American Collectors film at IndieFlix's

IndieFlix is offering the American Collectors Film for $9.95 They are offering the best price on this award winning documentary. A film about people who collect things.

Here is the link to the site

INDIEFLIX , AMERICAN COLLECTORS FILM

Jeff Braimes PLAYING CARD COLLECTOR, on American Collectors

Jeff Braimes who is featured in the film American Collectors was showing off his collection on KING 5 NEW'S in Seattle Wa. Watch clip

American Collectors Film is on DVD at INDIE FLIX for $9.95

Website www.americancollectorsmovie.com

New film 'American Collectors' features a Portland man and his jail memorabilia

By Margie Boule, The Oregonian

November 08, 2009, 5:18AM

View full sizeCourtesy of Chuck PalmerChuck PalmerAn obsession. Pack rat fever. Collectomania. An uncontrollable addiction.

It's funny how often collecting is described as some kind of illness.

Sometimes it's the collectors themselves who use pseudo medical terms. In the documentary "American Collectors," which has its Portland premiere at 6 p.m. Monday in the Portland Art Museum's Whitsell Auditorium, a man who admits he owns more than 100 tractors calls it "more-a-philia."

Portlander Chuck Palmer uses a more romantic term: "Collecting is my passion," he says. "It just gets your blood pumping."

People can be passionate collectors of the most unlikely items. Plastic bags. X-rays. Fish posters. (Clean) air sickness bags. Vintage calculators. Prosthetic eyeballs. Store mannequins.

Chuck, one of the collectors featured in "American Collectors," is passionate about "stuff from jails and prisons," he says.

Just about everything except the prisoners.

Chuck lost interest in the people behind bars when he worked as a jail guard for Multnomah County from 1977 to 1986. "I left with my sanity," he says.

He also left with no desire to have anything to remind him of the jails. "It's an intensely stressful job. Nobody wants to be in the jail. Not even the officers."

Perhaps to relieve some of that stress, Chuck began collecting Coca-Cola memorabilia in 1981. He'd go to estate sales and antique and junk shops. Then he became a dealer, setting up booths at collectibles shows.

"I'm an active collector," Chuck says. "If I have an interest in something, then I'm accumulating, I'm buying."

But he's buying only the real thing. "I don't buy phony things, fantasy items, reproduced items. I want original items that have value and will maintain that value, if not increase."

In the late 1980s, Chuck got divorced. In the settlement, he lost his Coca-Cola collection, which he calls "the largest collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia west of the Mississippi."

For a while he tried building a new collection. "I'd see a cool Coca-Cola piece, pick it up, and it would be a piece I used to own." Buying back things he'd once owned "was no thrill."

For a while he collected nothing. It gave him an empty feeling. "You gotta have something to collect," he says. "What else is there to do if you're shopping and hunting?"

View full sizeCourtesy of Chuck PalmerPart of Chuck Palmer's collection.Then, at a show in 1989, Chuck spotted a pair of handcuffs just like he used to carry. "They were rare, because of the design. They discovered, after not too many months of use, that inmates could heat the barrel of a plastic pen and create a key." He bought the cuffs.

Then he bought a different pair. "I'd always been fascinated with cuffs and how the locks worked," Chuck says.

Then he found himself buying an old "wanted" poster for James Earl Ray, the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. "These things just start catching your attention," Chuck says.

A new collection was born.

As he always had, Chuck began researching the items he was collecting. "When I collected Coca-Cola things, I knew as much about the company history as their archivist did," Chuck says. Now he began studying prison history.

"I have learned more history through collecting than I ever did in high school and college," he says. "Because it applies to what I do. It's not just Roman history when you've never seen Rome."

He loves the hunt, too. "It's fun, because you're out there looking for nuggets or specks of gold. And everyone is looking for that big nugget, something they get for 10 bucks and can get a thousand for."

He also enjoys selling items and dealing with people who collect other objects. He sees a lot of them; 19 years ago he married a woman who owned a company that produces antiques and collectibles shows. It's called Palmer Wirfs & Associates (www.palmerwirfs.com). Chuck and Chris Palmer have worked as "best friends and co-producers" ever since.

Sometimes Chuck makes finds at their own shows.

He rarely searches on eBay, although he recently found a rare pair of Romer leg restraints, he says. "I'd only seen one pair in my life." They were a real bargain, he says. "You add a special piece like that, and it raises the value of the entire collection."

The collection includes "an inmate I.D. photo of Charlie Manson," Chuck says. "And one of the best pieces is a striped chain-gang uniform from the 1920s in Alabama."

