Mid-auction analysis - OMGs!, LOLs!, WTFs!, whatev....

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Someone is making a huge mistake - the 1980 releases are a dime-a-dozen on Ebay for $50....

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Six sheet Breakfast at Tiffany's - $11,000 on UK Ebay - yowza!

That actually is not a bad price, considering how much one sheets go for.

[Harry Caul]

Dear god why did they linen back it if they weren't even going to keep it! 

[Bruce]

The seller is a friend of mine. He thought it displays so much better backed. I know he is telling the truth about the condition.

Bruce

[CSM]

Personally, I see no problem backing 3 sheets, 6 sheets etc - it is just the easiest way to assemble the pieces and display it as a single entity

[wonka]

Personally, I see no problem backing 3 sheets, 6 sheets etc - it is just the easiest way to assemble the pieces and display it as a single entity

I agree, they look so much nicer and downright purdy that way, and in some cases might help spur sales or bids so folks can see the entirety of the poster all smoothed out.

That BAT sixer is incredible, I saw it awhile back.

Gotta get my Peter Pan on linen (not to mention my other six and three sheets), but the $500 or so odd dollars I need to get it done keep getting thrown at other posters...you know how it goes.

[CSM]

Gotta get my Peter Pan on linen (not to mention my other six and three sheets), but the $500 or so odd dollars I need to get it done keep getting thrown at other posters...you know how it goes.

I know exactly how it goes!  Keep meaning to order some more frames but the budget keeps getting spent on on more paper...vicious

[wonka]

I know exactly how it goes!  Keep meaning to order some more frames but the budget keeps getting spent on on more paper...vicious

Haha, yep!
I bought my French small Curse of the Werewolf to be framed in the living room since my wife also likes it.

Saved up for some high-brow top dollar, archival frame job...then blew my load on some other paper...to be framed of course...or to just sit in a pile downstairs...whatever....its a nasty cycle.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Personally, I see no problem backing 3 sheets, 6 sheets etc - it is just the easiest way to assemble the pieces and display it as a single entity

$500 for linen-backing? 

No way - $5 acid-free tape is the DPM way - just tape 'em together on the back. Otherwise, they would just sit around collecting dust. Of course, I wouldn't do that for an expensive six sheet. 

[wonka]

Sure, that is an estimate.

I have a bunch of three and six sheets, some will get put on linen because I might display them, some might not cause they will sit in a drawer forever.

I love these things on linen, I love how well they store and how durable they are...but that's just me.

[Harry Caul]

The seller is a friend of mine. He thought it displays so much better backed. I know he is telling the truth about the condition.

Bruce

I realize it displays better linen backed.  But surely a NM, unused and unbacked BAT 6-sheet is a near one of a kind piece.  I've seen dozens examples of backed 6-sheets... now it is just one of many.  My jaw almost hit the floor when I saw an unbacked Forbidden Planet 6-sheet was being sold at HA's recent auction.  The temptation to back something like that over the years must have been intense... I'm glad to see that the seller resisted.  Who knows what the new buyer will do though...

Bruce, you mentioned in another thread about flattening folds that the owner of the Lawrence of Arabia 1-sheet (and another Kong poster) had their posters flattened without being backed.  Surely someone could flatten all the piece of a 6 sheet and lightly tape them to an artcare backing for framing.  It would look nearly as good as a linen backed piece and still be kept in pristine condition for long term. 

I still linen back when necessary, but my views on using it solely for aesthetic reasons have really taken a complete 180.  It pains my heart to hear about people backing NM paper... regardless of the size.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

It pains my heart to hear about people backing NM paper... regardless of the size.

Doesn't the process de-acidify the paper?  Without LBing, wouldn't the poster eventually yellow badly and in the long run disintegrate?

And are there really "many" 6 sheet BATs?  Emovie has sold one (15 years ago) and Heritage has never sold one.  Surely, only a handful of these are left.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

complete de-acidification does not exist. Chemicals that "arrest" the acid are used to stave off problems, however I can tell you that buffering agents are only temporary and there is empirical evidence that shows once the buffering agent stops working (buffering agents are not permanent)  that the acidification of the paper increases at a faster pace than normal. So it's a two-edged sword

[Harry Caul]

And are there really "many" 6 sheet BATs?  Emovie has sold one (15 years ago) and Heritage has never sold one.  Surely, only a handful of these are left.

Christie's has sold at least 5.  Not sure how many more are floating around at dealers or still unsold in private collections...

At least there is one more unbacked 6-sheet in existence.  If it hasn't been backed by now of course.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Christie's has sold at least 5.  Not sure how many more are floating around at dealers or still unsold in private collections...

At least there is one more unbacked 6-sheet in existence.  If it hasn't been backed by now of course.

