Does collecting ever end?

[Carson]

In 1973, The Exorcist drew me back to the hobby.  
In 1975, Jaws reinforced it.
In 1977, Star Wars sealed my doom. That year-long poster campaign was the shit.
In 2000, I joined Ebay.  I would've joined sooner, but I knew what was going to happen.  It was going to bleed my bank account dry.

The Brude! I remember when I saw your first post and collection; I had my poster clock punched 6 different ways by the time I got through it; great collection. I didn't know you were collecting in the early 70s, Ted. What movie launched your collecting and what type of paper does your son collect? Gracias.

[easyenders]

i've come to a stop........and say in 10 years time i'll have 'chunking express' 'midnight express', and ''cool hand luke'' and i'll be happy......think i've moved into bruces's stage 4

[eatbrie]

I had a long talk with Ron Borst yesterday, who arguably owns the greatest Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror poster collection in the world.  He must be in his 60s, has been collecting since his twenties, and is still going strong, still buying new Sci-Fi posters, along with lobbies, stills, press books, you name it.  Since he and his wife don't have kids, he plans to leave it all to charity.  And we're talking here about an $8 to $10 million collection.  He invited me to come and see it at his house, which I very nicely declined.  That's all I need to help me with my addiction.  See someone else treasures, and one of the world's, if not THE world's best poster collection.  No way.

T

[brude]

The Brude! I remember when I saw your first post and collection; I had my poster clock punched 6 different ways by the time I got through it; great collection. I didn't know you were collecting in the early 70s, Ted. What movie launched your collecting and what type of paper does your son collect? Gracias.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  My son primarily collects science-fiction and fantasy, my oldest daughter collects horror and my li'l eleven-year-old girl goes for animation.  I started collecting in 1966 with One Million Years B.C. my first acquisition. My dad and I had a 'beat' every Friday afternoon, when we'd hit all of the major movie houses in the New York area for all of the one sheets, lobbies and pressbooks my greedy little hands could carry.

So, 44 years of on-again off-again madness.

[CSM]

I had a long talk with Ron Borst yesterday, who arguably owns the greatest Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror poster collection in the world.  He must be in his 60s, has been collecting since his twenties, and is still going strong, still buying new Sci-Fi posters, along with lobbies, stills, press books, you name it.  Since he and his wife don't have kids, he plans to leave it all to charity.  And we're talking here about an $8 to $10 million collection.  He invited me to come and see it at his house, which I very nicely declined.  That's all I need to help me with my addiction.  See someone else treasures, and one of the world's, if not THE world's best poster collection.  No way.

T

Thierry, just curious, but how does one go about having a random conversation with Ron Borst out of the blue like that?

[Carson]

He [Ron Borst] invited me to come and see it at his house, which I very nicely declined.

T

Seriously?

Not in any way to be critical but, honestly, I'd go to significant length, including a flight, to see his average stuff, much less his more historic pieces. I understand the temptation factor, but wish you would have gone; perhaps next time.

[eatbrie]

Thierry, just curious, but how does one go about having a random conversation with Ron Borst out of the blue like that?

I've known him for years.  He owns a tiny little store on Hollywood Blvd that he mainly uses for his own collecting purposes.  It's only opened 3 times a week.  I recently bought something from him, so I went to pick it up yesterday and hang out with him for a while.

T

[eatbrie]

Seriously?

Not in any way to be critical but, honestly, I'd go to significant length, including a flight, to see his average stuff, much less his more historic pieces. I understand the temptation factor, but wish you would have gone; perhaps next time.

It's an open invitation, so I can go anytime I want.  I just hate to see what I can't afford.  It makes me mad and jealous, so I'd rather not see it at all.  If I want it, I buy it, if I can't have it, I don't want to know about it.  It's like cocaine, as long as you don't try it, you're okay.   

T

[Bruce]

Carson

Go to his store, meet him so he can see you are not a nut, show him you really love posters, and I will bet anything he will invite you to his house. He has had a zillion people over, big shots and nobodies, because he is one of the few great collectors who recognize that a collection has little value if no one ever sees it.

Bruce

[brude]

a collection has little value if no one ever sees it.
Bruce

Ain't that the truth.

[CSM]

I've known him for years.  He owns a tiny little store on Hollywood Blvd that he mainly uses for his own collecting purposes.  It's only opened 3 times a week.  I recently bought something from him, so I went to pick it up yesterday and hang out with him for a while.

T

Thanks Thierry.  I did not know he still ran the store (I had heard he had one at some time in the past).

Too bad I am WAY too far north to stop in

[ddilts399]

Uhh, charity... I am thinking I will start a non-profit poster collection he can leave it too...

