"If you didn't see the movie when it first came out, and remember
seeing the poster for it hanging in the theater lobby, then you might
still appreciate the poster, but you are not going to have that gut-
level strong nostalgic pull to fork over big bucks for it."
I honestly can't think of a single poster I've bought that I was old
enough to see at the cinema, and mostly I didn't even exist when the
film was released.
Isn't that the same for most of us?
People passionately collecting 50's Sci-Fi aren't in their seventies,
Todd and Jim Gresham aren't in their nineties, or Ken Schacter pushing
a century.
I flicked through Hollywood Posters 1 from 1990 the other night.
Huge percentage of 20's and 30's material, extremely small amount of
anything later, and it only got as recent as a Forbidden Planet 1 sht.
I think it's much the same through to Hollywood Posters 6.
I can imagine the hoots of derision when at some point not too much
later someone had the crazy idea of suggesting 60s and even 70s
posters could be sold at auction.
Looking at those posters from the 20s, they are beautiful, but look
irrelevant.
Everything moves on, and I can't imagine there being the connection to
the film or the style of artwork.
It's the same with antiques/furniture. Edwardian and Victorian out,
continued popularity of modern design, Mid Century, or earlier or later.
Although what initially hooked me, the screening of the classics on TV
in my youth isn't there to the same degree to hook young people, won't
people who love film still exist and seek out and appreciate earlier
movies ? (They may even learn to master subtitles and B&W.)
And, aren't they likely to still find appeal in the art of whatever
genres that will go in and out of fashion.
Though yes, I wouldn't necessarily expect much from anyone, (in
disposable cash or taste) until they reach their thirties.
On 20 Jul 2010, at 21:50, James Richard wrote:
Peter,
I would tend to agree with your feeling that poster collecting is
not expanding, logic seems to indicate it, but on the other hand you
see some stuff that can't be otherwise explained. An example would
be original posters for the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings
films. The prices for those posters, while not ultra-high, have
remained firm, even though the first of those posters came out 10
years ago. Surely it is younger people buying/collecting those and
similar items and keeping the prices up? I think the real question
-- one that cannot yet be answered -- is how many of those younger
buyers will *remain* movie poster collectors and, perhaps as they
grow older, become interesting some of the great older posters?
After all, great poster art is great poster art, regardless of when
the film came out.
But there is no denying that simple nostalgia is the *big* driver in
all forms of memorabilia collecting. If you didn't see the movie
when it first came out, and remember seeing the poster for it
hanging in the theater lobby, then you might still appreciate the
poster, but you are not going to have that gut-level strong
nostalgic pull to fork over big bucks for it.
-- JR
peter contarino wrote:
I think all of Ron’s questions are excellent and on point. I also
think that the answer is “all the above”. The economy is awful,
supply outweighs demand, the high-rollers have acquired many of
their pieces and the younger generation(s)would rather text and
tweet than watch a film(literally- I was at a theater recently and
the kid a few seats in front of me texted for the better part of
the film). And after all, like who, you know, would want to, like,
watch a black and white film anyway…and stuff…dude.
I don’t know whether the hobby is expanding; you guys would know
more about that. My sense is that it is not. I can’t imagine it is
bringing a lot of younger people in. I think the target is 35+
years of age. Maybe older. For example, my wife and I were spending
the weekend with some friends of ours who just built a getaway
home. They will be retiring in 10 years or so. We got to talking
about the website Ken and I have and then the questions started
coming: What does the poster to “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” look like?
Do you have it? And so on. Bottom line is that they want to do at
least one room and maybe more with vintage paper from films that
they love. These are professionals with money and grew up on
classic films who never knew that this paper existed. I have some
ideas about how to tap into that demographic.
Regarding the images that Heritage provides, I have to say that
they are spot on. I spoke with Ken Schacter about this yesterday
and we both feel that the photo/scans are by far the most accurate
and highest quality of any site, auction or not. The catalogs are
unparalleled and are collectable in themselves. Great reference
material.
It’s an uncertain market to be sure but as Bruce and Grey have
pointed out it is a great time to buy.
Peter
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