Empire Strikes Back - Valuation reduction due to blue smear on lettering?

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Appreciate any advice from valuation experts.  I picked up this off eBay for $99.  It is exactly 27x41 and overall in excellent condition.  It appears to be an original. The super-tiny GAU logo text is pretty sharp, although not razor sharp.  The larger NSS text also appears to pretty sharp, although slightly less sharp than other NSS text I've seen.

Anyway, my primary concern is not authentication, it is valuation.  In the lower left section there is a one inch blue "smear" that runs several inches through the title credits at the bottom.  There are also a couple of very small blue marks on the main title in the center.

The blue smear is rather noticeable but not too bad.  It was not disclosed by the Ebay seller.

I suspect this is an original printing defect - the blue smear on the white text matches the artwork around the text.

Also the tagline text at the top - "THE STAR WARS SAGA CONTINUES" - has a distinctly light blue tinge compared to the stark white main title in the center.  Is that normal?

Unfortunately, I don't have a great camera at the moment but here are the best pics I could find.

I do have a seven day period to return so need advice ASAP.  Thanks!

[cinemarts]

Jeff Rosen over at NSF knows his STAR WARS paper pretty well.

I've had a lot of ESBs over the years, but have never noted any like that with
that particular glitch.

Looks like it's a machine fold, too.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Jeff Rosen over at NSF knows his STAR WARS paper pretty well.

I've had a lot of ESBs over the years, but have never noted any like that with
that particular glitch.

Looks like it's a machine fold, too.

Thanks, I contacted Jeff. He stated: "There are no known fakes of the Empire Strikes Back (Version A), so I wouldn't worry about that.... I would bet that it's a simple printing error. It's possible that the ink wasn't completely dry when it was folded and resulted in the blue markings."

[guest8]

Wow .. Im surprised to hear that no one has attempted to make fakes of this poster .. Other than the various posters for the 1st film and the Revenge of the Jedi I would have thought this is one of the most collected of the Star Wars posters and in thinking that would be at the top of someones list to forge ... Good info though !

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Wow .. Im surprised to hear that no one has attempted to make fakes of this poster .. Other than the various posters for the 1st film and the Revenge of the Jedi I would have thought this is one of the most collected of the Star Wars posters and in thinking that would be at the top of someones list to forge ... Good info though !

To the best of my knowledge, only "bootlegs" made with the original printing plate/negative are indistinguishable from originals. Fortunately, those are relatively few and the small errors on them (e.g. Star Wars "hair on belt") give them away.

The digital reproductions (or at least the mass-produced ones I've purchased) are not good enough yet - the fuzzy text gives them away.  See the attached examples of my Big Lebowskis.

I'll be posting some more examples in a separate thread in the authentication thread later. I've also been threatening to write an article on MPA on the subject.

[guest8]

geesh .. youd think if they were going to be ripping people off theyd get it right .. I mean why not buy an original and make an exact digital copy and reproduce that that should do away with fuzzy text issues.. Im assuming that they get that way due to the resizing of smaller digital image to the full 1S size .. and in the end your still a crook but youd have an awesome collection of originals to show for it

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

To the best of my knowledge, it would be prohibitively expensive to mass-produce exact digital duplicates - you're talking 600dpi 27x40 prints - very expensive.  Here's a better picture of the text comparison - very tiny text on original (top) is sharp, reproduction (bottom) is clearly fuzzy.

[guest8]

Well reproduction is expensive to start because of the cost of equipment .. But after that I dont see it being that bad .. Not to say the equipment wouldnt be bad .. LOL ..

42" Scanner MSRP $16k But we all know MSRP doesnt mean anything and one could probably be found 2nd hand for less than half that .. Or an older model still capable of doing what is needed.
http://www.archiveindex.com/contex_hd4230i.html

44" HP Plotter/Printer 2400x1200 dpi for $4k
http://www.superwarehouse.com/HP_DesignJet_T610_%2844%29_Plotter/Q6712ABCC/ps/1498537

So for sure deff not for Joe blow on the street to start creating authentic looking fakes .. But if you wanted to be Moviegoods Jr it could be done .. I mean you could sell 200 $100 posters and recoup your costs right there .. But then why go all high end like that when sub-par fakes are still getting passed off as the real deal and people out there would still but a 24x40 poster thinking it was authentic