The History of the Hobby

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

So I met the owner of the War of the Worlds poster today.  Says his brother found a stack of posters in an abandoned theater near Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the early 1970s.  His brother gave him the WW poster but most of the other posters were later stolen.  I offered him $750 for it since it's DM'd. Otherwise it's in pretty good condition. He said he'd consider it.

How much would it cost to demount it and LB it properly A-Z?

[MoviePosterBid.com]

I will synopsis the history of the movie poster hobby

someone bought a poster from a movie
and the hobby was begun

[wonka]

So I met the owner of the War of the Worlds poster today.  Says his brother found a stack of posters in an abandoned theater near Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the early 1970s.  His brother gave him the WW poster but most of the other posters were later stolen.  I offered him $750 for it since it's DM'd. Otherwise it's in pretty good condition. He said he'd consider it.

How much would it cost to demount it and LB it properly A-Z?

You should talk to Harry Caul.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

You should talk to Harry Caul.

Yes, I'm aware that it's very difficult to demount this. I'd probably keep it as is, rather than take the chance of ruining the poster and/or spending $750 to fix it.

Anyway, I told him that's he's better off consigning it or taking it to Ebay, so I doubt he'll sell it to me anyway.

[Charlie]

or Mario Cueva... I think he charges $350 or something...

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

or Mario Cueva... I think he charges $350 or something...

For demounting a poster and rebacking it? I thought you had to sand it off from the back, which must take several hours.

[Harry Caul]

The cost comes down to the glue used -- some are actually quite easy to demount.  But the wrong glue and yes, they need to soak it and scrape it. 

[wonka]

That WOTW one sheet is such a cool poster. Will get one one day...

[Charlie]

That WOTW one sheet is such a cool poster. Will get one one day...

Me too! 

[Crazy Vick]

I'd like to see more your true collector insights in this thread, but the type of stuff that isn't readily available.  I read passing references to major events (a billion belgians suddenly flooding the market, or another particular trove, or the way is was before ebay made change X)

For relatively new collectors it would be nice to be able to discuss these interesting tidbits with my wife.  It will give more life to my "stupid old paper collection" and she may cool her jets when she gets wind of my spending money on a poster.

Peaks and valleys - what amazing, crazy, fortunate or unfortunate events have happened in poster collecting since you started?  How is this hobby always keeping you on your toes?

[Bruce]

Go here:

https://www.emovieposter.com/club/archive.php

If you are not a member, sign up (you can quit anytime). It is free.

Read through the SEVEN HUNDRED weekly emails dating back to 1999! Yes, you will have to ignore the promo stuff, but in-between you will find a MASSIVE amount of info not available anywhere else.

[movieart.com]

Good luck, Crazy Vick, having quality time with your wife discussing movie posters.  About 3% of the collectors in this hobby are women.  The rest are men, and their wives simply DO NOT understand.  As a dealer in the hobby for over thirty years, I cannot tell you how many times, in conversations with customers on the phone, I hear them say: "Do not tell my wife anything about me buying this poster."  Seriously!  Whether we participate in such obfuscation I cannot say.

[CSM]

Whether we participate in such obfuscation I cannot say.

 

[erik1925]

http://www.mcwonline.com/pdf/705drv.pdf

THE NEW ZEALAND COLLECTION

"During the early part of 1999, a collection of Universal Pictures half sheets were discovered under the floor of a
house being renovated in Wellington, New Zealand. The posters were in an amazing state of preservation, with the
majority of them in very fine to mint condition. The family that found them realized they had something unique and
tried to sell them through a local antique publication for $25.00 each. They had one call regarding the posters and the man who called offered
to buy every poster the family had. The family became suspicious that they might have something far more valuable
than they realized, so they declined the man’s offer and went about finding a way to discover the true value of the posters.

Through the internet, they found several poster dealers, but couldn’t find any prices to compare their posters to
(hey guys anyone who has ever bought a high line poster can relate to this, can’t we?). They next contacted some of the
auction houses including, Christie’s South Kensington and Bonham’s. The auction houses promised them quite a
return on their posters and the family suddenly became aware of the posters true value. However, rather than
pay high commissions and wishing to keep their discovery somewhat quiet, they decided to sell their collection privately.

