Remember "Professor Leonard Powers"?

[BruceH]

Remember "Professor Leonard Powers"?

Amazingly his page from 2003 is still online at https://www.angelfire.com/stars4/mymovieposters/aboutme.htm

He notes:

"It was during my last few years at NSS and for several years after that I had sold approximately 10 times more posters (in quantity & monetary value) than Bruce Hershenson has in his short career in the field."

Since I am now over $107 million in sales, the Professor is likely over a BILLION!

Any chance the Professor is actually Jeff Potokar?

And who in the world calls themselves "Professor", other that Professor Irwin Corey and the Professor from Gilligan's Island?

[holiday]

There's some history, for sure!  What a dumpster fire.  In this age of misinformation and fake news, I shudder to think of what it is like for a new collector trying to navigate all that crap lol.

[BruceH]

Incidentally, if you never read this, it is ESSENTIAL reading for anyone who buys items from the 1960s on (I wrote it nearly 20 years ago, but it is just as accurate today):

Report on the 'Minty White' posters

Bruce Hershenson, who is the largest seller of posters in the hobby has written the following letter to give you more information about it:

"I first heard of these posters somewhere in the late 1990s. A very prominent dealer (a longtime friend) called me to warn me that two dealers from the same city had approached him about buying a "warehouse" find of inserts. He told me that they told him they had several hundred of each, with exact varying quantities of each, like 246 of one, and 371 of another, exactly the kind of numbers you would expect from a real "find" of this sort. But he also told me that the "find" seemed to consist ONLY of mostly all top titles, which at first got him excited, but, after reflection, it bothered him, for he knew (as I do) that "warehouse" finds virtually always consist of "the good, the bad, and the ugly" and, if anything, they usually have far MORE lesser or lousy titles, partially because these were the ones that were in the least demand and partially because, if any knowledgeable person had ever gone through them, they would likely have removed those titles. He also stated that he was bothered by WHO the people were who approached him, because he knew them to be "ethically challenged".

But he went ahead and met with them, hoping against hope that somehow this WAS a wonderful "find", but he felt convinced otherwise the moment he saw them, for he is someone who had handled tens of thousands of posters, and these were clearly "too new" and somehow "not right", and so he "passed" on buying them, doing so as diplomatically as possible. His purpose in calling me was to warn me about them, and possibly save me some time and money if they would contact me and I might either go see them, or worse yet buy them. I clearly remember him telling me that they were "not right", and kind of "fuzzy and blurry" and also I remember him saying the paper was all wrong.

Now at this time I was primarily selling pre-1970 posters and lobby cards (both in my auctions and sales lists), and so this topic seemed only marginally interesting to my business (at that time there were also fakes of one-sheets starting to turn up, and I was very glad that I did not sell what I then referred to as "newer" posters!). But a short time later I began selling on eBay, and I quickly saw that several dealers had endless supplies of the very same insert titles my friend had warned me about. I called him up and he told me that, at the same time he was offered the "find", other major dealers he knew well had also been contacted buy the same individuals, and that, interestingly, the quantities they were offered varied quite a bit, as though there truly was an endless supply, and that the numbers seemed to be just made up to make the story "look good".

My best guess of what happened is this. Those two dealers printed up repros of the inserts in question, and then tried to sell large quantities of each to many major dealers, and make a quick "score" (the most important thing to remember is that the bulk of color printing costs occurs during "set-up"; it costs little more to make 5,000 of each repro as it does 500 of each, so it is EXTREMELY likely LOTS of each were printed). They may well have misjudged the size of the collecting community and the naivete of the major dealers in being able to spot repros (or their willingness to participate in major fraud), and they likely THOUGHT they could quickly "wholesale" out thousands of each and be done with them, having made a substantial profit.

But it seems that very few (if any) major dealers were willing to buy any of these. It seems likely that at this point, the people who created them went to several individuals who had acquired the remnants of a poster exchange, and TRADED them huge quantities of the "minty white" inserts for huge quantities of lesser posters these fellows had sitting in storage, items which had barely sold in decades.

I am sure that if this occurred (and circumstantial evidence seems clearly to say it likely did) then it seemed at the time like a giant "win-win" for both sides. The makers of the repros got rid of lots of them, and acquired lots of lesser titles that could then be mixed into their inventory, giving the image that they themselves had the remnants of an exchange, thus further giving credibility to the possible legitimacy of the "minty white" inserts. Those who traded for the "minty white" inserts got rid of pretty dead inventory, and got titles that were in super-high demand.

Then eBay came along in full swing (I can't remember if the "minty white" inserts showed up right before eBay took off or right after, but either the "minty white" inserts were created to take advantage of the huge eBay demand or they were created first, and the eBay coming along was just wonderful good fortune. But suddenly all of these dealers (the ones who created the "minty whites" and the ones who traded for them) suddenly had a HUGE new market both for the "minty whites" AND for the pretty dead inventory that all of these dealers now had, and the new eBay buyers were EXTREMELY unsophisticated and they paid top dollar for just about everything.
Suddenly, just about all of the "minty whites" were on eBay every day, often several of each, and they often went for super-high prices. At this time I was becoming the foremost eBay seller, and it wasn't long before the first of these were consigned to me. They jumped out at me as being "not right", just as they had to my longtime dealer friend who had first alerted me to them.

