Kung Fu / Martial Arts genre, how collectable?

[Test1]

Anyone that knows me on these forums will know that I often collect Thai posters, and I've seen there are tons of Kung Fu Thai posters around, they are nearly always cheap and yet still don't seem all that collectable to many (with the exception of some of the Bruce Lee stuff) even though some of these posters have some truly fantastic artwork these posters just don't seem as collectable/popular as many other poster genres, for example even many of the classic Jackie Chan Hong Kong film posters are cheap but there still does not seem much of a market for them.

Given the fact that the artwork is usually the first thing collectors look at when buying posters any ideas why the genre seems so less sought after than the most popular genres like horror/sci-fi etc.

Or am I way off on this and the genre is much more collected than I thought?

Thoughts/opinions welcomed

[okiehawker]

Buy what you like, eh Test?  I have a few.  I think there are more collectors than you may think for the best movies/posters. Okie

[eatbrie]

I only collect posters of movies I've seen, so to me, the artwork is second to the title.  If I haven't seen a movie, I don't pay attention to the poster, regardless of how nice it is, and I certainly will not buy it.  Posters and their movies go hand in hand to me, since one is supposed to depict the other.  Unfortunately, I've never been a big fan of naked men fighting, Bruce Lee included, so I don't think I own a single poster in that genre.  It's a big pass for me, even though I like Thai posters, but like okiehawker said, buy what you like, what other people think is irrelevant.

T

[Test1]

Truly appreciate the feedback guys

@Okie You, are quite right simply buying what you like is usually the most sensible thing and way to go.

@T Nine times out of ten I'm the same as you in that I only buy a poster if I know (& usually like) the film in question, apart from one or two in my collection I've seen all the films that I've bought posters for, as you've pointed out it's usually the fact you've watched certain films that draws you to the poster in the first place.

As expected having just had a browse through my collection out of all the posters I currently own there's only a couple I have where I've not seen the film, and even those posters are for films that I intend to watch eventually. I guess that's the one small difference with my outlook T is that I 100% won't go near a poster if it's for a film I've never heard of, but, if it's a poster for a film that I've heard of and know something about and I think the artwork on the poster is something special then I'm prepared to make an exception albeit "rarely" even if I've not seen the film

[Tang Lung in Rome]

Rolled 70s/80s 1shs from HK are almost always bootlegs , originals were much darker with very little gloss and 99% were factory folded

Id love a real Jackie WoM HK but very htf , also Fate of Lee Khan thai vhtf

[Test1]

Rolled 70s/80s 1shs from HK are almost always bootlegs , originals were much darker with very little gloss and 99% were factory folded

Id love a real Jackie WoM HK but very htf , also Fate of Lee Khan thai vhtf

I don't have any Hong Kong posters in my collection so it's not an area I know even the slightest thing about, but hearing there are lots of fakes sadly never surprises me.

As I said in the first post I mainly collect Thai posters and I have a few trusted contacts I use when buying any Thai posters, and I've noticed there are loads of Thai posters out there for the Kung Fu genre and many of them have some wonderful artwork, the Kung Fu genre is not normally one that I go after when buying posters, but lately I've been offered a few nice ones that don't show up all that often so I've started looking into them a little more with the intention of "possibly" adding at least a few of the better ones to my collection.

The Thai poster for Chan's WoM is a really good looking one.

[rumble]

I've been a fan of Hong Kong movies for over 30 years and it always surprised me how inexpensive most of the posters are. I think it is simply that these movies - no matter how great - just are not that well known, and the demographic that collects posters is just no that interested. Compare this to horror or even sexplotation where many super-obscure movies have gained a cult following! So from the same time period, a Thai poster of something like EVIL DEAD II will be much more desirable for collectors than say the Taiwanese all-girl kung fu adventure GOLDEN QUEENS COMMANDO even though that is a great movie and a great poster!

Even original Hong Kong movie posters are quite inexpensive. I've been able to get original posters for classics like THE KILLER and A BETTER TOMORROW at a very decent price. It seem the "classic" status these movies occupy in my head is not shared by the wider population! 

[Test1]

I've been a fan of Hong Kong movies for over 30 years and it always surprised me how inexpensive most of the posters are. I think it is simply that these movies - no matter how great - just are not that well known, and the demographic that collects posters is just no that interested. Compare this to horror or even sexplotation where many super-obscure movies have gained a cult following! So from the same time period, a Thai poster of something like EVIL DEAD II will be much more desirable for collectors than say the Taiwanese all-girl kung fu adventure GOLDEN QUEENS COMMANDO even though that is a great movie and a great poster!

Even original Hong Kong movie posters are quite inexpensive. I've been able to get original posters for classics like THE KILLER and A BETTER TOMORROW at a very decent price. It seem the "classic" status these movies occupy in my head is not shared by the wider population! 

I think you've hit the nail on the head here, I agree with pretty much everything you've said here