They must have been very lucky Robert, Mark

Fortunately I have only had one awful disaster that being a print of The French Connection which I purchased as in good condition from the states.It was advertised as good condition,good sound etc and not cheap when you included the postage tax etc.
Film duly arrived,pink,scratched,and it stank ,you could smell the v/s before I opened the parcel.l did contact the seller but that did not prove very useful and the cost of sending it back was really not worth the hassle.
The film having been watched once was consigned to the bin.
My only issue with the particular dealer referred too has been the “tone” of the conversation when enquiring about a film,it felt as if it was all too much trouble there end .Not been back,Personally I try to deal with someone I know and have usually have had previous dealings with.

Very annoying Gwyn, what a waste of time and money, was it someone that dealt with films or ebay etc? Mark

Mark ,I honestly don't know if he was on ebay from memory he must have been for that purchase but it was a while ago and I have not been back on that one.I have though since purchased from a gentleman in the states who I had conversations with prior to purchase and this time I made sure ,as far as possible,that this time all would be ok and it was so maybe French Connection was a one off,but still dam annoying.
I do wonder though with the so called professional people who profess to know all about film how much care is taken with there films.Working in a cinema in the good old days you looked after a print,even though it was as such not yours you were the custodian of the print for the films run.Prints used to last months or even years,I suppose if you are in the trading game then the prints possible just pass through with no inspection or care.Also a lot of the prints come from the last century and how many so called experts have cleaned ,cut,spliced,and sold on films to make a quick buck.Am I being cynical?

Tom,

I saw the copy of Dick Tracy but never went for it - on the other hand and not in this sellers defense - i bought the Pink Panther Strikes again from this seller and although it was down as faded but it was scope - i thought id take a chance and i was more than pleasantly surprised - makes me wonder if the seller actually watched the print as the film has a lot of colour and is complete and in very good condition - a keeper i think .

Worst film has to be from a seller on the other forum who sold me a super 8 copy of Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii - when i screened the print it was badly faded and when i pulled him up about it he said the reels were worth more than the film - to which i replied i didnt buy the reels - i bought the film - after much mud slinging - i eventually got my money back and did eventually manage to get a good viacom print of the film. I have also had issues with a seller who uses this site and the others and when i pulled him up on the 16mm print of Big Jake starring John Wayne - he neglected to tell me about the green emulsion scratches on reel 2 and when i pulled him up he was very negative and that was that - rest assured he better give me a wide birth if he goes to Blackpool this year !!!!

Some interesting posts here on this subject, some worse than others.

David, having a print sent with unexpected faded colour can be damn annoying, we've all been there I would imagine, great that you ended up with a good print of Blue Hawaii too, I hope the reels were free also!!! As for Big Jake, nothing worse than sitting back and enjoying the film and those green lines appear unexpected, really does put a downer on the hobby, hopefully the wide birth will happen.

Gwyn, French Connection is a great film, even the sequel is pretty good, buying from the states can be a risk in that its a costly business to return a film that's faulty, I've bought a few and luckily all were OK, to be fair reading my posts I have kept quite a few I should have returned but I definitely would now, Mark

The people i trust now to buy films from is sadly getting to single figures , i've been burned by a few, dealers and forum members, all wankers in my book, sorry but that's really the only polite word i can find, just down right despicable to sell something you know to be "not as described", i would not hesitate to hit the person over the head with the full film reels and all, but on the plus side i know now who not to buy from, and that's a plus too, Kevin Clark is one of only guys i trust in the UK, he's a top bloke, and always more than fair, i hope one day to meet the man............

Mark, I think I also have kept some prints that really should have gone back but some prints are hard to come by at a reasonable price these days so one bites the bullet.Thinking back I bought a job lot of good film I wanted one of which was My Fair Lady in scope and good colour etc.Having done the deal came the comment the second half has a red hue to it.!But the seller knowing I was not best pleased threw in two more features for free so I was happy.Sometimes as I say you go with the flow.
These days I am getting more particular about what I buy as much as I like my films there are alternative sources to view.

Wenn Sie hier auf Links zu eBay klicken und einen Kauf tätigen, kann dies dazu führen, dass diese Website eine Provision erhält.

I think the problem with fade is simply that to some people a light fade is fine, but when a buyer gets it, it will not be acceptable. While thats not condoning it, that is sometimes what has happened. On the up side, with over 550 titles in total, (that includes all gauges and everything from trailers to features) , the majority of sales have been good. Unfortunatly it's the very few bad ones we tend to remember.
As time has gone on i think there is now only one dealer who appears not to check items properly, it is something i must learn from, the last two purchases being major buys for me, i am just living in hope of the last reel of Dick Tracy being found, however, i am so convinced it wont be, the other two parts i have are wrapped up ready to be returned.
My Grease feature which was short of a part was actually refunded in full including postage from Perry's who did sell films at very good prices through his dealing years. As far as i can recall, this was only purchase from them that went wrong.
These last two purchases for me have left a bit of a bad taste, while i know there will be a refund, its just the disappointment you get each time this happens.
As Gwyn said, there are many other sources to watch films now and i need to look more to that and keep my purchases from the few collector friends i have used where every one has been exactly as they described, and in all cases, we have been very pleased.
Apart from all that, we are still continuing to reduce our numbers, super 8 titles, (excluding promos, ads and trailers) are now down from 460 to 399. Still only replacing ten sales with 1 purchase.
One dire purchase i did forget about was in my early days of buying from ebay. A seller advertised two 800ft reels of Beatles films, trailers and assorted items. The images showed a grasso cine book, (remember those, i still have a couple), it was pictured open showing two full spools. When i got it there was only one reel, the first 400ft was a faded scratched copy of the sound of music, a red trailer for the king and i and then a 200ft Beatles in concert, followed by the trailer for the yellow submarine. When i contacted the twat who sold it, he replied, "see you in court". I raised a case and got a full refund and copied and pasted that idiots reply, i believe he was banned off ebay, oh and i kept the film. normally i would return it but the guy was such a piece of trash with that reply i decided he could run for it. Ebay said not to return it. Thinking about it now, that was my worst ever purchase.

