Glenn - that post read like a presidential address and is RIGHT ON... I
agree also along with Rich....
The same thing that happened in the comics and art and realestate ..
seemed o happen in Movie collectables.
Howevere remember it also has given many people a living selling movie
related items and some people
are fair and care.. So perhaps the hobby will reform and get better
and return to simple times.
best, Tom
Richard Halegua Comic Art wrote:
Glenn
I am totally in line with your erudite and well written post and I
share many of your sympathies
Rich
At 07:31 AM 9/26/2009, glenndamato wrote:
Folks-After this latest-dealer-restorer-consignor fiasco with the
"Dracula" one-sheet, I felt compelled to make this post. To me it
seems the movie poster biz has gone the way of New York City. In the
seventies & eighties, Both New York & the hobby were a little dirty,
but still relatively cheap and fun, and both were enjoyed by people
who really appeciated them. You could make poster finds relatively
cheap, and you pals would hold whatever posters you wanted to
purchase from them until you had the dough to pay. I remember old
time dealers like Steve Sally, Eric Caidin, Bob Coleman, Dino Sisto,
and many others would say-"pay me when you have the $$$". Friends
would actually meet and discuss films and posters. Many folks (myself
included) collected 16 & 35mm film, the purest form of cinema
collectable. New York was the same. There were plenty of cheap places
to eat, shop & visit. Realtors would work to get you deals on
apartments. People were street smart & tough and didn't n!
eed 5'2" cops from East Cupcake to protect them. Only folks who
really loved the city were here. Then, during the late Eighties,
something happened. Certain individuals (in the case of movie
posters, they were ex-comic geeks & Wall streeters) felt they could
exploit both the poster biz and New York real estate market. The
poster hobby was "cleaned up". New York was "cleaned up". "Pretty
people" starting moving into "the hobby" and into New York. Prices
rose slowly through the roof. From the outside, everything looked
rosy. But was it? Not really! Poster dealers used corrupt auction
houses to sell stuff. Realtors developed every piece of land using
crooked contractors and shoddy construction. Cheap ethnic eateries,
small businesses, and rent-controlled lessees were forced out.
Reasonable and free parking became non-existant. Old time poster
collectors were harrassed night & day via phone by high pressure
dealers demanding they sell there stuff. The fun was gone. Rarely did a!
high priced poster change hands between two collector friends. Auctio
n house fees went through the roof. Lots of "salt-of-the-earth" folks
abandoned the city. The degradation of both hobby & city mirrored
each other.Do you want to have an $8- glass of beer with a
white-bread yuppie? Do you want to discuss posters with some geek who
has never seen the movies? Does anybody want to be here anymore?
The first sign that the poster hobby was going down the tubes occured
to me in the early 90's at a major auction house. A "relative" of a
man running an auction had a slip-up while shilling one of the major
items. I knew we were in trouble after that. The vortex swirled down
into the cesspool gradually after.
As far as the current poster problems, I don't know what to do. We
seem to have all these restoration "experts", but does anybody know
what is really going on? About a year ago I purchased a "Werewolf of
London" half-sheet from this fellow Thomas Rega, who is alleged to
have consigned this fake "Dracula" one-sheet to Joe Maddalena. It was
rolled, looked nice, but had a little staining. I sent it off to Ted
Eiseman Of Funny Face to be cleaned. He promptly told me that the
stains were printed into the poster, that the item was fake, and that
he doesn't do any work on fakes/reproductions (quite admirable in
these days & times!). I contacted Mr. Rega and he proceeded to "beat
around the bush". I filed a Paypal claim, left him bad feedback, and
said I would drive to his home. He refunded my money. I called Ebay
and told them about this perpetration. They said they wanted nothing
to do with it as long as Mr. Rega refunded my money. Nobody cares. I,
personally would never patronize!
a restorer who worked on fakes or made a mistake evaluating a
$250,000- poster. Whoever did the Haggard jobs should be blackballed
by all. I had an e-mail exchange with Haggard years ago and he quoted
"my reputation means nothing to me". Obviously! Any major auction
house who doesn't step it up to restore integrity (what little there
is left!?!)should be boycotted. Maybe one of these auction houses
should hold a "sale"-where fees are lowered for a time to foster good
will (doubtful). Collectors should be wary of buying from anybody who
uses shills (including "friends" who say "bid this up for me").
People should also not buy from anybody on Ebay who "sells"
something, and then the same item, same condition appears again
(often more than once!). Know who your real friends are. In years
gone by, folks cared about there family, friends, pride and
reputation. Nowadays, people care about Andrew Jacksons, Ulysses S.
Grants amd Benjamin Franklins. How sad.
On a good note, October will be a banner month for DVD releases. the
'52-'54 Shemp Stooges, the RKO Lugosi-Karloff box, The Columbia
noirs, and that much awaited box set Of "B" Universal Horror Movies
will be released, but maybe I'm one of the few who cares-have fun!
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