What do you NOT collect?

[eatbrie]

Seeing Bruce's latest auctions made me realize how little interest I have in some formats, or posters from specific countries.  Not that there is anything wrong with them, I just never got around to collecting them.

For instance, I do not collect:

US 1/2 sheets
US inserts
US window cards
Italian Locandinas
Australian Daybills
French small posters
Japanese Chirashis
Spanish posters
Belgian posters
Yugoslavian posters

I just saw some of these on Bruce's site and ended up scrolling down to the next page without even looking.  And I thank God for that, because otherwise, collecting would be endless.  Not that it's not already.  

T

[linder1]

Off the top of my head:

Anything bound or stapled (programs etc)
Turkish posters
Spanish (language) posters
Most German posters
Chinese posters (too much risk for me)
Korean posters
Most things US / British / English language, although I do make exceptions for something really special
I try to stay away from "big" posters, like French 1 panels and Italian quattros, but I do make exceptions
Japanese chirashi
Japanese press sheets (I hate when people describe B3 size press sheets as posters by the way)

[eatbrie]

Chinese posters (too much risk for me)

How risky?

[Juli]

I don't collect movie posters that are in different languages, unless the movie itself is from the country that speaks a different language. For example I would want The Lives of Others as a German poster as it's a German film so to me that makes sense, but I wouldn't want a French poster of the Lives of Others as that's not its native country. I would NOT want a German Lord of the Rings poster because Lord of the Rings is an American movie...however I'd be okay with the British poster as it's in English.

~ Juli

[linder1]

How risky?

Not quite sure which way you're asking this, but I'll answer both I suppose with this answer.

How risky?  Enough that I do not want to spend money on material that could be fake.  This is hearsay but from other experienced people I have heard that unless you really know what you're doing you can buy items that look very real (aged, the right ink, the right paper, etc) and it's entirely FAKE.

I'm risk averse.  As a corollary, personally I wouldn't buy Russian material unless I had experiences like I've had -- going through massive collections that are very clearly real and plundered from a warehouse / distributor of some kind.  There are a lot of fake political  / propaganda posters over there and all it takes is a hint that "rich westerners" are looking for material for the wheels of counterfeiting to begin to turn apace.

[Ari]

or IS Lord of the Rings an American Movie?

Few years back COO (country of origin) was a big deal, seems to have died a bit.


re Chinese posters, do you mean Hong Kong or mainland China?


HK posters are pretty easy to get, I have stacks of them, for HK films, Chinese posters for Chinese movies would be hard to get as they destryoed most, I work for Chinese people and they have no understanding of WHY we would want posters for chinese films, but when they go home, they bring what they can find for me.


I don't think China makes fake movie posters, I could be wrong, they DO make fake Cultural revolution posters, so thats an area to be wary of.

Also depends on the vintage, I would wager if they made fakes, then it would be modern films.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

No specific restrictions but cigarettes are a huge negative (although I'll tolerate Pulp Fiction and a couple of others):

[Harry Caul]

I collect everything, in every size, and from every country if I like the image!  Even the stuff most people avoid like the plague like Yugos... I normally wouldn't collect them, but I loved the Golgo 13 and Walking Dead posters so I bought them.  Simple as that.





Locandinas, I have two.  I collect big posters (I have a French 2-panel) and small posters (a midget WC and my new Chirashi collection!). 

I do love to get country of origin material, which I think was what first helped expand my tastes.

[eatbrie]

It's funny, that "Country of Origin" thing is never something that has sparked my interest.  Most of the time, I find foreign material on a specific movie way more interesting that the original stuff, especially with US posters.  What I do not like are small posters, but I will buy from all around the world, regardless of where a movie is from, except for the few countries I mentioned (which have small posters, or cheap looking posters, like Yugo and Spain).

T

This said, great Walking Dead poster.

[CSM]

Thierry you can just keep on not collecting daybills thank you very much

[ddilts399]

Belgians
Window Cards
Lobbies for the most part, I do own a few and buy here and there but do not actively search for them
Inserts - minty white debacle soured the format as a whole for me
Multi-sheet from any country

generally if the art on rest of the world paper is the same as the US one-sheet, I dont have any interest regardless of country/size.

[brude]

I will buy any format if there is a good enough reason for me to own it.

Generally though, I do not look at:
Inserts
Half sheets
Chirashi
Thierry hates "French Grande"s
Italian 2Sheets and Photobustas
Daybills (no offense Ari, I do own a few)
Foreign language (unless diff art on a title I like)
Pressbooks/Flyers/Handbills

What's also interesting is "what genres do you not collect?"

[eatbrie]

Oh yeah, I forgot, I do not collect linenbacked posters.

And as far as genres, I do not collect sexploitation. 

