Many of you know that I collect Best Picture OS's. I also have a modest Film Noir and 50's SciFi collection.
Sometimes these posters are "hot", or the "right few bidders" are in the same auction and the prices go through the roof. Sometimes not. Years ago I bought my "It Happened One Night" OS and paid about $14,000. It's in VF condition and seemed the going rate at the time. Within a year or so the same poster sold at auction for $35,000. I thought "wow, I'm a genius". Of course, the next time one came up for auction it went for $15,000. We've seen posters like Lawrence of Arabia rising at recent auctions. Last September in the Heritage sale the style B in VF condition with for over $7,000. Yesterday a Mint copy went for $4,500. In the same auction, the unreleased (or international) Sting OS went for the same $4,500, after I had purchased one at that price a few years ago and then bought another at about $1,500 and thinking I'd set the record for stupidity with my first purchase. The bottom line really is that a poster is worth what someone will pay for it on a given day at a given point in time. If there are two people interested, even better. Yesterday was the day to sell The Sting and to buy Lawrence. Who knows what today will be? When it comes to valuing posters, it's just a guess. Having said that, I've received sage advice from Bruce and many others who post on this board over the years and I never could have put my collection together without their very astute comments and suggestions. Thank you to them. Regards DBT <http://www.linkedin.com/in/douglasbtaylor> Profile From: MoPo List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bruce Hershenson Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 9:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MOPO] Any bets on METROPOLIS? Here's the thing about expensive movie posters. It doesn't amount to a hill of beans what all the "rooters" think a poster SHOULD sell for. All that matters is what the few well-heeled bidders think, and when one of the major players (Kirk Hammett) switches from buyer to seller, that is a HUGE reversal in the tiny high end part of the hobby. The entire hobby is a pyramid. I have sold to 31,000 movie paper fans, and maybe 20,000 of those would never spend even $100 on a single item. Probably another 8,000 would never spend $500, and probably another 2,000 would never spend $1,000. That last 1,000 or so HAVE spent $1,000 or more on a single poster. How many have spent $40,000 or more? A couple of dozen or so. And it is what THEY think of the Metropolis insert that matters, not what anyone else thinks. I am content to keep mostly selling to those 20,000 who like posters between $1 and $100. THAT part of the hobby is doing quite well! Bruce P.S. My estimates are wild guesses, although I could, if I wanted, analyze my sales and see the actual numbers. The true numbers might be off, but the basis concept is 100% sound. The top of the pyramid is incredibly tiny, just as it is in comic books, or baseball cards, or Van Gogh paintings. On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 11:00 PM, Richard Halegua Comic Art <[email protected]> wrote: first time I said $75-125k then I said $100-125k I still think at $100k, I was closest.. LOLOLOL At 08:41 PM 3/19/2010, Bruce Hershenson wrote: So who was closest? On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 5:26 AM, allen day <[email protected]> wrote: I'll take some of that action. $168k (includes BP) ad --- On Fri, 3/19/10, Brek Anderson < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> wrote: From: Brek Anderson < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOPO] Any bets on METROPOLIS? To: [email protected] Date: Friday, March 19, 2010, 12:45 AM $268,361 Bet 25 cents. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Halegua Comic Art" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 12:24:36 PM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain Subject: Re: [MOPO] Any bets on METROPOLIS? much less than that I think.. $100-125k At 11:13 AM 3/18/2010, James Richard wrote: Is there a betting pool going on what the METROPOLIS poster will go for this weekend at Heritage? I'm thinking around $200,000 (since it is "only an insert" and doesn't actually have the image of the robot-Maria on it). http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7019 <http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7019&Lot_No=85446> &Lot_No=85446 This <http://??> Friday, March 19th the 'Rarest Of The Rare' 1927 Metropolis Movie Poster is up for Auction Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com <http://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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
