Any Vintage Disneyana Experts?

[The Toyroom]

If so, question.....

What would the value be on an original film reel of "Steamboat Willie" (1928), Mickey's 1st appearance? Ballpark?

[Mikey]

I'm no expert but if it could be authenticated ... the film type and age - to the right collector you could probably ask anything you want and there's a good chance you might get it.

This title has everything going for it.

I would say no less than $5,000 (just blindly guessing)
Perhaps a lot more.

[toys2cool]

that's a tough one, condition plays a big part

[rche]

are you talking about a 35mm reel?
or a 16mm print?

35 would be pretty large, as these are super rare in that original format. Acetate doesn't fare well with time and if not run or exposed to air can get vinegar syndrome which is sort of the film eating itself. If it is a Nitrate film stock, degradation can be even worse, PLUS it is highly flammable stuff and rather explosive if left in the can to stew.

16 prints would probably still fetch a fair amount, tho not as much as the 35 and chances are greater that it might be on a more stable stock.

8 and super 8 prints are also out there. That was the video of the 50s,60s, and even 70s - so while cool to have, they won't demand the change that earlier prints would have.

[samurainoir]

Are there active forums for Disney Collectors out there that folks can recommend?

[The Toyroom]

I'm assuming it was a 16mm...Yes, I said WAS... I just discovered that my grandfather apparently had an original reel that he got at some point from the local theatre back in the day (he may have been an usher briefly). On occassion, he would show it to his kids between home movies and birthday parties and the like.

At some point he loaned it to a "friend" and it was never returned. So I just wondering if it was worth anything at one point and how much he might have possibly flushed down the drain in the name of "friendship" . (I've had a long standing policy myself NOT to loan out stuff like books, DVDs, records, colectibles etc. because it always seems to turn out badly and you have to ask for the stuff back and then you feel like a stooge for doing so)

I say it was 16mm because those are the smaller reels, right? And I DO remember the projector he had because it resurfaced in the 70s during a wave of family nostalgia.

[Megospidey]

Anthony, I collected Disney memorabilia from the "golden age" (1928-1938) for 10 years. The only ones that I remember being valuable were the 35mm reels that were shown in the movie houses in the 30's.

It's supply and demand. There is a great demand for those original reels and very little supply. They just didn't hold up. Same thing for the original movie posters.

Some of those original Mickey Mouse movie posters could fetch between 80-100K.

[The Toyroom]

It's possible it could have been 35mm if the story about him getting it while an employee at the theatre holds true...But I remember the home movies were in smaller canisters before my grandmother had them converted to VHS at one point (very expensive at the time I might add). Ah well, it really doesn't matter what size it could have been cause it's gone and who knows how it would have held up. He was usually pretty good about maintaining things though....very meticulous.

[rche]

If it was 16, I don't think your pop flushed away a fortune. Maybe a minty loose Thor, but nothing to really cry about.

If it was a really small reel; like about 3" in diameter and a little over a quarter of an inch thick, then that was 8mm or super8. The 3" reels would have been a digest of this as its running time was 8 minutes and that is longer than you can get on one of those little dudes. A 7 inch reel would probably have held the whole cartoon. Size of a 45 record and about 3/4 of an inch thick.

Could easily have been either format as both were popular for home movie enthusiasts; just at different times. If your granddad picked it up as a young man working at a theater, I would wager it was a 16mm print, probably acetate safety stock and probably stewing and brittle if not stored in a very low humidity environment.

edit: just saw your above post. Lots of small theaters used 16mm prints. They were cheaper for the film companies to make and distribute and thus cheaper for the theaters to lease.

[LadyZod]

Consider this... perhaps it was worth "something" at one point... but unless it was kept humidity free, and climate controlled, chances are it's gone red and stinks of vinger at this point. That means it's essentially worthless.

[Mikey]

I think those old films were very-VERY flammable too.
So flammable i'd be afraid to keep it in the house.

[rche]

the nitrate stocks are flammable; explosively so.
That is why they switched to acetate, or safety, stocks. Those just turn into vinegar, shrink, warp, and get brittle.

still, best not to smoke around old film stock.

[AAAAA]

is it loose or does still have it own canister or square box.
Canister would mean that is pretty old, before 40 and was intended of the theaters.
between 1946-70s a square box would have been for general public release.

[The Toyroom]

is it loose or does still have it own canister or square box.

Reread my posts....it was a hypothetical question as the item doesn't exist anymore...