Collector selling 16mm prints on Ebay

[Matt Ottinger]

I know there are fewer of us that are interested in the really old shows of the 50s and 60s, but for those who are...

In the past few months, somebody's been selling a handful of film prints of game shows.   Some are Goodson-Todman stalwarts that have been seen on GSN plenty of times, and Groucho episodes that are easily found in packages, but others are less well-known titles, including a few (like a 1967 Supermarket Sweep) that I don't think are in circulation at any level.

In many cases, it's obvious that the prints are the same episodes that have made their way to collectors in video form, but in some tantalizing cases, it's obvious that they are not. I personally missed out on a "new" episode of Cullen's Bank on the Stars because I was outbid.

And that's the thing. Even the least well-known tends to be pretty expensive since film collectors tend to have deeper pockets. Three-digit prices are standard, and a single episode of The $64,000 Question went for more than $250.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/waly1420/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc Here are the guy's completed listings, to give you an idea of the sorts of things he's been offering. He tends to space them out so that there's no more than a dozen or so up for bids at any time. There are currently seven, including an episode of Dick Clark's early hosting effort The Object Is that I don't think I've seen before.

I just put this out there for your edification and amusement, but certainly if anybody could shed more light about any of this, I'd been very interested.

[DoorNumberFour]

Not to mention Say When and Concentration. Holy crap.

[Matt Ottinger]

Not to mention Say When and Concentration. Holy crap.

You pointing those out made me go and check, and sure enough, I don't think either of those are in the hands of video collectors.  GSN has aired the 1/3/61 debut of Say When, and this one is from Friday of that first week.  The Concentration episode is also unique.  (The fact that Art James is prominent in both may not be a coincidence.)

BELIEVE me when I say that I understand why some collectors want to keep their collections private and not trade publicly or upload to YouTube.  I know, I'm one of them.  Still, I have a hard time understanding the appeal of buying canisters of film for more than a hundred bucks per episode only to have them sit on a shelf.

[Vahan_Nisanian]

When did GSN air the premiere of Say When!!? Was it before 1997? That was when I first got it.

[Matt Ottinger]

I've been reminded that our mysterious YouTube benefactor "videoarchives1000" has uploaded an Art James episode of Concentration, almost certainly the same one offered on film by this collector. In other words, someone paid over a hundred dollars for a filmed episode of a show that he could watch anytime on YouTube. I just don't get film collecting.

[Bryce L.]

Is it possible that this film collector and "videoarchives1000" are the same person?

[clemon79]

Is it possible that this film collector and "videoarchives1000" are the same person?

If it is, then he just dropped three figures on a film reel with content he is already in possession of on it.

Doesn't that sound doubly stupid to you?

[Bryce L.]

I actually meant videoarchives1000 being the seller.

[DoorNumberFour]

When did GSN air the premiere of Say When!!? Was it before 1997? That was when I first got it.

I would like to second this question. Really? When?

[TLEberle]

Game of the Week time, probably.

[Matt Ottinger]

I actually meant videoarchives1000 being the seller.

That's actually a good point.  We don't know much about the guy except that he has a lot of rare stuff, and he specifically has this Art James episode of Concentration.  I would think once you've got the content saved onto your digital media of choice, you might want to make the extra bucks on selling your film stock to one of those deep-pocketed collectors.  Maybe so!

[gamed121683]

When did GSN air the premiere of Say When!!? Was it before 1997? That was when I first got it.

I would like to second this question. Really? When?

Me three! I always thought that this show, like "Mindreaders" and "Showoffs" were lost shows in the G/T vault.

[Jimmy Owen]

I got bit by the film collecting bug in the mid-60's. Love the hobby. It's a little like record collecting. You may be able to get every song on itunes for a buck, but to a collector, having a original 45 of the same tune at 50 bucks is preferable.

PS, everything I have on 16mm that is game show related, you probably have in your collections.

[aaron sica]

I got bit by the film collecting bug in the mid-60's. Love the hobby. It's a little like record collecting. You may be able to get every song on itunes for a buck, but to a collector, having a original 45 of the same tune at 50 bucks is preferable.

PS, everything I have on 16mm that is game show related, you probably have in your collections.

What I find fascinating with the 16mm prints are the original sponsor tags....I always had wondered why the "Bewitched" theme seemed to come to an awkward stop..

[Matt Ottinger]

When did GSN air the premiere of Say When!!? Was it before 1997? That was when I first got it.

I would like to second this question. Really? When?

Me three! I always thought that this show, like "Mindreaders" and "Showoffs" were lost shows in the G/T vault.

Hey guys, my bad.  I've seen an episode and for some reason had always associated it with other "from the vaults" obscurities like Number, Please and Get the Message  Upon further checking, it appears that Say When didn't air on GSN after all.  Sorry about that.