I think Collectible Shows and on-site auctions can still have the edge. I just got back from Cinevent and it's great to connect with dealers and buyers I haven't seen all year and nothing, not even a super-image zoom, can replace holding a poster or lobby cards in your hands to see the artwork, color, texture etc. Besides which it's tedious to go through all the Heritage or Bruce Hershenson listings to check condition and I lose interest one quarter of the way through. That said, I found this year's Cinevent to be a someone subdued affair. Unfortunately the economy has taken its toll on the art of collecting movie ephemera. Most of the dealers were complaining that sales were slow and I don't think Morrie going to count this one as his most financially successful auction either. Part of the problem for me is that disgusting hotel the Cinevent insist on using. Their business center had no capacity to print anything, given that their printers were all down and had been apparently for some time. The rooms either smell of disinfectant or stale cigarettes. The air- conditioner in my room was dead and had to be changed. The restaurant doesn't even look clean and wake-up calls were ignored by the front desk. The auction room was decided hot, so much so I couldn't sit in that room for more than an hour at a time and Morrie seemed to be experiencing technical problems throughout. I've made a decision to stay elsewhere ...anywhere else... next year. I only wish the Cinevent management would wise up and follow suit. FRANC
From: Bruce Hershenson <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOPO] hollywood poster auction & DISCUSSION To: [email protected] Date: Sunday, May 24, 2009, 10:41 AM I love Morrie, and he is absolutely one of the pioneers of this hobby! Without people like Morrie and Richard Allen, who started the hobby and spent massive effort on making the world aware of it, there likely wouldn't be a hobby today! With that being said, I do think that "live auctions" are a dying breed, and large collectible shows have a similar problem. Why should people spend lots and lots of money on travel and hotels when they could spend that same money on buying posters? In the "old days", the advantage was that you could see the items "up close and personal", and that was not possible through the mail, without spending $50,000 or so on a deluxe color catalog as I did, and even then you didn't get a really good idea of what the condition was, just what the image looked like. But now, with the Internet, you CAN provide super-sized images that show every flaw in excrutiating detail (of course some auctions choose not to do so, with fuzzy scans, but that is their choice), so I really think that one giant advantage live auctions had is gone. I hope Morrie can continue to put on his auctions (to whatever extent he can), and that the hobby will support him, for as you rightly point out, Cinevent might not survive either, and it is wonderful that once a year there is a place in the middle of the country where many of the members of the hobby gather (I have attended many times, and would have been there this time, except for fate conspiring against me; Memorial Day falls super-early this year, and it started on the last day of my kid's school, and my 14 year old had perfect attendence all four years of middle school and he wasn't about to miss the very last day, and besides, he got straight As all year and got an award that last day, so I had to choose being at that over being at the auction, and it was no choice at all). Bruce On Sun, May 24, 2009 at 9:26 AM, Douglas Ball <[email protected]> wrote: Michael, Speaking from what I have seen... Morrie was extremely short of help this year. I believe this is also the first year as long as I have attended that Marty Davis wasn't involved. Anyway, Morrie tried some new things this year, some worked well, but many did not...I believe for next year there will changes...for the best! As for the catalogues, this was the first time I received a catalog for the Columbus auction, I've only receive flyers. If you were at the auction you could get a catalog free of charge. They are not the quality of Heritages auctions. Heritage has the resources and personal to put together their beautiful catalogs, pictures, and descriptions...plus from what I understand, they print their own. Morrie did this on his own, with a lot of help from his family...whom I respect. If you viewed the online catalog, you would have received a better description and picture than the catalog, plus if you really wanted to bid, many options to do so...including coming to Cinevent to be a part of the poster community as those who did. There was a time that Morrie's auction was one of the biggest and best. A lot of high end poster were there, if you were after them. Heritage and of course Bruce went to Morrie auctions, learned from them, and did their own. We need Morrie auctions, Cinevent (to survive) needs it, and we collectors and dealers need it. To bash it without giving Morrie some constructive opinions/criticisms will only help hurt our future of this business including the live auctions that are doing well at this time. Doug Ball ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael B To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 9:11 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] hollywood poster auction & DISCUSSION 1. i gave up looking at the site because it took forever to load into my computer. AND I HAVE A FAST COMPUTER. 2. more importantly, i wrote 2 emails to Hollywood Poster asking why i could not see poster descriptions. Neither were answered. How can you bid without a description??? Did their on-line sire contain descriptions? Were you able to really enhance an image? >>>>>so, although a quick search of the site found 2 posters i might have bid >>>>>on.......i never went back. SO WHY DO AUCTION HOUSES LIKE HERITAGE SEND OUT FREE CATALOGUES? ANSWER: they are smart! !!! For example, in the last Signature Auction of Heritage, i made a quick search on their internet site. Although, i saw beautiful posters, i believe only one interested me at the time. Yet, after i received their catalogue, and had time to study it, i tracked about 12+ posters-----------------------and bought 6 INCLUDING the one sheet and insert of THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. clearly, i was super-pleased with the items i won, and Signature made more money because of my bidding. SO------THE AUCTION HOUSES THAT ARE SMART SEND OUT CATALOGUES TO SERIOUS BIDDERS BECAUSE THEY KNOW YOU GOTTA SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY. >>>>>if the receiver of a catalogue increases a lot sold by $100, then the >>>>>auction house made money to cover the catalogue and shipping cost. >>>>>surely, a recipient should be removed from the free auction catalogue >>>>>courtesy if they never bid. and, whenever i write to Heritage, i always get a fast answer. for example, i asked a question about the one sheet of Dorian Gray, and received a response from bruce c. within 2 hours of my question. as i said, i won that item! michael An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps! 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