[MOPO] BONHAMS

[JOHN REID Vintage Movie Memorabilia]

Before I go into detail I want to say that I hope the following is taken as constructive criticism. These are simply my thoughts as a potential bidder.   I have just had a look through the Bonhams catalogue and one of the strange things that strikes me is that many of the photos appear to have been cropped.  A number of the photos do not appear to show the complete poster - ie, the borders are not shown, and the printer along with NSS details are not visible. You can't see if there is any damage to the edges of the poster. The inevitable conclusion is that either the poster has been trimmed or the image cropped. Even if it is only the image has been cropped many of the posters have been linen backed and I would expect to be able to see if the linen has been trimmed to the actual borders of the poster or if a margin has been allowed.   I really cant understand why you would not display the entire poster eg Lot No: 2112, or Lot No: 2118 or Lot 2126 and more. It really is hard to bid on something when the real condition is so difficult to determine. If you can't see the borders then you really dont have a true indication of the condition of the poster. I know this from bitter experience.   Have a look at Lot Number 2166. The borders are not shown. Has it been trimmed? The poster is described as condition "B" but what makes it B. You can't tell from the photo but if it is "B" then there must be some defects. Describing a poster as A,B or C is not good enough for a major auction. Defects should be clearly specified even if you use close up images (read on for more on the way posters are photgraphed).   There are also lobby card lots in this auction where only one lobby card is shown eg the Rebecca lobby card lot of 6 (incidentally, surely these are not original.) What are the other cards in this lot? What makes them all condition "B". Its not much good showing one card with a detailed image when there is no indication of the other cards or their condition.   Lot No: 2076 Rebecca United Artists, 1940, six lobby cards, condition B.   This leads to another interesting subject. Have you ever wondered why the photos of posters in auction catalogues always look so perfect even when many are actually described as being in poor condition. In many cases the reason is that the professional photographers who take the photos for the auction houses often use a vacuum press to flatten out the poster before it is photographed. This generally means that the foldlines and defects are not as noticeable as they would be if you simply took a basic photo of a folded poster without trying to flatten it out. Those MoPoers who are dealers will know that in the amateur photographs that we take the foldlines are always clearly visible.   Another concern surrounds the many posters that have been linen backed in this auction. An example is Lot No: 2177 The Wicked Lady   This has been simply described as:   "Universal, 1946, one-sheet, condition A-, linen-backed 41 x 27in".   The photo does not really help. I would be asking:   1. What was the condition of the poster prior to backing. 2. Who did the backing. I'm sure we all know that there can be a huge difference between the work of various backers. 3. Are there any defects that are still visible.   etc etc.   Once again, bitter experience has taught me that you cannot assume that "A-" means that the poster has been professionally linen backed.   Hopefully the points I have raised will be viewed as constructive. I think it is important to be as accurate as possible with descriptions and, ultimately, it will probably result in more bids and less hassles for the seller.   What do you guys think?   Regards John                 NEW Website: www.moviemem.com   JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA PO Box 92 Palm Beach Qld 4221 Australia Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.