Graflex numbers

steven giunta

Well-Known Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Can anybody make out these numbers?
 

Attachments

  • 613ECF4A-8E55-4099-BF3A-7472F557180E.jpeg
    613ECF4A-8E55-4099-BF3A-7472F557180E.jpeg
    101.6 KB · Views: 517
They have been IDed before in other threads, sorry I don’t recall them off the top of my head


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
They have been IDed before in other threads, sorry I don’t recall them off the top of my head


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You wouldn’t happen to know which thread there in do you?i I wold like to make my new hope saber as accurate as possible,soon as I know which numbers they are I can start researching how to stamp them on the metal.
 
Wow! Just when you think you know everything about a prop, there's more to learn.

How have I never seen those numbers before?
 
Funny enough...this photo showing the scratched-in numbers on the clamp was in the “Star Wars Chronicles” book (1997) all this time but I never noticed them until the more refined version of the photo was posted on the RPF...

The image from the “Chronicles” book:

F3114857-15B4-4EF8-A493-4885AE0215E5.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Is that the hero? The grips look really rounded like the visual dictionary version...I always thought the hero had more pronounced edges on the cut.
 
Ronin, you don’t happen to know what year this picture was taken do you?
I sure don't... I'm guessing it must have been at the same time that the other prop reference photos were taken. But I'm not sure if these reference photos were taken pre-production or post-production (although pre-production seems most likely). Best guess would be sometime in 1976?

Wasn't it postulated though that the Obi-Wan saber may have been cobbled back together for the Chronicles/Mechanismo photos (due to the screws and cotter pins assembly technique that doesn't seem to be present during production)? That would suggest post-production - at least for that prop.
 
Funny enough...this photo showing the scratched-in numbers on the clamp was in the “Star Wars Chronicles” book (1997) all this time but I never noticed them until the more refined version of the photo was posted on the RPF...

The image from the “Chronicles” book:

View attachment 828933

Pretty sure this photo and the one we first noticed it are actually the same image.
 
Pretty sure this photo and the one we first noticed it are actually the same image.

Yes, definitely the same photo, though the “Chronicles” book photo appears to be of lesser image quality.

(I thought I said that in my original post?)
 
I've looked at so many saber photos I can spot a few times the same image is used, decades apart. You gotta love how well lit film photography holds up in quality, while the reproduction methods of the last 40 years have come a long way. The CHRONICLES book was pre-digital scans. They likely were given a print which was converted to a PMT, cut out by hand, glued onto a page paste up on 50% magenta screen back ground, then printed via haltone offset press. At it's iffy at best.

Decades later the original piece of film, or a archived print of it, is scanned and released on line.

My kid's "official" guide to lightsabers book uses the pic of the cave-build hero from the Archives book for Luke's entry.
 
Last edited:
I was watching this movie about the making of the original Dr Who and saw this!

Not implying it's the same flash, but it would seem that the exact same part of the clamp has numbers stamped on it.

Maybe it's from the same prop house?
bb9e286f6210a36e22b6f14ca3923cff.jpg
f3c25cce42be6684f4b9b0c802b4061d.jpg
95f7923622167d16bb88be8fa9e9e401.jpg


Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk
 
Fascinating!

Christian said he get the ANH Graflex parts from an actual camera shop-- but it was in the UK. Maybe these went through the same reseller? If those numbers matched, and a piecr of Dr. Who history ended up in Star Wars, I'd lose my mind.
 
Well, there appears to be 5 digits / letters scratched into both clamps.

The Dr. Who clamp is upside down with the clamp braces reversed (look where the "X" is) but the position of the digits / letters scratched into the clamp brace does match between the two.

Who knows?
 
Last edited:
Yeah it was crazy, I had just looked at this thread earlier that same day. I couldn't believe it when this came up on the screen!

The numbers do look really similar. Like REALLY similar.

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk
 
I don't know how many times I've watched that show and not noticed the numbers!! Great eye, Dann!

Here are some more screen grabs:

Screenshot 2018-07-10 09.30.06.pngScreenshot 2018-07-10 09.29.26.pngScreenshot 2018-07-10 09.29.14.pngScreenshot 2018-07-10 09.21.30.png
 
This thread is more than 5 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top