CED Digest Vol. 3 No. 4

CED Digest Vol. 3 No. 4 • 1/24/1998
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 12:09:01 +0200
From: sobel
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: ad

I have 650 TITLES including rare, multiple, and even box set which I
want to sell with three 400 series RCA players.  The discs are $2 ea./$4
double plus shipping.  Approx. half the discs are still in the shrink
wrap.  All offers considered.  Players are $100 apiece plus shipping.
must sell as a package only!! sobel@isracom.co.il

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From: MPatoray 
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 11:37:43 EST
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: No Subject

I am looking for an RCA 400 series player working or not. If anyone has one
please let me know.
Matt Patoray

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Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 10:09:39 -0800 (PST)
From: Jesse Skeen 
To: Tom Howe <ceds@teleport.com>
Subject: Re: CED Digest Vol. 3 No. 3

I've heard similar stories about Goodwill throwing out stuff that either 
has been in the store unsold for too long or that they think nobody even 
wants. Those who've read "8-track Mind", a "zine" for 8-track 
enthusiasts, had a story once about someone who regularly got lots of 
great tapes at a Goodwill until they got a new manager who stopped 
putting them out, just leaving them in boxes in the back room. When the 
writer of the letter asked where all the 8-tracks went, she lied and said 
there weren't any more, but one day she snuck into the back room and 
found the boxes of 8-tracks just sitting there, with lots of ones she'd 
wanted for a long time. She got caught though and permanently banned from 
the store- the manger told her "Goodwill has a policy, and I follow that 
policy: Never overload the merchandise, especially the 8-tracks, because 
they're dirty, bulky, and no one buys them anyway!"
I've heard other stories about things like perfectly good Vectrex game 
systems getting thrown out too. I don't know if the stores near me 
operate the same way, but this has made me very wary of them, and if I 
ever have extra stuff that I can't sell or trade on the net I will NOT be 
donating them to Goodwill. I will give them to some thrift store but 
first make sure that they actually get put out for sale and never thrown 
out even if no one's bought them for months.
I wonder how many people who donate stuff know about this? It seems 
they'd do it with the assumption that it'd get sold and the money going 
to their charity, but if they get thrown out then that's just plain 
stupid; some thrift stores refuse certain donations if they think they 
won't sell.
I have occasional good luck with Goodwill though; went to one in Lodi on 
a whim (I live in Sacramento), this was during the first month I got into 
the format, and found lots of great discs there including Raiders of the 
Lost Ark, which turns out to be a pretty common title but I didn't have 
many stereo discs yet and I wanted something with a killer soundtrack to 
see how good the sound on CED was.
If the goodwills in your area are taking donations and just trashing 
them, I suggest contacting the head of the organazation for the area and 
let them know you're displeased with this practice and won't be donating 
anything to them, and probably rarely stop at their stores either.

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From: ESmith1711 
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 00:09:47 EST
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: CED post

I am looking for the following discs
1. Return of the jedi  (1st disc only)
2. A view to a kill (1st disc only)
3. Rocky 4
4. Diamonds are forever
5.On her majesties secret service
6. Thunderball ( 1st disc only)
i will buy or trade discs for these, will trade multiple discs for a couple of
the above.   Esmith1711@aol.com

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Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 22:46:26 -0800
From: Tom Howe
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: RE: Rare VideoDiscs

On Mon, 12 Jan 1998 Jesse Skeen wrote:
>The Ebay note reminds me of a good question to ask everyone- what is THE
>absolute RAREST CED ever made that was intended for sale (meaning this
>doesn't include the promo-only discs).

If I had to pick the rarest retail disc it would be "James Cagney: That Yankee
Doodle Dandy." This was one of the last titles scheduled for August 1986
release (the date was later moved forward to June to accommodate closure of the
pressing plant). Since this was a documentary, and an old one at that (from his
1981 come back in Ragtime), it probably was pressed in smaller quantities than
any of the other August 1986 releases which included Enemy Mine, Murphy's
Romance, Marie, Spies Like Us, Sweet Dreams, and Youngblood. The very last title
pressed on June 27, 1986 was "Jewel of the Nile," but this one apparently isn't
exceptionally rare as the plant personnel kept pressing it until there were no
more empty caddies in the warehouse (most copies of this title will have two
caddy labels, one glued directly over the other).

