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[thelarsonsix]

I noticed they had sold also. A bit too rich for me.

[rubedugans]

I do know the buyer also purchased other space items in the past....maybe he'd sell the Meramec Caverns ones to recover some of his $$...if in fact this is why he wanted them....just pure speculation here!

I' do have them on my radar though just in case I see them somewhere!

[thelarsonsix]

Someone got a deal here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110736838405

Anyone want to fess up?

[stereo3d]

I was the 3-D photographer of the 1995 Branson, Missouri View-Master reels.  Several images on that 3-reel pack were 1995 3-D photos of Silver Dollar City including a shot of SDC characters eating fried chicken in a cabin, performers in the dance hall saloon and more.  These were sold at Silver Dollar City, at some of the theatres and souvenir shops in the mid-90s.  I pulled them out of the stores and now only sell them online.  Only 2,500 of these sets were custom produced by me.  I still have several unopened sets that are new "old" stock in case anyone is interested at http://3dreview.ecrater.com/p/6724017/branson-missouri-view-master-reels

[thelarsonsix]

Welcome aboard! Can you tell us how your sets differ from the ones we had found earlier? http://www.rollanet.org/~vbeydler/van/behind3d.htm We'd love to hear some of the behind the scenes of the shots as well.

[stereo3d]

Here is the "Behind the Scenes" information from my website: 

For the first time, Branson attractions are showcased in full color View-Master® 3-D photographs. Branson visitors will want to pick up this souvenir to show their friends back home what Branson really looks like in 3-D photographs so real you could reach out and touch them. Close to six million people travel to spend their vacation at Branson attraction. Branson, America's live entertainment capital, is home to theatres featuring such stars as Kenny Rogers at The Grand Palace, Branson's Comedian of the Year Jim Stafford at the Jim Stafford Theatre, The Tony Orlando Yellow Ribbon Music Theatre, The Baldknobbers Hillbilly Jamboree, The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theatre, Shenandoah South Theatre, The Five Star Theatre, The Cristy Lane Theatre and "Hee Haw Honeys," The Norris Twins (Becky and Lindy Norris). Popular theme parks like Silver Dollar City, Marvel Cave, White Water, Mutton Hollow Craft and Entertainment Village, Branson Scenic Railway, Showboat Branson Belle, downtown Branson and more are featured on the Branson, Missouri View-Master® 3-D reels.

The first Branson stars who agreed to have their 3-D photo included on the project were The Norris Twins. Becky and Lindy Norris are well known Branson entertainers who also appeared as a regular part of the cast of TV's "Hee Haw." The Norris Twins photo showcases these two lovely ladies in a live performance before a capacity audience at the "John Davidson Theatre" located on Branson's world famous 76 Country Boulevard.

"One of my favorite views of Branson is of the Jim Stafford Theatre," said 3-D photographer Van Beydler. "Jim's theatre features a huge guitar neck towering above the fabulous old-time theatre marquee spelling out Jim Stafford's name in glorious neon lights," Van said. "Jim is also a stereo enthusiast. He even has Random Dot Stereo posters hanging on the wall of his theatre restrooms." "After showing Jim some of the various Branson 3-D shots I'd taken, Jim told me he had just acquired a copy of the book 'HOLLYWOOD 3-D' and some new computer stereogram programs. In fact, several audience members wearing 3-D glasses were featured in the ad for Jim's theatre in the as past issue of the Branson/Lakes area Chamber of Commerce Vacation Guide." Jim and some of his theatre cast members also appear on stage in another stereo view taken during a live performance.

"I am really proud of the 3-D shot I got of Marvel Cave," Van stated. "Marvel Cave is located under Silver Dollar City. You can take a walking tour of the cave that lasts about an hour. I climbed down into Marvel Cave twice to get the one shot I am most proud of. I set my stereo camera rig up on a tripod and focus on the huge stairway tower leading into the cave. It was a partly cloudy day following an early morning rainshower. Water is constantly dripping through the huge sinkhole opening at the roof of the cave's "Cathedral Room." I took four or five shots of the same scene. The sun had gone behind a cloud so the light coming in the cave's opening illuminated the wet rocks with a soft blue aura without burning the image. The blue light also illuminates the rocks at the bottom of the cave several stories below. The tower lamps perfectly light up the cave's interior showing the walkways leading further down." "At one time they inflated several hot air balloons and floated them inside the cave," Van said. " I would have loved to have been in the cave when they did that. It would be a great 3-D picture!" If you can't visit Marvel Cave in person, this is the next best thing to being there. Before the huge tower was built for visitors to casually walk down to the bottom of the cave, there was a ladder fixed from the top of the sinkhole to the cave floor. Imagine having to climb a ladder nearly as tall as the Statue of Liberty to enter the cave. If the Statue of Liberty was set inside the cave, only the tip of the torch would be sticking out of the ground.

Superstar Kenny Rogers appears on the reels courtesy of his manager, entertainment mogul Ken Kragen. The 3-D photo of Kenny Rogers was taken during one of his exclusive appearances at "The Grand Palace."

