Boy - this guy is a piece of work. CLIFF THOMAS.
Met him through the Big Reel days. Called him on the phone and he was always cordial.
THEN - when he discovered Ebay and the internet craze in the mid 2000's - BOY THINGS TOOK A TURN.
He found out the prices you could actually get for film via a wider audience (obviously) - and then his demeanor changed over the phone to a very loud temperament ( and I quote:)
"
I'm not getting taking advantage of any further! - prices are what they are!!"
Don't think for a second this film arrived to you unintentionally smelling odd.
Cliff has been doing this time and time again. Twice with myself and once to a friend.
I purchased a high powered title from him a few years back for a good deal of money. It was on that cross over LPP stock from the Early 1980's. The one that may or may not get vinegar. I have had 2-3 prints over the years on this same stock. The first stages of low fade experimentation. (you know the stock I'm talking about)
The film arrived excessively oily. Not just film renew, but "excessive" with something else.
Yes - the undertone of slight vinegar was there. The film in itself was next to Lab Mint like he described, yet - with the eclipsed vinegar smell, the print is worthless if I was to flip it.
I remember his auction listing too.
"
Film has just been cleaned thoroughly and ready to run. Comes on Two 1600 ft. metal Reels."
I remember this sounding odd as every one of his twenty listings at the time were devout of mention of any cleaning. In fact, he never mentioned this phrasing before as far as I can remember in any of his auctions.
Also: why would someone freshly run passes , soak and clean a Lab Mint print?? This thing was soaked in film renew, no questions asked.
He "Tried" to mask the odor of vinegar, but it was still coming through. The Heads up about the cleaning was for that subliminal nod for when you open the film case, you see the oily mess, and just assume you got a freshly cleaned print. Anything smell funny? It must be the cleaning residue . . . . .
I think I left him a pleasant feedback and received nothing at that. In my eyes he's a dodgy crusty old codger. Some will disagree.
I am speaking for others as well who have had similar experiences.
On a positive note - He has acquired some GREAT oddball titles all from television stations over the years and most of which are thoroughly gorgeous and near lab mint.
He has since run through about 95% of his acquisition and offers a few things here and there mostly faded/edited stuff now.
ONE MORE THING:EVERY print from Cliff will be a television edited print. He will purposely neglect offering up that info within an items description time and time again. So - if you think you are bidding on say a
Friday the 13th film, don't think for a minute it's a theatrical cut.
After getting burned with edited prints a few times. I would ask him with many days left on an auction if they were edited in any fashion. (Airline prints, television station films ....)
He would NEVER get back to me. I then would use a friends account and ask him a different kind of question, and he would respond almost immediately.
Both times, the patina within emails were pleasant and non confrontational. Go figure.
Use caution when bidding and heed peoples experiences is all I can offer.
Not trying to bash anyone's reputation - My frustration gives me the right to vent from past experiences and suggest advise on using caution when endeavoring with Prcfilm. Sorry If I offended anyone.
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