Looking over all the 1986 releases, there is only one that I've come across only
once "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome". This title was a January 1986 release and a
much hyped movie, so it may be mere coincidence that I've seen it only once. I'd
be interested to know if anyone else on the list has this title. 
I'm still working on the overall rarity rating for all titles, It's a very
monotonous task. I need as many people as possible to fill out the rarity
survey at the CED Magic site, as I still don't have enough of those to make a
statistically significant distinction between the title pairs listed. Even if
you have only one title on that survey, it's still useful to check it off and
submit the form.  One thing about the analysis is that some titles have emerged
as being very common. Does anyone want to guess what the most common title
appears to be? Here's a hint-- it's a movie that figured prominently in the news
almost exactly one year after RCA introduced the CED system.

--Tom
http://www.cedmagic.com

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From: "Daniel P. Cayea" 
To: <ceds@teleport.com>
Subject: NCDL Newsletter & Chat Room Meeting
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 09:31:01 -0500

Dear CED Enthusiasts:  I would like to apologize for the abandonment of the
meeting  and the temporary halt of the newsletter. The weather in northern
New  York, more specifically the Ice Storm of 1998' which you may or may have
not  known about has been wreaking general havoc on all here, including the
computers. I ask you if you were subscribed to the newsletter to please
subscribe again, so that I may update damaged files.
Thanks Dan Cayea Telecom Technologies

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Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 09:32:21 -0800
From: Neil Wagner 
To: *CED Digest <ceds@teleport.com>
Subject: Videodisc History, Part 12

>From the April 1981 issue of Popular Science,
the first half of a feature article
by William J. Hawkins.

--------------------------------------------------
Now you can buy it:  RCA's videodisc player

It's easy to set up, use, maintain--and features
a reasonable price to boot
--------------------------------------------------

  If you've been following the videodisc evolution
in PS for the past few years, you know there are
three major systems:  Philips optical, RCA capaci-
tance, and Matsushita's VHD.  Magnavox and Pioneer
are already selling players using the Philips system
(both units tried by PS, Sept. '79 and Jan. '81).
And now the RCA system is available.
  But that's not all.  At a recent Electronics
Industries Assn. dealer trade show, about a dozen
different brands were shown, all using one of the
three major formats.  All should be available within
a year.  And 1981 isn't just the year for video--it's
promising to be the year for the videodisc.
  I've been living with the RCA system for some time
now.  It's simple to use and easy to hook up.  One
control--a three-position lever switch--does most of
the work.  Push it down to the "LOAD" position, and a
front door opens wide so you can insert the disc-jacket
and all.  You never touch the record.  The machinery 
inside the player extracts the disc, and you pull out
the empty plastic jacket.  Then you just slide the
switch up to "PLAY".
  This player is different from the prototype I saw a
few years ago.  It has additional buttons for special
effects:  Reverse and forward "VISUAL SEARCH" buttons
let you scan for a scene at about 16 times normal
speed.  Reverse and forward "RAPID ACCESS" buttons let
you leap through the hour-long side.  You can't see
the picture in this mode, but a digital display counts
up or down to show how for you've gone.  The last
button is "PAUSE", and it temporarily holds the show
and blanks out the screen.
  When the first side is through, you insert the disc
jacket into the loading hole again.  The disc is placed
back in the sleeve and you pull it out.  Turn it over,
place it back in the hole, and remove the empty jacket.
Another hour of play is ready to go.

[Look for the second half of this article in
next week's CED Digest.]

-- 
Neil - nw@ix.netcom.com

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Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 13:10:16 -0700
From: "Jerry E. Harper" 
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: subscribe to digest

Where can I get my player repaired?
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