Antique Market Find!

[mikid]

Out here in Cali there a little smarter....THEY KNOW...….

 

[NeoRutty]

Out here in Cali there a little smarter....THEY KNOW...….

Yeah I just got an email about a vintage camera show, in the pic there are just waves of old press cameras...

There is ZERO chance in this city someone there is going to have no idea what a graflex was used for.

Closest I've come to an in the wild find was my $20 dollar praco.

 

[SethS]

I could be wrong, because I'm going on memory here.

I remember reading a SF magazine in the mid-80's when I was in high school, either Starlog or one of the similar ones available at the time, that talked about "The Weapons of Star Wars" or some-such. They discussed the Broomhandle for Han, the Sterlings for the trooper blasters, and I'm pretty sure it mentioned at least the Graflex for Luke's saber. Ever since then, I've been looking for one, and I know it predates (at least my use of) the web as the only way to do it was to scour camera shops, etc.

The Graflex is pretty recognizable even in saber form so I find it easy to believe it would be one of the first "found item props" identified. (Although not as easy as the very obvious Broomhandle Mauser and the Sterlings).

I'd be pretty surprised if it took 20 years for the Graflex (like say from '77 to '97) to be identified as the main component of Luke's saber. All the details? No. Some of them are pretty obscure. But having it known as the main piece, yeah.

I was 10 when Star Wars came out, and I've been reading about it obsessively since then, first through magazines like Starlog, and behind the scenes books, and film making magazines, etc, and then eventually online. I've been around this forum (as a lurker back when registrations were invite only) for quite awhile and remember some of the "big discoveries" like the promo photo that determined the ANH saber had 7 T tracks, etc. I can't honestly remember when I first learned about the Graflex or when I didn't know what Luke's saber was made from.

What do the rest of you think?

I also remember reading/hearing in the early 80s that the lightsaber props were made from camera flashes. I had that knowledge early one. I think I heard the word "Graflex" first on an AOL message boards in a Star Wars subsection. Shane Johnson was a contributor and I vividly recall him saying he had access to one. I think we all assumed he had THE ONE, but obviously he had a fan-recreation, so obviously by then people were in the know.

That said, when the Tech Journal came out a short time later and I was able to SEE it in detail. All I had to go on at that stage was VHS freeze frames and the original Star Wars RPG books, which had tons of great photos. Once I knew what to spot, it was easy. I went to photo swap meets all the time and scored mine on my first venture out.

 

[Aku]

Another goldie oldie here. I used to collect all the Starburst and Starlog magazines when they came out. I remember that "Weapons of Star Wars" article, though I couldn't remember any specifics. There was also that weird one that came out between Empire and Jedi where the author was trying to second guess what would happen in Jedi. Lot of stuff about Obi Wan being the first clone of a jedi master called Kenobi - with the clone designation OB1 (Obi Wan, get it)

Any who....any of you want to check out the archives, they're available online.First one to find said article gets a No Prize

https://archive.org/details/starlogmagazine?&sort=-downloads&page=2

 

[Aku]

https://www.villagevoice.com/2009/01/08/from-the-crap-archives-fantastic-films-magazine/

Update, the Bounty Hunter reveal was in "Fantastic Films" #20. Another one I used to collect.

 

[Aku]

I could be wrong, because I'm going on memory here.

I remember reading a SF magazine in the mid-80's when I was in high school, either Starlog or one of the similar ones available at the time, that talked about "The Weapons of Star Wars" or some-such. They discussed the Broomhandle for Han, the Sterlings for the trooper blasters, and I'm pretty sure it mentioned at least the Graflex for Luke's saber. Ever since then, I've been looking for one, and I know it predates (at least my use of) the web as the only way to do it was to scour camera shops, etc.
What do the rest of you think?

BAM!! 1978

Fantastic Films 003 August 1978 (vol1 no3)(c2c Tranzor HQS) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

I used to have that magazine!! I can't believe how much stuff I threw away!!! Anyone want to kick me hard in the pants while I bend over

(Though they did get the gaffe stick totally wrong)

 

[Trebor]

BAM!! 1978

Fantastic Films 003 August 1978 (vol1 no3)(c2c Tranzor HQS) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

I used to have that magazine!! I can't believe how much stuff I threw away!!! Anyone want to kick me hard in the pants while I bend over

(Though they did get the gaffe stick totally wrong)

That is EXACTLY the article I remember! Amazing.

A friend of mine in high school had it and I read it at her house between '81 and '85 (I didn't know her before then). She was a big SF fan as well and most likely bought the magazine when it came out and still had it a few years later. She said she'd make me a copy of that article, but never did, and I haven't seen it since then. But, I am 100% sure it was that article. I especially remember the line drawings and it identified the Graflex by name. That started me on the search for one.

Great find and a nice memory, thanks

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

I still remember finding one in the wild back in 2007 and getting it for only $25 like it was yesterday...... Found prop at the flea market ! OMG Finally !!

 

[OBI WAN KEN0B1]

Dude that is epic. I always dream about a find like this. I even have a deal with my wife for when she goes to flee markets and garage sales to look for these. I have made her study the picture of a graflex so she know what to look for.

 

[Dann]

No I could be wrong, I’m really curious as to when it was discovered to be a graflex

Definitely before the mid 90s.

That's when I learned what it was, right around 1995 and the dawn of the interwebs.

So there had to be tons of folks who knew long before then.

 

[Dann]

That flash gun w/ the black top, directly to the left of the Graflex: is that a variation on the Graflex for the Holiday Lightsaber?

That looks like a Kalart, to me, sir.

TONS of them on eBay. Mostly C-cell flashes.