When I first started collecting in 1974 it was just so much easier. Condition wasn't such a big deal since all the 1-sheets were folded anyway. When NSS started using the very shiny coated stock in the late 60's the ink would usually flake off in the fold lines, so trying to get a copy on flat matte paper was preferable, if they were printed on that stock at all. Prices were consistent, usually $5 or $6 each regardless of the title. Star Wars style A, Silver Streak, Enter The Dragon, Live and Let Die, OHMSS etc. all the same price. You could tailor your poster collection by size. Don't like 1-sheets? You could get so many other sizes, inserts, 22x28's, 30x40's, 40x60's, 3-sheets, 6-sheets. NSS stopped making window cards in 1971 due to lack of use by that time. The game changed around 1982 when NSS stopped folding the 1-sheets and sent them out rolled. Condition became a more important issue. If you wanted older titles from the 40's and 50's there were other collectors and brick & mortar shops to be searched out. Smolen Prints in NYC had several tables of vintage paper for not very much money. He had paper that collectors today would go bonkers for like Realart lobby cards for House Of Dracula, The Mummy, WC Fields, Abbott and Costello, Superman And The Mole Men pressbooks and inserts, Deadly Is The Female (Gun Crazy) pressbooks, lobby cards and 1-sheets, and so much more.
Today the prices are just out of control which is why I stopped collecting over 5 years ago. I absolutely refuse to pay $50+ for a Indiana Jones and The Dial Of Destiny or No Time To Die 1-sheet. Very little of what is printed today is truly rare enough to warrant a price like that, or more. I do however understand why posters from Mondo, Bottleneck Gallery etc. sell for more in that they are printed in limited quantities and usually have vastly superior artwork than their original release counterparts. And you have my blessing if you want to start collecting the Bond's especially the earlier titles. Very deep pockets would be required.
