Reel of Original Star Wars film - Rare 1977 1 of a kind

This is my prize possession right here. I have a Kodak film canister containing a reel of original star wars film. I don?t know what scene or if it?s a trailer but this is the original film footage that was sent to Deluxe Laboratories for duplicating and editing before they released it to the movie theatres and TV stations
The canister is still sealed and has been that way for over 20 years; the contents have not been disturbed. Here is the information on the canister. I have pictures if you would life to see them.

PARIS TRACK
DELUXE LABORATORIES
NEGATIVE: 180631
PRODUCTION: STAR WAR
COMPANY: FOX
REEL NUMBER: 6A
DATE: 5-10-77
FOOTAGE: 920T0
8512 6/2/84 <SHORT!>
"MISSION" ROLL# -180'-

Any help on this item would be great.
Thanx
Danny

 

Dude,that is really awesome! I don't have info on it for you,but I would guess that it's worth a good bit a money.

 

It sounds like the trailer and it must be worth some coin. I remember Steve Sansweet talking about a trailer
but it was a while back. Laj might be able to give us an idea of the price which I am guessing it would have to be worth at the very least $300 US.

 

Hard to tell on this one. 'Universe' doesn't list film trailers and 'Wishbook' doesn't list enough info for me to tell if any match yours. Pictures won't do any good either as Wishbook doesn't have any of this.
It might be worth it taking a couple of pics and submitting the query to Insider for Steve Sansweet's column. The email address from Insider #78 is:
scouting@insider.starwars.com. You must put your full name and city in the body of the email or it won't be considered.

 

I want that

 

I wonder if its still in good shape? From what I hear those old films can deteriorate pretty fast if they arn't stored correctly. Ethier way still a VERY cool thing to have.

 

Wow thats awesome

 

I just finished doing some more research on the film reel and I will go ahead and tell you what I have found out so far.
First of all I had never opened the Kodak Canister that held the roll of film until tonight, 25 years it has remained sealed. I did do it in a "darkroom" environment so that I wouldn't take a chance of exposing the film in case it had not been developed. After carefully slicing and removing the tape and opening up the canister I discovered a black back that indeed does hold a roll of film. I was however too nervous about ruining anything so I did not take it out of the bag simply put it back in the case and resealed it.
Now I have been in contact with the Leading expert in regards to Star Wars film and he instructed me to do this so that we could find out what scenes or trailer is on the film however, I would rather just sell it and let the buyer develop or watch the film themselves.
With that being said, I am stuck on what would be a good asking price for this. I am not out to rip any one off that?s for sure but I would hate to get rid of something for $100 just to find out it was worth $1,000,000 (not that it is). I have been told I could sell this on eBay for $10,000 which is amazing, and I was also offered $2500 a few weeks ago.
If you would like to make an offer feel free to do so, no matter the amount. I am curious to what people also feel that this is worth to people. I might even be able to come up with a good asking price if I have an idea of what other collectors think.
As for Steve's column, I tried emailing him about this film reel I would say close to 6 months ago. I put all the information including my city etc...as required, but I never heard anything more regarding this or read anything in response to it so who knows.

Here are some links to a couple of pics of the item as well as some of my other SW stuff I am getting rid of;
http://yesdannysback.bravehost.com/1.jpg
http://yesdannysback.bravehost.com/2.jpg

1977 Darth Vader Watch with huge leather strap and metal studs, also tells time in 24 different countries.
1978 Darth Vader Breathing Mask ? a model from General Mills that also included eyes that light up to go with the rasping breathing sound of the Sith Lord. - unopened
1977 original SW Movie promotion 8 x 10 pictures and the SW poster to go with it - framed
1980 Coca-Cola ESB Movie Poster
1978 Darth Vader Tie Fighter Model - unopened
1978 Luke?s X-Wing Fighter Model - unopened
1978 Kids grow chart, still - unopened
1978 and 1979 Star Wars Calendars
1978 Puzzles
3 ? 140 pc puzzles unopened
4 - 500 pc puzzles unopened
1978 Remote Control R2-D2 ?opened as kid and played with
TIME LIFE Magazines for ESB AND ROTJ
1978 Luke Skywalker in X-wing outfit, Kenner action figure. (No gun, package was tampered with by little children) and 1983 Princess Lela from Kenner and General Mills for sending in 3 upc symbols and $2
shipping and handling from Cheerios.