The LB version wins by a country mile IMHO.  It's a $10,000+ showpiece and who would want to show off a rumpled version?  Everyone who has ever seen one of my folded posters always says something like "why is it folded - it looks ugly that way."

[Harry Caul]

Come on Mel.  No one would never display it like that and you know it... read my above comments to Bruce.  If pressed it would essentially look like several rolled posters.  The only thing missing is gluing them down together vs. taping them down together.  It would also further press flat between the framing materials.

[stewart boyle]

I tend to agree with Harry,but im curious as to how you would display or frame such a gem Harry?

Stew

[Neo]

I have to agree with Mel on this one.  The framed, linen backed pieces that I have look awesome, and even if someone with a folded poster found a competent person to use the method that Bruce described, I cannot imagine it looking as good as the same piece that is linen backed, and I base this conclusion on absolutely nothing.  

[Harry Caul]

I tend to agree with Harry,but im curious as to how you would display or frame such a gem Harry?

Stew

Take a look at the following poster...





While even in this very crude example, I personally don't think the folds are all that bad. And keep in mind we aren't talking about a NM poster either like the BAT 6 banger either.  That said, I think the most distracting part is the folds, not necessarily the seam, which especially if taped properly could be hidden much better.

Now take a look at this LOA 1-sheet that Bruce told us was pressed without being backed. 







I serious doubt the fold-line remnants on this poster would be any more distracting than fold line remnants on a linen backed poster.  Also keep in mind that the reason the panels on 3-sheets, 6-sheets, and Italian 2-panels do not match up properly is *not* because they were printed that way.  But once soaked in water and mounted to linen, the paper shrinks.  By the time two or more individual pieces are put to linen, they have begun to dry at different times and the end result is usually a slight mismatch.

If each of the panels were pressed flat as the LOA above, then taped together from the back and further pressed over time between the backing and the plexi... I highly doubt the seams would be very visible and you would probably end up with a better aligned image.  That is how I would go about framing a large, unbacked signature poster.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not saying everyone should do this by the way. God knows I have plenty of linen backed posters in my collection... including my new Fistful of Dollars 2-panel.  I'm just trying to challenge the notion that one has to linen back a large poster to frame it.  Besides, try finding a big enough piece of plexiglas anyway... you will be up against that problem whether you linen back it or not!

[Zorba]

I have to agree with Mel on this one.  The framed, linen backed pieces that I have look awesome, and even if someone with a folded poster found a competent person to use the method that Bruce described, I cannot imagine it looking as good as the same piece that is linen backed, and I base this conclusion on absolutely nothing.  

 

Absolutely nothing?...I think you have a pretty good idea and I feel as though I must side with you and Mel.  Four outta five of my LB posters look fantastic! and the fifth aint so bad.

One edit: I do not have a problem with fold lines 

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

The folds on white posters bother me more than on other posters:

[velvet11]

I'm curious -- is the tape used to tape these large, multi-part posters together removable? Or is it stuck on forever once it's applied?

 ron

[50s]

Also keep in mind that the reason the panels on 3-sheets, 6-sheets, and Italian 2-panels do not match up properly is *not* because they were printed that way.  But once soaked in water and mounted to linen, the paper shrinks.  By the time two or more individual pieces are put to linen, they have begun to dry at different times and the end result is usually a slight mismatch.

Mismatches from my experience is due to:
- different panels soaked in the wheat paste for different times (the sheets expand the longer they are soaked)
- the direction of the fibres in the sheets. The sheets expand more in one direction than the other, so if the sheets dont have their fibres matching in the same direction, mismatch will occur unless this is factored in in the above soaking timings.

I think once the sheets are positioned on the backing, the sheets will maintain their relative position, one wont move against the other. You do have some flexibility to stretch the paper a little to align a bit better while it is still wet.

[Bruce]

"Also keep in mind that the reason the panels on 3-sheets, 6-sheets, and Italian 2-panels do not match up properly is *not* because they were printed that way."

This is absolutely not true ALL the time. I have sold many thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of three-sheets and six-sheets and thousands of Italian two-panels, and I can tell you that it is fairly common on older posters for the sections to be mis-matched (I would say at least one in 50) and they were never backed.

Why? Because the printers did not care enough! I have seen incredibly bad mis-matches, and most times restorers line the sections up as best they can, and the person lives with the mis-match. The late great Igor Edelman loved to do these posters, because he would re-paint over the mis-match and make it match!

Bruce

[CSM]

Another I've noticed about 3 sheets, 6 sheets etc is that sometimes the colours do not match from section to section. 

This can be very detrimental to the overall look of the poster.

I wonder if this is also a printer issue or if perhaps in some instances someone has found a missing section from another print run and/or a sun faded section and added to the other pieces...