Thanks, Todd for the insight, information and commentary on someone
who also has a vested interest in this genre (as well as this high
end material). As someone who owns some of the rarest and most prized
Uni horror materials, it is also from someone like you, that
information can be gleaned, and, which, will hopefully put an end to
this nightmare.
Your facts and figures put a real face to this problem.
Im sure you will be instrumental in helping to solve this issue, as
well.
thanks again, for being another voice of reason and truth here.
best.
jeff
On Aug 31, 2009, at 1:33 AM, Todd Feiertag wrote:
That's right folks. I conservatively estimate there are at least
two million dollars of fake Horror Lobby Cards, Window Cards,
Inserts, Half Sheets, One Sheets and at least one Three Sheet in
circulation. Fake Horror material was sold privately, traded
privately, sold on Ebay and sold at at least two different auction
houses over the last couple of years.
Just do the numbers...one major Universal Horror collector alone
claims that he has bought and accepted in trade approximately
$800,000.00 worth of fake material.
Ron Magid allegedly claims he is out $150,000.00 for fake material
he accepted in trade.
Another collector apparently spent $90,000.00 on fake lobby cards
on Ebay.
Another collector is out $70,000.00 for fake material he accepted
in trade.
Another collector spent $50,000.00 on a fake DRACULA Title Card.
Another collector is out $40,000.00.
Another collector is out $30,000.00.
Already, this totals almost $1.25 Million and this is just off the
top of my head from a few of the collectors I know. This doesn't
include the tons of fake material sold on Ebay for the past two
years. I believe there is easily at least two million dollars of
this fake material out there. Unfortunately, most collectors are
not MoPo members or members of any other poster forums and it is
very likely they will never know they possess fakes and because of
this, this material will be in circulation for decades to come.
When this is all said and done, it would be great if the FBI would
secure EBay’s records and contact every buyer to inform them that
there is a very good chance they have bogus material.
Unfortunately, this is most likely not going to happen.
The Damage:
If the above estimate is correct, which I believe it is and I also
believe it's probably a conservative estimate....this is two
million dollars sucked out of the Legitimate Horror poster market
and money which could have been spent on Real Horror Material with
legitimate dealers that specialize in Vintage Horror Material such
as Sean Linkenback and myself. Unfortunately, that money for the
most part is now most likely down the drain and lost forever.
Unfortunately, I believe that most of the collectors who have taken
a hit will never see their money or their material again.
Another obvious impact, at least for the short term, will make any
Vintage Horror material suspect, unless purchased from the very few
real Horror experts out there. As everyone here knows, I'm not one
to blow my horn from sunrise to sunset like some others do on this
forum and in other venues, but yes, from experts like myself who
have dealt with and personally collected ONLY Vintage Horror
Material for almost 50 years now. I happen to know most of the
alleged parties personally and I believe this is the only reason I
wasn't offered any of this fake Horror material. Over the past 47
years I have handled more Vintage Horror Material than anyone else
out there and as good as some of this stuff looks, it wouldn't have
gotten past me. I find it interesting that many of the 'so called'
expert dealers out there that have been around for less than 10
years or for as long as almost 30 years were fooled into buying
this material. Not fooled buying the material on Ebay where anyone
could be fooled but buying the material in person after examining
the material close-up themselves. Even one of the expert restorers
who is now currently determining whether material is real or not
has been fooled into thinking something was real when it wasn't.
My point is...that you just can't learn about this overnight or
over several years. It can take decades to have a discerning eye
and I'm not talking about a magnifier or a strong loupe, your sense
of touch and the feel of a lobby card or poster...you need all of
your senses and intuition which is something you can't be taught.
Ok, back to the damage this has caused. This scandal is big enough
to turn established collectors off from buying anything for a very
long time and possibly out of the hobby altogether and it's enough
to make potential new collectors stay away altogether from
collecting ANY movie material and especially Vintage Horror Movie
Material.
Even though some of this material has been sold by several auction
houses, it will be very difficult from now on for anything else to
get past the poster specialists, but still, for now at least, I
believe collectors will still be a little gun shy when it comes to
Vintage Horror Material, again, even though they shouldn't have any
reason to be since everything will now be highly scrutinized before
placed in a sale.
But for the collectors or dealers selling privately, on their
websites or at shows, many people will be highly cautious and
suspect of any Vintage Horror Material unless it's from a very long
established expert who specializes in Vintage Horror Material.
A few last thoughts...
From what I have observed, almost everything which was sold, the
buyer thought they were getting a very good deal. Great Lobby
Cards with Karloff and Lugosi from THE RAVEN for $2995. is a great
price for a real card. Not such a great price for a fake card. A
DRACULA R47 One Sheet for $25,000.00 is a great price since the
poster has sold for over $50,000.00. Not such a great price if the
poster is fake. Everyone loves getting a great deal, who doesn't,
and I feel very bad for all my friends and the others who lost
their hard earned money and material in this terrible scam, but if
something seems too good, it probably is and something is not
right. It's not to say that you still can't get a great deal on a
great Horror piece, but in this day and age when even a novice can
check on current prices, those great deals don't happen as often as
they use to.
Over the past two years, there has been a ton of Vintage Horror
Material to hit the market. Multiple DRACULA Title Cards, Multiple
FRANKENSTEIN Title Cards, Multiple BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN Title
Cards, Multiple FRANKENSTEIN Scene Cards, Multiple Scene Cards from
THE BLACK CAT, Multiple Scene Cards from THE RAVEN, Multiple MARK
OF THE VAMPIRE Scene Cards (ALL the same Best Scene with Lugosi/
Carol Borland), Multiple Scene Cards from THE OLD DARK HOUSE,
Multiple Window Cards from MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE, Multiple
Window Cards from DRACULA(not the good one), a Half Sheet from THE
RAVEN, an Insert from THE OLD DARK HOUSE, Multiple FRANKENSTEIN and
DRACULA R47 One Sheets, a One Sheet from THE BLACK CAT, a Three
Sheet from GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN and the list goes on and on...
In almost 50 years of personally collecting strictly Vintage Horror
Material, I have never seen this much Horror material hit the
market. It just doesn't happen like this. It never did and it
never will. Sure, a major Horror collector passes away and there
is a very short period of some extra material to hit the market as
this material is either auctioned off in a couple of auctions or
disseminated among collectors and dealers. But that was not the
case here. THIS STUFF IS TRUELY RARE!! What were the buyers
thinking?? I know, I was thinking something is not right and
especially after I heard another One Sheet from THE BLACK CAT
surfaced about six or so months ago. In 50 years there have only
been 3 examples of that one style One Sheet known and that was it,
till Grey at Heritage discovered another one a few years ago. Ok,
that is very understandable, that after 50 years, another One Sheet
from THE BLACK CAT surfaces. But then ANOTHER ONE within a year or
so after that?? It's possible, but very unlikely. Highly
unlikely. Again, it just doesn't happen like that and I was highly
suspicious. I knew something was up and with all of this other
great Horror material surfacing in SUCH A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME,
something did not smell right. Again, what were the buyers
thinking? That this is the way it is and this stuff isn't as that
rare? Personally, I don't think most of the collectors who bought
these fakes really knew how rare this material really is.
After this is all said and done, in the long run people will
realize that the great Vintage Horror material is truly scarce and
that the REAL Lobby Cards and Posters will now be worth even much
more than they are today and would have been in the future, because
they are not nearly as PLENTIFUL as people thought when the fake
'Gold Rush' was happening.
Good Night and Good Morning.
Todd Feiertag/Poster City
Get back to school stuff for them and cashback for you. Try Bing now.
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