Guys, please be aware of one horrendous truth: most of the soap episodes from the 60s and 70s are no more. Some shows aired live while others were taped and after a few months the videotape was erased and reused. That's why most of the current ABC soaps (One Life, GH, and All My Kids) have few color tapes existing prior to 1978, when ABC began saving its tapes. "Ryan's Hope", like DS, was independtly produced until the creators sold it to ABC circa 1980, and that's why its pre '78 tapes were saved.
It's even worse regarding the Procter & Gamble soaps (Guiding Light, World Turns, Edge, Search,Another World). GL goes back to the late 70s, ATWT around 1980, and I'm told there are still missing tapes from AW from the 80s- one reason why the SoapNet reruns started with 1988!!
All of Grayson's OLTL stuff is safe, as is Robert Gerringer on Edge, and is I assume Louis Edmonds on AMC (he joined in the cutoff year of 1978!) and Anthony George on OLTL.
There IS some good news: Sony/Columbia TV owns Days, Y&R and Bold & Beautiful. Days' library goes ALL THE WAY BACK TO #1- and it's all in color!! Likewise with the other two. Some of you may know that Don Briscoe was a Days cast member in 1966- and the odds are the color tapes are in the Sony vaults in L.A. Also, Jim Storm was a B&B regular, and Jerry Lacy was on Y&R circa 1980. Now that SoapNet has the rerun rights for both Days and Y&R, perhaps we will be seeing our old friends in their non-DS soap roles again soon!