1977 R2D2 Ceramic Piggybank - so cool
1984 Yoda Hand Puppet - Rare
*****Disclaimer*****
I dont think I am advertising btw since all my items are on sale on other websites and I am not giving links to those sites. I am just curious to what everyone thinks the film might be worth.
If I am breaking some sort of forum rules please feel free to edit my post. thank you
danny

 

i'll give you a hundred bucks for it, not that you will do it , but that could make a pretty penny on ebay

 

Just dropping in a caution about the no selling/advertising rule. If you want more specific details from fabulicious please do it via PM - thanks

Having said that, I would not put all of your items up for sale as a job-lot. I would split the collection up in order to attract more buyers. Also I would definitely put the film up as a seperate item. However, since you don't know what is actually on it, that makes it kinda hard to put it up with a reserve price, of say $1000 US (just an example). Just because the can says 'Star War' doesnt guarantee it contains that. (For all you know it's a celebrity boxing match!). If I was going to bid on an item and spend a lot of money I would at least want to know it was as advertised.

 

Spend the money and have it looked at by a proffesional film lab (note: I don't mean Walmart.) If it is truely a piece of hollywood history that has survived unblemished, the authenication and extra steps will be a very reasonable investment.

 

I don't pretend to be film expert, but a little tip for preservation is to pack it in salt. I know for a fact that professional film archives in Hollywood often store some or all of their collections in abandoned salt mines because salt absorbs moisture which dries out the air and helps to keep mice and other animals away. You should probably check with a professional film lab regarding preservation of something so rare, this is one method that is sometimes used.

 

Forgive me while I get techical....

The number 8512 on the label indicates an EXTREMELY OLD Fuji motion picture stock, so old that even stored under ideal conditions, the emulsion may have started to break down, making the RGB levels skyrocket. That's very bad for starters.

You will need to determine if it is indeed motion picture film(it might be an audio track strip laid down on film...the fact it says PARIS TRACK might indicate this), and then if it is 35MM or 16MM stock. The can says that the reel inside is 180 feet long. If it is 35MM, that's almost 2 minutes worth of possible footage. If its 16mm, it is twice as long as that.

As LAJ Fett said, it's distinctly possible that what is inside has nothing at all to do with Star Wars, merely that the original can was used to "recan" something else(working with raw stock, I've seen this happen more often than not).

To be sure, you'll have to bring in to a lab. They can determine what kind of stock it is, and if it is already developed or not. After that, you might want to have a "snip test" done, which means having the first ten or so feet cut off and developed by a lab. I can give you the names of several labs in the Los Angeles, New York or Florida areas that do this, if you're interested.

With apologies to Chancellor Ewok...Don't pack it IN salt!!!. Yes, salt mines are used to house film reels, due to the moistue content being so low. But for Godssake, don't actually put salt any where near the reel. That WILL ruin it. An airtight plastic bag in the fridge is a better way to go(however, due to the fact that film inside is, by your guess, 20 years old, it may be a moot point).

 

With apologies to Chancellor Ewok...Don't pack it IN salt!!!. Yes, salt mines are used to house film reels, due to the moistue content being so low. But for Godssake, don't actually put salt any where near the reel. That WILL ruin it. An airtight plastic bag in the fridge is a better way to go(however, due to the fact that film inside is, by your guess, 20 years old, it may be a moot point).

Yeah,good point. I should have been alittle more clear on that. When I said pack it in salt I meant that you want to keep the film in the can, wrap that in something and pack THAT in salt. MetalBikins is right, salt will ruin the film.

 

I think I know what you have.My father has the same film, he said he got it from a Kodak promotion when he used to buy 8mm film. I found the same one he has posted on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=37887&item=6519988881&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

 

Um, that sounds nothing like what the original author is talking about.

It sounds more like a trailer than anything else. I know I wouldn't spend more than $10 without know what actually is inside the box.

Also, trailers themselves don't go for that much usually... maybe $20 or so, even for older ones. I can't remember how much I paid for my ESB and AOTC trailers.

 

I paid 30 bucks for a trailer of ROTS.

I'd be wary of this. It could also be one of those films that came out during the late 70's, that you could rent alone with a film projector.

 

fuji o the horror i got some fuji from 68' that is red and it was keep well

it could be worth alot
maybe it has jenny, hans girlfriend.