JUMBO LOBBY CARDS - The Official Thread

[Filmlobbycards]

It's about time Jumbo Lobby Cards received some love....

[Filmlobbycards]

This is my favorite JLC in my collection!!

[erik1925]

Wow!! That's great!

I love the image and color process used!

 

[CSM]

I've got a few picked up over the years:

[CSM]

[erik1925]

Love the corrugated cardboard backings and texture, Chris... and how the light plays off them and casts interesting, background shadows.   

[CSM]

Love the corrugated cardboard backings and texture, Chris... and how the light plays off them and casts interesting, background shadows.   

The corrugated cardboard just adds a whole upper echelon of class

[erik1925]

The corrugated cardboard just adds a whole upper echelon of class

Indeed, Chris.

I feel it should be referred to as the "8 star" level of class and collectability.

 

[CSM]

Indeed, Chris.

I feel it should be referred to as the "8 star" level of class and collectability.

 

Shhhh don't tell Mel!

[Zorba]

BEAUTIFUL!

This is my favorite JLC in my collection!!

[Filmlobbycards]

Thank you sir...there are some nice JLCs in Bruce's auctions that end tonight....if you dig IT!!

[erik1925]

The images on these size cards can be amazing. Really beautiful imagery at times, too.

Tait, do you know how and why and when this larger size was first produced?

[Filmlobbycards]

The images on these size cards can be amazing. Really beautiful imagery at times, too.

Tait, do you know how and why and when this larger size was first produced?

Unlike the similar sized 14" X 22" window cards (which were usually printed cheaply in abundance and were dispersed widely) these expensive 14" X 17" gems were expensive and were considered a deluxe item for major productions...In the mid to late 1920's many of them were monochromatic black and white although there are some really spectacular full color Jumbo Lobby Cards for the 1927 films like Metropolis and Sunrise...Paramount printed theirs on a really nice linen card stock with the sets costing as much if not more for Theater owners to rent than the corresponding One Sheets...Subsequently most smaller or 2nd rate theaters would opt to only get folded one sheets and regular lobby cards as they could be shipped together and were cheap....by the late 1930's very few films would have Jumbo Lobby Cards printed...An example of a later film to use JLC's effectively was The Grapes of Wrath likely because of its great literary pedigree and massive marketing campaign...To me the really nice early 1930's linen stock JLC's are the best...The Paramount Marx Brothers cards being some of the most sought after....after of course Dracula and a select few early horror titles...movies like Top Hat (1935) and It Happened One Night (1934) have nice JLC sets and quite a few of them survived and are quite popular with collectors

Its too bad the early Charlie Chan films with Warner Oland didn't have any JLC's...It's often a wonder that films like the Wizard of Oz didn't have them as well....

[erik1925]

Great info.

Thanks for sharing this. I can see how the jumbos, especially produced and printed on that linen card stock could be pricey.

So even a film as big as GWTW never had them either, then? That would also have been an incredible looking set, I would think.

[Filmlobbycards]

GWTW had two Lobby card sets...a Roadshow cast set with decorative gold border and a regular lobby card set given the usual late 1930's MGM treatment..
There was a large campaign but I dont recall ever seeing a Jumbo lobby card set or a pressbook with a picture of them..

Ira Resnick did particularly well on this Marlene Dietrich jumbo lobby card at the Bonham sale last November

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24309/lot/76/

[erik1925]

Makes one wonder why a film as big as GWTW wouldnt have put out a big and bold set like this, especially considering O'Selnick's reputation, and not sparing any means to promote what he knew would likely be (and was) a blockbuster.