Graflex Variations: Facts and vs. Replica

pezzletism said:
Long time lurker, first time poster. It has been my mission this year to find a Graflex and finally in time for christmas jumped the gun and purchased one from eBay in fairly good condition. I have drawn a lot from this thread and wanted to say thanks to all of you!

What do you guys think of it? Genuine?
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Nice Graflex. Congratulations on your purchase. Which version will you be making?
 
pezzletism said:
I think I'll go for TFA, but looking into how I can attach everything without drilling any holes.
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It's pretty easy, just chop the screws/rivets short so they only penetrate the t-track. Screw them into the t-track (some would use a little epoxy here to be sure), and epoxy your grips to the base. Doneso.
 
There are folks on here who know roughly where and when those photography pieces were purchased, I've forgotten though. That may give credence to this guy's story.

It's an awesome one, but without a photo of that happening, that's a hard thing to prove and an easy story to make up. especially given how many Graflex's are out there. That being said, this guy seemed like it was old news and that gives me a good feeling. I hope this did happen, and congrats on stumbling across another Graflex!

MastahBlastah said:
So something interesting happened to me today.

I drove to a nearby small mountain town to do my Christmas shopping, and ended up stopping in at the local Camera Museum. I've popped in before looking for cheap Pelican cases, but today I decided to pay the five dollars and take the tour. To give you an idea, it's a small, single room filled to the brim with dusty old cameras ... a veritable treasure trove to someone like me. The curator is a character ... an older guy, obviously quite passionate about his collection, and excited to have a younger person like myself sharing a genuine interest in his passion (I consider myself something of a film preservationist as well). Oh, and his collection is really impressive. Some of the items that stuck out the most to me were John Wilkes Booth's family photo album (literally, from his family home), original photos (not dupes) of Robert E. Lee, all kinds of daguerreotype, tin types, early 3D cameras from the 1800's, you name it. I should have figured that he would have a Graflex 3 cell, but I still got that burst of adrenaline when I saw it standing up in a case to my left as he was talking to me about the evolution of the Leica. I pointed to it and simply said "Graflex 3-Cell". He then sort of rolled his eyes and asked me if I knew what was special about that flash. I said, "Well yeah ... Luke's lightsaber". He looked back at me and said, "No, what's special about THAT Graflex?". I shrugged, and he proceeded to tell me that this Graflex (which was completely unconverted, mind you) was given to him by his friend, George Lucas, and that it was THE lightsaber. Not a single part of me believed him, until he told me that he had the paperwork to prove it. I decided to nerd out on him a bit, and brought up the fact that there were many Graflex flashes purchased for ANH, and that this one was totally unconverted (no indication that grips had ever been adhered, no bubble strip, or d-ring or even a hole). He then told me that this was the original "prototype" that they used, before they decided to add the other parts. It seemed to me that he was being genuine, but wasn't entirely sure about what he had. Very skeptical, I asked him if I could take a look at it. Keep in mind, that this flash was NOT a part of the tour, and if I hadn't pointed it out, he probably wouldn't have even said anything about it. He looked at me skeptically for a moment, but let me hold it. Folmer Graflex, WITH patent number, what appears to be a thin base ring, and the correct long-knurled red button. He let me snap a few photos, but I decided not to press my luck and ask to see the paperwork (I didn't want him to know that I was more excited about this flash than the rest of the museum). So my question is, does this make any kind of sense to you guys? Does anybody have info about unconverted flashes being used on set or in the film? I really did not get the vibe that this guy was bullsh***ing me, and I think that I believe his claim that Lucas gave it to him (this guy had WAY more objectively and historically significant items in his collection than a sci-fi prop), but I do know that there are several sabers out there that "came from Lucas, or Kurtz, etc."

What do you guys think? By my reasoning, it is at least possible that this Graflex was fom the same batch purchased for the film, and that it may have something to tell us about the screen-used hero. Here are those photos ... At the very least, I saw a beautiful Graflex specimen in the wild today, so I'm happy =)

http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q601/mastahblastah/Museum Graflex/Graflex 3_zpstjjmkfbw.jpg

http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q601/mastahblastah/Museum Graflex/Graflex 1_zpsrt0twsfi.jpg

http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q601/mastahblastah/Museum Graflex/Graflex 2_zps8nrzdcw2.jpg
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thd9791 said:
There are folks on here who know roughly where and when those photography pieces were purchased, I've forgotten though. That may give credence to this guy's story.

It's an awesome one, but without a photo of that happening, that's a hard thing to prove and an easy story to make up. especially given how many Graflex's are out there. That being said, this guy seemed like it was old news and that gives me a good feeling. I hope this did happen, and congrats on stumbling across another Graflex!
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Agreed on all of that! If anybody has insight as to where the originals were picked up, please chime in. There were a ton of good antique stores in that town that I wanted to hit, so I'll definitely be going back. I'll have to pop back in and pick his brain, and try to get him to show me the paperwork. I tell you what though, I've never stolen a thing in my life but when he handed me that Graflex I had to fight the urge to bolt out the door, or at least grab the red button off of it and bolt out the door, haha!
 
I don't know, probably nothing. Maybe a photo. Though if the paperwork is legit, I don't know what motivation he would have to pair it with a separate Graflex ... that is if the paperwork is legit.
 
I have always hoped to find one in a store, but no luck yet. Nice to know there are many out there.

I imagine that guy made up the story. Why would George give it to him? Star Wars takes on a life of its own.
 
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I stopped into a massive antique store in my area (Warehouse with two floors) and they had a Speed Graphic..in a glass case...with a Heiland attached. Not even a black shroud, just a bracketed reflector. It was a weird feeling seeing such a rare piece in public and being dissapointed :lol
 
Just curious ... Does anybody know if this is this the ANH hero? I'd never seen this photo until now

glamourmagazine.co_.uk_.jpg
 
Yes, Not sure how many hero's there were but that is one of them. The D ring matches, the space between the grips suggests 7 grips, and it has the bubble strip. It's also one of the graflexes with a deeper glass eye, which I think also matches what we know.
 
thd9791 said:
Yes, Not sure how many hero's there were but that is one of them. The D ring matches, the space between the grips suggests 7 grips, and it has the bubble strip. It's also one of the graflexes with a deeper glass eye, which I think also matches what we know.
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I thought the grips were rounded ends but those in the pic look like angled ends?????

Tom
 
MastahBlastah said:
I've heard 30 degree angles in the t-tracks way more than I've heard rounded. Where does the rounded notion come from?
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Honestly, just bad reference photos, like rivet myth. It looks really nice and is sort-of idealized. Also, they were so sloppy with props some of the grips could have been curved on the same prop.
 
Hi guys, I'm new here. Very interesting thread!
Just curious, does anyone know if Graflex was also sold on a regular basis in Europe or is it more of a US phenomenon. I'm wondering if there is any reasonable chance of me stumbling across a flash in Norway to be specific.
 
In the 40's and 50's professional cameras were made by G R A F L E X and used all over the world. And indeed I have seen a complete set camera + flashgun in the shopping window of a photographer's shop. He was not interested in selling ... but yeah I have come accross one in the 'wild' in the Netherlands. Now as for Norway ... try to google for local camera shops, ebay.norway (?) or photo-equipment markets perhaps you find one closer to home ... the UK is another option too ... ebay.co.uk :)

Chaim
 

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