Latest Acquisitions - the ongoing mega thread

[Mardukas]

Thanks, Tob - appreciated.
The Wraith is a fun, cheesy 80s sf/teen movie, perfectly watchable, but nowhere near as good as the poster! (To be fair, it would really have to go some to live up to that artwork!)

[Antoine1973]

I sold my soul to the devil and bought a linenbacked poster.  After waiting for a folded copy that never came, I gave in.  I feel dirty.





All together, I already owned 66 of the posters that went on sale today.  Put together, they sold for a good amount for sure.  I did the math and compared it to what I had originally paid, and I am 45% up.  Sounds good but only on paper since those 45% is what HA would have pocketed had I sold my posters through them (I would never because I think it is outrageous).  I have never done this exercise before, and it is a little sad.  I am not selling, so it doesn't really matter, but still, I don't necessarily want some of my kids' inheritance to disappear.  I don't know if it is a sign of the times but some of my better ones sold for less than what I paid for.  Way less in a few instances.  Example: I paid $5,000 for the other Italian style of Dial M for Murder and it sold for $1500.  I almost bought it again.

T

I didn't buy anything at Heritage this time because the few titles of interest to me that I don't already own were all on linen.  It seems that I wasn't the only one who didn't care for all those restored/linenbacked posters because so many of the big ticket items sold for a lot less than they normally would.  Is this the beginning of a backlash against putting everything on linen?

[riley540]

Outside of Disney and a few outliers, prices were way down. Maybe there’s just less people buying and not any younger people getting into it. Kind of sad to see. I like a good deal, but I also like to see life in the hobby!

[eatbrie]

I am surrounded by young people, early 20s, and they for sure do not care about anything older than 5 years.  It wasn't the same when I was growing up, probably because we didn't have access to so much other stuff.  I also think that Heritage is terrible, terrible at advertising their stuff.  If I wasn't checking from time to time, I would have never known there was a sale.  Bruce is so much better, almost too much, but he shows that he cares, while it is clear that Heritage doesn't give a damn about posters.  They used to, under Grey, but the interest left with him.

T

[Neo]

I've managed to land two of my most sought after quads in the past couple of weeks, rolled examples for the 1980s cult sf movies The Hidden and The Wraith. Absolutely delighted to own both of these.

Cool. I really liked The Wraith when it was new and I was a kid.  The futuristic car was awesome, and the regular cars, races, etc. were fun. 

[Neo]

Nice one.  Great lighting and style of the main artwork and the Warnercolor logo is cool.  A nice addition to your Alfred Hitchcock collection?

[riley540]

I am 29 and started buying posters when I was 21, back in 2016. By a long shot, I am the youngest wishing my poster collecting friend circle. The next youngest is in their late 30s, and most of the rest have white hair! I just feel that movie history would have such a broad fan base.

Bruce is way better in the current market. I always know what’s coming up at his auctions!

[wonka]

I am surrounded by young people, early 20s, and they for sure do not care about anything older than 5 years.

Maybe this is your experience in LALA land, but def not like this around the country. I think younger people have huge interest in the past and in old stuff, based on what I see.

[eatbrie]

I hope this is true.  It would be nice.  Not my experience at all, but wishful thinking.

Then maybe the lower sales can be attributed to people still worrying about inflation (although I don’t think it matters much to people who collect posters), the lower grade condition of so many offerings, only linen and nothing else, and the lack of advertisement.

T

[crowzilla]

Then maybe the lower sales can be attributed to people still worrying about inflation (although I don’t think it matters much to people who collect posters), the lower grade condition of so many offerings, only linen and nothing else, and the lack of advertisement.

As I stated in the other thread, I certainly hope it's all about the restored pieces and not a softening of the overall market. It's bad enough that posters have been left so far behind while almost every other collectible hobby has been soaring the past few years, but steep declines like this are much worse.

I don't feel it's advertising, as Heritage actually advertises everywhere, I see their ads on sites (and even mobile pop ups) all the time. I have no idea how effective they are as Bruce always claimed that ads were a waste of time and that is why he doesn't spend money on advertising anymore.
Of course I also remember when Bruce stubbornly didn't even provide previews for his major auctions, and we had to convince him that everyone who wasn't as rich as T might need time to plan and save for big purchases and his results would improve if he started doing previews. Now he promotes them as early as possible in all his mailings.

I think one of our best hopes would be if another major competitor started doing well with poster auctions (Propstore maybe?), when your two major venues are one who seemingly doesn't care or return emails, while also charging a fortune in fees; or one who famously promotes what great bargains everything they sell are and that everyone else is a crook, I don't think you are doing any favors to collectors.

[eatbrie]

Your last paragraph is right on!  Couldn’t agree more.

Who is the rich T you’re referring to, bc it for sure isn’t me.

