" when old time collectors consign their collections to me, they have very few or none of these types of items. " i think they probably send those to heritage ... as for buying cheap (75$) items " back then " that's not what i see as the interesting period , the interesting period was when one walked into an old movie theater or a distributor (NOT buying from a dealer) and walked out with truckloads of stuff as basements were full , nothing had ever been thrown away and you were the first to go ask if they had old stock of posters they no longer wanted ... that's like with record collecting , at some point many old record stores (who didn't do a second hand or cheapos selection ) in the seventies had tons of unsold items in their basements , sometimes the obscure stuff was sitting there gathering dust since ages Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2012 07:32:17 -0500 From: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MOPO] Is this the best time ever to find and buy vintage movie posters? To: [email protected]
I have heard forever about the days of cheap great items, and yes, there WAS a day when you COULD possibly buy great posters and lobby cards for what are now very inexpensive prices. But I KNOW full well that not very many collectors ever took advantage of these opportunities, because when old time collectors consign their collections to me, they have very few or none of these types of items. People sometimes act like there was once a time when you could easily purchase Frankenstein and Dracula lobby cards, but that was NEVER the case. Here's an example of how it was. Someone advertised a single Frankenstein lobby card for say $75 in Film Collectors World (forerunner of Movie Collectors World). Everyone who got the publication saw the ad, but only one person got to buy that one card, and yet for years after people talk about "the days of buying $75 Frankenstein lobby cards". But in today's hobby, you CAN buy just about ANY item (except for the absolutely most scarce items) and the prices are set by supply and demand, and quite often supply exceeds demand, and there are lots of cases where you can buy nice items for far less than you would have paid 10 or 20 years ago (when inflation is taken into account) and in some cases even far less than those items sold for in absolute terms. And, as I stated in my original post, the selection and ease of purchase is unparallelled compared to 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Yes you won't have that one in 1,000 chance of buying that $75 Frankenstein card, but in every other way, the hobby has vastly improved in terms of price AND selection. On Sat, Aug 11, 2012 at 5:15 AM, Daniel Kinske <[email protected]> wrote: I have a limited range of experience compared to the more veteran collectors on here, but any and all advice helps. One constant sentiment is that if you really like a rare poster (or lobby card, press book, etc.) that you really want, you should do what you can to get it then as it may not pop up again. I love the film art of Al Hirschfeld and though I feel I am adequately knowledgable I know there are some posters of his out there in private collections that are one of a kind and I may never see them. I have found a few like that with private collectors and have one or two myself. I recently picked up a glass slide to the 1928 MGM film "Baby Cyclone." It features some of the earliest MGM artwork Hirschfeld rendered. The gentleman was selling reproductions of his glass slide and I just politely inquired about the original slide and lucked out that he had it. So, 84 years later I obtain it. Doubt there are many others out there. Rambling at 3 am, but I'm very glad the treasure trove finds like the Berwick group pop up from time to time--gives us all hope that our favorite unknown extant poster might still be out there. -d... On Aug 11, 2012, at 1:42 AM, Tait Maxfeldt wrote: "Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences..." Edward R. Murrow I've been waiting to apply this quote to poster collecting.. If you read between the lines than both Bruce and Rich are correct but in different ways.. Sean (Crowzilla) astutely pointed out in February of this year ..."There are now more original one sheets (Dracula et all) AVAILABLE (key word) than at any other time in the 60's, 70's or 80's...The style F, (Dracula) which was not even known to exist 15 years ago is now the most common style..." We also have now "courtesy of Berwick" the 1931 The Public Enemy style A & B..and Cimarron...and Little Caesar..And now Bruce is about to offer THE iconic Cleopatra silent one sheet... Bruce : "There just aren't that many posters (other than the super scarce ones that have ALWAYS been very hard to find) that one couldn't reasonably expect a good opportunity of acquiring over...a year's time.." ... I agree with this specifically..(however the super scarce ones are popping up too) In terms of being condition conscious and having the tools to be so...this is the time to collect Emovieposter, movie poster exchange, ebay, heritage, movieposterbid...etc all speak to the greater accessibility of vintage film ephemera.. I really can't imagine how great the 60's or 70's were for collecting but it must have been pioneering for the hobby to say the least ...and exciting!! Rich...Were these $100 Frankenstein cards common enough to acquire 1 every year FOR SEVERAL COLLECTORS ..or where they more a fluke of a find related to lack of exposure/knowledge of a savvy collecting base/dealer network?..were there 10 or 20 of these during the 60's or were there less than a handful ... Hindsight is 20/20 and I bet some people purchased these Forbidden Planets and Frankenstein pieces for a song...but they probably sold a fair number of them too.... at a price well below what they would fetch today..and wished they had kept them Alas...I can only apply my most recent experiences with collecting since we only have this "moment" compared to decades past...i can't think of a better time to buy silent film pieces...I personally acquired 3 complete Chaplin lobby card sets in the last year alone ..1918 A Dog's life, 1918 Shoulder arms & 1922 Pay Day... I'm pretty sure I'm fucking stoked about collecting in this day and age!!! 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. -- Bruce Hershenson and the other 26 members of the eMoviePoster.com team P.O. Box 874 West Plains, MO 65775 Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when we take lunch) our site our auctions 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.
