Harry Potter

[agentprovocateur]

I wasn't sure where to put this so decided on here, if a moderator thinks it should be in 'Authentication' feel free to move it...

I missed buying posters for any of the 'Harry Potter' films at the time of their release (apart from 'Deathly Hallows' Prt2), but when I found out the name of the first film 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' had been changed to 'Sorcerer's' in the US and various other places I thought there might be some interesting poster variations out there. Then when movieposterbid auctioned off the rare 'Philosopher's' Harry/Hagrid one sheet and then the 'Sorcerer's' photomontage style my curiosity was piqued!

After many months and some serious interweb/ebay trawling I seem to have found several (what I think are legit) variations of each style of poster for 'Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone'. Bear with me, this could get boring, but just in case anyone's interested I'll post what I've found.

These are the main posters I'm going to concentrate on, maybe at the end I'll highlight the different UK quad, 4'x6', DVD/Video, soundtrack and special designs.
Owl - Style A (Teaser)
Boats - Style B (Teaser)
Struzan montage - Style C (Advance)
Harry/Hagrid - Style D (Advance)
Photomontage - Style E (Main)

I'll start with what I assume is the first poster and it's variations then slowly go through all the other styles... if there's anything you think I've missed or got wrong feel free to correct me!




'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's') Stone'
Owl - Style A (Teaser)



'Philosopher's' single sided UK mini 11"x16" (approx.) strapline 'COMING SOON'
Note: this has three lines of copy at the bottom (which I can't read from this ebay photo) as well as 'WWW.HARRYPOTTER.COM' (centred)



'Philosopher's' single sided International one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'COMING SOON'
Note: the three lines of copy at the bottom say 'PRINTED IN U.S.A.' (left), '©2001 Warner Bros. All Rights reserved.' (centred) and 'THIS COPY PROPERTY OF WARNER BROS. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION.' (right) as well as 'WWW.HARRYPOTTER.COM' (centred)



'Sorcerer's' double sided US one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'NOVEMBER 16, 2001'
Note: as well as the three lines of copy at the bottom which are exactly the same as the 'COMING SOON' Philosopher's' version (above) there is the line 'AOL KEYWORD: HARRY POTTER' (bottom right) balancing the website text 'WWW.HARRYPOTTER.COM' (bottom left)

These are the three posters I've found for this style, although there could be a reprint of the 'Philosopher's' single sided 'COMING SOON' one sheet. There are a couple of ebay auctions for these at the moment where the sellers are up front about them being reprints, both auctions say the reprint is approximately 27"x40" (image from one of the auctions below, I chose this one because it looks like a photo of the actual poster).



The two differences I can see between this purported reprint and the version I have photographed above (that at the moment I think is authentic) are quite obvious. Both ebay auctions have these differences in their photos:
i. The reprint only seems to have the small text at the bottom in the middle, probably '©2001 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved'.
ii. The reprint also seems to have an extra (bright) star in the clouds below the 'N' of 'SOON' in the bottom right.

The only problem with this supposed reprint is that emovieposter auctioned the same poster in April 2004 saying it was an original International one sheet for the film (hope you don't mind me borrowing your photo Bruce!).



That's where I am with the 'Owl' teaser poster, if anyone's got anything to add please post away.

I'll get all my stuff together for the 'Boats - Style B (Teaser)' and post very soon...

AP

[AdamCarterJones]

Harry/Hagrid - Style D (Advance)

Interesting read.

Have you got a picture of the above poster?
Or is there a link to Rich's site?

Cheers,
Ad

[brude]

Great start, AP.
This forum needs a definitive accounting of these HP posters.
 

[agentprovocateur]

Thanks guys, still waiting for one 'Boats' version to land on the door mat then I'll post what I've found on that style. As a little teaser this proved to be the most interesting out of all the posters for 'Philosopher's', until I started looking around I didn't know there were two different images used!

Ad, the link to the MPB auction is below, you're just slightly in advance of me, I'm going to try and do the 'Boats' and 'Struzan' montage styles first and then get onto the 'Harry/Hagrid' style.

http://www.movieposterbid.com/itemdetl.asp?id=81486

Thanks Brude, as mentioned before it was the two different names and the two elusive posters MPB auctioned that got my interest, that's why I've gone to town on researching 'Philosopher's' posters. I'm not sure I can do all the films tho as money seems to have run out at the moment and I wouldn't like to cast my opinions on variations without having the actual posters in hand.

I have an assortment of posters for some of the other films but nothing all encompassing... apart from 'Hallows' Prt2, maybe I'll jump from the first to the last film to keep things going!

[AdamCarterJones]

Ad, the link to the MPB auction is below, you're just slightly in advance of me, I'm going to try and do the 'Boats' and 'Struzan' montage styles first and then get onto the 'Harry/Hagrid' style.

http://www.movieposterbid.com/itemdetl.asp?id=81486

Thanks!
I didn't know it was that rare 
I have one of them if someone wishes to make me an offer lol.