It was at this point the family contacted a private dealer who then contacted Cinema Icons. The dealer knew
that Ron dealt in very rare Universal horror posters and that he would make them a fair offer on their items. In June
1999, he traveled to New Zealand and purchased one complete set of half sheets (meaning both the A and B styles) of each title they had.
Upon his arrival back in the U.S., the posters were immediately sold into private collections. And that’s where the story should have ended…

Over the course of the next year, he began to hear rumors the people in New Zealand still had more half sheets.
The rumor was that there were multiple copies of some of the half sheets, and there was at least one other complete set
of what he had purchased the prior year. He discounted the rumors because the family asked him to keep our transaction
quiet. They didn’t want people to know the posters had already been sold. He assumed the set he had purchased
was the same set that collectors were saying was still available. During this time, he kept hearing about the posters
coming to auction, first Sotheby’s New York, then Christie’s South Kensington. But with each catalog that was issued,
the posters failed to materialize, and he came to the conclusion that the rumor was just that; a rumor!

In October 2000, the New Zealand family called Ron. They told him that they did indeed still have more half
sheets. They were tired of dealing with the auction houses and were getting spooked when strange people were
showing up on their doorstep in New Zealand and asking about the posters. They wanted to know if he was interested
in buying them out.

He went into negotiations with them and was able to purchase all of their remaining posters. Before Ron
did this, he managed to get a statement from them that this was indeed the last of the posters.

The following list of posters accounts for the entire inventory of the horror posters from the New Zealand Collection.
Although Universal didn’t mark their half sheets as A and B styles, for simplicity, we’ve denoted the style that
has the same image as the title card as style A.

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Style A – 2 copies
Style B – 3 copies (1 with the borders trimmed off)

The Raven (1935)

Style A – 1 copy
Style B - 4 copies

The Invisible Ray (1936)

Style A – 2 copies
Style B – 1 copy

Dracula’s Daughter (1936)

Style A – 3 copies (1 with a significant chunk out of the left side)
Style B – 4 copies

This find is amazing to read again... that so many HS from one studio (Universal) and from their horror films would be found in one place, and all in mostly prime condition, is truly astounding! The story never gets old.   

[brude]

I came across this pic on a Collectors Society thread from 2012 and figured this might be a good a place to post it as some of our members might be able to ID the seller, 'Bob.'
It's from Wondercon 2012, I believe...

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5548475&fpart=3

[CSM]

A Nipponese Trap!  Oh my...

[movieposterodyssey]

I will synopsis the history of the movie poster hobby

someone bought a poster from a movie
and the hobby was begun

I'm thinking it probably started without actual buying. Printers, theater employees... taking home posters.
There had to be somebody, pre 60's, that was so taken with the images they began collecting...when possible.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

my longtime friend Robert Beerbohm
one of the original comic book dealers

I came across this pic on a Collectors Society thread from 2012 and figured this might be a good a place to post it as some of our members might be able to ID the seller, 'Bob.'
It's from Wondercon 2012, I believe...

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5548475&fpart=3

[MoviePosterBid.com]

I will synopsis the history of the movie poster hobby

someone bought a poster from a movie
and the hobby was begun

I'm thinking it probably started without actual buying. Printers, theater employees... taking home posters.
There had to be somebody, pre 60's, that was so taken with the images they began collecting...when possible.

I will synopsis the history of the movie poster hobby

someone bought GOT a poster from a movie
and the hobby was begun

[crowzilla]

I'm thinking it probably started without actual buying. Printers, theater employees... taking home posters.
There had to be somebody, pre 60's, that was so taken with the images they began collecting...when possible.

There is the famous anecdote about Forry Ackerman that in the mid 30s he had a memo from Universal President Carl Laemmle stating he could have anything he wanted. Unfortunately, it seemed he mostly took stills at that time and didn't start getting posters until later as most of his Universal collection consisted of 40s re-releases and realart material. 

[Ari]

Anyone get wind of the collection coming out of Australia now/soon?

[CSM]

Anyone get wind of the collection coming out of Australia now/soon?

  More importantly - WHAT'S in the collection?

[brude]

my longtime friend Robert Beerbohm
one of the original comic book dealers

I've heard his name before.
Maybe you have a story or two to tell us about Mr. Beerbohm?

[Charlie]

  More importantly - WHAT'S in the collection?

Everything nice and sugar and spice.  It's already out if your are talking about that fella Kerry...

[movieposterodyssey]

There is the famous anecdote about Forry Ackerman that in the mid 30s he had a memo from Universal President Carl Laemmle stating he could have anything he wanted. Unfortunately, it seemed he mostly took stills at that time and didn't start getting posters until later as most of his Universal collection consisted of 40s re-releases and realart material. 

Thanks Crow, I never heard that one. Heartbreaking, but understandable he was just taking stills. I imagine stills were more popular than posters, back then, and something even non collectors wanted. Having stills of their favorite stars and such. The poster hadn't quite became a household item yet.

Just imagine the material he could've had. I'm sure that haunted him all the time.

No doubt people were collecting way before the hobby started. Probably way more than we think. The posters were way too beautiful and too many people had access.