Hi, Okie. I have no way of knowing for sure but what I think may have led to the dismissal of my connection might partly be my fault. Being young, stupid, and not knowing enough to keep my mouth shut I mentioned my arrangement to someone who I thought was my friend who wanted to know all the details like who to ask for, what time to call, prices, etc. Like a dunce I told him everything. Fucking stupid naïve me figured "he's my friend, why not share this with him. He's a good guy" Because my financial resources were limited I only bought a couple of posters at a time. When I visited my "friends" house I saw a big pile of 1-sheets on the
table. When I saw what was there I started to burn. Pristine mint 1-sheets for all the Connery Bonds original and reissue, CHARADE, style A & B to THE DESPERATE HOURS, both advances for A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, many lobby card sets, a R-56 CASABLANCA 1-sheet and R-56 rolled insert. I admit I was green with envy and hoped I didn't make a mistake telling this prick about this connection. Sure enough, the next week when I called NSS to place an order, my man was gone. When I asked his replacement what happened he told me "people" noticed some vintage paper had gone missing and specifically mentioned CASABLANCA. Who knows how long my connection was ripping off material from the warehouse but it must have been a long time, since "people" were watching and noticing.
I guess I really should thank my "friend" for teaching me a stone hard lesson which I carried all the years I was a dealer - don't tell anybody anything! Zip! Nothing! When I discovered a good source I kept it to myself. Ain't nobody's business but mine anyhow. And believe me, other collectors would ask "where do you get your stuff?" The answer would be "Oh, I found it in a box on the street" or "I just printed them up!"