Exactly what was wrong with them? Most noticeably, the paper stock was clearly different from that of any other insert I had ever seen. It seemed to be around the right weight as other inserts, but the paper was "whiter than white" (which means it is a brighter white than regular insert paper, even mint ones), and the stock was glossy on the front (with a similar amount of gloss to that of genuine inserts from the same period), but the paper had the SAME degree of glossiness on the back, something that was never true for genuine inserts of this period (genuine inserts from this period have a somewhat flat finish on the back, with only a small degree of glossiness). THIS DIFFERENCE IS SO SIGNIFICANT THAT I CAN TELL A "MINTY WHITE" FROM A GENUINE INSERT IN TOTAL DARKNESS, JUST BY FEELING BOTH SIDES OF THE POSTER WITH MY FINGERS!

There are other differences as well. All of them have a varying amount of "fuzziness" or "blurring" to the printing. It is something you can't easily describe in words, because your eyes pick it up subliminally. This is best seen when you look at a genuine insert and a "minty white" of the same title side by side (and some people, usually those with a printing background, are far better than seeing this than others). There is also a problem with some of the "minty whites" where the art is slightly cropped as opposed to known originals.

To me, the fact that they are on a different paper from that of ANY known originals says that there is no chance these were created by any printer who printed for the studios, for why, for this one time, would they turn to a different type of paper? And the fuzziness" or "blurring" to the printing, plus the different tighter cropping eliminates ANY chance of these being any sort of "re-strikes", for this is EXACTLY what would happen if you reproduced them off of known originals, and this NEVER would happen if you had the original printing plates (authorized or not).

Then why do some people have trouble accepting what seems so painfully obvious to me? First, I have had 35 years of printing experience, having printed 43 movie poster books, 12 exact comic book reproductions (authorized of course!) and lots of fan publications and sales catalogs, printing on all sorts of paper stocks, from the cheapest pulp paper to the very finest 100 pound paper. While most people can easily see major differences between paper quality and printing, MANY have trouble seeing subtle differences between quality of printing and paper weight (for example, most full-color books are printed in Hong Kong these days, and I personally can quickly tell if most art books were printed there, but many people can not).

Another reason some people think we need to "keep an open mind" when it comes to the "minty whites" is because they have a vested interest in their being "real"! There are those who created them and those who traded for or bought them in large quantities, of course, and these people have the most at stake, for if they are established as being repros, they may well face criminal or civil prosecution. But there are also many others who either own some or many of these in their collection, or those who bought them and re-sold small numbers of them, and these people too very much want them to be "real" as well.

The very same people who sell the "minty white" inserts also sell a "minty white" half-sheet to The Enforcer (1977, Clint Eastwood). An image of this poster can be found on my site at http://www.emovieposter.com/imagearchive/poster/90085.html Now I have recently had a chance to examine a known original side by side with a "minty white". First off, there are the paper differences, just like with the inserts. But there are MASSIVE printing differences too! On the known original, the windshield has several long fine cracks which run to the right side of the poster, past Eastwood's face. The left of the dashboard of the car has a fine grid of metal on the left that looks like chicken wire. On the "minty white" , the fine cracks in the windshield stop several inches before those of the original, and on the "minty white", the grid in the left of the dashboard is mostly just a black blur!

Why are there these differences? Because the missing lines are very fine, and the original that was used to create the "minty white" had them, but the photographer that shot it did not use a fine enough image, and the printer did not use a fine enough "screen" during printing and so these fine details were lost. Of course, it would be great if ALL the "minty whites" had these differences, but many do not have such obvious "markers" (although all show some clear slight signs of these kinds of differences, and they all can be seen under magnification). But given that some of the "minty whites" have substantial differences, and given that all are printed on the same sort of paper, I think this is more than enough reason to accept that all are clearly repros that were reproduced from originals, and NOT from original printing plates. They are copies, and should have no more value than any other reproduction, like those from Portal Publications.

What can be done about this? I really can't say exactly, but here are my thoughts. Some of those commenting on the poll asked why scientific methods could not be used to absolutely tell when these were created, but sadly science is not yet up to finding differences of just 20 years (regardless of what you see on CSI type shows!). So that is out. If the FBI were to get involved, they could likely quickly get to the bottom of this, for they could spend much time and money going to the possible printers, and it is VERY likely that there would be many of the people who were only slightly involved in this who would cooperate, rather than risk possible prosecution, so it might just take a short time for the full truth to come out,

But this is very unlikely to happen, for most of these have sold for $25-$100 each, and I would say that any law enforcement agency would put this very low on their list of priorities (there have been many similar scandals in other collectibles fields, and the authorities rarely take the slightest action, other than telling those involved to stop). And I feel certain there is NO chance eBay will get involved, for they would want to see some sort of "smoking gun" proof, which does not exist as of yet.