Even though I'm not into Harry Potter posters, this is good stuff mate.
It's great when people do things like this off their own back.
I look forward to more reading!

Best,
Ad

[agentprovocateur]

Haha it keeps me amused Ad... interesting you've got one too, I'd love to make an offer on it but as I said my rubbles have nearly run out for the year! I'm sure someone will be interested tho.

Are you sure you've got a 'Philosopher's' version... not a 'Sorcerer's' one!? It has driven me insane having to check nearly every auction or website to make sure they haven't used a stock photo with the wrong name

[AdamCarterJones]

Haha it keeps me amused Ad... interesting you've got one too, I'd love to make an offer on it but as I said my rubbles have nearly run out for the year! I'm sure someone will be interested tho.

Are you sure you've got a 'Philosopher's' version... not a 'Sorcerer's' one!? It has driven me insane having to check nearly every auction or website to make sure they haven't used a stock photo with the wrong name

Lol, yeah, definitely sure ha!
I remember when I got it - came in the same poster lot that the Almost Famous UK Quad was in.
All the posters in that lot came from the old Warner Bros. Cinema Multiplex in Newcastle, which was demolished a few years ago to make way for Northumbria University's new Design & Law Schools.

Best,
Ad

[agentprovocateur]

Here's what I've unearthed for the next poster, the Boats - Style B (Teaser), it was a minefield because of the usual 'Philosopher's'/'Sorcerer's' variations but with an additional background image variation!

To begin with this style looked easy, I had the ubiquitous double sided 'Sorcerer's' version with 'THE MAGIC BEGINS NOVEMBER 16', but when I looked closely at some of the ebay auctions and poster sites that said they had this poster I noticed a different background image. I checked the MPDB and IMPA and they weren't that helpful so I went back to all the people and asked them what poster they had, most apologising saying they'd used the wrong 'stock' photo.

The image variation is still the night time scene of boats with lanterns crossing the water to Hogwarts, but rather than a clear night there is some fog rolling in behind the main 'Harry Potter' logo (the light coming from the churches door, to the right of 'Harry Potter', is also more indistinct because of the fog).

I found this variation twice and luckily grabbed a rolled one (the other was folded), and not through any serious knowledge, it SEEMS like it could be a Canadian variation (it came from a Canadian poster dealer!).




'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's') Stone'
Boats - Style B (Teaser)



'Philosopher's' single sided US International one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'THE MAGIC BEGINS SOON'
Note: the two lines of copy at the bottom say 'THIS COPY PROPERTY OF WARNER BROS. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION.' (left), 'PRINTED IN U.S.A.' (centred), with the Warner Brothers logo and © information (right) and as well as 'WWW.HARRYPOTTER.COM' (left) balancing the text 'AOL KEYWORD: HARRY POTTER (right)



'Philosopher's' double sided Canadian(?) 'foggy' one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'THE MAGIC BEGINS NOVEMBER 16'
Note: the one line of copy at the bottom says 'THIS COPY PROPERTY OF WARNER BROS. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION.' (left), there's also the Warner Brothers logo and © information (right) and as well as 'WWW.HARRYPOTTER.COM' (left) balancing the text 'AOL KEYWORD: HARRY POTTER (right)



'Sorcerer's' double sided US one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'THE MAGIC BEGINS NOVEMBER 16'
Note: the two lines of copy at the bottom say 'THIS COPY PROPERTY OF WARNER BROS. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION.' (left), 'PRINTED IN U.S.A.' (centred), with the Warner Brothers logo and © information (right) and as well as 'WWW.HARRYPOTTER.COM' (left) balancing the text 'AOL KEYWORD: HARRY POTTER (right)

With two of the posters being 'Philosopher's' variations, the single sided (non 'foggy' version) was probably the first printed as the strapline 'THE MAGIC BEGINS SOON' doesn't have the date, and as it's a 'Philosopher's' version with 'PRINTED IN U.S.A.' I'm assuming it's a US international one sheet.

The 'Philosopher's' double sided 'foggy' version is an enigma really, but as I said before there is possibly a Canadian angle (remember this is pure speculation on my front so any more information on it would be great). It is not only titled 'Philosopher's', has the different background image, but is also missing the 'PRINTED IN U.S.A.', make of it what you will!

There are another couple of variations of this poster that I found:


'Philosopher's' double sided International 47.5"x68.5" strapline 'THE MAGIC BEGINS NOVEMBER 16'
Note: I can only see the Warner Brothers logo and © information (bottom right) as well as 'WWW.HARRYPOTTER.COM' and 'AMERICA ONLINE KEYWORD: HARRY POTTER' (centred)


'Philosopher's' folded double sided Canadian(?) 'foggy' one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'THE MAGIC BEGINS NOVEMBER 16'
Note: I found this one on ebay and it looks exactly the same as the non folded version I got (above)

There are also images of 'Sorcerer's' variations with the 'fog' and different straplines but I haven't seen a photo of the actual posters so am not going to go into them.