He has leather restraints from the 1870s, a cell door that he has in storage because it weighs 800 pounds and a barred window he thinks came from the old jail in The Dalles.

"The thing everyone gets the biggest laugh out of is a jail toilet," Chuck says. "It's a combination sink-and-toilet, all built with one piece of aluminum. It's from the 1960s from a little jail in Covina, California." He knows that because when he found it, he called the sheriff in California to verify its authenticity.

He has invitations to executions. Yes, they used to print invitations.

And he bought a collection of items from the descendants of a man who used to be the official timer of executions for the state of Oregon. "He'd type on a sheet of paper, 'Joe Blow entered the chamber, 9:01. Joe Blow fastened in, 9:02.' ... He kept every invitation, newspaper articles on the guys, the timing sheet, even the mask that went over their eyes."

Chuck also has a pair of McKenzie mitts, metal "mittens" that open with a hinge.

An inmate in the mitts "couldn't pick up a gun or anything to use against you. Only 180 of those were ever made. But they were so effective, they caused their own problem."

Prisoners were transported back then by train. Railroad companies would not allow prisoners to be released from restraints. "So the prisoner couldn't take care of personal business." Guards were not prepared to provide assistance in restrooms, so the mitts were discontinued.

Ever the researcher, when Chuck bought crime-scene photos of the investigation of an old jail break, he interviewed a man who'd been a guard at the jail, who was at first suspected of aiding the break. "That adds to the history of it for me," he says. "That's the fun of it."

Most of Chuck's collection is in storage. "It's not proper decor for a home, really," he says, laughing. He does have a few posters of prison movies in his home. "Those are on the walls because my wife likes them."

And you'd better believe that if Chuck ever acquires what he wants most -- an electric chair -- it will not rest in the living room. He does have a line on one. "But I'll just have to be patient," he says.

Chuck is looking forward to the Oregon premiere of "American Collectors" (americancollectorsmovie.com).

"I'm going to go," he says. "I'll have on one of my shirts that says something about a prison. I'm looking forward to it."

-- Margie Boulé

Axes to Action Figures, Northwest collecting fanatics are featured in American Collectors Film

Portland, Oregon (MMD Newswire) October 30, 2009 -- Most of us
know someone who collects-at least 30% of Americans do-and we
love them anyway. But what drives obsessions such as this? That is
the beating heart and prime directive of American Collectors, a
verité documentary film that examines the relationship between
people and their objet du désir.

One of the featured collectors is Portland's own ?Chuck Palmer, a
co owner of Palmer Wirfs Inc. Chuck not only runs "America's
?Largest Antique and Collectible Show", he is an avid collector of
prison ?items. His collection runs the full gamut, from books and
historical ?documents to nuts and bolts prison items, uniforms,
restraints and even a ?prison toilet!

Find out what drives Chuck to accumulate these types of things at
the film's Oregon debut, happening as part of the Northwest Film
Center's 36th Northwest Film & Video Festival.

More information at
www.nwfilm.org.

When: Monday, November 9, 2009 at 7PM

Location: Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium at the
Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, Oregon.

Rick Kennedy
Marketing
(360) 483.9333

rick@binaryrecordingstudio.com

http://www.americancollectorsmovie.com

American Collectors film Screening in Portland OR. Film Festivial

NEXT SCREENING

AMERICAN COLLECTORS.

PORTLAND OR. NW VIDEO AND FILM FESTIVAL

http://www.nwfilm.org/festivals/nwfvf/

Nov 9th Monday night 6:pm

NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium, inside the Portland Art Museum at 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR.

Seattle Post Globe reviews American Collectors Film, by Bill White

Documentaries about eccentrics are often exploitive things that play on the viewers’ sense of superiority to the on-screen subjects, Not so “American Collectors," (Oct. 5 at 7 pm) which respects the obsessions of those afflicted with “More-itis" without denying the entertainment value of entering the private worlds of borderline maniacs.

From a relatively tasteful collection of handcrafted purses to the near-catastrophic proliferation of AOL promotional discs, directors Bob Ridgley and Terri Krantz offer a fast-paced romp through the bedrooms and garages of our most single-minded citizens. We meet a young woman who feeds all her quarters into gumball machines as if they were slot machines and an old woman who still delights in playing with her Barbie dolls. One of the most articulate subjects explains that by collecting the toys he owned as a child he can trigger lost memories, while a guy who boasts the world’s most complete collection of Duran Duran posters is on the edge of tears as he tries to communicate just how far this band has gone to defining his own life.