[sergmark]

I am a lifelong collector. Started as a 10-year-old, inspired by Forry Ackerman.
When I hit puberty, the ladies looked a lot better than my posters and I traded and sold a lot of classics.
In 1973, The Exorcist drew me back to the hobby. 
In 1975, Jaws reinforced it.
In 1977, Star Wars sealed my doom. That year-long poster campaign was the shit.
In 2000, I joined Ebay.  I would've joined sooner, but I knew what was going to happen.  It was going to bleed my bank account dry.

Luckily for me and my collection, my three kids love the hobby and I think they will keep everything I leave them.
The oldest already has more posters hanging than his dad.  Go figger.
I have asked them to have my One Million Years BC one sheet rolled up under my pants leg when they bury me.
It was my first and still gives me wood. 

Ted ... and  I bought your spanish version... so whats going on your other leg..

[brude]

Barbarella, of course!

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Barbarella, of course!

Jane's cheating on me again

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

We had a fire at my apartment complex last night and the entire apartment complex (500+ apartments) emptied out for a while.  I was thinking if it burns down and my MP collection goes up in smoke, I'd be sad for a while but at least it would release me from this collecting craziness!   

[Ari]

thats the thing about collecting, I say it again and again, its the thrill of the chase.
I work in another field, but with collectors, and I tell them over and over, some days a client comes in and because we dont have a certian item theyb get frustrated, I remind them, IF YOU HAD THEM ALL, YOUD PROBABLY SELL THEM.
A good client bought a Mint example of every Sovereign size coin ever minted, we are talking MANY millions of dollars, took 10 years, soon as he finished, he sold the lot. NOW, few years later, he has started again.
If you had $x.. and could buy every poster you ever wanted in one go.
then what do you do?
Collectors enjoy waiting, trying, losing, winning, unpacking, storing, then unless you frame it, or are reminded, its forgotten most of the time.
AGAIN, THRILL OF THE CHASE. (oh and showing off to other collectors online)

[CSM]

Ari, I agree with everything you said except the part about enjoying losing

[eatbrie]

I got my answer: It never ends.

As I keep forging ahead in my little collecting habits, I meet more and more people with amazing collections, people that I would have never met 9 years ago when I started collecting.  Because of what I have already amassed, I make my way thru the next stage of collecting, thus realizing how lame my collection is, and how much more there is to collect.

A friend of mine has been collecting French posters for 10 years, and OMG, his collection is out of this world.  He owns pieces that very few people have seen.  So to me, he is a God.  But he has his own God.  He was telling me about another French collector, a guy who routinely spends 15,000 euros on posters, and makes my friend's collection look ridiculous.  And on it goes, all the way to Ron Borst.

This is why it never ends.  You start low, and as your collecting taste becomes more refined, you move on to another stratosphere, and another one after that.

It's a sick, sick prospect, but one that I look forward to!



T

[Bruce]

I told you that you were a lifer, Thierry.

I started collecting when I was 6 and my cousin gave me his copies of Action Comics (he had #242, and #244 to 275 or so, and I started buying them each month with my ten cent a week allowance; my dad was the last of the big spenders!).

I have owned zillions of items over the years, and I even figured out how to make my living from collecting, and I don't cheat or take advantage of anyone.

If you ever get tired of what you collect, don't quit collecting, just quit collecting that type, and move to something else!

Bruce

[Zorba]

If you ever get tired of what you collect, don't quit collecting, just quit collecting that type, and move to something else!

Thats exactly whats happened with me. I was collecting( not in a crazy poster way) certain NFL autographs until I bought my first movie poster   

[Freefall]

I've known him for years.  He owns a tiny little store on Hollywood Blvd that he mainly uses for his own collecting purposes.  It's only opened 3 times a week.  I recently bought something from him, so I went to pick it up yesterday and hang out with him for a while.

T

And where in Hollywood Blvd is this store? I knew 5 stores on the blvd. One closed down (right by Pantages). The other one burned down. The other one moved. And the other two are still open. Larry Edmunds and that store by Hollywood Wig Company.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Well, after almost two years I've hit 1,005 posters (plus 100 frames) and somehow I sense my collecting is coming to an end - 1,000 is way more than I can enjoy and display properly. I really feel like I have what I really want after recently picking up Jaws and Blues Brothers. Anybody else feeling poster fatigue?

[50s]

 and somehow I sense my collecting is coming to an end

Good luck.

I said I'd no longer collect Mexican lobby cards after I received my first one... I now have 97...  

[Tang Lung in Rome]

Brude  , I guess youd like to spend a week with Raquel (pun intended)  

(So to me, he is a God.  But he has his own God)

Yes , and that God is General Zod....be careful , the eye of Zod monitors the internet.....Zod is everywhere as we speak.