Apologies, got my Rons wrong and I've wronged you Ron.
Seriously though, with the Ron righted, any further tales of the ones
that got away, (and better still, those that didn't) that you care to
share, will be much appreciated.
Moore, Moore!
On 26 Jul 2010, at 19:24, Ron Moore wrote:
Hi Richard!
Actually, you mentioned the wrong Ron. Ron Borst wasn't involved in
the New Zealand find. That was me. And yes, I've made lots of great
finds over the years.
Ron Moore
Cinema Icons
--- On Mon, 7/26/10, Richard Evans <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Richard Evans <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [MOPO] As Far As I Know..THE ULTIMATE "ONE THAT GOT
AWAY"....
To: [email protected]
Date: Monday, July 26, 2010, 12:01 PM
Love reading these stories.
Even if it's difficult to tell it apart from the MOST TEARFUL
ENDINGS topic.
There was a great account a while back, (successful in that
instance) of Bruce and others chasing down a hoard.
Would love to see them preserved in a book with a chapter for each
of leading old school dealers/collectors' stories.
Like Ron Borst's experiences, including the story of New Zealand
treasure trove.
And Todd, while he can't recall something like The Invisible Man
cards, one can only wonder what he's experienced that he finds more
memorable.
It's great reading them on Mopo, but it's even more ephemeral here
than paper.
On 26 Jul 2010, at 11:33, James Richard wrote:
Hmmm... seems Rick and Ron are kind of tied for the top horror
story so far. At least we can put some kind of dollar value on
Rick's missed treasure... but, on the other hand, who knows how
many super-great posters were among the "thousands" in the cellar
of the burnt-out theater that Ron missed by only two days?
These stories are almost to painful to read... but still, I'd like
to know about Phil's rolled up KING KONG insert... :)
Call me a masochist.
-- JR
[email protected] wrote:
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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