One last piece on it which if anyone has ever seen different please let me know as It would make a difference in how I date some of these inserts; the change over for posters printed under the GAU did not get the logo changeover from the right hand side oval logo location, where the oval GAU logo is to the right of Litho in USA to the left hand side oval location until part way into the 1980 release print runs. This is on inserts only, one sheets had changed the GUA Litho in USA layout in 1978.
If it's true that GAU did not print inserts in this manner until 1980 - and I checked several inserts that back you up - that's solid evidence the usual LucasFilm inserts must be post-1980.
However, it may well be that the stock image of the LucasFilm insert that I used does not match what he is selling. I think he said that LucasFilm had these printed non-union. The image on his site is extremely tiny but lacks the Lucasfilm under the left side box art and
also seems to lack the small text directly under the 20thCF logo on the right. It appears to be cut off at the bottom with just a smidgeon of writing showing at the bottom:
The full story is that I called him up about a Clan of Cave Bear poster he was selling but ended up talking to him for an hour-and-a-half about the poster business in general. He certainly appears to be extremely credible with a good memory. After being a dealer for 45 years, he still has over 100,000 lobby cards and posters, many of which came from closed NSS warehouses. He's a collector himself and over the years has collected and sold high value posters like
This Gun For Hire. He's an old-school poster dealer and doesn't follow forums and doesn't know the likes of Tom Loce.
The Star Wars insert was a small part of our conversation. We were talking about his prior sales on Ebay - he doesn't sell on Ebay now - and he mentioned that he had been trying to contact the authors of the Star Wars Poster Book to advise them that he had received 10 Lucasfilm inserts in 1977 along with 300 one sheets. He said someone had mailed him on Ebay to tell him the inserts were video posters but he is certain he received all the promotional materials back in 1977.
He says he only has seven (out of ten) to sell (for $325 each at 50% discount), so he doesn't have an endless supply of bootlegs and they are a tiny portion of his stock, so he has no significant motive to dissemble.
He's considering retirement or reopening a store. He's considered consignment. Bruce knows Pearson and has offered to send a truck to LA to obtain and sell his entire stock on consignment. He sent some lobby cards to Bruce.
