I would have thought the sarcasm was pretty evident in my post James. If not - my apologies.
And while yes, collectors might learn to live with and accept some dings and bruises, those who don't think that 60-year old (or more) movie paper exists in condition looking as fresh as when it first shipped to the theater need to look again at some of the amazing pieces Todd Feiertag posts from time to time or other long-time collectors who are able to enjoy their collections without worrying that that other make fun of them for asking if that lobby card they are interested in has pinholes or not. _____ From: James Richard [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2009 4:13 PM To: Sean Linkenback Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MOPO] assessing fading 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 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.