"The view of Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theatre was taken at night without the aid of lights. The shot was only illuminated by the light coming out the barrels of the actor's guns. In the timed exposure, you see the flare of the gunblasts during the crucial gunfight scene."

"Some of Branson's history is displayed in the view at Mutton Hollow Craft and Entertainment Village. The scene shows an beautifully restored antique carousel and scenic ferris wheel which were part of a carnival that once had it's winter home in Branson."

"The most difficult thing I had to do was pick out the best twenty-one shots to use on the reels," Van said. "There were so many great shots I wanted to include. The hardest was deciding between using the daytime or night slides of The Grand Palace. In the night view, the quality of the exposure was so good you could even tell the difference between the colors of the flowers in front of the building...but the daytime view had the best 3-D effect." The Grand Palace view shows the best "depth" of any of the images appearing on the reels.

"One of the most unique things about the Branson, Missouri reels is the variety of subject featured," Van said. "I know there are collectors of 3-D views of caves, carousels, entertainers, scenics, theme parks, and more. All of these are represented on the Branson reels."

Branson is home to about three dozen indoor theatres and four outdoor theatres, too, capable of seating more than 50,000 people on any day.

The "Showboat Branson Belle" offers themed entertainment in its three story opera house aboard the football sized craft on Table Rock Lake. The Showboat Branson Belle was christened by co-owner Kenny Rogers on April 13, 1995. Celebrities including Loni Anderson were on board the maiden cruise. The ship was set afloat by sliding on banana peels down the ramp leading to the water's edge near Branson's Tablerock Dam. I have several 3-D photo taken of the showboat during it's construction. One image shows the boat before the wheelhouse was added.  The view on the reels shows the boat steaming across Lake Tayneycomo, which is nationally known for it's brown and rainbow trout fishing.

The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theatre is named for one of the most popular novels in publishing history, Harold Bell Wright's "The Shepherd of the Hills." 70 native players bring the novel to life each evening at the enormous amphitheatre at the site of the nation's most popular outdoor historical drama.

"White Water" theme park offers a wave pool, lazy river, and faster, wetter rides in a tropical atmosphere. An exciting view taken from atop the Paradise Plunge water slide showing Branson's famous 76 Country boulevard in the distance is featured on the reels. Several people who have looked at this view give it what I call the "WOW FACTOR!" When they look at the picture, they almost always say, "Wow," and kind of sway since it appears to them they are suddenly several stories in the air at the top of the water slide.

"Branson Scenic Railway" carries passengers through the scenic Ozarks from Reeds Spring, Missouri, through Branson, to Bergman Arkansas in Vista-Dome cars. Light meals are available on board. Their headquarters is located in downtown Branson and their view shows one of the historic trains stretching in the distance in one of the highlights of the 3-D tour.

"The Baldknobbers Hillbilly Jamboree" is the show that started it all in Branson. By 1960, the five Mabe brothers started performing a country music show as "The Baldknobbers" on the Taneycomo lakefront in Branson. The show features top country hits, country classics and comedy guaranteed to make you belly laugh. Stub Meadows and Droopy Drawers will tickle your funny bone in their 3-D picture.

"Shenandoah South Theatre" has been home to such superstar performers as Johnny Cash and Anita Bryant. Wayne Newton also performed there when it was known as "The Wayne Newton Theatre." The 3-D image shows the theatre in all it's glory.

Recording star Tony Orlando's "Yellow Ribbon Music Theatre" is a nine million dollar fully modern theatre that seats 2,000 in state of the art comfort while they listen to Tony's hits like "Knock Three Times and My Sweet Gypsy Rose." The 3-D tour shows the yellow ribbons tied to the trees among the beautiful flowers in front of Tony's magnificent theatre. My parents and sister were thrilled at the quality and entertainment value they enjoyed at Tony's show. The 3-D view shows the outside of Tony's theatre with lots of tiny "yellow ribbons" tied to the trees outside.

Cristy Lane is noted for the inspirational hit "One Day at a Time." The show at her theatre has something for everyone. Many guest artists also appear on stage at "The Cristy Lane Theatre." The exterior of Cristy's unique theatre shows a huge photo of Cristy to thousands of Branson guests.

Branson's most spectacular theatre is "The Five Star Theatre." Superstar Wayne Newton headlined at the Five Star Theatre and it was renamed "The Wayne Newton Theatre." Comedian Ray Stevens is also appeared at the theatre.
There is also a 3-D photo of historic downtown Branson, which is visited by hundreds of bus tours during their trip to Branson. A wonderful night time scene show several Branson visitors looking into the windows of the remarkable downtown stores.

The Branson reels contain a vast array of items that make it of interest to collector's of 3-D views, such as a cave view for cave collectors, a view of a carousel and ferris wheel for those collectors, entertainers for those who like to collect famous people's images, theme park scenes, a train scene which always lends itself to great 3-D and more.   The Branson, Missouri View-Master® 3-reel set is a limited edition.  Only 2,500 custom-made sets were produced.

