>----- Original Message -----
>From: J R
>It's always said that in the end what something is worth is relative to
each individual. True enough. But in this case I have to wonder about
something -- when Dr. >V points out that previously this card went for
$10,000 via one of Bruce's auctions not too long ago... and had been trading
in the $2,000 to $3,000 range before >that... well, the sudden
jump-up-out-of-the-blue to $46,000 just smacks of investment speculators to
me, not movie poster collectors. Now I don't know who >bought it... I'm just
guessing here and could be very wrong... but if it were a movie poster
collector who just "had to have it" -- then why the heck didn't that >person
go ahead and buy it a little while ago when they could have picked it up for
a much more reasonable amount of money? Why wait until Heritage is selling
it >and pay almost 5 TIMES the previously-established value? No, I think it
is much more likely it was a couple of investors/speculators with very deep
pockets who >regard these type of purchases as an "investment" much like
buying stocks or bonds who bid it up so high above any previous sale. Heck,
in the stock market, >plonking down $40,000 or $50,000 on a stock is no big
deal. It happens thousands of times every day.
>. The 15% buyer's premium alone on $46,000 was $6,900 (!) Who knows what
shipping, handling and insurance will run? Maybe $8 bucks?
>I personally don't think these kind of speculation-driven "record prices"
are "good for the hobby" as a whole. -- JR
You should probably do a little fact checking before you pontificate about
the why's and why not's of the poster auction world.
1) the Bride of Frankenstein title card sold for $46,000 including buyer's
premium - not $46,000 plus another $6,900
2) the title card that Dr. V was referring to was NOT a Bride of
Frankenstein, but a Frankenstein title card from the
1951 re-release of the film. The one that Heritage had sold for $4,600 as
compared to the $8,200 for the one Bruce sold earlier.
3) Of course we now know that the one Bruce had, was sold to John Parnum who
was a "true" collector by any measure of
the word and it was the wish of a very ill person to be able to complete his
set and be happy. Who can fault him for that?
4) The last time an original Bride of Frankenstein title card was available
in the public market it sold for over $25,000 and that
was in 1998.
5) Of course it wasn't just a buyer bidding it up against himself, there
were four interested bidders up to the $30,000 level and
then two collectors (not speculators) who really wanted it and bid on it
from there
6) Remember Heritage does offer extended terms of up to 12 months, which
works to encourage bids that could be higher
than Bruce's as he requests payment within 10 days.
7) Speculation driven prices may or may not be bad for the hobby, but there
is certainly nothing wrong with two collectors
who really love a piece doing all they can to try and insure that they get
the item - as who knows when another might become available.
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