T

[Bruce]

You all make valid points. One of the main advantages to our "grouping" like items together is that we can more easily photograph, list, pack, and ship same sized items, but the great side benefit is that it gives people like Thierry a "breather" on the days when we only have sizes he refuses to consider!

There are some incredible images that ONLY exist on one poster (like say, some 1930s Warner Bros half-sheets, or many 1950s style B half-sheets). I think a person is being downright foolish if they say they would NEVER buy a certain size, no matter what. A general rule is fine, but if that poster you love is the wrong "shape", do you love it any less? Isn't this just "poster bigotry" in its ugliest form?

 

Bruce

[linder1]

There are some incredible images that ONLY exist on one poster (like say, some 1930s Warner Bros half-sheets, or many 1950s style B half-sheets). I think a person is being downright foolish if they say they would NEVER buy a certain size, no matter what. A general rule is fine, but if that poster you love is the wrong "shape", do you love it any less? Isn't this just "poster bigotry" in its ugliest form?

Very true.  I swore off French posters for years but recently I was sucked in by some pieces I could not pass up.

Rules are made to be broken for the right reasons.

[eatbrie]

but the great side benefit is that it gives people like Thierry a "breather" on the days when we only have sizes he refuses to consider!

You couldn't be more right, Bruce.  You sell enough amazing posters as it is, I'm only too happy when I can skip a day or two.  Can't you do a month of Belgium posters?  It will make some people very happy, and will allow me to reorganize my finances  .

T

[eatbrie]

Thierry you can just keep on not collecting daybills thank you very much

So you don't want me to post on NS4, you don't want me to collect daybills...  Where is the love?

T

[paul waines]

I'm with Harry on this one, although I mainly collect Quads, I will buy any size and from any country. There are two reasons I buy a poster. I like the film, or I like the artwork. Over the years I have picked up a couple of poor looking posters just because of what the film was. And likewise bought posters of films I may not of seen just because I like the artwork.

[Harry Caul]

It's funny, that "Country of Origin" thing is never something that has sparked my interest.  Most of the time, I find foreign material on a specific movie way more interesting that the original stuff, especially with US posters.

That is probably also a reflection of our collecting tastes... I probably own 10-20 posters from the 90's forward.  During that time period COO doesn't usually matter for much as the artwork has become commoditized and globalized.  In the rare instance I see some cool artwork, you are correct in that it typically comes from another country that broke the mold.

However, when I do collect COO, it is because the poster has better art and/or is more valuable.  Take for instance my African Queen UK 1-sheet... I think it has a far superior image to the US 1-sheet (which looks like the cover to a romance novel and doesn't even fit the film).  It doesn't hurt that it is also more collectible.  I also have a R80's Soy Cuba silkscreen that is so colorful and creative that it puts the US 1-sheet to shame.  Although this second comparison is probably not as fair as Soy Cuba wasn't released in the US until 1995!



That said, I do often prefer foreign posters to US posters if their artwork is superior... this is especially evident during the WWII period of bland and simple duo or tri-tone posters.  I would take the French versions of Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and Treasure of the Sierra Madre over their US counterparts any day of the week!

This said, great Walking Dead poster.

Thank you kindly.

[eatbrie]

At the end of the day, I try to collect the best poster around, regardless of where it's from (minus the countries I mentioned earlier).  For instance, I've never been fond of the US Lawrence of Arabia campaign.  If one comes thru my fingers, I won't let it go, but I'm not craving it.  However, I couldn't let this French one go by, which to me, if the best artwork for the movie.



As far as post 1990 posters are concerned, since they all look the same anyway, I'd probably want the COO.

T

[Harry Caul]

Well, we can both agree on that French LOA... it is stunning and its my favorite poster for the movie.  Do you ever display in your large, swappable frame?

I think more than anything, my initial interest in COO material has expanded my tastes to include posters from pretty much every country. 

[Dr Hackenbush]

The only things I have very little interest in collecting are pressbooks and heralds, and even those I might relent on if it's for a very rare movie (of which I couldn't afford anything else).  Although all of my movie paper is pre-'45, that doesn't mean I don't have any desire to purchase more recent stuff.  I just haven't gotten around to doing it, but I will one of these days.  I've learned to never say never, as you don't know what may be made available in the future.

[CSM]

So you don't want me to post on NS4, you don't want me to collect daybills...  Where is the love?

T

I did not realize French people NEED love?

[erik1925]

Great topic.. as it shows what we all like or dont or what appeals to each of us.
I dont go for:

Australian daybills ( i was given a few however--from the early 1940s and 50's)
Mexician film posters
Anything printed after the mid-latter 1950's
Japanese/ other Asian posters (either COO or foreign films)
Heralds
Lobby cards
Programs
Stills

[scartacus]

Great Larry, Thierry. Have you got any of Lean's other movies?