In addition to the excellent interviews, the film is a wealth of visual delight. Hundreds of bobble-headed dolls shimmy and shake to generic metal music. A theme-park for artifacts from science fiction movies of the fifties takes up residency in a donut shop. Finally, the sight of 100 idle tractors on a plot of unbroken land is a once-in-a-lifetime vision of displaced consumerism gone wild.

Paste Magazine Online about American Collectors Film

Paste Magazine September 2009

Source: digital.pastemagazine.com

McPhail is one of the subjects of American Collectors, a new documentary by independent filmmakers Terri Krantz and Bob Ridgley, who spent months inter- viewing collectors of everything from tractors to axes to Gene Simmons nest- ing dolls. ...

http://digital.pastemagazine.com/publication/?i=22168&p=21

American Collectors film picked for Local Sightings Film Festival Seattle

American Collectors , a film about people who collect things will be part of the Local Sightings Film Festival in Seatlle Oct.5th at 7:pm along with some other hand picked films by the NW Film Forum. http://www.nwfilmforum.org/go/localsightings/schedule.html

Paste Magazine talks about American Collectors Film

July 2009, Rachel Dovey, a writer from Paste Magazine made the trek from Seattle to Bellingham to interview the directors of American Collectors, a new documentary film about people who collect things. The hour long film is no antique road show, the primal question that directors Terri Krantz and Bob Ridgely ask is, WHY do we collect things.

Bob Ridgley is a passionate collector of bobbing head dolls and Terri Krantz has been buying and selling antiques for 25 years. They bring their combined perspective on collecting and introduce you to a cast of colorful collectors, from an elegant purse collector, an antique tractor collector, to a woman who collects bubble gum machine jewelry.

The film runs the from the slightly disturbing guy whose home is so full of toys that he has to have his interview outside, to the jovial and charming Larry McPhail also know as Ax Man who has a collection of over 1000 axes. McPhail, the runaway favorite charactor in the film is an endearing fellow who has one of the most unusual collections and has been featured on the history channel as well as in American Collectors.

The article appears in the September issue of Paste Magazine and a four minute clip of American Collectors featuring Larry the Ax man can be seen at PASTEMAGAZINE.COM/September2009.

You can see a trailer of the film at American Collectors, a film about people who collect things

Worlds Largest Duran Duran Poster Collection by Collector Durandy

Hello! I wanted to share a fun little happening.... From Durandy ,a collector in the American Collectors Film

Ever wonder who the Northwest's biggest collectors are?

Last year, I was approached by Bob Ridgley and Terri Krantz, a filmmaking team who were making a documentary called American Collectors. Their film profiles people who collect a variety of things: purses, pianos, tractors, free AOL internet CDs -- a marvelous, eclectic array of personalities. Bob and Terri had heard of me, and wished to learn more about my particular passion. As curator/owner of the world's largest collection of Duran Duran posters, I was happy to fill them in. With a trip to the archive and a little on-camera exposition, I tried my best to convey the breadth and depth of my Duran-designed devotion.

After interviewing 40 collectors, the film's scope was narrowed down to 16 featured subjects, and I had the pleasure and privilege of being one of those 16. Last night, the film premiered at Bellingham's Pickford Theater.

The documentary was delightful! A colorful assortment of people shed light on the collecting phenomenon with a mix of humor, pride, and revealing honesty. Among the highlights: a big KISS memorabilia collector adorned his bathroom with rare artifacts from floor to ceiling, and his young son showed signs of following in his father's footsteps; and two men who collect axes and tractors respectively, proudly displayed their treasures, illustrating the vast spectrum of what is collectable. Even Bob Ridgeley, one half of the filmmaking team, showcased his collection of vintage bobblehead figures which numbers in the hundreds, eliciting gasps of awe from the audience.

Eventually the spotlight was turned on me, and I shifted nervously in my seat. Very odd to watch myself on the big screen. Bob and Terri were able to use some footage from my first poster exhibit, accompanied by a few seconds of Hungry Like The Wolf, which was all I needed to emerge from the theater afterwards, smiling from ear-to-ear.

Here is a press release from when Bob and Terri recently won a film award from the Indie Fest. Included is some further detail about their doc, including a link to the film's trailer at the bottom:

The Indie Fest recognizes film professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity. The award was given for Binary Recording Studio's documentary film, "American Collectors" which was produced and directed by Bob Ridgley and Terri Krantz. American Collectors is a film which looks at the psychology of collecting and features interviews with 15 unique collectors. "In our research for this film we found that 30% of the American population collects, and has more room and space to fill with their collections than any other country in the world. Because of this unique set of circumstances we decided to focus on American collectors," says Krantz. "The film was crafted in a Cinema Verite style that lets the viewer come up with his own conclusion of why this behavior occurs," adds Ridgley. " After watching this film you will see some interesting repetitions in how they see themselves and why they do it."