Collector's of View-Master® reels have joined together to hunt for older reels, too.   The collector's visit flea markets, garage sales and conventions to look for View-Master® collectibles. View-Master® reels and viewers were formally introduced at the New York World's Fair in 1939 and at the Golden Gate Exposition in 1940. It became an instant national success.

[stereo3d]

I contacted the View-Master factory in Portland, Oregon in the early 1990s about taking the 3-D photos for a proposed set of Branson, Missouri reels.  They were not interested in producing and distributing a factory produced set but told me I had first option to produce a custom set myself and market it.  I went to several Branson attractions and got permission and model releases to photograph their theatres, entertainers, attractions, etc. I did a "test reel" using a View-Master Personal 3-D camera to show how the reels might look. That test reel included sample 3-D images that did not make it on the final production reels.  Some of the images on that test reel included shots of Roy Clark performing at his theatre, the IMAX theatre and more.  Ray Stevens was very interested in producing a set of reels featuring him in characters from several of his songs, but the timing was not right.  He was getting ready to leave Branson about the time the Branson reels were released in 1995 and we never produced that set.  Too bad, it would've been a lot of fun taking those photos...and what a souvenir it would've been.  I shot hundreds of 3-D photos at Silver Dollar City and other Branson attractions but had to choose 21 of the best images to feature on the reels. I still have all the slides from the shoot except for one.  When the reels were originally released, I did a sweepstakes drawing on my website and the prize was one of the original unused Realist format 3-D slides taken during the photo shoot plus an autographed set of the Branson blister pack. 

Here is a list of the final images in the set:

Reel A
1. Kenny Rogers at The Grand Palace
2. Jim Stafford Theatre
3. The Grand Palace
4. Inside Marvel Cave's Majestic Cathedral Room
5. Baldknobbers Hillbilly Jamboree
6. Dance Hall fun at the Silver Dollar City Saloon
7. Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theatre

Reel B
1. Tony Orlando Yellow Ribbon Music Theatre
2. Downtown Branson
3. Shenandoah South Theatre
4. White Water with wet and wild family fun
5. Becky and Lindy, The Norris Twins
6. Old fashioned dinner at Silver Dollar City
7. Showboat Branson Belle

Reel C
1. Branson's famous "76 Country Boulevard" and White Water Slide
2. One of Branson's magnificent theatres on 76 Country Boulevard
3. Jim Stafford
4. Cristy Lane Theatre
5. Mutton Hollow Entertainment Park and Craft Village
6. Silver Dollar City Lost River Ride
7. Branson Scenic Railway

[stereo3d]

A note about the Marvel Cave 3-D image on the Branson, Missouri View-Master reels:  Silver Dollar City was so impressed by the photo they asked permission to use it in other marketing.  I gave them permission to use the photo but I never found out if they ended up using it in any of their literature or online.

[thelarsonsix]

I'm trying to order a set. Are you setup for PayPal? It says in the FAQ on the website that I'll be contacted via PayPal for shipping costs, but don't see a PayPal option at checkout.

[stereo3d]

I fixed the ordering page for the Branson, Missouri View-Master reels.  You should be able to check out using Paypal now.  Thanks for letting me know.

[thelarsonsix]

Perfect, thanks. Think I was confused earlier, http://www.rollanet.org/~vbeydler/van/behind3d.htm is your site then isn't it? For some reason I thought that site was just the seller and you were the photographer, but I see it's one in the same.

[stereo3d]

Yes, that is my Stereo 3-D Images site.  I also have a site at http://www.3-Dreview.com

[stereo3d]

I noticed people were asking about other Missouri and attraction View-Master reels.  I also helped produce the View-Master reels for the 100th anniversary of the Missouri State Fair back in 2002.  Those reels are available here: http://3dreview.ecrater.com/p/6765159/missouri-state-fair-view-master

[rubedugans]

Very good to have you Stereo3D! I picked up a Branson set a while back (not sure where, but they are unopened still !) more than likely at a flea market.

[stereo3d]

Only 1,000 Missouri State Fair reel sets were produced. 

Here are the images featured on the Missouri State Fair reels:

Reel A
1. State Fair Boulevard 1907
2. President Taft at Missouri's State Fair in 1911
3. Dan Patch race at the Grandstand in 1909
4. Sideshow attractions at the Missouri State Fair in 1909
5. Two views of the Coliseum 1907
6. Womans Building 1910
7. President Truman with grand champion Mule 1955

Reel B
1. Missouri State Fair mascot Bartholomule
2. 4-H Youth Cattle Exhibitors
3. Preparing for the horse show competition
4. The Flying Wallendas
5. Kachunga and the Alligator
6. Hillbilly Bob
7. Buttons the Clown

Reel C
1. Missouri State Fair Midway with lots of family fun
2. Prize winning vegetables at the Missouri State Fair
3. Antique tractors at the Missouri State Fair
4. Missouri State Fair Backyard Chef BBQ Contest
5. Fairgoers cheer for their favorite racing pigs
6. Youth with a longhorn steer
7. Bungee ride at the Missouri State Fair