Author Topic: WTF USPS?!  (Read 8729 times)

Offline kobun37

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WTF USPS?!
« on: July 18, 2019, 10:38:57 PM »
It's the Chuck E. Cheese collector again. After years of waiting one of my holy grails popped up on Facebook Marketplace about five states away. A compete set of five store showroom posters from the late 80s/very early 90s. I've talked to other long-time collectors and this is the first time they've seen any of them come up for sale, let alone an entire set. The company is anal about not letting store decorations out of their control and policy dictates that employees are supposed to destroy them. There aren't even any scans or quality photos of this set.

So I was stoked to pick them up for only $100 each. The seller agreed to ship but had never shipped posters before. He was going to use one of those flimsy tubes from the FedEx Store. So I sent a video from YouTube showing the correct way and insisted he use PVC. I paid extra and told him to keep the change for his trouble. To his credit, he did do exactly as I asked, which turned out to be a good call because this is what I picked up at the post office today. It used to have an endcap, which was completely shattered. You can still see the edges around the outside. And it wasn't brittle due to temperature since it's July.

The posters arrived unharmed, but it must have taken a hell of a hit on the way.
« Last Edit: July 18, 2019, 11:01:45 PM by kobun37 »

Offline eatbrie

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2019, 12:13:09 AM »
You are VERY LUCKY. 

The same scenario happened to me a month ago, except the tube came in empty.  Like you, it was an item I had been trying to get for a long long time.  Years.  I was happy to finally locate it.

Now, how do you prove that a tube came in empty?  I happened to be home when the mail lady (who I truly believe hates me :)) delivered the tube.  I had her sign an affidavit (or something like it) stating that the tube came in empty.  The poster wasn't very expensive ($300) but still, I did want my money back, if only as a matter of principle. 

Of course, the seller didn't want to hear it, and I don't blame him since he did send the poster. 

I contacted Ebay and then made me go to my city's police station to file a theft report.  A theft report?  I don't think my poster was stolen.  Most people, especially mail people, don't give a shit about movie posters.  It just fell out somewhere and was probably crushed and destroyed.  Whatever! 

The police told me they had no one to take my theft report and asked me to call their dispatch number.  I did, and within 20mn two cops showed up at my doorstep and took my report.  My kids' nanny was very excited, because one of them was "super cute."  But I felt like such an idiot.  Sorry to bother you for a lost movie poster, I just want my money back. 

I emailed everything to Ebay and within an hour, the money was on my account.  I do love Ebay for that.

But I miss my poster :(

T
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Offline erik1925

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2019, 01:07:58 AM »
It's the Chuck E. Cheese collector again. After years of waiting one of my holy grails popped up on Facebook Marketplace about five states away. A compete set of five store showroom posters from the late 80s/very early 90s. I've talked to other long-time collectors and this is the first time they've seen any of them come up for sale, let alone an entire set. The company is anal about not letting store decorations out of their control and policy dictates that employees are supposed to destroy them. There aren't even any scans or quality photos of this set.

So I was stoked to pick them up for only $100 each. The seller agreed to ship but had never shipped posters before. He was going to use one of those flimsy tubes from the FedEx Store. So I sent a video from YouTube showing the correct way and insisted he use PVC. I paid extra and told him to keep the change for his trouble. To his credit, he did do exactly as I asked, which turned out to be a good call because this is what I picked up at the post office today. It used to have an endcap, which was completely shattered. You can still see the edges around the outside. And it wasn't brittle due to temperature since it's July.

The posters arrived unharmed, but it must have taken a hell of a hit on the way.

Congrats on getting your grails, kobun37!! clap clap

And amazing how that end cap got so destroyed AND that the posters did not slide out or have those exposed edges get dinged or mashed.

Looking forward to seeing what this rare, complete set looks like, too.





-Jeff

Offline kobun37

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2019, 01:41:25 AM »
I had the seller wrap the whole thing in hevy kraft with sheets of tissue in between posters. I'm thanking my lucky stars that there was enough of the endcap left to catch the edges of the "cinnamon roll" and prevent the whole thing from sliding out. If it had been one poster or they had been rolled just a little tighter they would have been gone and I'd be in the same boat as erik. 😢

Thankfully the seller paid attention to instructions and the edges were about 2" in from the end of the roll. So the kraft paper got totally wrecked but no edge damage on the posters themselves even after the padding on the end fell out the hole and they slammed around loose inside.

PVC is usually considered the gold standard for durability in poster tubes and the endcap stayed on. I can't imagine what they did to crush it like that. It must have gotten caught in a machine somewhere along the line and taken a hell of a lot of pressure. Guess it just goes to show there's no tube so tough that the carrier can't fuck up somehow.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2019, 01:42:26 AM by kobun37 »

Online Tob

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2019, 05:18:28 AM »
I'm glad they arrived safely, it must be destiny! I'd love to see some pictures of the posters please when you've flattened them and taken some snaps.

Offline kobun37

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2019, 08:42:55 AM »
Any suggestions on how to roll them out for pictures without manhandling? They are 48" x 32" and printed on heavy stock paper. It looks like they have been stored rolled for awhile as they are very curly.

Offline erik1925

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2019, 11:18:07 AM »
Any suggestions on how to roll them out for pictures without manhandling? They are 48" x 32" and printed on heavy stock paper. It looks like they have been stored rolled for awhile as they are very curly.

Just carefully roll them out, and have your weights (whatever you might use, books, etc) ready to go, and as soon as you as you start to unroll one, weight those corners down to hold iit secure.

Then unroll and have the 2 weighs for the lower corners close by and ready to put into place.Once fully unrolled, just weight those 2 other corners down, and u should be good to go.

I did this for the US 40x60 I recently got for THE KEEP (i posted it in the July 2019 new acquisitions thread), since it's also on a thicker, heavier paper and i didnt want it to get kinked on the ends when I unrolled it. It had also been rolled for a long time, too.

It worked well.

Good luck! cheers


-Jeff

Online skyjackers

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2019, 12:34:03 PM »
Would love to see them too when you've got them flattened. Must have been a great relief when you opened the tube to find them undamaged. I'm sure we've all had moments like that!

Offline Starling

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2019, 02:58:04 PM »
Glad this story had a happy ending, and I love it when us paper hunters find their holy grails! 

Also curious to see what these posters look like...

Congrats!

Offline kobun37

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2019, 08:08:40 PM »
Here they are.

Now that I have them out I was surprised to find they are huge glossy photo prints. They even have the Kodak logo pattern printed on the backs. I've seen smaller store art with the same print, but nothing larger than a typical magazine cover. Given the size and the fact that there was no digital printing back in those days they must have been expensive as hell and a bitch to make.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2019, 08:10:58 PM by kobun37 »

Offline erik1925

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2019, 11:11:26 AM »
Look great, kobun37! And all in fantastic shape, too! clap clap

As far as making a large size print like this, they likely had them made using a photo enlarger (my dad took photos for the army when he was in the service and used, and later had, his own, so he showed us the process, when he had his set up in our basement).

With the original negative and enlarger, these large size photo images could then be printed on film (Kodak) paper.

It's not a difficult process, and price-wise, not expensive to produce the prints. It was the enlarger that would have been the pricey item (initial purchase cost, that is).

Congrats again!!


-Jeff

Offline okiehawker

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Re: WTF USPS?!
« Reply #11 on: July 21, 2019, 01:02:51 PM »
Perhaps a VW Bug sized Polaroid camera, kobun37? Nah, surely Jeff is correct!  I've not seen the purple Oscar the Grouch in my Charles Cheese memory.  Okie