Out here in L.A, we have a Pennysaver-type publication called The
Recycler.,About 20, maybe 23 years ago, I'd buy it every Thursday as soon as
it
arrived at my local 7-11...(back then, prior to the internet and announcements
in movie theaters before the film starts stating things like "original
1932 movie poster on The Mummy sells for a staggering, record-breaking
$459,000!!"----yeah, back then the majority of the American public wasn't aware
of
the value of movie posters---so, I'd occasionally stumble into a great
deal...quite a few times, in fact..).
My most memorable example of "the one that got away" began on a
Thursday afternoon when I bought a copy of The Recycler...just like every
other
Thursday afternoon. The only thing different about this particular Thursday
is that there was an add in the "Collectibles & Old Things" section saying
something like: "7 Foot Tall Frankenstein...$75"...that's all it said. My
first mistake was assuming it was some semi-worthless inflatable Halloween
statue and subsequently not calling the phone number IMMEDIATELY.
Something distracted me and I became involved in a project around the
house...I
can't remember what. The one thing I DO remember is lying in bed at about 11
pm thinking about that ad and kicking myself for NOT EVEN CALLING to
confirm that it was the piece of garbage I assumed it to be. I told myself
I'd
call the number first thing the next morning and barely slept a wink all
night.
The next morning around 8 am, I called the number. An older gentleman
answered and said the prospective buyer was walking up his driveway at that
very moment! He didn't know much about the Frankenstein "statue" that he
had...only that it was very heavy, made of wood...and he insisted it was
original. Of course, I told him to PLEASE call me if the prospective buyer
didn't purchase it. He never called me back. I called him an hour later and
he told me he was sorry but the "statue" was gone.....
Flash forward a year or so....I was selling a poster or lobby card
through The Recycler and received a call from a collector---a conversation
ensued as it often did (does) when one movie poster collector talks to
another.
As it turned out, I was talking to THE GUY WHO BOUGHT THE FRANKENSTEIN
STATUE abut a year previous. He told me it was used as a stand-in for Boris
Karloff during the production of The Bride Of Frankenstein--- a huge wooden
statue including Karloff's original wardrobe and a life-mask of the
monster.
He told me the life mask required a few hundred dollars of restoration
(which he'd had done) and he was planning on putting it up for sale in one
Auction house or another....
Flash forward another year.... somehow I learned that Guernsey's
Auction was offering the Frankenstein stand-in statue with an opening bid of
$50,000 (which seems like a truly measly amount by today's standards). Over
the past 30 years, I've had many, many "ones that got away"....but no other
poster, lobby card, collection of posters, collection of lobby
cards...NOTHING COMES CLOSE to the Frankenstein stand-in "statue" that I could
have
had FOR SEVENTY FIVE BUCKS!
Somebody out there probably has it standing in their living room out
there...the most prized piece in their collection...probably worth $500.000
or more by now. I'm sure there are some old-timers who remember this thing
being auctioned ay Guernsey's back in 1987 (I think that was the year). As
far as I know, it's never appeared on the market since. Maybe it will
someday.
Anyway, it's all true....a really interesting story from Movie Poster
Land. Even after all these years, the whole thing makes me feel kind of
queasy. Hey, I bet it would make you feel queasy,too...
Rick
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