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Ballpark Value of Silent Movie Rolls
By Jim Canavan

Bob Loesch wrote in the 9/19 MMD: "These were highly specialized rolls,
and very few instruments that use them survive."

Actually, these are regular 88-note format rolls, and will play on any
regular player. I picked up about a dozen last year (at $5 each), and
recently acquired one on eBay as part of a lot of 4 rolls for $10 (I
bought the lot for the photoroll...the other 3 rolls were foxtrots,
Hawaiian (!!!), etc.).  They're fun to play on my regular Standard
action pumper, whether I'm using them to accompany some of my silent
films on 8mm or not!

It's been my experience on eBay that folks get into last minute bidding
wars, often slipping in one minute before the item closes and jacking
up the price.  I've had better luck with smaller lots, such as the one
described above. Rolls for Chein toy player pianos have likewise been
getting crazy prices on eBay...I picked a lot of 6 of them for just $20
last month, only because they were listed under "Childrens piano rolls"
with no mention of Chein. A similar lot that was listed under Chein toy
rolls went for almost three times that! I don't have a Chein piano yet,
but figured just in case, I'd better strike while the iron was hot!

Jim Canavan



(Message sent Mon, 21 Sep 1998 09:31:28 EDT , from time zone -0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  Ballpark, Movie, Rolls, Silent, Value

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