To see the trailer of this film go to the website, AMERICAN COLLECTORS, a film about people who collect things.

Axe Collector in American Collectors Film interviewed on NPR, KUOW 94.9 FM. Sept 19th

Larry McPhail, Axe Collector in the film “American Collectors, a film about people who collect things, will be talking about his collection on NPR, KUOW 94.9 FM. The show will air on Sept.19th at 12pm PT . Larry McPhail knows a lot about the perils of logging in the early 20th century, and he knows about the benefits. He learned about it from his grandfather.

KUOW's Jeannie Yandel visited Larry on his farm near the U.S.–Canada border to find out why he still practices old logging techniques.

Larry has a collection of over 1000+ axes.

Information about the American Collectors film: www.americancollectorsmovie.com

Tacoma Film Festival schedule for American Collectors Film

Tacoma Film Festival has the film schedule up on their website http://tacoma.bside.com/2009/

Add our film American Collectors a film about people who collect things, to your highlights

About the Tacoma Film Festival
The 2009 Tacoma Film Festival begins Thursday, October 1 with the Opening Night Reception at the Annie Wright Great Hall followed by the Opening Night Film at the Annie Wright Kemper Theater. The evening begins at 6:30p and the film will start at 8:00p. Films will continue through Thursday, October 8 playing at the Grand Cinema, Tacoma Art Museum and the Tacoma School of the Arts. The official Tacoma Film Festival program is scheduled to be ready by Thursday, Sept. 9. For more information visit www.TacomaFilmFestival.com.

AMERICAN COLLECTORS Film at the Tacoma Art Museum

American Collectors film will be screening at the 2009 Tacoma Film Festival Sunday, October 4^th, 12:15pm at the Tacoma Art Museum

Location: Tacoma Art Museum
1701 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98402

www.americancollectorsmovie.com

Duran Duran’s John Taylor talks about Durandy from American Collectors Movie poster collection

Durandy has the largest Duran Duran poster collection in the world. The Band was in Seattle performing and spoke about Durandy collection on The Mountain 103.7 FM

http://www2.1037themountain.com/listen/duran-durans-john-taylor

You can see some of his collection and Durandy in American Collectors Movie, a film about people who collect things

AMERICAN COLLECTORS Magazine, Collectors Weekly

Collectors Weekly a great website for collectors

is putting out articles online of a magazine about

collecting from the 30's 40's call American Collector www.collectorsweekly.com

American Collector was a beautiful and high

quality magazine published in the 1930s and

40s for people interested in antiques and collecting.

Because of the great research that went into

this magazine, we’ve decided to put

as many of the articles online as possible as

a reference for today’s collectors.

The magazine ceased publication in 1948,

at the start of the postwar boom, when people

were turning to new consumer products and losing

interest in antiques.

We’re interested in learning more about the history of

this magazine. If you know anyone still living who

worked there (it was based in NYC) in the 1930s or 40s,

we’d be interested in talking with them and perhaps doing

an interview with them.

Also, we’re still missing some back issues, and would

be interested in hearing from you if you have them.

Specifically, all the issues up through Sept. 1937, most

of 1938, and much of 1944-46.

If you have these and would be willing to let us borrow

and scan them, please contact us… thanks!

(Note that a different, and unrelated, American Collector magazine was published briefly in the late 1970s.)

AMERCIAN COLLECTORS MOVIE, a film about

people who collect thing has a webisode on the

website of a tractor collector

( over 100 tractors, last time he counted)

AMERICAN COLLECTORS FILM Screening at the Tacoma Film Festival

2009 Highlights: www.tacomafilmfestival.com

Opening Night - Thursday, October 1
6:30pm: Reception - Annie Wright Great Hall
8:00pm: Opening Night Film - Annie Wright Kemper Theater

Movies all week long at the Grand Cinema.

Tacoma Art Museum and Tacoma School of the Arts will be showing films Saturday, October 3rd and Sunday, October 4th.

Closing Night - Thursday, October 8
Awards Ceremony - The Grand Cinema's lower lobby

AMERICAN COLLECTORS, A FILM ABOUT PEOPLE WHO COLLECT THINGS

AMERICAN COLLECTORS FILM Trailer is up on Indieflix

Indieflix has posted the American Collectors film trailer, please check it out. http://www.indieflix.com/Films/AmericanCollectors1

They are offering the best price on this DVD! A film about people who collect things.

