>From the frightened, desperate tones of some of the posts, it sounds
almost like an old Twilight Zone episode, where all the townspeople (movie
poster collectors) are convinced that the poster world out there is a scary,
scary place and only their "Fearless Leader" can be trusted.
Everyone...everyone else will lead them into the dark pit filled with lies,
repros and
despair.
Sure, there are a lot of snakes out there...even some of the bigger
names in the hobby. But when I first started collecting movie posters in the
late 70's + early 80's, EVEN THEN we had to deal with Portal Reproductions.
Hey, back then Realart posters were thought to be just above garbage ( I
remember selling a Realart Frankenstein title card for $50 or $75). Anyway,
it took a few years to LEARN THE HOBBY. I remember driving 100 miles to an
old woman's house who said she had a "Original Dracula" poster--swore it
had been in her family for 50 years! When I got to her house, I knew
IMMEDIATELY it was a Realart reproduction. but I LEARNED from that mistake.
I
realized that before driving those 100 miles, I should have requested the
poster's measurements. If I had, I would have been ONE STEP CLOSER to
realizing that what she had wasn't authentic---at that time, I was aware of
the
standardized sizing of US posters. I probably would have asked the old lady a
few more questions---she would have revealed that the poster said "Portal
Publications---Sausalito, CA" in the bottom border---and I wouldn't have had
to drive 100 miles. But way back then, I NEVER got angry about these
types of useless sojourns to hell and back---because, in fact, they WEREN'T
useless! Through all the effort I put out, I was LEARNING THE HOBBY.
It's obvious that things are way more scary now out there now than back
then---repros everywhere. One thing to remember in Movie Poster
collecting, as in Life----99.9% of the time, if it looks too good to be true,
guess
what---IT IS! A MoPo member poster a link to an "Original 1942 Casablanca
US 1/2 Sheet" for A HUNDRED BUCKS! Hey, ain't no way if that was REAL, it
would be up on eBay 10 MINUTES, let alone 3 days!
The bottom line is---if you're really serious about collecting movie
posters, you've got to invest some time in LEARNING THE HOBBY. But I also
found out along the way that as soon as you get cocky and think you KNOW
EVERYTHING, the hobby seems to throw you a curve ball and you get burned. Such
is life.
You pick yourself up, brush yourself off...and move on.
But WHEN FEAR TAKES OVER....and all the townspeople run to their
"Fearless Leader" (or Leaders) for safety and assurance that all is well----I
think they're MISSING OUT on finding the hidden gem that's out there that no
one else has found---the DIAMOND IN THE JUNKPILE! Great movie posters are
still out there if you look had enough---if you really care about the hobby
enough to LEARN IT. Sure, it's an investment of TIME AND ENERGY....but
doesn't anything in this Life that's WORTH ANYTHING take some effort?
Sure, townspeople, you may find SAFETY in you run to your "Fearless
Leader(s)" to SAFELY bid on all of your movie posters----but it's my belief
that
in the process you lose the JOY OF THE SEARCH! That's always been the FUN
PART of movie poster collecting for me!
Instead of living in FEAR, make a concerted effort to LEARN THE HOBBY.
That way, you'll eventually be prepared to move out of fear back to the
joy and pleasure and fun that the search can bring!
Sincerely,
Rick Ryan
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
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