In the 090204 MMD Randy Hammond made many valid observations.  I agree
with most.  What I would like to do is offer alternate opinions on old
rolls.

First, I have been collecting and repairing old rolls for close to
thirty years and have an abundance of most roll types that are out
there.  For example I have over 700 totally restored, very playable 65-
note rolls.  Many of this group are over 100 years old and play as well
as the day they were made.

I applaud the folks who are scanning and making recuts.  They are
performing an invaluable service.  However I question the economics of
buying recuts for your personal collection if you have a playable copy.
After all, how many times per year are you going to play a particular
roll, especially if you have a sizable collection.  I think a valid
question is, What is ultimate life expectancy of a roll made on good
paper?  Many of my 100 year old rolls look like they are good for
another century.  Yes, I'm the type that spends hours repairing what
some would consider a junk roll.  These are marked as such and are not
offered for sale on eBay. The point is to repair these rolls for some
time in the future when the rolls might appeal to some scanning
operation.

I'm currently selling from five to fifty rolls per week on eBay.  I'm
sorry Randy has had some bad experience with rolls he purchased on
eBay.  I have been selling rolls on eBay off and on for about six years
and have had only one complaint in all that time ... and I replaced
that customer's rare Ampico roll from my own collection.  Fortunately
he returned the bad roll, and I had it repaired and back in my roll
collection in about ten minutes.  My feeling about roll repair is that,
if some individual composed the song, some company produced the roll,
etc., then unless it is in shreds, who are we to condemn it to the
trash can?

Tom Hutchinson