Are posters or lobby cards the better investment?

[Crazy Vick]

of course it depends on the title, rarity of each, etc.  But speaking in general terms, it is possible to state one over the other?  Are lobbies more rare because less were printed?  Are they more user-friendly from a display, framing, restoration perspective?  They seem to have done well in major auctions over the summer, and currently on EMP.  Thoughts?

[archie leach]

Yes.

[jayn_j]

you'all are using that nasty investment word again.  You want investment, put it all in canned goods and shotgun shells.

[Crazy Vick]

you'all are using that nasty investment word again.  You want investment, put it all in canned goods and shotgun shells.

Point taken.

In any case, many folks including dealers are buying posters or lobbies and making money by reselling them at a higher price, so we cant completely deny the investment factor.

Maybe another reason that lobbies are a good investment is the fact that they come in a set - meaning there might be more opportunity to sell to completists on that side.

[jayn_j]

Point taken.

In any case, many folks including dealers are buying posters or lobbies and making money by reselling them at a higher price, so we cant completely deny the investment factor.

Maybe another reason that lobbies are a good investment is the fact that they come in a set - meaning there might be more opportunity to sell to completists on that side.

OK, when put that way.  I've got a fair number of lobbies.  The cheap guy in me always wants a bargain, so I will buy an incomplete set that contains a card I want.  Later the OCD completeist guy inside my head goes and bids too much on a card to complete the set

But overall, a LCS for a pre-90 film will sell at or below the 1 sheet price.  I like them because you can display a large number of movies in a small space and because 11x14 frames can be had cheap.  I even have a few airplane related lobbies on my cubicle wall.

Investment?  I don't think any more invest-able than any other poster size.  The rebuilding of sets is a different issue and one would be advised to wait for the full set to become available.

Dealers making a profit is also a separate issue.  In my mind a dealer is someone who shops the auctions and garage sales so they can charge a higher price to folks who don't have the time and inclanation to do so.  Then there is Gray, Bruce and Rich, who are in a whole different class.

[Harry Caul]

Only a gut feeling, but I'd say posters.  Presumably posters (at least certain titles) will have broader cultural appeal as art/display objects.  LCs are likely collected more passionately, but the base seems smaller overall.  And while small, rabid bases can lead to some spectacular results, we've also witnessed what happens when those collectors age out of the hobby (Shirley Temple, pre-war westerns and musicals, etc...).  Again, just an idea... and also probably more of a long-term perspective. 

[Mirosae]

Good question! I have no idea. Never bought to invest. Tait Mr LCs might have a view!

[ladeda]

People looking to purely invest (as in someone removed from collecting as 'hobby') would seem likely to gravitate towards posters, no? - I've always viewed lobby cards as a niche in an already niche hobby.

[50s]

My collection of around 150 lobby cards are next to worthless

Oh you are are talking about US lobby cards... I don't have any

[110x75]

My collection of around 150 lobby cards are next to worthless

Oh you are are talking about US lobby cards... I don't have any

 

[erik1925]

My collection of around 150 lobby cards are next to worthless

Oh you are are talking about US lobby cards... I don't have any

They are worth their weight in gold to you, Steve.. right?     

[CSM]

I am sure you could get at least one taco in trade for your Mexican lobbies.  It will probably just be one of the day olds out of the back dumpster though...

[CSM]

Also I vote posters for basically the reasons the astute chaps before me wrote

[50s]

I am sure you could get at least one taco in trade for your Mexican lobbies.  It will probably just be one of the day olds out of the back dumpster though...

I am saddened a fellow APF'er would say this about my collection 

[DekeThornton]

I am sure you could get at least one taco in trade for your Mexican lobbies.  It will probably just be one of the day olds out of the back dumpster though...

Wait I thought we were talking about investment potential. 

Buy low, sell high, right?  Put all your money into Mexican lobbies!  Then we just need to figure out a way to start inflating the Mexican lobby card asset bubble.

Mexican lobbies will be like penny stocks, but for people with refined and discriminating tastes.

And rodxmorgan/posterazzi would be the new Warren Buffett.

[CSM]

Wait I thought we were talking about investment potential. 

Buy low, sell high, right?  Put all your money into Mexican lobbies!  Then we just need to figure out a way to start inflating the Mexican lobby card asset bubble.

Mexican lobbies will be like penny stocks, but for people with refined and discriminating tastes.

And rodxmorgan/posterazzi would be the new Warren Buffett.

Exactly

[CSM]

I am saddened a fellow APF'er would say this about my collection 

Is that fellow APF'er yourself - all this third person talk is confusing 

My collection of around 150 lobby cards are next to worthless

[Crazy Vick]

OK, when put that way.  I've got a fair number of lobbies.  The cheap guy in me always wants a bargain, so I will buy an incomplete set that contains a card I want.  Later the OCD completeist guy inside my head goes and bids too much on a card to complete the set

But overall, a LCS for a pre-90 film will sell at or below the 1 sheet price.  I like them because you can display a large number of movies in a small space and because 11x14 frames can be had cheap.  I even have a few airplane related lobbies on my cubicle wall.

Investment?  I don't think any more invest-able than any other poster size.  The rebuilding of sets is a different issue and one would be advised to wait for the full set to become available.

Dealers making a profit is also a separate issue.  In my mind a dealer is someone who shops the auctions and garage sales so they can charge a higher price to folks who don't have the time and inclanation to do so.  Then there is Gray, Bruce and Rich, who are in a whole different class.

