Thank you! I'm a collector as well of mostly toys and movie posters Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone Get Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2023 10:49:12 AM To: Jeffrey Meyer <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOPO] mopo= future of movie memorabilia thoughts Thanks Jeffery Meyer for your kind wordsGod bless you too sir ! best, Tom Hollywood dream factory® since 1977 On 2023-07-16 05:22, Jeffrey Meyer wrote: > Great story Tom. God bless > > Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone > > Get Outlook for Android [1] > > ------------------------- > > FROM: MoPo List <[email protected]> on behalf of Tom Martin > <[email protected]> > SENT: Saturday, July 15, 2023 11:55:48 PM > TO: [email protected] <[email protected]> > SUBJECT: [MOPO] mopo= future of movie memorabilia thoughts > > hello MOPO > and Scott Burns et al > > I have been considering the state of the movie industry movie > memorabilia in pop culture and what is transpired in my years in the > business since May 24, 1977 > > It is been a major roller coaster ride yes we had no education other > than experience before they even have a name of calling it pop > culture > memorabilia considering in the early days you were considered a freak > if > you save comic books or baseball cards and memorabilia my first > experience was 1966 with the bubblegum cards of the Beatles the > monster > movies and the monkees Adam west as batman cards and books as well as > a > variety of toys at the time the Kenner toys like Play-Doh and G.I. > Joe, > aurora monster models and all the various WAMO toys like super balls > and Frisbees > Color television was just becoming popular but most of the movies > that > we watch we're old black-and-white we run films and Bill Kennedy will > > Rita bell from Detroit along with soupy sales in johnny Ginger also > from > Detroit and Mark Sweden who played the Goul on channel 50 and > Cleveland > channel20 > > When I first started dabbling in memorabilia it was out of my booking > > agency office in 1976 and by 1977 the Hollywood dream factory was > born > after watching a film documentary about you action of MGM studios in > 1970 that dick Cavett hosting well did the near ration I would later > meet some of my heroes in the business because of being around the > business as a promoter like when I struck up a friendship with Adam > West > and sold his book back to the Batcave and booked him for a couple of > personal appearances one being in Toledo > Can October 16 1981 I went from being mail order only and across the > world to merging a retail store along with my mail order business > those > were the days I could find warehouses full of old stock and I ran > across > so many things like vintage toys still in the box like for instance > Gumby dolls and costumes from 1965 James Brown figures from the > Gilbert > company from 1965 major Matt mason dolls and toys and WAMO super > stuff > that was used in night of the living dead as the prop guts from 1967 > still sealed in the package > > I would trade my warehouse fines with other dealers across the world > mostly in California New York and England and some business in > Germany > which would offer to extend my inventory and sometimes that would > trade > for import reproduction movie posters that I could then wholesale too > > small memorabilia shops or trade with other poster dealers to extend > my > inventory > > Then in the 90s I decided to manufacture memorabilia because I could > not > find many dealers that were making anything I started making movie > reel > clocks, movie pl clapboards and Director megaphones old school style > and > various modifications to turn the clapboards into Clocks major chain > stores like Suncoast pictures which was owned by Musicland lost my > products and featured them in over 600 stores I started to get calls > from major museums like the Georgie Eastman house in Rochester New > York > the Museum of the moving image in Astoria New York the American film > Institute Walt Disney Company Universal Warner Brothers Paramount MGM > > old Tucson major video companies major ad agencys > > Was it interesting time as video distribution companies were also > abundant supply in Hollywood video and Blockbuster video and I just > happen to have a main distribution hub of VPD in Toledo that I used > to > buy their over stock of video posters from in addition to the various > > collections that were offered to me from private collectors of books > movie magazines press books and about anything related to Hollywood I > > also started buying vintage motion picture equipment like actual 35 > mm > movie cameras 16 mm super eight and how I met Todd Fisher Debbie > Reynolds son was there was a guy in North Carolina who had bought all > > the old MGM lights and equipment so I travel down to North Carolina > and > bought vintage 1930s mole Richardson 2000 fresnels > I was asked by Paramount who owns theme parks in the Carowinds and in > > Ohio to sell them a re-creation of an old movie set so I did two or > three dollars for the use as props on the theme parks it's amazing > how > people refer you to other industry people and I got many jobs from > box > office magazine the trade magazine for the movie industry as well as > also American cinematographer and the motion picture camera stores > that > supplied professionals like cine 60 in New York City Victor Duncan, > alan > Gordon, panavision lots of great companies lights camera exchange in > Hollywood was one of my oldest customers they film part of the movie > bowfinger that was directed by Frank OZ and starred Eddie Murphy and > Steve Martin > When you talk to the old timers business for years you hear a lot of > the > same things how greedy and bad deals have caused much damage to the > industry just like all the format changes on the media like one > minute > it was film to video VHS from VHS to laser disk and then just like > records it's coming full circle for some people find that they prefer > > analog projection compared to digital the poster industry went from > painted artwork to Photoshop and that's why I already started to back > > off purchasing new titles in the 90s I preferred illustrators and > hand-painted artwork to the photo shop images > No the prices we have is that most of the people that bought the > stuff > from me are now in their 70s and 80s in the younger generation > doesn't > even know who the older people were > Sure there is still some new people coming into the Hobby however > choose > between with the truly passionate collectors with low income could > not > afford the Hobby > A guy just called me today and asked for a original Farrah Fawcett > poster I remember when they came out I believe it was about 1976 and > I > actually met the guy that originally published who is called pro arts > > studio out of Medina Ohio the guys name was ted back then we called > them > commercial posters and they would sell for about three dollars apiece > or > $1.50 cost but then I can buy one sheets for 3 to 6 dollars apiece > and > finally they went up to 10 and I thought it was expensive I had blade > > runner in my shop for $9.50 and my customer even asked me are you > sure > you want to sell it to me for $9.50 I said yes > The funny thing is I still have poster stock left from when I started > > sup now the titles are not is great is Star Wars in polite > However even the reproductions I have are not made any longer and > we're > made in the 80s > > So the summary of my recollection is that I probably no less now than > I > did back in 1977 :-) > And lately I've seen many of my friends I started in the business > with > have retired or passed away and there is not a bunch of new people to > > take over because young people have got very selective on what day > even > want but it's kind of fun to still see people happy when they get > something that makes them happy that was always the best part of the > business for me I'm not sure what's next but it's still kind of fun > to > make people happy and spread some positivity in the world > I'm not sure what I'm doing or where I'm going but it doesn't seem > like > much of anybody knows them self we're all just guessing the best we > can > When I offered to stop selling Adam Westbrook because I thought I > wasn't > doing a good job he said to me Tom what you have to know is we're all > > just kind of guessing any encouraged me to keep trying in the other > day > I saw in my folder he sent me a personal note and said good job Tom > what > we find in life is that there are many good people out there that > will > give you breaks and help you if you just treat others honest and fair > as > we don't really deserve it it's just a beauty of kindness and love > and > friendship and I realize that I owe anything I ever did from others > extending kindness to me so thank you all and if I can help anybody > in > any manner let me know I'll be 67 next month and I am starting to > feel > rather old but very thankful that I got to do anything > God bless everyoneand Peaceand love to all > > Tom > Hollywood dream factory® > since 1077 > > ---- > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at > www.filmfan.com<http://www.filmfan.com> [2] > ___________________________________________________________________ > 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. > > ------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > [3] > > Links: > ------ > [1] https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg > [2] http://www.filmfan.com > [3] > 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: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