So what can be done? I would say the best course for now is for everyone to spread the word about these as much as possible, so that fewer and fewer collectors get tricked into buying them (I give everyone reading this the permission to quote it on any newsgroup or website, AS LONG AS IT IS QUOTED IN FULL, AND AS LONG AS IT IS CLEARLY CREDITED AS BEING FROM EMOVIEPOSTER.COM). Certainly this will help a lot to spread the word, and one would hope that, eventually, as those who sell these reproductions as originals are stigmatized, at least some of them will stop selling them, for any profits they make from continuing to do so is likely more than outweighed by the fewer number of sales of legitimate posters, and the lower prices they get for legitimate posters at auction. Once there are just a couple of people left selling them, they will become less and less of a problem.

I WISH that the sellers of the "minty whites" would realize that these are hurting their business, and that continuing to sell them opens them up to more and more potential legal liability (it is going to be harder and harder to use a "I didn't know they were repros" defense as more and more time goes by). I wish they would just trash (or put away) their remaining "minty whites" (or sell them as likely repros), and then they could "clean up their act" and over time completely rehabilitate themselves in the collecting world (they can say they didn't know they were repros and that once they found out they stopped selling them; they can boast of how much they lost, using a "we're a victim too" defense!).

But sadly, there are lots of signs that they are going in exactly the opposite direction! They have suddenly made "warehouse finds" of many popular 1970s and 1980s lobby card titles (complete sets) and they have learned the wrong lesson from the "minty white" insert episode. These lobby cards repros are on a much better paper stock than the inserts, and are not nearly as easy to tell from known originals (but once again, these were reproduced from originals and not from original printing plates, so there are subtle differences, but you need some education or time in the hobby to see them.

So please, everyone do your part and spread the word of what is written here. If this is not stopped (at least to some degree), then our entire hobby will be much the worse for it. If you own any of these "minty whites", please DON'T sell them as originals (but don't throw them away either; but rather sell them as repros, and if you were sold them as originals, say so when you list them, and that would do LOTS towards spreading the word! If we all work together, we can do as I outlined above and get every collector the knowledge they need to avoid buying these, and we can also ostracize the dealers who continue to sell them, so that hopefully they will see the wisdom of stopping!"

The following posters have been submitted to us to as being called the 'Minty White' posters. They are deemed by the majority of the hobby to be reproductions. For more information on them, click here.

NOTICE: Not ALL posters of these titles are fakes, this is only a notice for you to be more cautious when buying any of these posters.

Here is a list of the Titles and sizes in question:

2001 A Space Odyssey - Insert

A Clockwork Orange - Insert

Alien - Insert

Aliens - Lobby Card Set

Annie Hall - Insert

Apocalypse Now - Insert

Army of Darkness - Lobby Card Set

Blade Runner - Insert - Lobby Card Set

Blue Velvet - Lobby Card Set

Blues Brothers - Lobby Card Set

Caddyshack - Lobby Card Set

Casino - Lobby Card Set

Empire Strikes Back - Insert (style A) - Half Sheet (style A) - Lobby Card Set

Enforcer - Insert - Half Sheet

For Your Eyes Only - Lobby Card Set

Godfather - Insert

Godfather II - Lobby Card Set

Goodfellas - Lobby Card Set

Grease - Insert - Lobby Card Set

Hard Days Night - Lobby Card Set (R82 Issue)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - Lobby Card Set

Jaws - Insert

Manhattan - Insert

Matrix - Lobby Card Set (International Issue)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl - Lobby Card Set (International Set of 14)

Raging Bull - Insert

Raiders of the Lost Ark - Insert

Reservoir Dogs - Lobby Card Set (International Issue)

Return of the Jedi - Insert

Rocky Horror Picture Show - Lobby Card Set

Shining - Insert

Silence of the Lambs - Lobby Card Set (International Set of

Spiderman 2 - Lobby Card Set (International Set of 10)

Star Trek - Insert

Star Wars - Insert (Style A)

Saturday Night Fever - Insert

Scarface - Insert

Taxi Driver - Insert - Lobby Card Set

Tombstone - Lobby Card Set (International Set of

Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Lobby Card Set

World is Not Enough - Lobby Card Set

[cabmangray]

Now you did it, Bruce! I'm sure the boys from Rochester are ready to lawyer up! (or so they say). Loce ("Professor" Powers in a fake beard) and Richter (his toady follower) are a couple of fucking clowns who like to scam the gullible and any newbie's they can lure into their fraudulent, dishonest dealings. Remember this - greed knows no bounds. A pox on them! 

[holiday]

After all these years is this shit still going on?!