Sean,
My, you've been kind of snippy with everyone of late... you getting
enough sleep? I didn't get that Franc was advocating going back to the
way things were done 20 years ago. I think it was pretty obvious that he
was responding to Michael's question in the spirit in which it was
asked: i.e., this poster is far from perfect, would you display it? It's
kind of a weird question for Michael to ask, because why would he have
bought it if he wasn't going to display it? If it's more faded than he
expected -- to the point of not wanting to display it or keep it -- he
obviously should return it if the seller didn't adequately describe/show
the fading. Actually, since Michael didn't provide a place for us to to
and actually see what his poster looks like, I really don't understand
the purpose of him asking the question at all.
So instead of answering in the specific, which was impossible, Franc
chose to answer in the spirit of a collector whose approach is "I didn't
buy this to sell it someday, I bought it to have and display in my
collection" and opinioned that obsessing over condition is way overdone
these days, and of course it is -- particularly among speculators who
are "buying to hold and sell later" and certain types of people who
think a 60-year old *used* movie poster should look better today than it
did the day it arrived at the theater back in 1949. After all, the idea
of authenticity behind a vintage poster is that it was actually *used*
to advertise the film. If it now looks better than it did the day it
arrived at the theater, hasn't the critical aspect that it was actually
*used* been lost?
Anyway, I didn't get that Franc was advocating going back to the way
posters were sold in the dark ages. Clearly everyone appreciates seeing
a good picture of a poster before they bid on it or buy it, as they do a
description that covers significant flaws. Counting the pin holes and
detailing every wrinkle is overdoing it, but I know some people also
will return a poster because it had some pin holes or a few more winkles
that were not described to them, so I can understand the need in today's
market for sellers to go into such detail in the description.
But I do agree with Franc that too many people are condition-obsessed
these days. These are old, used movie posters, folks. Not fine art
prints. A couple of decades ago, furniture collectors used to have 200
year old antiques "restored" to like new condition because they thought
the better an antique looked, the more it was worth. Now that is
considered one of the worst things you can possibly do and it lowers the
market value of a piece by half. In antique furniture, the "patina" of
age... a less-than-perfect original finish... along with a few scratches
and nicks... are considered part of the *reason* for paying big bucks
for an old chair or cabinet. Movie poster collectors would do well to
take note of the shift in buyer mentality which antique furniture
collecting went through about 20 years ago -- we could be next.
-- JR
Sean Linkenback wrote:
Those darn newbies -- always making the old lazy dealers work harder.
There was a time back in the day when people didn't even have to put a
photo of the poster, you just made a listing and people ordered.
Maybe the poster image sucked, maybe it didn't.
Those were the good ole days right Franc?
Didn't have to worry about people comparison shopping or competition.
If someone ordered something and didn't like it, you just told them
to be happy they even got it and be quiet. After all, it wasn't like
they could complain on some internet forums or email groups.
Well, maybe this computer thing is just a fad too and you can go back
to not describing defects or showing photos one day.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* MoPo List [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of
*Franc
*Sent:* Saturday, September 05, 2009 1:36 PM
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Re: [MOPO] assessing fading
If it's been on your "want" lists for 5+ years, of course you should
display it. Who cares if it looks old and used: it's supposed to! I
remember a well-known dealer who isn't around anymore used to put out
a catalogue of his inventory every so often in the pre-computer
days. For condition description he would just say "generally
used". Making note of every pinholes, edge tear, wrinkle and defect
is something that newbies started with the advent of Ebay. I think
it's nonsense. FRANC
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