The one thing I would say is if anyone's got one of these posters it might be worth checking to see which version you've got. So many people auctioning or selling them told me they had never noticed there were image and strapline variations.

Hope that's interesting and you're all still awake! And if anyone's got more information or another variation feel free to post away...

It looks like I've found the last piece (that I know off) of the jigsaw in the Harry/Hagrid - Style D (Advance) style, so when I've got all my info. together on the Struzan montage - Style C (Advance) I'll get onto that!

AP

[agentprovocateur]

Nobody else got/found/seen one of the Philosopher's 'Boats' posters? No foggy versions lurking in plan chests anywhere?

[jaxlax21]

Yeah I got one last week, it is a US One Sheet and does not have the fog on it.

[agentprovocateur]

Jaxlax, probably my favourite poster for the film, although the foggy version (only just) tops it

Here we go again...




'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's') Stone'
Struzan montage - Style C (Advance)



'Sorcerer's' double sided US one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'LET THE MAGIC BEGIN / IN THEATERS NOVEMBER 16'
Note: this one of the most well known and admired posters for the film, all the relevant logos, copyright information and ratings box are at the bottom of the poster

I'm pretty sure there's a single sided version as well but as I don't have one I cannot verify they're authenticity, if someone's got a single sided version feel free to post a photo and mention if there's any differences when compared to the double sided flavour.

This is the only poster I have for this style, the rest of the versions are from auctions and dealers selling them that had actual photos of the posters.



'Philosopher's' double sided International one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'LET THE MAGIC BEGIN / IN THEATRES NOVEMBER 16'
Note: this is the International version of the Struzan art style with the 'Philosopher's title, you'll also notice the lack of the US ratings box and the different spelling for 'THEATRES'

And here are some variations on the theme, banner, DVD/Video release and Soundtrack posters.


'Sorcerer's' US Banner 48"x96" strapline 'LET THE MAGIC BEGIN / NOVEMBER 16'
Note: I am not sure whether this is single or double sided, but am assuming it's single sided, it has the US ratings box at the bottom (right) balancing the Warner Bros. logo and copyright information (left) with 'WWW.HARRYPOTTER.COM' and 'AMERICA ONLINE KEYWORD: HARRY POTTER (centred)


'Sorcerer's' single sided US one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'LET THE MAGIC BEGIN / NOWN IT ON DVD AND VIDEO'
Note: this is pretty much the same as the double sided theatrical one sheet except for the 'DVD/Video' line and extra white small print at the bottom (right and left)


'Sorcerer's' single sided US 18"x24" strapline 'ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK / MUSIC COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED BY JOHN WILLIAMS'
Note: hmmm you know as much as me from the photo!

I love that the word 'THEATERS/THEATRES' had to be spelt differently on the 'Philosopher's' and 'Sorcerer's' theatrical one sheets.

So that's it for another style... I haven't been as robust with this version as I didn't want to waste my money on the single sided and 'DVD/Video' release variations. Saying that tho, apart from the two double sided 'Philosopher's' versions emovieposter.com sold a fair few years ago, I have not encountered another one anywhere on my travels, this I WOULD like to find!

If someone's got any of these versions and would care to post a photo with any relevant information that'd be great, or if you can correct any mistakes I'm sure to have made feel free to correct away.

Now we prepare for the Harry/Hagrid - Style D (Advance), this was one of the trickiest styles to nail down as there don't seem to be many around. Adding in the 'Philosopher's' and 'Sorcerer's' variations mean't a whole world of pain... but I think it was worth it!

Anyone else got a 'Sorcerer's' double sided one sheet 'Harry/Hagrid' version...

AP

[agentprovocateur]

'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's') Stone'
Harry/Hagrid - Style D (Advance)



'Philosopher's' double sided International one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'Journey beyond your imagination.'
Note: below the credits the copy at the bottom is 'Soundtrack...' (left), 'AOL Keyword: Harry Potter' (centre left), 'www.harrypotter.com' (centre right) and the Warner Brothers logo and © information (right)



'Sorcerer's double sided US(?) one sheet 27"x40" strapline 'Journey beyond your imagination.'
Note: below the credits the copy at the bottom is 'Soundtrack...' (left), 'AOL Keyword: Harry Potter' (centre left), 'www.harrypotter.com' (centre right) and the Warner Brothers logo and © information (right)

Although this style appears to be one of the rarest for the first Harry Potter film the countries they would have been displayed in aren't obvious. The 'Philosopher's' version was auctioned by www.movieposterbid.com in 2011 as an International and the 'Sorcerer's' version came from a dealer in Hong Kong.

