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REEL DEALS

PUBLISHED BY – MIKE TRICKETT 245 CHURCH ST. HERNE HILL VIC 3218
Reel Deals - The Start

It is often said that as you age, the years go by faster. I think
I have to agree, especially when it seems like only a few
years ago, out of frustration, that I started this little publica-
tion.

Starting as a very modest “buy and sell newsletter” (hence
the name) with the intention of simply providing a means for
the many Australian film collectors to “Keep in Touch” at a
time when film collecting was frowned upon by those in the
film distribution and exhibition business.
At that time, there were a couple of small “underground lists” circulating between those “in the
know”, the only other source of films was the American publication “The Big Reel”. A monthly
newspaper sized publication offering thousands of films in each issue.
That was at a time when there was no Internet, very few of the US dealers even had a fax machine,
so all deals were done by phone, and of course payment had to be made by international bank
cheque.

So, we were at a considerable disadvantage in Australia. The delay in receiving the publication,
meant many of the choice items were sold, payment was sent by air mail post, and then the long
wait for the films to arrive via sea mail - this was usually between 8 and 12 weeks.

Then there was a certain amount of breath holding while the box was opened and the film
inspected. Most dealers were good, but there was the occasional “shonky” dealer who saw the
opportunity to unload junk onto someone so far away, and we were pretty much powerless to do
anything about it – except to avoid that dealer next time.
So, the idea of producing something locally came to mind, I invited those interested to add their
name to a list I started at a collectors’ fair.
The first half dozen or so issues were cheaply produced and distributed free to get it off the
ground. It comprised a dozen or so photo-copied pages, stapled together and produced on our
kitchen table. Starting with about 20 subscribers, the word soon spread, the take up was amazing,
I had no idea of the number of collectors we had in Australia.

It wasn’t long before the number of copies required, exceeded what Barb and I could produce on
a photo copy machine, and commercial printing became necessary. This also improved the
quality of the magazine and made photo reproduction viable.

2 REEL DEALS March 2023