
I have seen these coming attraction glass slides occasionally at emovieposter and the like, but was not really sure what they were. After reading about them in the most recent Silent Film Quarterly, they looked interesting so I decided to get one. I bought one off of Ebay for the silent 1921 film Just Around the Corner. I looked the film up on Imdb and apparently the film does exist at the Library of Congress (hint, hint Ed -- :0) After receiving the slide in the mail I am very pleased with the condition and have enjoyed seeing it. I still prefer lobby cards, but I think I would also enjoy collecting these as well.
I searched some old threads on these types slides but still have a few questions.
One of the first things I did was to grab a flashlight and shine it through the back of the glass onto a white wall. Well, that did not work. I do have a 16mm projector but that did not work so well either. Is there a modern device that could be used to project a good bright image onto a screen?
I know not to try to clean it, so fortunately this one came in great shape.
I have seen some with writing on them to show when the film would be shown, which I understand was the original purpose. Does that make them more valuable, or less?
I was also wondering about pricing. I do know that a glass slide for a film like Greed or one for a Laurel and Hardy film for example will fetch a very hefty price. But there are a lot of "run of the mill" slides on Ebay. Most in the $22 - $29 range. I do know that sometimes people put Buy It Now prices on items that are too high and they sit for a very long time on Ebay. The one I bought was for $24 with free shipping. I felt okay with the price because I saw on emovieposter auction archives that one for the same film sold for much higher. But in general, is there a typical range that regular run of the mill silent films, for a slide in good to very good condition, would sell for? As I said, there are a number of them on Ebay in the Buy It Now category, but they could have been sitting there for a year at those prices for all I know.
Thanks,
Matthew
I searched some old threads on these types slides but still have a few questions.
One of the first things I did was to grab a flashlight and shine it through the back of the glass onto a white wall. Well, that did not work. I do have a 16mm projector but that did not work so well either. Is there a modern device that could be used to project a good bright image onto a screen?
I know not to try to clean it, so fortunately this one came in great shape.
I have seen some with writing on them to show when the film would be shown, which I understand was the original purpose. Does that make them more valuable, or less?
I was also wondering about pricing. I do know that a glass slide for a film like Greed or one for a Laurel and Hardy film for example will fetch a very hefty price. But there are a lot of "run of the mill" slides on Ebay. Most in the $22 - $29 range. I do know that sometimes people put Buy It Now prices on items that are too high and they sit for a very long time on Ebay. The one I bought was for $24 with free shipping. I felt okay with the price because I saw on emovieposter auction archives that one for the same film sold for much higher. But in general, is there a typical range that regular run of the mill silent films, for a slide in good to very good condition, would sell for? As I said, there are a number of them on Ebay in the Buy It Now category, but they could have been sitting there for a year at those prices for all I know.
Thanks,
Matthew