Some new interesting information we have learned about the Star Wars Style A 77/21-0 Printer's Proofs.
And for those of you who don't like the term "Printer's Proof", save your complaining for another thread please. Our client who was there when they were actually printed refers to them as printer's proofs.
STAR WARS STYLE A 1SH "FIRST OF THE FIRST" FIRST PRINTING 77/21-0 PMS COLOR VARIANT PRINTER'S PROOF
First, a little background information:
Gore Graphics was a printing company used by the movie studios and the National Screen Service (NSS) from the 1970's to the early 1990's. They printed original movie posters, press books, etc. Gore was acquired by another company in the 1990's.
The Star Wars style A one sheet was officially printed at least 5 separate times at a few different authorized print shops during the first theatrical run of Star Wars in 1977. This is evidenced by the differences that can be seen on the bottom borders of the one sheets. It has been well established by other experts, dealers and collectors over the years that the one sheets with NSS number 77/21-0 were printed first before all others.
In July 2013 we had an extensive conversation with Mark, a former employee of Gore Graphics in the 1970's and 80's. Like other former employees at Gore we have worked with over the years, Mark was allowed to take home posters from time to time. He has placed on consignment with us several Star Wars printer's proof one sheets. While meeting with Mark we became aware of a rare PMS color variant printer's proof for the Star Wars Style A one sheet first printing 77/21-0. Mark carefully explained about these PMS proofs being the "first of the first" Star Wars style A one sheets.
CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. These are the primary colors used in printing. Varying the quantities of these colors creates an endless array of colors to print.
PMS stands for Pantone Matching System (PMS). PMS is a simpler system for printers to use. PMS colors can streamline the process of printing and cut down on cost. There can be so much variation in color using CMYK that Pantone is sometimes used to help create consistent color. This way a printer can consistently print from job to job.
These "first of the first" PMS proofs were printed before the CMYK proofs. Four colors (plates) were used for both the PMS and CMYK proofs. The PMS process produced a result that was unacceptable to those in charge (probably George Lucas) so Gore changed to a standard CMYK process for the subsequent print run which was finally deemed acceptable. All other print runs used this CMYK process (as far as we know) making the PMS color proofs much rarer than any CMYK proofs.
The PMS proofs are significantly different. When comparing the CMYK and PMS proofs side by side, the easiest way to tell the difference is by looking at the color bars. The PMS proofs have orange included in the color bar, CMYK has yellow.
