As the story was spun at the time by whoever was behind it, the
infamous hairy belt STAR WARS one sheet was "made from the original
plates".... therefor making them "er, original".
I always wonder what people mean, including my friend Dave, when they
refer to this statement
do they mean to imply that the copper plates were - unlike any other
title and unlike any other printing business operation - kept in
storage for later use?
well there are problems with this belief
1) plates like those were routinely destroyed for the metal to be
recycled for other projects, plus getting such plates made in most
cases entails a contract (or purchase order) whereby there is a
credit for returning the plates that is usually a little on the high side
2) plates wear down during use. The first poster printed has greater
detail than the last poster printed. for this reason, printers do not
see a use in "old plates" seeing as new plates can be easily made
from the "films"
3) and here is the rub - what printers would keep would be the
"films" aka the color separations, because these are what is needed
to make new plates, and they fit inside a simple folder in a filing
cabinet along with thousands of others, whereas to keep the plates
would require a warehouse storage solely for keeping printing plates
my opinion and said from someone with a detailed knowledge and
experience in the printing field:
I think that most bootlegs are copies made from a new set of plates
made from the original films, or high quality reproductions made from
the posters
In the case of the hairy belt poster, I think they had access to the
films, a hair got on the films during the process from film to plate
in the case of the Style-C, I think that's a copy, which is why the
printing quality is not nearly as good as an original
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