Only a gut feeling, but I'd say posters.  Presumably posters (at least certain titles) will have broader cultural appeal as art/display objects.  LCs are likely collected more passionately, but the base seems smaller overall.  And while small, rabid bases can lead to some spectacular results, we've also witnessed what happens when those collectors age out of the hobby (Shirley Temple, pre-war westerns and musicals, etc...).  Again, just an idea... and also probably more of a long-term perspective. 

There's no right answer of course, just some very interesting (and appreciated) comments from you guys.  Matt's comment re what happens when those collectors age out of the hobby is also very interesting. I would think that lobbies being more scarce generally, it would make sense to invest in the cheapest ones "now" for higher return later.  A lot has to do with the ease of framing/displaying thing, and the future generations not caring as much about having seen the film, but rather having a neat conversation starter on the wall. At what point does a poster become a simple antique, rather than a reflection of a person's connecting with a movie?  So in terms of simple metrics, and again, generally speaking, wouldn't it make sense to spend 10K on 10K items that are easy to maintain, ship, display, etc, that they stopped making in the 1980s (?) rather than larger posters they are still churning out 1000s daily? 

[CSM]

It never "makes sense" to spend $10,000 on a poster.  And it certainly never makes sense to do it on something from the 80s

[Crazy Vick]

I mean ten thousand X $1 lobby cards seeing as they are already almost considered as "antique", generally more scarce, and possibly appealing from a future displayability point of view, rather than ten thousand X $1 posters, because like most of Steve's and Ari's stuff, we all know those will never be worth more than a dollar in the future...  (kidding of course)

[Crazy Vick]

No one needs to answer this thread anymore, its been a long week

[jayn_j]

I'm going to do one more answer anyway.

A good comparison is to look at the old car hobby.  Thirty years ago there were a whole bunch of Model T and Model A Fords restored.  People remembered these things from their youth and wanted a copy.  Prices skyrocketed to the point where the right Model A could be worth $100k.  But in the 90's, these collectors started dying off in droves and the price for Model A and T cars plummeted.  Something bought for $60k in 1980 might be worth $15k in 1995.  These cars have never recovered in value.  These days, the action is in the right 70s muscle car.  But the folks buying these are in their 60s and 70s, so I expect the same thing is going to happen to them in 10 years or so.

You see the same thing in posters and lobby cards.  Westerns and musicals are dead, because they were products of the 30s and 40s.  The action these days is in posters from the mid 70s to the early 90s.  But I look at my kids who are in their 20s and 30s.  They won't watch a B&W movie on a bet.  They mostly don't relate to the 80s films.  They want action over plot and any poster they choose reflects that action view.  Way too busy for my tastes.

Add to that the fact that lobbies are dead in this country (along with 1/2 sheets and inserts).  I think the only reliable way to make a buck is to find a source for theatrical surplus and get it out into the market during or shortly after the theatrical release.  That market is 1 sheets today, but it also has an expiration date as it is being replaced quickly by downloadable display software.  That's a different thread though.

[Simes]

With no disrespect to the person asking the question, this is a stupid question.

(I understand he may still feel disrespected...)

I am sure it is less about the paper in this regard, and more about the title.  But at the end of the day, no matter the commodity, it will come down to luck, a punt, a view that is held by none other on this planet than the person who is saying to himself, 'I am going down this road', in defiance of all other's point of unknowing view.

Choose a value-less commodity, buy when you're young, and hope with a view to being in the game for the long haul.  Because if the answer to the 'disrespected's' question was easy to answer, then it would already be known, and people would already be acting upon it in hordes, to their own and each other's detriment.

It is the Unknown that is the investment.  Choose.

[CSM]

With no disrespect to the person asking the question, this is a stupid question.

(I understand he may still feel disrespected...)

I am sure it is less about the paper in this regard, and more about the title.  But at the end of the day, no matter the commodity, it will come down to luck, a punt, a view that is held by none other on this planet than the person who is saying to himself, 'I am going down this road', in defiance of all other's point of unknowing view.

Choose a value-less commodity, buy when you're young, and hope with a view to being in the game for the long haul.  Because if the answer to the 'disrespected's' question was easy to answer, then it would already be known, and people would already be acting upon it in hordes, to their own and each other's detriment.

It is the Unknown that is the investment.  Choose.

Deep

[stewart boyle]

I'm going to do one more answer anyway.

A good comparison is to look at the old car hobby.  Thirty years ago there were a whole bunch of Model T and Model A Fords restored.  People remembered these things from their youth and wanted a copy.  Prices skyrocketed to the point where the right Model A could be worth $100k.  But in the 90's, these collectors started dying off in droves and the price for Model A and T cars plummeted.  Something bought for $60k in 1980 might be worth $15k in 1995.  These cars have never recovered in value.  These days, the action is in the right 70s muscle car.  But the folks buying these are in their 60s and 70s, so I expect the same thing is going to happen to them in 10 years or so.

You see the same thing in posters and lobby cards.  Westerns and musicals are dead, because they were products of the 30s and 40s.  The action these days is in posters from the mid 70s to the early 90s.  But I look at my kids who are in their 20s and 30s.  They won't watch a B&W movie on a bet.  They mostly don't relate to the 80s films.  They want action over plot and any poster they choose reflects that action view.  Way too busy for my tastes.

Add to that the fact that lobbies are dead in this country (along with 1/2 sheets and inserts).  I think the only reliable way to make a buck is to find a source for theatrical surplus and get it out into the market during or shortly after the theatrical release.  That market is 1 sheets today, but it also has an expiration date as it is being replaced quickly by downloadable display software.  That's a different thread though.

This guy talks a lot of sense,you should listen to him.