Hello - New Member - "Rocky Horror Picture Show' style A

[BBossardPoster123]

Hi All,

Just picked up my first vintage poster. Been having hard time figuring out FMV. I see folded ones going for ~$300-400. I heard this one is tough to find unfolded. I've spent a couple hours searching message boards and auctions. I'm not looking to become a true poster expert. More like want to be sure the things I buy are really what they are supposed to be. In brief, went through a vendor thats an industry standard but known to be on pricey side. Essentially trying to figure out how much I overpaid to know how much more work I have to put into learning posters to trust less reliable sources for stuff like this OR is the premium I am paying reasonable for someone that doesn't want to invest a lot of time learning about posters (I just love movies and like having them on my walls).

Thoughts on how I can arrive at FMV to help me on my journey?

[Monster_A_GoGo]

Oh my stars! Hi there and welcome to the forum. I can not believe no one else has been here to greet you yet. Welcome! Welcome! WELCOME!!!  (and... )

There are a lot of people on here who can help you out. I have been a collector myself for more than (Gasp!) 40 years. However, odd as this sounds, i do NOT know what FMV stands for. (At least, at this hour, I can't think of it... Ha!) (Full monetary value, perhaps?)

ROCKY HORROR is a great poster to start off with---for an incredible film to boot. It was standard for posters to be machine folded up until about the mid-80s. For a while after you had some folded and some rolled. Now they are pretty much all rolled. An unfolded ROCKY HORROR would be very scarce as it would have to have been pulled from the printing press before it moved onto the folding machine. That practice was not unheard of---but it is a RARE thing for pre-mid-80s posters.

Just by looking at the image you supplied, it seems to have the right markings...but it also seems to be MISSING other markings.  My copy is tucked away in a box somewhere at the moment, (I'm moving to Washington state in October.) so i can't compare them.  I can not be sure. There is a something called a GAU symbol that should be there, but isn't. Also something indicating which style it is should also be in the lower margin. But again...I am not sure. I can't compare it to mine. There is no ratings box, so that would indicate this was an international release poster...but those missing elements SHOULD be there still anyway.

I hate to tell you this---and please, ask others. Don't just take my opinion.---but I THINK that you have a commercially produced reproduction, the kind they'd sell (rolled) at record stores or whatever.

Whether that is the case or not---WELCOME to the forum. (Oh... I'm sorry. i probably ruined your first foray into the world of posters. i'm so very sorry...)
It is a paper poster, correct? It's not backed at all? What are its dimensions? There are people

[Tob]

Monster_A_GoGo - I think FMV = Fair Market Value? I think the GAU symbol and the 'Style A' text are there (you have to look closely on the full size image). Agree that it appears to be the international version as there is no ratings box.

BBossardPoster123 - emovieposter.com have a good sales history where you can search and see sold prices (if you are a member, which is free).

Here are the sold listings for the International Style A. You can then filter on Unfolded if you wish. 2 were sold in 2020 for $140 and $123. The previous sale after those two was back in 2012. A folded version sold 2 days ago for $133.
http://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/film_title/ROCKY%2520HORROR%2520PICTURE%2520SHOW/style/style%2520A/style/int%2527l/archive.html

If you have overpaid, don't beat yourself up too much, I think every collector in this hobby has done it at some point. If you want to spend a bit more time researching and waiting for the next poster in order to save money, hopefully some of us here can help. Welcome to the forum! 

[BBossardPoster123]

Great advice across the board!! To the point above, it does indeed have the markings but they are quite easy to miss in my picture (small fonts). Great point on the ratings box not being there. I'll have to ask about that one as the sale was based on it being a US 1 sheet.

Thank you for the warm welcomes!

[ealingmovieposters]

It is correctly described as a 'US 1 sheet', printed in the US, but for international release not domestic (hence the lack of a ratings box and NSS information).

[BBossardPoster123]

Interesting! OK. I'm learning as I go. On the site I purchased from, there are 2 examples labeled US 1 sheet unfolded. One has ratings box and other does not. The one I acquired does not and was thought to be quite scarce as most US 1 sheets are folded. Not sure if that is still true since its US for international as opposed to US for US?

Is there a value difference on a US1 sheet printed for the US as opposed to printed for International usage?

Below is a closer image of the Style A and 75/127 markings. I thought those were NSS but must be wrong?




***UPDATE***
Vendor advised that sometimes the lack of ratings box means it was printed before being assigned a rating. Other times it means it was printed in US for international usage. Either way, does not make a difference [in scarcity/value]. Hopefully that is case closed haha

[ealingmovieposters]

It looks like the international has the NSS info on this poster, I was wrong about that difference. The only difference seems to be the lack of ratings box as this poster was for non-us display (even the teaser\advanced posters for this movie in the US have the ratings info). I am not sure if this impacts value for this particular poster. For some posters the rating box is significant, for instance the Clockwork Orange X rating has greater value. As previously suggested looking at the emovieposter.com historic sales and info should be a part of your research.

[BBossardPoster123]

Have been surfing emovieposters a bit to get more educated. It seems fine grade 1 sheets unfolded are hard to find at all (US or US for Intl). There's really not a good comparable there for recent sales. eBay shows a couple that go up to the ~$250+ range.

I'm walking away thinking...
1) I didn't get a proper US for US 1 sheet but it doesn't really matter from a value/scarcity perspective for this specific poster.
2) It is hard to find unfolded in fine condition.
3) The price I paid is certainly more than what I could get if I hunted harder, but that was the price to pay to save me time and have instant assurance that what I bought is authentic and not a repro or re-release from the 80s + having a true expert to explain nuances in a trustworthy way + build a relationship to hunt for more difficult to find items in the future. 

I buy mostly for the love of it, but also like to know that the $ invested is reasonably speculative that the item could appreciate in time. Seems like I did OK on that mission. Just knowingly overpaid to save my time and get that instant gratification.

[Monster_A_GoGo]

Hi again.

Thanks Tob for spotting the GAU and style A... I see them now--just barely.

US NSS often printed posters  for US and International audience. You have a US one sheet printed for overseas audiences. Nothing wrong with that. I have several.

"I buy mostly for the love of it" ---THAT is the key to collecting. I have overspent many, MANY times. Most of my stuff people would look upon as trash---but I like it. That is all that matters.

You could have a valuable poster. Unfolded is rare for that title.

Great first find.