All Poster Forum
Movie Posters => General Discussion => Topic started by: archstanton on January 30, 2015, 02:30:36 PM
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Does anyone know what happened to moviepostercollectors.com? The site has been down for weeks now with this error message showing:
"The website you were trying to reach is temporarily unavailable. Please check back soon. If you are the owner of this website, please contact Technical Support as soon as possible."
I liked to use that site occasionally for authentications, and I liked to send eBay sellers the shipping guide from that site so they might pack the poster halfway correctly.
My fear is that one of the lowlife sellers that the site warns about got it legally shut down or something. Anyone know the scoop?
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Guessing Mel doesnt want to pay the bill anymore. He moved on to Facebook. Use this link to see the webpage :)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140226230343/http://moviepostercollectors.com/MPC_Home.html
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Great -- thanks!
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Mel must have found a woman friend who is now taking all his disposable (poster) income!
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The MPC Facebook pages appear to have been deactivated or deleted.
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Wasn't anyone in here friend with this guy? I vaguely seem to remember some of you even visited him. Or maybe I'm mistaken.
T
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deleted comment
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Wasn't anyone in here friend with this guy? I vaguely seem to remember some of you even visited him. Or maybe I'm mistaken.
T
most certainly I like Mel and I think his absence is a loss to the forums.
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We've exchanged emails on occasion.
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Wasn't anyone in here friend with this guy? I vaguely seem to remember some of you even visited him. Or maybe I'm mistaken.
T
Bastards dump him cos he doesnt collect ;p
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Wasn't anyone in here friend with this guy? I vaguely seem to remember some of you even visited him. Or maybe I'm mistaken.
T
"Friend" means different things to different people. I mentioned to Mel I was coming to DC, he invited me over. Brandon said he was going to be in Texas, I told him to stop by. Rich has already invited me to stop by if I am on Vegas. Bruce has said the same. Adam in the UK the same... I consider everyone a friend who is friendly... How much of a deep friendship can you really develop over a great distance and online?
I texted Mel to see what he is up to. We texted back in Sept., he's done with posters.
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For sure, I would assume it's all different for all of us. I have a lot of cyber friends, on this forum or elsewhere. But meeting someone adds another dimension as far as I'm concerned. A lot of people have asked me to befriend them on Facebook, but Facebook is only for my friends, meaning people that I actually like and respect. Holiday and I were MPF buddies, which really didn't mean shit until we met in person. That meeting led to the creation of this forum and a very strong friendship. I love the guy and I am very particular. I chose my friends very carefully. But when I meet someone, it means something.
T
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I texted Mel to see what he is up to. We texted back in Sept., he's done with posters.
The best answer so far and yet the one I least understand. So Charlie met Mel the collector. It's a big fucking deal to meet someone. Now Charlie lost contact with Mel and Mel is out of the collecting hobby. How can you be so involved in a hobby one day to be completely out of it the next? I don't get it.
T
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For some reason I'm picturing the scene from Adaptation where the Chris Cooper character was obsessed with fish. It was fish 24/7. Then one day he woke up and it was like "fuck fish". I imagine that's Mel.
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The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
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What I think really happened with Mel is that he loved collecting but not really for the posters themselves. I am still not sure how one can find attachment to a poster without ever watching the film. Or at least having seen 80% of the films you own posters on. He enjoyed collecting, cataloging, researching, authentication, and at first the comradery from a forum like this. He also enjoyed helping new collector and busting dealers that were selling fakes - he had big brass balls when it came to that.
In the end I think he realized that there was no sentiment attached to what he was doing, he was like a machine operating on a command structure and movie posters happened to the be one of the programs. He was also towards the end trying to find real human companionship (i.e. girlfriend) and replace us. Maybe he has.
His drive also created headaches with feedback from here and trolling - so much trolling. Although, I generally like Mel and think he is a good guy - in the end I found it hard to to be friendly with him. The poison of trolling from this forum and others, conflicts with dealers, and generally negative responses from his "friends" on the forum started to impact how he dealt with everyone.
I know that some of the trolling even went so far as to impact his work, apparently someone called his boss or office...
I think a lot of us would have said the hell with it, if we weren't really here for the posters... The foundation was weak, the building fell and he just scrapped what he could.
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The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
....and you have burned so very very brightly!
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For some reason I'm picturing the scene from Adaptation where the Chris Cooper character was obsessed with fish. It was fish 24/7. Then one day he woke up and it was like "fuck fish". I imagine that's Mel.
Great movie. cool1
Interesting analysis, Charlie.
Re: T's comments on friends here and what not, I agree to some extent. A lot of people have these huge "friends lists" on Facebook, etc., but probably would never want to know many of them in real life. A lot of times the feeling is probably mutual so it's not a big deal. One of the good things about the internet is, of course, people can be social, but not in the same sense as being friends with them in real life.
Anyway, good to see that the MPC site is still accessible through the wayback machine. It's an excellent website with a lot of good info. Thanks for posting the link, JE. thumbup
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I am still not sure how one can find attachment to a poster without ever watching the film. Or at least having seen 80% of the films you own posters on.
