The Ultimate Luke ANH Graflex Research & Discussion Thread

[v312]

I've also come across a couple of flashes with "folmer" straight pins and "inc" shiny beer tab rivet that I'm sure where like that originally.
So far I've never been able to confirm what kind of beer tab rivet is on the ANH hero, but this shows it pretty clear.

 

[AnubisGuard]

Incredible to finally see 100% photo proof of the double d ring rivets.

 

[APOLLO IND]

The beer tab rivot has that distinctive "Inc" 4 triangle light bounce.
The dull folmer beer tabs don't do that - but I do have a vintage graflex with shiny finish, original smooth pins and a shiny beer tab so could easily be a random version. View attachment 1424530

Thank for posting this! A friend and I were just looking at this. The beertab rivet is distinctly machined on the inc. top, as opposed to dull on the folmer top. Not to mention in a number of the photos above, you can see a distinct difference in the finishes of the folmer clamp, and Inc. top. That is also an Inc. button on there as well!

 

[APOLLO IND]

I mean look at the difference in this brushed top vs the clamp! It has the exact texture of the Inc. though i can’t tell if the ears are folmer or inc, kind of too hard to see because of the shadowing.

 

[SethS]

Holy crap!

 

[AnubisGuard]

So, the ANH has a duller Inc clamp on a shiny Folmer body? If I'm understanding right?

...because if that's true, then I can get this replica clamp off my Folmer and I'll be very, very happy.

 

[APOLLO IND]

So, the ANH has a duller Inc clamp on a shiny Folmer body? If I'm understanding right?

Nope, the other way around actually! I have to say I believe the ANH to be the most mix and match mix of parts of most of the hero hilts. Based on studying the reference photos, I believe it's as follows, but not entirely sure, as some parts are too hard to make out because of the age of the reference photos:

-Inc. Top
-Leaning towards Folmer ears?
-Inc. Button
-Folmer glass eye
-Smooth Folmer (cone shaped, not rounded) pins
-Shiny Folmer/Folmer pat. Clamp
-Folmer/Folmer Pat. Lower
-Shinier Inc. lever with the large machined rivet

as I said none of this is for sure, but just making some observations on the same photos you guys are seeing! For all we know the original photographer/flashgun owner mix and matched these parts, not necessarily the prop masters!

 

[AnubisGuard]

Nope, the other way around actually!

Of course in my excitement I already started swapping parts around. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[roygilsing]

Holy crap!

New images for the book Seth!

 

[AnubisGuard]

-Inc. Top
-Leaning towards Folmer ears?
-Inc. Button
-Folmer glass eye
-Smooth Folmer (cone shaped, not rounded) pins
-Shiny Folmer/Folmer pat. Clamp
-Folmer/Folmer Pat. Lower
-Shinier Inc. lever with the large machined rivet

As far as mix-n-match goes, mine is keeping pace:

-Folmer top
-Folmer ears
-Inc button
-Folmer eye
-Tipped Inc pins
-Replica shiny (Inc? Folmer?) clamp band
-Replica shiny Inc lever w/ large rivet
-Folmer sidebars
-Pat. Folmer lower

Aside from the replica parts, it all came that way. I feel better about it being such a mongrel!

 

[v312]

On the promo images the tips of the pins look like brass, but in the movie they look silver silver to me. Here a compared to the brass bulb contact:

 

[SethS]

So if this is a mish-mash of parts we now have to wonder if it was found this way, and parts were swapped by whomever had it pre-production... or if production rebuilt it.

I'm struggling with Folmer ears and an INC rivet. Niether of those things are meant to be replaced. Sure, we've figured out how to do it, but I don't see a jury-rigging photographer going that far.

 

[AnubisGuard]

I'm struggling with Folmer ears and an INC rivet. Niether of those things are meant to be replaced. Sure, we've figured out how to do it, but I don't see a jury-rigging photographer going that far.

Factor error, maybe, from the period they were swapping from one design to another. Happens all the time with toys, where parts from a later run or exclusive version end up on handful of earlier releases by mistake.

 

[APOLLO IND]

So if this is a mish-mash of parts we now have to wonder if it was found this way, and parts were swapped by whomever had it pre-production... or if production rebuilt it.

I'm struggling with Folmer ears and an INC rivet. Niether of those things are meant to be replaced. Sure, we've figured out how to do it, but I don't see a jury-rigging photographer going that far.

Totally agree on that one seth. I can’t tell what the ears are really from the photos. I’m thinking the original owner did something to swap this stuff around and it ended up on set probably just like this! But by the “machined inc rivet” I mean that doesn’t easily come off, so under that assumption I’m assuming they also used an Inc upper. Especially when you look at it’s finish compared to the clamp.

 

[SethS]

Factor error, maybe, from the period they were swapping from one design to another. Happens all the time with toys, where parts from a later run or exclusive version end up on handful of earlier releases by mistake.

We're seen it with pins, bottom lip, clamp parts, and finish-- so I suppose it is possible. It's just funny that if all this is true, the ANH hero is even more unique and likely impossible to find-- kind of like how the MPPs used int he movies have variations rarely found.

 

[v312]

Can somebody point me to some reference on how to distinguish folmer vs inc bunny ears? That's something I must admit never payed much attention

 

[APOLLO IND]

Can somebody point me to some reference on how to distinguish folmer vs inc bunny ears? That's something I must admit never payed much attention

The first one is the folmer, a small rounded brass rivet on the inside, whereas inc ears have inset dimples pressed on the inside in 6 places. External finishes are very similar however.

 

[AnubisGuard]

We're seen it with pins, bottom lip, clamp parts, and finish-- so I suppose it is possible. It's just funny that if all this is true, the ANH hero is even more unique and likely impossible to find-- kind of like how the MPPs used int he movies have variations rarely found.

It really depends on when parts started to enter the supply chain. We know they were always tweaking and changing these old flashes, so I can't imagine that they were too fussed about making sure that a certain version of X part only ended up paired with a given version of Y upper shell, or whatever. -- remember, we're the ones reverse engineering a taxonomy for these things, categorizing parts by how often they show up in what combinations and naming them after the patent stamping. The guys building these almost surely weren't thinking about it in those terms; they just wanted to sell flashes. There may be more of this kind of thing out there, for all we know.

 

[db94]

Factor error, maybe, from the period they were swapping from one design to another. Happens all the time with toys, where parts from a later run or exclusive version end up on handful of earlier releases by mistake.

Sure this is the case - my Folmer/Inc hybrid has shiny finish, smooth pins but Inc rivot. It came from a camera bundle and can't imagine any reason why a photographer would swap pins. Just the factory using the stock they have at some point in production

 

[roygilsing]

The first one is the folmer, a small rounded brass rivet on the inside, whereas inc ears have inset dimples pressed on the inside in 6 places. External finishes are very similar however.

I'd say I see an Inc top then. No brass rivet visible to my eyes.