And I don’t know about advertising.  I honestly haven’t seen anything.  I have people asking me where to get original movie posters, and they have never heard of Heritage.  They are the new blood that needs to be lured in.  But when you search for original movie posters, all those comes up is Film Art Gallery, but their prices are so ridiculously high that most people throw up in their mouth.  Just a little.  No sign of emovie or HA.

T

[ddilts399]

As the theatrical experience dwindles and the folks that actually do go to the theater, all they see is digital advertising, there is nothing to relate a poster to the theater experience.  Some people seem to believe as paper advertising disappears it will bring value to the older stuff, i think the exact opposite.  Many collectors found their way into collecting older posters from buying a poster from a film they just saw. When they no longer exist, that bridge collapses as well.  Anything paper I believe you will see a steady decline in value across the board as collectors age out of collecting and younger digital life crowd age with no interest in these things.

[Antoine1973]

Here are some recent acquisitions, mostly lesser known Universal horror titles from the 1940s (which is one of the subcategories of my poster collection), and a fun 6-sheet for 1957's The Monolith Monsters, with fantastic art by the great Reynold Brown. 
 

[Mardukas]

Cool. I really liked The Wraith when it was new and I was a kid.  The futuristic car was awesome, and the regular cars, races, etc. were fun.

Thanks, Neo. I only caught up with the film relatively recently but enjoyed it. Agree - the futuristic car is a great piece of design.

And Antoine -- those Universal posters are outstanding. Your acquisitions never cease to amaze me!

[Tob]

Lovely selection, Antoine! The six sheet for The Monolith Monsters is terrific. Well done on getting a good photo of it too, those big ones must be tough to photograph!

As the theatrical experience dwindles and the folks that actually do go to the theater, all they see is digital advertising, there is nothing to relate a poster to the theater experience.  Some people seem to believe as paper advertising disappears it will bring value to the older stuff, i think the exact opposite.  Many collectors found their way into collecting older posters from buying a poster from a film they just saw. When they no longer exist, that bridge collapses as well.  Anything paper I believe you will see a steady decline in value across the board as collectors age out of collecting and younger digital life crowd age with no interest in these things.

This made me a bit sad, Dale. But I do tend to agree. Perhaps there will always be a small group who seek out analogue emphemera, but probably the odd poster or two instead of piles of the stuff. Having said that, it seems like printed posters for new releases are still being produced in relatively healthy quantities? Perhaps the end is not in sight quite yet.

[BwanaDik]

Who is the rich T you’re referring to, bc it for sure isn’t me.
T

It must be you!

Hey, don't use T for Tony!!!
T is me!!!!

T

 

[riley540]

Here’s a couple posters I bought at Emovie this week! His Girl Friday lobby card isn’t in the best shape, but I’ve always loved it! Plus, my daughter Rosalind was born this year! I’m excited to have got the Notorious half sheet unrestored as well!

[eatbrie]

Unrestored is key, dude.  So many things I would have bid on, but so many things on linen.  What is wrong with people?  It’s like they’re linenbacking everything.  So big congrats here!!!

T

[riley540]

Thank you!

HA and PropStore both had the Notorious half sheet this year. Both were backed with quite a bit of paint. I’m super glad I held out for this copy!

[okiehawker]

Great choices, riley540!  Two great movies as well.  Gosh, Rosalind Russell was fantastic in His Girl Friday!

Dang, Antoine1973!  You found some great Universal folded examples!  Congratulations!

Oh my, T!  You certainly can't go wrong with a beautiful painted Martinati poster. I love it!

Mardukas, Nice going on finding those two quads for your collection!  I don't remember seeing those two movies.  Where was I when those came out?!

Marklawd: Old quads = good times!  Hooray!

Tob: Cool painted posters. Thank goodness for art on posters! 

Skyjackers: Thank you for sharing the UK premiere Beetlejuice poster.  What a great movie and poster.

Starling: I like your style and taste. Beautiful paper!

Okie

[okiehawker]

T and guys, I think the smaller, old school type conventions that welcome several different types of vintage collectibles (e.g. comics, comic/illustration art, movie posters, vintage toys), and purposefully exclude non-vintage collectibles and curtained celebrities, are bringing in some of the younger crowd (20s-30s, and some bring kids) from what I've experienced. Posters change hands in several collector age groups at some of these conventions. Not a lot of posters, though at least some. It's how I got introduced to movie poster collecting in my youth, when I was at first laser focused on comic books. Okie

I am surrounded by young people, early 20s, and they for sure do not care about anything older than 5 years.  It wasn't the same when I was growing up, probably because we didn't have access to so much other stuff.  I also think that Heritage is terrible, terrible at advertising their stuff.  If I wasn't checking from time to time, I would have never known there was a sale.  Bruce is so much better, almost too much, but he shows that he cares, while it is clear that Heritage doesn't give a damn about posters.  They used to, under Grey, but the interest left with him.

T