I agree with Paul as there really are very few people to buy from that you pretty much can guarantee a trouble free purchase. I've had dealings with Kevin Clark and he's definitely one of the best, it's a shame he doesn't post on the forums anymore.

I don't want to really open a can of worms as I've bought from a couple of dealers and had great experiences over the years, but I would imagine others might not have, I think it's the luck of the draw when it comes to films. If your buying super 8 then for me I think the films have more chance of having scratches purely because of the projector used, don't get me wrong I've seen some awful green lines on 16mm which always surprises me as to how they got so bad,usually rental films I guess but still can't get my head round the fact they have multiple lines, Mark

I've stopped buying at the moment due to lack of space, and to be honest, I'm not missing looking on Ebay every day. I do occasionally look out of interest, but nothing special (to me) has come up. Mention has been made of Kevin Clark; I haven't bought from him. I would like to mention that my last purchase some months ago came from Paul Barker; I found the film better than described, and the service was first class. He had a lot of top titles a few months ago and several would have interested me if space hadn't been an issue. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him again if my situation changed.

I know Paul has had some awful luck with films and that's the sad part, when he sells its decent stuff, I've found that happens a lot, Mark

The worst condition film I have ever bought has to have been a copy of Derann's release of The Railway Children - which I actually bought from you Mark at Rickmansworth! HOWEVER, you were very fair and pointed out the problems before I bought it so I knew what I was getting. And it was cheap. But wow, was it ever scratched, it was as if someone had run it through rewinds using glass paper to apply Filmguard.

I'm going to split my post into two sections; 1) worst condition of the actual film, and 2) the worst arrived condition film.

1) 2009 and the first 16mm I had purchased was an odd reel. It was very cheap and as-is; I pounced because it is my favorite actor. Once it arrived and I found a projector (I did not have one when purchasing the film)...WOW. The reel must have been stored in a basement when it was flooded, left in the sun to dry, thrown away a few times only to be put on ebay by a passer-by. Mold, emulsion missing, and red...sad. People would describe it as looking "grindhouse," but it is much worse. I had someone tell me to toss it since it was only a print, BUT the archivist in me felt that any piece of film should be cared for. Oddly, it had no vinegar smell. It ran through the projector...sound was horrible to the emulsion missing with chunks of sound.

The reel is still in my possession and serves as a reminder to care for art. What may not be important to one person may mean the world to someone else.

2) I had won an auction for a 16mm print of King Creole. Looking at the auction photos (2 1600' reels) I figured there were some cuts due to the length. When the boxed arrived, I found film strewn about. Apparently it was the full feature, just put onto too-small reels! LUCKILY I had some extra larger reels and made the most of untangling the mess and re spooling.

Don, I had a film from the US where 1600ft was put on a 1200ft spool, with film hanging over the edges. My worry was cinch marks, but somehow it arrived OK.

I think Kevin stopped because he saw the continued dominance of a few individuals who wouldn't stop posting just crap, i can see his point, and sadly still happening. The other thing about Kevin is that you ask his opinion on something and his answer would be helpful, honest straightforward. The films he sold were always as described and not over priced in my opinion, i have had deals with other forum members and ebay just recently all good. As we all know its very emotive subject, and now try to spend my money with those guys who are offering honest appraisals of there films for sale, the crap you can keep it mate, or throw it and yourself in the bin............

Some snaps I took several years ago when I last accessed the print. Had a filters on the lens to help with the fade which worked well enough, but you can get a sense of the varying damage. These snaps are only from a 90 second sequence.

That is terrible.

don, that looks like water damage.

The worst condition film I have ever bought was Dressed To Kill 3X400' in the original cases. I already had the 3 parter on a 1200' spool but no cases. I mainly bought it for the boxes but was thinking the films would be an upgrade. My copy had some color but was faded. The one I bought was totally red, advertised as good color. I just kept it for the cases. I never threw the film out but now all three 400' are warped of VS now. So, I still have the faded 1200'er with the original cases!

I also wanted to add to the positive comments about Kevin Clark. I do not know him but when he was on the old forum I bought a job lot of 16mm Castle/U8 films, some toons, feature digests, etc. all in the original boxes. I think I paid about $15 a pc for them. They are literally perfect. Not a scratch to be found, complete leaders, nice boxes...that's still one of the best deals I ever got. He even sent a nice note along with them that I've kept with the films. Top drawer for sure!

The worst condition film I ever bought was a cartoon which looked much like the film in the picture below (see photo closely). Need I say more? The smell would knock you down!

By the way, this one is on eBay right now, if you guys want to fight over it.

About 1976 I bought an ex-library print of The Naked And The Dead a Mountain Films release on 4x400ft reels only paid £10 so not too bothered. The image was quite good underneath the scratches and broken sprockets. The film itself was very brittle. I think it had been projected on a Fellowes projector. A good coating of 2.22 did help.

2.22 really did remove scratches. That stuff was amazing. Not sure FG and the other cleaners do.

Tim, that is what the 3 part Dressed To Kill I bought looks like now. Along with what everyone else has shared I should have got my money back but I'm happy having the cases now.