Philip, we were in the process of inventorying our posters. That was the reason I contacted Rudy. I was researching their value.
We had inventoried our posters stock and was researching the value of individual posters. I had a couple of old books, but felt we needed to gain a better, more contemporary view of posters worth so I had started searching the internet. Rudy offers help of people like us in determining what our collection is worth. We had a group of posters which were an odd size that had an imprint at the bottom. We could not find information as to what they were, so googling movie posters, I came upon Rudy's site. I contacted Rudy, and Charley talked to him. Rudy then urged us to send them to Heritage -- which would save us the time of trying to research out poster value.. Rudy was the one who told me about MOPO as a place where we could find information on posters, and that was why we joined the group. Being in the movie industry does not mean you know the value of the posters you have acquired because you worked on the film. That's like asking a chef at a popular restaurant how the credit card processing works at his restaurant. Owning two copies of each Star Wars posters which had been by 20th Century does not mean we know or care about their value. Ditto for the stack of Van Hammersveld's Get Carter, Imagine, etc. I'm sure it is every dealers dream to meet an heir to a former theater distributor or movie exec who has a stack of stuff in their attic which they are willing to sell for a pittance. ________________________________ From: Phillip W. Ayling <mro...@earthlink.net> To: Geraldine Kudaka <gkud...@rocketmail.com> Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2013 1:02 PM Subject: Re: [MOPO] It took me 6 hrs to write this response Heritage/ Grey / Rudy It answers that question and others I didn't even ask. ----- Original Message ----- >From: Geraldine Kudaka >To: Phillip W. Ayling >Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2013 9:58 AM >Subject: Re: [MOPO] It took me 6 hrs to write this response Heritage/ Grey / >Rudy > > >No, you don't have a clue as to what is going on... Does that answer your >question? > > > > > > >________________________________ > From: Phillip W. Ayling <mro...@earthlink.net> >To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU >Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 9:16 AM >Subject: Re: [MOPO] It took me 6 hrs to write this response Heritage/ Grey / >Rudy > > > >I think I got it. > >It's the New Year, and in case I forgot from last year and the year before >that, Grey Smith is lying cheating scum and Heritage's business practices are >dishonest across all of their collecting disciplines. In addition, when >Charles Lippincott, Charley Lippincott, the Lippincott Collection, Mrs. >Charles Lippincoot, Geraldine Kudalka or Ms Kudaka ( and I can call George >Lucas to get the preferred name in the event that I am ever confused) decided >to auction part of their collection - after more experience and contacts in >film marketing, promotion and merchandising - than I could acquire in >multiple lifetimes, they were absolutely clueless about how to do so and were >victimized. > >Oh...and you've hired an attorney and not gotten the relief you seek. Am I >closing in on having a sense of understanding? > >And since it's still January, Happy New Year and Blessings to All > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Zeev Drach >>To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU >>Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 3:24 AM >>Subject: Re: [MOPO] It took me 6 hrs to write this response Heritage/ Grey / >>Rudy >> >> >>Now we know who’s to blame when kids need yet another one in this endless >>array of toys that pollute every market. >> >>From:MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of Geraldine >>Kudaka >>Sent: January 29, 2013 11:52 PM >>To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU >>Subject: [MOPO] It took me 6 hrs to write this response Heritage/ Grey / Rudy >> >>Grey, your past business dealing with other poster dealers is not proof you >>dealt with us in a proper, up and above board manner. >> >>We are in a different category of MOPO members -- we are from the group >>which generated this memorabilia you claim to hold so highly. A specific >>example would be John Van Hammersveld's Get Carter poster which Charley >>commissioned John to do while he was working under Mike Kaplan is sought >>after by MOPOers. While we had multiples of this poster (because Charley >>worked on it), we are not MOPOers who you can depend on for return buying, >>selling or trading. >> >>Who are we? >> >>Charley Lippincott is legendary in film marketing because he changed the >>face of film marketing by merchandising Star Wars to kids. His advance >>marketing campaign on STAR WARS changed the way companies marked to kids. >>Tie-ins and merchandizing became de rigeur. Star Wars also became the top >>grossing, evergreen empire it is today. Charley's Star Wars campaign is >>history. Period. >From his work archive we have Star Wars material which >>even Lucasfilm does not have in their holdings. And it’s not only Star >>Wars.-- Charley was Exec VP at MGM, Dino De Laurentis and Ridley's Alien. >>When we moved out of Los Angles, we shipped 72,000 pounds, most of which >>consisted of the Lippincott Collections Charley acquired over his lifetime. >> >>Several years ago, looking at liquidating some of the collection, I >>contacted Rudy Franchi. As the former curator of film at the San Jose Museum >>of Art and past recipient of NEA film history grants, I knew of Rudy Franchi >>prior to his PBS fame. I contacted Rudy about some strange sized posters, >>and Charley ended up speaking with him. The two knew each other by >>professional reputation -- they were of the same era, had both done >>publicity, and were interested in criticism. Rudy queried us about the >>collection and convinced us to send material to Grey, stating Grey would >>take care of everything. That was part of Heritge's service. As Heritage's >>web site clearly states their inventory procedure by bonded staff, we were >>reassured by Rudy and Grey, who called us several times to make sure we got >>the posters packed and shipped.. >> >>I won't go into detail about all the back and forth here. Suffice it to day, >>I was not happy. >> >>On MOPO, I responded to an article someone posted about bad auction houses >>stating some of inventory went missing. Bruce wanted to which house had lost >>part of our inventory. I honestly responded -- Heritage. I got barraged by >>MOPOers -- yes, flamed and nastily accused of bedevilry and evil. Naturally, >>I responded. MOPOers got angry at one of their cherished brethren for being >>so churlishly accused and tossed more fireworks