Not to deadhorse but as I mentioned previously, some folks (ie. myself) enjoy antique/historical stuff, a sub-element of which is art and stuff I can display, a sub-element of that being advertising, propaganda, and finally, posters, etc.
Completely aside from this crazy past time, I enjoy movies. Do the movies and posters intersect? Rarely. In fact, i've loved a poster only to watch the movie and be dissapointed. And vice-versa, the movies that i watch, well the posters might suck or just be too expensive to make any sense to me. I dont know this Mel feller, but maybe he's just moved onto toy trains now, or soemthing. Maybe its financial? A few years back I tallied how much money i spent on smokes over 12 months...which helped me a lot in quitting that year.
Anyways, carry on fellas.
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oh wells, Melly Mel seems nice but I will say he managed to insult me twice within the first five minutes of our first phone conversation. (about my worthless moderns I was selling so cheaply on ebay....stopping there.)
Confusing to say the least since he bought tons of moderns, and I also explained I didnt pay a dime for mine so why would I just throw them away.
Anyways he is only a few minutes away from me but was pretty put off. Maybe a different story in person, I will never know.
But here in DC with an abundance of lawyers I have found its not out of the ordinary to always be taking stabs at each other. His email is Alphamel afterall :)
I can see why he burnt out....he really put a crap ton of effort into researching and making the websites. Still miss his posts though thats for sure
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The best answer so far and yet the one I least understand. So Charlie met Mel the collector. It's a big fucking deal to meet someone. Now Charlie lost contact with Mel and Mel is out of the collecting hobby. How can you be so involved in a hobby one day to be completely out of it the next? I don't get it.
T
Since he didn't text me back last night, I will post what his last text was in September...
"Escaping from this hobby is like escaping from a cult." I think he just had to make a clean break...
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Not to deadhorse but as I mentioned previously, some folks (ie. myself) enjoy antique/historical stuff, a sub-element of which is art and stuff I can display, a sub-element of that being advertising, propaganda, and finally, posters, etc.
Completely aside from this crazy past time, I enjoy movies. Do the movies and posters intersect? Rarely. In fact, i've loved a poster only to watch the movie and be dissapointed. And vice-versa, the movies that i watch, well the posters might suck or just be too expensive to make any sense to me. I dont know this Mel feller, but maybe he's just moved onto toy trains now, or soemthing. Maybe its financial? A few years back I tallied how much money i spent on smokes over 12 months...which helped me a lot in quitting that year.
Anyways, carry on fellas.
Crazy Vick will pull a Mel in 2020 - Book it! :P
I use to collect comic books but never read them. After a while they were just not that interesting. I use to collect baseball cards when I watched a lot of baseball, now I don't and they are not that interesting. Just don't see how you can stay interested in a collection if it doesn't mean anything. JMO...
Not financial, he was a lawyer for the US Gov... It might have had something to do with some fights he was having with the "fake" dealers like tloce too...
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haha well he's reached mythical status for me at this point. Government lawyer in DC? How could he not be an arsehole. ;)
well wherever you are Mel, if you're reading this, you crazy inensitive flip-flopping tekkie poster genius informative bastard, goid luck and god speed to ya thumbup
p.s. call me :-*
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well get this.... I havent been to a theatre since 2010 and that was only because my power was out for four or five days, watched Toy Story 3D. and before that it was a couple years. and yes I am odd enough to admit that.
I have a lot of catching up to do
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https://www.youtube.com/v/KnGo6Qm0Wt8
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I agree, though saying that, I dont care, if someone doesnt like film, like steve 50's said he didnt really watch movies, but loved the posters, well its OK. I dont get it. But its OK. For me, then you could buy any advertising art that looks nice. But I guess people do that huh?
As to films never seen, I also agree with our leader, every poster in my collection I havent seen, i plan on it when I can, this is mainly in the hammer collection where there is a lot thats not available, or hard to get (their non horror/SF/Noir/etc is mostly dismissed so its harer to see.
But I haven't seen a hammer film i DIDNT like, so I will own the posters and slowly get the films as I can.
One point, maybe its meaningless, but I like to get sidetracked.
"movie posters are the interpretation of a unique work of art, the movie itself. They do not exist without the movie, while the movie exists without its poster. "
usually yes, but not with a lot of the 50's exploitation, like the famous BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES, where the title came first, then the poster, THEN some sucker had to write a script based on the poster. Damn chicken coming before the egg ;)
As to Fine art, of course it isn't. I don't care, would I trade all my posters for "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters" ?
SHIT YEAH, but saying that, I am happy with my prints of commercial artwork.
as to Mel, he didn't reply to my email.
ALSO as to Mel, I remember when he started he was likened to *Randy (the other Randy- DR Randy P) in his sudden over enthusiasm, and as predicted the outcome was the same.
One more thing:
I find people who go out of their way to tick off the "cool" items, the ones that make other members jealous or are titles/formats that are for whatever reason holy grails (**pulp fiction LS, downhill racer, BAT, cool hand luke, um, you know what I mean)
Rather than ones they personally LOVE, surely not everyone has the same taste? seem to burn out fast.
