It's no surprise to me that Heritage wants to 'up the ante'
Heritage Signature auctions are a showcase, and it is the lowest
performing segment of their categories.... and there is a good reason
for it..
the movie poster hobby.. is broken
let's take a look at other hobbies,like comic book and art.
This field has exploded. The increases in values over the past 20 years
is amazing, and the last 2 years has been totally off the charts.
fantastic Four #1 sold for $1.5M
Captain America #1 sold for $3.1M
the page of art by Mike Zeck that introduces Spidey's symbiotic costume
sod for a whopping $3.36M
and only a couple weeks ago, the Mile High copy of Superman #1 sold for
$5.3M
please, tell me what movie posters are an analog for such activity? I'll
wait.....
but there's more.
Slabbed VHS tapes are out-performing movie posters
Slabbed Magic the Gathering cards are out-performing movie posters
Slabbed Pokemon cards are out-performing movie posters
where are movie posters going? With the exception of some small areas
like Star Wars, jaws, Halloween, Scream.. Mondo posters (these are
factually. art prints, not movie posters), poster prices are dead in the
water.
In 2005, when I still had my gallery, I sold the last Forbidden Planet
one sheet I had for $8500.
Sunday, a Forbidden Planet one sheet sold for $8768.00
17 years later, and it's only worth the same price?
please, tell me where an investment value is exhibited here.
Great movie posters like Day the Earth Stood Still, Wizard of Oz, Gone
With the Wind, Ray Harryhausen titles etc etc etc.. where have they gone?
Has even one of these titles kept up with inflationary values?
NO.
Movie posters are being left in the dust.
Why?
In comics, values are measured by the highest prices achieved. So every
Captain America #1 was repriced last week to meet what is the current
appearance of increased values.
Every Steve Ditko page is marked up
Every Jack Kirby page is marked up and Terry & my own beloved EC art
(neither of us has any at this point) is shooting up like bottle rockets
on the Fourth of July
But in movie posters, prices are measured by how many posters sell under
$20.
exactly how does that benefit the business end, or the investment
expectation people have when they spend money on tangible objects?
In the comics hobby, if you have a collection you pieced together for 10
years, you probably are not going to lose money on it, but if you
collected movie posters (in the general area up to certain values
5-10k), you will be lucky to get 30-50% of your costs when you sell your
collection.
Fact, $8500 properly invested in 2005 should be worth at least $20,000
today, and if it isn't, that is a real loss of dollars and of your future.
Back to Heritage, another fact is that if Jim Halperin didn't like movie
posters, they wouldn't be a separate part of their line-up anymore. They
would be gone with the wind as a failed experiment. Grey Smith was
brought in by Jim to create this segment and it is, sadly, the lowest
performing area for them. Before anyone says I'm blaming Grey, no I
definitely am not. The hobby is hamstrung by the lack of a price guide,
by the lack of a grading system accepted and followed by _all_ dealers
and to be honest, the constant attacks on auction houses & dealers from
some quarters is a major turn-off to many players.
Magic the gathering has an annual convention here in Vegas. I've been
there. It's got free admission. It takes up about 120,000 sq feet at the
Sands Convention Center. They get more than 40,000 people.
We have Cinevent (now the Columbus Movie Picture Show) and are lucky to
get 300.
These comparisons are harsh and are a direct reflection of where the
poster world stands. Heritage is trying to change that to some degree on
the poster auctions. They feel the need for this division to increase
annual revenues, in order to justify it's value to the corporate heads.
As a businessman, I totally understand their perspective.
I'm not sure I have any answers on how to change the direction of this
hobby and to be honest, the new tube surcharges levied by the USPS, UPS
and Fedex have smacked down the value of modern rolled posters (in
addition to fighting the "we sell 90% of our auctions under $20.. See
how great we are"). Shipping & materials costs are brutal now. I can
ship 10lbs of posters to L.A. via UPS for $14 (as long as it is packed
in a triangular or square box) but a 2lb to NYC is $25-35 depending on
which of the 3 shippers you use. Selling $100 posters you can offset
this shipping cost (of course, it winds up in raised prices, if
possible), but $20 are now worth $5, and no one makes a living selling
$5 posters, not even Missouri. My tubes cost me $4.64 delivered. Try to
add that cost into shipping & you get tagged with complaints of gouging.
(shipping & supplies costs are never fully recouped by dealers)
The hobby is broken.. I hope Heritage can help fix it.
Rich
On 4/18/2022 10:22 AM, Tommy Barr wrote:
Hi all,
I was just communicating with HA regarding the criteria for inclusion
of movie posters in their Signature Auctions. I'm told that they are
looking for pieces which should realistically fetch a minimum of
$1000, but 'that value threshold may be raised in the future as we
explore other auction formats.' Wonder what they might be?
Tommy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link:
https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1
<https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1>
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.