Antique Tin Toy Collector in American Collectors Movie

Everyone like's tin toys, I do! Grath has a large collection of these toy's made out of tin. Please check out the website for more information on 15 other collectors and their items of desire. American Collectors Movie, a film about people who collect things

AMERICAN COLLECTORS FILM DVD ON IndieFlix

IndieFlix is now offering the film American Collectors, a film about people who collect things.

IndieFlix is a company based out of Seattle Wa. Co-Founder, CEO, Scilla Andreen and Co-Founder Carlo Scandiuzz

Bobbing Head Collector In American Collectors Movie

More bobbing heads then you have ever seen in one place. This collection has 25 years in the making and about 1000 in number. The focus is on character bobbing heads, from the 50's and 60's the age of plaster instead of plastic heads. Bob the collector mentions that they did not last because of the plaster heads would break easy, of course becoming very collectable. You can see Bob's bobbing head collection and 15 other collectors and their objects of desire in American Collectors Movie, a film about people who collect things. www.americancollectorsmovie.com

Vintage Radio Museum largest in the Country Featured in the American Collectors Movie

Bellingham Wa. has a radio and electricity museum that is like no other. Jonathon Winter talks about how he got started as a young man with one radio in the American Collectors Film. Jonathon has the largest collection of vintage radio’s etc... in the country. He talks about putting the museum together to share a part of history that is now becoming digital. check out more of the collectors and their objects of desire at

http://www.americancollectorsmovie.com

Radio Museum website, http://www.amre.us/

Giant Ball of String, In American Collectors Movie

In the film, American Collectors, one of the featured collectors has a giant ball of string that has been in his family for years. Its bigger than one of those exercise balls people use instead of chairs in some home offices. At the time we shot this segment it was the biggest ball of string I had ever seen!

Thanks to "road side america" I'm discovering that there are more giant balls out there and some are made of materials like stamps, plastic string, twine and barbed wire.

The largest ball of twine resides in Darwin Minnesota and measures 12 feet in diameter.. Cawker City Kansas also has a giant ball of twine. Its only 1 foot shy of the Darwin champion and the town hosts a yearly festival celebrating this proud achievement!

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2128

For more information on American Collectors Movie, http://www.americancollectorsmovie.com

America’s Largest Antique,Collectible Show

Coming up on July 11 & 12 !

The Portland Expo Antique & Collectible Show with more than

1400 booths filled with everything from estate jewelry, vintage toys, furniture from early American oak to European, paper Americana, china & glass including Fenton, Cambridge, Heisey, Tiffany, enticing smalls in silver, enamel and gold, country store, decor for every room in your home, kitchenware, coin-operated items such as jukeboxes, antique tools, costume jewelry, vintage clothing, barware, men's & ladies' antique watches, quilts, textiles, clocks, phonographs, sterling flatware, holiday memorabilia, lunch boxes, board games from the '60's, pop culture items, vintage gambling items, toy trains, sewing, dolls from the 1870's to the 1970's. Western Americana, tobacciana, price guides.

check out their website http://www.palmerwirfs.com/

http://www.americancollectorsmovie.com

Expert AXE Collector Featured In American Collectors Movie

Larry McPhail, noted Pacific Northwest ax collector and author is featured in the new documentary film, American Collectors.

McPhail, who has over 1000 axes, shows off his collection and talks about the drive to acquire more in the film, "American Collectors, a film about people who collect things" Larry is one of 16 collectors spotlighted in the film and McPhail, who has also been profiled in the History Channel's series " Ax Men" introduces the viewer to the concept of More-itis.

Along with McPhail's ax collection, this engaging film produced by Binary Studio in Bellingham WA. spotlights a huge collection of GI Joes, the world's largest Duran Duran poster collection and many others. Check out our Website at http://www.americancollectorsmovie.com

Purse Collector in our Film finds the mystery of the Giant Purse

A passionate antique purse collector who is featured in the documentary film, American Collectors, hit the jackpot due to some good luck on eBay and a special film screening.

The one of a kind purse is featured in the film American Collectors. Viewing the film at a sneak preview at the 2009 San Francisco Antique Purse Society Convention, another collector recognized the purse. The following week, she emailed a copy of a photograph of the original owner and detailed information on the purse's provenance. The purse features over 1,000,000 beads with a design taken from the windows of a Church in Rueil France. It was listed as the world's largest beaded purse and valued at $250,000 in 1928. The purse had been purchased on eBay in 2005, but the collector had no idea of its pedigree.

"I knew it was one of a kind and very special, but now I know there are over 1 million beads in this purse and it is probably still the largest beaded purse in the world!" The ecstatic collector plans to find a more suitable home for the purse, possibly at the Smithsonian.

Please check out our website for more info http://www.americancollectorsmovie.com