at me, to which I >>responded. >> >>All through this, I never said Heritage stole our posters. I said our part >>of inventory was missing. >> >>Grey, then you allegedly sent back our inventory. Prior to this, you had >>stated our posters were untouched in their original shipping tubes. But the >>shipping tubes and boxes you sent back to us were not ones we used. Further, >>a rare, hand-lithographed 40"x60" Serpico advanced screening poster (which >>Charley personally got from Dino's NY office when he was dating Rafaella De >>Laurentis) had been replaced with a cheap Serpico advance poster that had a >>taped tear in the same area our original lithograph had been taped.... Gee, >>if that doesn't sound like an outright, pathological theft, I don't know >>what does. >> >>Now if you want me to believe that this didn't happen -- or that Charley >>didn't date Rafaella, or the posters wasn’t a very rare hand-silkscreened >>poster -- that's your MOPO prerogative. But this switch and repackaging was >>enough to get me to take out my checkbook and hire a lawyer. >> >>Our attorney send a letter to Grey. Waited weeks, no answer... Finally, I >>queried Grey. He claimed he never received a letter from our attorney. I >>paid my attorney to send another copy, and we waited for Grey’s answer. >> >>Our attorney asked Grey and Heritage to explain their "inventory" and >>accounting procedure. Was their much touted inventory on an unsecured >>database which lacked the means to securely prove alteration of data, i.e., >>an Excel type of database we all have on our home computers, one which you >>can go in and modify information at any time, without a legally viable way >>of proving when the data was entered or altered. >> >>Grey did not answer this question, and the answer he gave to other questions >>do not jive with emails we have received from Heritage... Emails which >>proved that Grey, with his multi-million dollar resources behind him, did >>not bother to even go through our documents and emails to verify what he had >>written prior. >> >>So here we are in the court of MOPO, where the good ol' boy system works. >>Where your personal relationship with Grey colors your judgement. You like >>Grey? Fine, then Grey's gotta be a maligned victim of a crazy MOPO troll... >> >>Is arguing Grey's theft a waste of my precious rapidly-aging life? >> >>Yes. I have nothing to prove. I am not in a court of MOPO. >> >>If Grey wants to go to court, arguing SLANDER, fine. I’m game. Let's go to >>court. Prove that I am slandering you.. >> >>Grey, just as I have come to accept the proper terminology for our missing >>posters as STOLEN, not missing -- I think you should address me by my proper >>name -- MRS CHARLES LIPPINCOTT -- instead of my email moniker Ms. Kudaka. >>Do you do this to sway your MOPO audience into thinking Ms. Kudaka is an >>entity disconnected from Charles Lippincott? Do you think this false >>distinction would hold up in a court of law? Haven't you heard of community >>property? >> >>Regardless of which name you choose to address me -- the folks over at >>Lucasfilm will acknowledge I, MRS CHARLES LIPPINCOTT, handle 98% of the >>Lippincott business. >> >>After all, Charley is 73. >> >>At 73, would you want to deal with some whippersnapper who stole posters >>from your collection? >> >>At 73, would you be interested in using what little life and health you had >>left fighting some idiot who ripped you off? >> >>Or would you leave it to your much younger wife, who you figure is going to >>inherit your collections anyway? >> >>My final point is you refer to emails and phone conversation you had with >>Charley.... How do you know I didn't dial the phone and hand it to my >>husband, then listened while you talked because the 2nd floor of our 4700 sf >>house is an open floor plan? And do you really believe all the emails were >>written by him? Is it possible I, the little wifey, wrote some of them? We >>do, after all, have the same internet account -- which I handle along with >>all our other personal, professional and retirement contacts, accounts, >>banks, brokers, and visits with friends or family. >> >>This email has taken hours to write, and it’s a waste of my time. It’s not a >>waste of your time, Grey, because you make money from people like me >>trusting you. But what do I gain out of it? Does it benefit my life having >>MOPOers believe me? No. If we want to use one of the dealers on MOPO, I >>already know the ones I would trust – and it wouldn’t be you (ha ha, that’s >>a joke).—so what do I have to gain? Nothing. What do I lose? Time… precious >>time… >> >>In conclusion, Grey, your main defense is your reputation and the reputation >>of your company. I won’t bother dealing with reputation, because in “the >>business”, we say you’re only as good as your last picture. As far as I’m >>concerned, your reputation is the Nostradamus wreck. >> >>Now please explain your company's practices. >> >>Please do not say that happened in another division and had nothing to do >>with me because Heritage is a major corporation which has corporate policies >>and practices. And a body of corporate lawyers... >> >>Please explain what happen with the Mongolian dinosaur auction? Did Heritage >>knowingly sell stolen property? Did the Mongolian government file a request, >>then an injunction against the sale? Was there a massive outcry against the >>auction by the international scientific community? Did Heritage auction the >> Dinosaur despite global protests and Federal injunction? Was the sale >>halted, or was it completed? Did the Feds seizure occur because the >>allegations made by protestors and the Mongolian government that teh fossil >>was illegally stolen turn out to true? >> >>I saw the spin before, during and after. It was amusing to see Heritage's >>massive spin on it's "return" of the stolen goods... I guess all those >>profits you reap from auctions pay for a lot of PR... I can visualize an >>army of drones working away on their computers, spinning the story so it >>white washes the fact Heritage knowingly auctioned the rare dinosaur fossils >>despite such a massive outcry against the auction, and the only way the >>shipping of the fossils was stopped was by Feds confiscating it.. >> >>End of a 6 hour waste of time. >>Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com >>___________________________________________________________________ >>How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List >>Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu >>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: lists...@listserv.american.edu >>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: lists...@listserv.american.edu >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: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
