Graflex experts: help needed - Larbel or real Graflex?

squirk

squirk

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I have what I think is a real Graflex, but with a Larbel bottom to it. It has been many, many years since I purchased this thing, and it has been sitting in a desk drawer gathering dust ever since, but I am pretty sure I bought a real 2-cell and then added a Larbel 3-cell bottom to it. I honestly cannot remember anymore; getting old is a bitch.

Anyway, I could really use some help in identifying the providence of this flash. Based on this thread (http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=144206), here are some reasons I think the upper part is real:

The rivet by the bunny ears;
The rounded screw head between the two sets of pins;
The fine machined grooves on the beer-can tab rivet;
The sleeves on the pins themselves;
The lack of stamp/mold lines inside the clamp lever.

The bakelites seem to match those of the mid-to-late-vintage knurled buttons, but I cannot be sure. The bottom, as Serenity pointed out to me, has the "PB" on it that Larry used as a "tell", which I completely forgot about.

So, Graflex experts, if you would help a brother out, please take a look at these pics and tell me what I have. A full Larbel? Or a real Graflex upper with a Larry bottom?

Thank you very much!

IMG_3805.JPGIMG_3802.JPGIMG_3801.JPGIMG_3800.JPGIMG_3795.JPGIMG_3794.JPGIMG_3793.JPGIMG_3792.JPG
 
This is a tough one! That second red button is definitely not real. The color and finish of the plastic/metal shout to me.

The clamp also seems a bit too clean, compared to the top.
 
After some more comparison, I believe the top half is likely from Larbel as well. When you look at this photo:
jvDAFOP.jpg


You can see the part inside of the bulb holder / "bunny ears" looks like it pops out like on the old Larbel version so you can add a blade.

In addition, the genuine Graflex beer tab should have a washer/spacer underneath the rivet top like so:

MAQYc1e.jpg


The buttons can be checked by unscrewing them and examining the bottom. The Larbel versions originally had crumpled paper instead of the contact piece; some people also modded them and put a spring and some flat metal in there as well. The clamp sidebars appear to be replicas too; they're missing the "lines" from folding the metal to form them and look to be solid pieces.
 
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Bummer if you were looking to sell but even replicas are in demand. Finished ones are in even more of a demand
 
tomm1999 said:
Bummer if you were looking to sell but even replicas are in demand. Finished ones are in even more of a demand
Click to expand...

Not to beat a dead horse, but I tried to sell a converted Larbel twice on EBay with a starting price at $299 and I didn't get a single bid.

Seems like people only want real, Parks, or MR.
 
That is in great shape. The one today I saw sell for $340 (ESB) was no where near as nice. Seller had no clue what it was (real/ replica/ parks etc) it had the screw for the rivet holding the bunny ears, so maybe bidders could tell what is was.

You definitely know more about these than I do. :)
 
A Larbel could not be taken apart bit by bit like a real graflex and the dead giveaways to start are the non functional buttons and the pin in the emitter did not spring up or down. The glass eye was crap too. Not even a good replica actually. They were pretty ****ty IMO.

Anyone who has owned a real graflex would know immediately it wasn't real. I hated my larbel and practically gave it away. My first Graflex was a real one though so I'm bias.

I mean look at the finish too. The entire thing is a mess.
 
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Nope. I just closed it as "sold" to shut the whole thing down until I could verify exactly what it was. Thanks again to Serenity.

What's bugging me now is that I know I bought a 2-cell in the past. So it's here in my heaps of unfinished props somewhere. Guess I will have to go digging.

This is why I am so eager to sell off some of my stuff. So much of it has been sitting forgotten in boxes for years that I no longer remember what I have, where I got it from or when.
 
squirk said:
Nope. I just closed it as "sold" to shut the whole thing down until I could verify exactly what it was. Thanks again to Serenity.

What's bugging me now is that I know I bought a 2-cell in the past. So it's here in my heaps of unfinished props somewhere. Guess I will have to go digging.

This is why I am so eager to sell off some of my stuff. So much of it has been sitting forgotten in boxes for years that I no longer remember what I have, where I got it from or when.
Click to expand...

I look forward to buying some of your junk!
 
I really have a hard time confidently seeing the tells in most of the pics I see. But, am I correct in observing that - for the top - the Larbel is missing the raised area on the main tube where the glass eye screws in?
 
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