[7] In 1972, however, the base of collectors had grown to where Holt decided to host a cruise along the Mississippi River, on which he invited big-name Western stars such as Sunset Carson, Lash LaRue, and Tex Ritter.

Indeed, with increasing frequency researchers themselves advertise in its pages, announcing what titles they need in the hope that some collector might have that rare print or kinescope, and be willing to part with it (for a price) or, more advantageous, supply a videotape of it.

[11] The magazine helped catapult the professional careers of several multinational film distributors, including Jeff Joseph of SabuCat and Mike Vraney of Something Weird.

[18] Rival publications included Classic Images, Movie Collectors World,[15] VideoMania,[13] The Videophile,[9] and Screen Thrills—the latter of which was also published in North Carolina, in Raleigh.

Around this time, House of Stars also introduced a sister publication, Hollywood and Vine, and started publishing picture books and reference works on the film industry.

[5] Although the Big Reel saw use by collectors for the exchange of reportedly thousands of films in the months leading to its closure,[21] the magazine ended in October 2008, folding into Antique Trader.

[24] From the earliest days of the Big Reel, the Federal Bureau of Investigation frequently perused the magazine in search of collections of potentially pirated materials.

These columns later expanded in length and subject matter and introduced counterpoints from letters, callers and personal correspondence with Cline in film festivals and collector conventions.