the case seems to be unnecessary effort.

[Steven J. Kirk]

I believe the white two part with pasted on artwork were the earliest and I have several of these that are unfaded and project great. The blue-bottoms with the sheet artwork were next and the clamshell with the sleeve came last, purely in terms of chronological order. Others might be able to clarify.

[Joe Caruso]

1978-1979 on the 1st, then the better ones, in my opinion, through 1984...I find the 400' aqua-bottom, clear-plastic top with picture inserts are top-notch attractive and are reminiscent of the old cardboard Castle covers...Though...Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolfman were in white clamshells with a glue print on the cover..not so good because when you array them on edge, can't see the titles, whereas with the 2-piece 400' containing the insert, the title and code number are clearly on-display...I'm nuts I know...Cheers & Jeers, Shorty

[Brian Fretwell]

Im sure that all the white clamshell ones came with a stick on label that you could fill in and stick on the spine. Most of mine have those in place.

[Adrian Winchester]

Of the four variants mentioned, I only appear to have 200' films in the 2-part card box, so I wondered if anyone has a 400' in this type of box? I also like the compact 2-part plastic type with the clear top. Shorty mentions the 400' version of this but there's a 200' equivalent too. Later Walton 400' releases had similar cases, although the bottom part was green.