* sorry for newer members to poster forums, don't mean to confuse with a name you wont know.
** not to disparage these posters, I am sure there are people who love them, but I am, sure there's a cool poster checklist I havent seen and some people seem to keep trying to tick the boxes
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as to Mel, he didn't reply to my email.
ALSO as to Mel, I remember when he started he was likened to *Randy (the other Randy- DR Randy P) in his sudden over enthusiasm, and as predicted the outcome was the same.
For all we know, Mel could be back on the forum. We got a lot of new people lately. He could be one of them.
Or not.
T
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MPC is back online. cool1
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That's a very nice website with lots of good information. Hope it stays online as it's a valuable resource for anyone collecting posters.
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That's a very nice website with lots of good information. Hope it stays online as it's a valuable resource for anyone collecting posters.
Agreed. It would be great if they'd continually add to the authentication pages as well. There are common bootleg inserts and one sheets that are not mentioned on the MPC site that I see sold on eBay all the time to the unsuspecting.
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Agreed. It would be great if they'd continually add to the authentication pages as well. There are common bootleg inserts and one sheets that are not mentioned on the MPC site that I see sold on eBay all the time to the unsuspecting.
Well, "They" was Mel, 100% on this site. I am a bit surprised to see it come back, and would be even more surprised to see updates.
Wonder if someone recognized the value and bought the rights from Mel.
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Well, "They" was Mel, 100% on this site. I am a bit surprised to see it come back, and would be even more surprised to see updates.
Wonder if someone recognized the value and bought the rights from Mel.
The devil in me hopes it was Loce
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The devil in me hopes it was Loce
HA! Oh that would be so sad. "Yes folks, all originals have ink jet printer lines and cropping issues!"
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I spoke briefly with Mel yesterday. He said that he put MPC back online.
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Glad it's back up. I wonder if Mel is feeling a tingle of that collecting bug coming back? Would be fun if he does return.
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I think Mel's site (if updated) and Ed's site should come together. It would be the best and most informative poster site ever created.
T
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I think this is good news. It was...it is a good site.
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Looks like Mel has his toe in the water for now...good for him.
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I think it's down again. :'(
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I think it's down again. :'(
Well it does seem he has been selling all his posters through eMovie so maybe not a surprise.
Wonder what he's going to do with all those frames and then all those bare walls?
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Wonder what he's going to do with all those frames and then all those bare walls?
Those details have been addressed.
(http://sj.blacksteel.com/media/images/gb01.jpg)
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Going to need some thick padding Ted!
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Went there today, gone. Sad because there was some useful info... it amazes me to see how can someone trash years of work and good niche content without any prior consideration.
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wayback machine it and save and steal and upload to your own server?
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wayback machine it and save and steal and upload to your own server?
Hmmm I cannot think of anyone else who has ever done this in the hobby :o
;)
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Mel has offered to sell the content, if someone was so inclined. I suspect he values the content more than I do.
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Mel created that site in weeks not years and there was a wealth of information on it. I found it really helpful and I'm pleased I saved the data. Sadly, I didn't have the same foresight years ago with Dan R's site.
Mark
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Mel has offered to sell the content, if someone was so inclined. I suspect he values the content more than I do.
wait, wasn't Mel the pone who wouldn't shut up about whats on the net is a free for all (legally of course)????
SOMEONE STEAL THE INFO
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... it amazes me to see how can someone trash years of work and good niche content without any prior consideration.
you'd be surprised how cathartic that can be.
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I have screencaps of a third of NS4's threads. Once I have it all, I'll put that site down and sell it back to Ari.
Then I'll get me a Pretty Woman one sheet.
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I have screencaps of a third of NS4's threads. Once I have it all, I'll put that site down and sell it back to Ari.
Then I'll get me a Pretty Woman one sheet.
After doing that - maybe you can figure out how to ban people properly and donate that knowledge as a gift back to Ari?
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I have screencaps of a third of NS4's threads. Once I have it all, I'll put that site down and sell it back to Ari.
Then I'll get me a Pretty Woman one sheet.
imbecile.gif laugh1
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Mel created that site in weeks not years and there was a wealth of information on it. I found it really helpful and I'm pleased I saved the data. Sadly, I didn't have the same foresight years ago with Dan R's site.
Mark
+1 Same here. His PFLS page was excellent.
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I just spoke with Mel. He said he fixed MPC. It's back online now.
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I just spoke with Mel. He said he fixed MPC. It's back online now.
Thanks Brandon
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Mel has ignored all of my emails.
Maybe I'm the lucky one?
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Site is down again, ay? Too bad because it was one of the only sites that showed up close cropping issues of the minty white bootleg inserts. A helpful thing to have for those scouring eBay for those titles.
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I saw some movement on Mel's collecting page on Facebook and looks like his useful site is back up.
http://www.moviepostercollectors.guide/MPC_Home.html
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Awesome. Thanks to Mel if you ever read this. Brandon thanks to you too as I think he only will respond to you these days.