Focussed or not?

[Crazy Vick]

I'm just curious if in your latter collecting stages generally people find their collections become more focused (specialized etc) or on the opposite end - that more diverse and unsettled floats your boat. Me in terms of posters i'm more focused on a specific type but at the same time i'm collecting a broader array of...er, collectibles.

I would honestly say my beer drinking has also seen similar swings in that I drink several different types or beer rather than sticking to the same... this has nothing to do with the topic at hand, sorry.

[okiehawker]

I'm just curious if in your latter collecting stages generally people find their collections become more focused (specialized etc) or on the opposite end - that more diverse and unsettled floats your boat. Me in terms of posters i'm more focused on a specific type but at the same time i'm collecting a broader array of...er, collectibles.

I would honestly say my beer drinking has also seen similar swings in that I drink several different types or beer rather than sticking to the same... this has nothing to do with the topic at hand, sorry.

Hi Crazy Vick!  I'm still image driven, and mainly SF, horror, and a few other genres.  If I like a movie, I also have to really like the poster to buy it.  I collect more broad than deep, and I must love the image.  Not sure if that makes me focused or diverse?!  I guess focused to some degree as I must love the image.   Okie

[Simes]

Completely focused down to subject matters and poster sizes - just to try to maintain some sense and perspective.

[Stefano]

Yes and no.

I started out when I was younger collecting things broadly by genre.  For instance I would be interested in anything from Hammer if I liked the artwork.

As my taste in movies broadened, however, my taste in posters became more specific.  I now (try to) hunt down specific posters for specific titles, and it has a lot to do with rarity, I suppose (not necessarily valuable posters).  So I've been hunting for years for a few fotobustes that I've never seen, but I know they exist.  The hunt gets tougher. 

So my taste in movies has become more diverse.  Taste in posters has become more focused - ever seeking the more and more elusive.

[cabmangray]

When I first started out, I collected whatever I could find but specifically looked for posters from certain genres like Bond, Eastwood, Bogart, Karloff, crime / film noir, and posters with nice art that appealed to me. It didn't matter if it was a major film or some flick that came and went in 1 week. If the poster was attractive and not outrageously priced I would usually get it. Universal horror was always elusive and expensive even in the mid 70's. The Realart reissues were around but were also not cheap. Bogart's 1950's movies were around but his Warner Bros. films were tough to find and expensive. As time went on and I became more experienced because of my convention going, I started buying more and more foreign paper because the art was usually so much better than the American paper.

As for size, I drew the line at 6-sheets simply because of the size and putting the 4 pieces of paper together and hanging it usually caused damage. I like 40x60's but never collected them much because storing and moving them was like trying to lift tree trunks. If 40x60's were printed on thin paper and folded like French 47x63's I would have had a 5 foot stack of them. 

Today it's more hit and miss. I have most of what I was looking for but I'm still on the lookout for different pieces that are attractive. Unlike some collectors who consider "reprint" a dirty word I have absolutely no problem buying one for a title I know I'll never afford and have no hope of ever acquiring. I would love to own an original MALTESE FALCON 1-sheet, but a reprint does me just fine.

[Tang Lung in Rome]

It's like candy , you eat different flavors instead of just one flavor all the time.....at least I do 

[cabmangray]

Stefano, sometimes the joy is in the hunt, not the acquisition. A few years ago I was looking through my inserts and noticed I was pretty well along towards getting a complete run of Bond inserts. I already had all the heavy hitters, the early Connery's, but was missing every other Moore title. Within 5 months through eBay I was able to fill in the collection, except for a decent condition Casino Royale. After searching for 5 years I finally tracked down a rolled copy and bought it, but it was anticlimactic. I never considered the "67 CR to be a "real" Bond film and for a long time I was never really concerned about getting a copy. But it's absence started to nag at me since it's a Fleming Bond title and for the sake of being complete, should be part of the collection. So I was glad to finally acquire a nice copy of it, but because of what the film is, not completely thrilled with it. It's messed up thinking, I know, but then so is this hobby sometimes.