{"id":1727,"date":"2015-09-24T09:11:41","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T09:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bigheadamusements.com\/wordpress\/?p=1727"},"modified":"2015-09-24T09:23:58","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T09:23:58","slug":"au-retour-active-surplus-and-adieu-to-film-buff-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigheadamusements.com\/wordpress\/?p=1727","title":{"rendered":"Au Retour, Active Surplus, and Adieu to Film Buff West"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was finishing university, I remember you could get Vectrex<\/a> games from a place called Active Surplus for a quarter or something equally absurd, and yet I still regret not going in and actually buying game cartridges because, well, they were a quarter<\/em>, and I could\u2019ve played them today on my Vectrex (although right now it\u2019s in deep storage).<\/p>\n

You never know what you miss until it\u2019s no longer there, or about to disappear, and so goes the month of September which was filled with surprising announcements.<\/p>\n

One:<\/strong> The Film Buff West, older & bigger cousin to The Film Buff East that closed last year, is calling it quits come December<\/a>, just before Xmas. The owners cite a lapsing lease and a desire to move on, and once again fans of video stores will bemoan what\u2019s slowly disappearing, making this year\u2019s Video Store Day either an urgent call to arms for something that\u2019s more niche than ever, or an industry that\u2019s on a steady slope. If people don\u2019t come for rentals, that leaves sales, and if few are buying, that leaves nothing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a good thing, but more than a few years ago I suggested those still running video stores would be owners of the property \u2013 having no need to shutter the business as long as it was personally satisfying\u2013 and aging owners who either due to rent increases or a lack of love, have had enough.<\/p>\n

For some it might be a passion project, and if it\u2019s still economically feasible in spite of being not necessarily viable or logical, the store lives another day.<\/p>\n

What remains in Toronto are 8 known stores (i.e.: those that have been found through online listings and word-of-mouth), determined to continue as unique examples of the bricks & mortar home video shop, but it is unnerving to think how many may remain if the ratio of closures per year continues, whittling down the core group by 2 or 3 each year.<\/p>\n

Hopefully the Film Buff\u2019s collection will be absorbed by other stores and customers, because what many stores have are collections of movies and TV shows and other rarities that aren\u2019t as easily obtainable digitally. Maybe via MOD, but those are often pricey imports pushing $20-$30+ each, while a rental is a small fraction of that.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be interesting to see if a Toronto store with an immense collection will go the Scarecrow Video<\/a> route and become a non-profit organization<\/a>, a library for all, and a permanent place where its content can only grow, given that\u2019ll be part of its mandate.<\/p>\n

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* * *<\/p>\n

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Two:<\/strong>\u00a0Active Surplus<\/a> isn\u2019t vanishing \u2013 the store may be closing both Steeles and Queen Street locations, but it\u2019s reportedly part of a reassessing process that\u2019ll see the store re-emerge in some form.<\/p>\n

Since the store is closing at the end of September \u2013 next Wednesday<\/em> \u2013 the discounting has gone from 50% to 60%, and there\u2019s still some intriguing stuff to find, especially if you\u2019re a filmmaker, hobbyist, or into arcane video gear.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m planning a second drop-by, but here are a few examples of the value in having a local business that has an archive of odd stuff that caters to a variety of clients. With the Canadian dollar hovering around 75 cents U.S., it makes online ordering a lot pricier, and while there are still some unique things you have to get from specialty dealers across borders, it\u2019s nice to know what exists locally, and what will hopefully return again in a more robust form.<\/p>\n

I think anyone who uses audio or video gear can attest to never having enough cables, power bars, adapters, and other doodads that might, from a cursory glance, seem limited, but actually facilitate a lot more once they’ve been (literally) plugged into a chain.<\/p>\n

Case 1<\/strong>: the UHF<\/a> adapter. Once a standard for connecting video gear, the fat phallic plug is apparently more of use in radio and antenna connections, but during the seventies it was akin to the RCA plug \u2013 just fatter.<\/p>\n

What does it enable? Well, if you\u2019ve an old power supply for cameras like a RCA cc002 \u2013 a chunky Vidicon monster \u2013 you can sent the video anywhere now. If you\u2019ve an old editing monitor (like I do) with video ins \/ outs, same deal.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a more arcane creature: a Sony SEG-1, reportedly their first video mixer for industrial use. It mandates connecting cameras like the Sony AVC-3260 \u2013 the one used for Computer Chess<\/strong> (2013) \u2013 via a six-pin cable for sync and video, which enables a genlocking feature built-into the unit.<\/p>\n

The UHF plugs also allow for straight video connections from other sources (albeit non-genlocked).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"IMG_3230_s\"<\/a>
Top view of a Sony SEG-1. Yeah, it still works. Kinda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"IMG_3231_s\"<\/a>
The posterior of the Sony SEG-1, outfitted with a UHF-RCA adapter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

One plug rescues an obsolete 45+ year old mixer from the junk pile, and by using adapters like a UHF to RCA<\/a>, you can make layered video textures:<\/p>\n

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