The only other English language version of this style I have seen was a 'Philospher's' version for sale on ebay, the seller said it was 16.5"x23" (and folded), but I have no further information on it apart from the photo (of the actual poster) below:


'Philosopher's' International 16.5"x23" strapline 'Journey beyond your imagination.'
Note: the text below the credits looks exactly the same as both one sheet versions

Although I haven't concentrated on foreign language versions for the previous styles I've added all the language variations I've encountered on my travels for this style as there were quite a few (the only ones I have acquired are the large and small German versions):


'Sorcerer's' French 47"x63"
Note: the copy at the bottom of the poster seems to be the same as the one sheets but there looks like two extra lines of copy, one under the Warner Brothers logo and © information (bottom right) and another horizontal one (at the bottom of the left hand side)


'Sorcerer's/Philospher's'(?) single sided German 33"x46.75" strapline 'Eine Reise jenseits deiner Phantasie'
Note: there's an additional line, compared to the one sheets, above the credits 'AB 22. NOVEMBER IM KINO' (centred). The copy at the bottom of the poster seems to be the same as the one sheets (except in German!) but there looks like an extra line of copy under the 'Soundtrack...' line (bottom left)


'Sorcerer's/Philospher's'(?) single sided German 23"x33" strapline 'Eine Reise jenseits deiner Phantasie'
Note: there's an additional line, compared to the one sheets, above the credits 'AB 22. NOVEMBER IM KINO' (centred). The copy at the bottom of the poster seems to be the same as the one sheets (except in German!) but there looks like an extra line of copy under the 'Soundtrack...' line (bottom left)


'Sorcerer's/Philospher's'(?) Scandinavian 27.5"x39.3"
Note: there are loads of variations most notably the date '23 NOVEMBER' centred in white at the bottom

As always if you see any incorrect information or you've got/seen other variations of this style feel free to post away. I'm in no way saying this is a definitive guide but having trawled through many ebay auctions and dealers sites these are the only ones I've encountered.

One more to go... then we're on to random variations with completely different art!

AP

[agentprovocateur]

ps forgot to mention... does anyone else find it weird there have been absolutely no/zilch/nada quads for any of these styles!?

[Charlie]

ps forgot to mention... does anyone else find it weird there have been absolutely no/zilch/nada quads for any of these styles!?

Don't worry 46 years from now Mallam's will have an obscure auction that will be announce against wishes of Harry's son/daughter and a deep pocketed second generation emovieposter buyer will snag it... 

[Bruce]

Don't worry 46 years from now Mallam's will have an obscure auction that will be announce against wishes of Harry's son/daughter and a deep pocketed second generation emovieposter buyer will snag it... 

 

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Not for me, but maybe somebody will want:

http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Poster-Collection-Definitive/dp/1608871134

[CSM]

I can't even believe there is such a book in existence

[Ari]

Do people buy Harry potter posters anymore?

[CSM]

Do people buy Harry potter posters anymore?

Let alone a book about Harry Potter posters?!

[Ari]

Damn, I have a few, hahaha, posters that is, not books.

[marklawd]

Do people buy Harry potter posters anymore?

Yes, I do. Still looking for a Style C with "Philosopher" in the title.

Mark

[Ari]

Hmm, not sure what I have to be honest , are they labeled with style? Mine would be Aussie.

[archie leach]

Product Dimensions: 0.2 x 12 x 16 inches

Are they being produced by Moviegoods?

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Here's what I've unearthed for the next poster, the Boats - Style B (Teaser), it was a minefield because of the usual 'Philosopher's'/'Sorcerer's' variations but with an additional background image variation!

To begin with this style looked easy, I had the ubiquitous double sided 'Sorcerer's' version with 'THE MAGIC BEGINS NOVEMBER 16', but when I looked closely at some of the ebay auctions and poster sites that said they had this poster I noticed a different background image. I checked the MPDB and IMPA and they weren't that helpful so I went back to all the people and asked them what poster they had, most apologising saying they'd used the wrong 'stock' photo.

The image variation is still the night time scene of boats with lanterns crossing the water to Hogwarts, but rather than a clear night there is some fog rolling in behind the main 'Harry Potter' logo (the light coming from the churches door, to the right of 'Harry Potter', is also more indistinct because of the fog).

I found this variation twice and luckily grabbed a rolled one (the other was folded), and not through any serious knowledge, it SEEMS like it could be a Canadian variation (it came from a Canadian poster dealer!).

What happened to AgentProvocateur? Anyway, I saw that Emovie sold a folded "international" "fog" version last week:

http://auctions.emovieposter.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&Auction_uid1=3261653

[marklawd]

It's a shame AP never concluded his research with notes on Style E - he doesn't appear to be a member anymore.

Mark