Author Topic: Spotlight Displays  (Read 169187 times)

Dread_Pirate_Mel

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Spotlight Displays
« on: January 12, 2010, 10:35:25 PM »
I took a chance and they came through.  

Here's the French 47x63 (1.2m x 1.6m) One Panel (Grande Affiche) flip frame they sold me for only $165 shipped.  Good deal!

Now I need to get that Ferris Bueller Frenchie poster to put in it.....












« Last Edit: January 12, 2010, 10:47:20 PM by Dread_Pirate_Mel »

Offline supraman079

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Re: Spotlight Displays - home of the monster flip frames
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2010, 10:43:55 PM »
Looks good. How well does the outside plexi stay against the poster? If you push on the center of it, is there a small bubble or not?

Chad

Dread_Pirate_Mel

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2010, 10:49:47 PM »
Looks good. How well does the outside plexi stay against the poster? If you push on the center of it, is there a small bubble or not?

Chad

The plexiglass is pretty decent quality but it is not rigid like the frames from Hollywood Poster Frames.  The plexiglass comes rolled.  It looks very good overall and it's very easy to rotate the French posters - so they're not stuck in a drawer anymore.

Offline kovacs01

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2010, 05:30:03 AM »
I have some plexi like that.  It's seems to work pretty well.  That frame looks pretty nice, Mel.  If I ever amass a decent sized collection of grandes, I will look into one fore sure.
Schan
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scartacus

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2010, 11:09:55 AM »
Are you sure it's plexi or is it styrene?

Offline Harry Caul

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2010, 11:55:14 AM »
The plexiglass is pretty decent quality but it is not rigid like the frames from Hollywood Poster Frames.  The plexiglass comes rolled.  It looks very good overall and it's very easy to rotate the French posters - so they're not stuck in a drawer anymore.
Interesting... did you supply your own backing material (foam core)?  Also, does the plexi stay flat once you un-roll it?  Or does it have a 'memory' like posters with a tendency to re-roll itself if not weighted down at the corners?

Dread_Pirate_Mel

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2010, 02:01:44 PM »
Boys, your high-fallutin' words exceed the low dominion of my comprehension.

You open the box.  You put the long metal thingies together.  You unroll the relatively thin plasticy/plexiglassy layer thingies.   You open up the flips.  You put one one plexiglass (?) layer on the bottom, the poster in the middle, and an identical plexiglass layer on top.  You close the flips.  You put it up on the wall.  Done.  Repeat when you are bored with the poster.  

The layers are not "rigid" at all. They stay relatively flat on their own. There is no room for foam core backing.  But for $165 and the flip-frame convenience, it's a bargain.  I imagine the profit level is quite high compared to Hollywood Poster Frames.

All other questions are best addressed directly to Spotlight Displays.

scartacus

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2010, 04:35:44 AM »
Plexiglas tends to be acid free -- particularly the UV rated archival stuff -- styrene can cause problems.

See Sue Heim's page on the issues:

http://www.hollywoodposterframes.com/index.php?p=page&page_id=preservation

Having said all that, for a modern poster low value poster it's probably not too much of a big deal.  Framing a Thierry hates "French Grande" is no easy feat -- I managed to source UV plexi for mine but finding a piece of acid free foamcore at that size is tough. Agent Harry Caul, feel free to step in here -- for your framing job on that L'Aventura 1 panel, didn't you use two pieces of foamcore and taped them together ? 

Carson

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2010, 12:28:09 PM »
Beautiful, Mel. The two protective sheets that ship with snapframes are common plastic; no acid-free or uv qualities.

Just for clarity of terminology for anyone interested: Pepsi is a brand of soda. Plexiglass is a brand of acrylic.

Variations of acrylic are endless but they can all be called thermoplastics, or by it's chemical name, methyl methacrylate, which is more commonly called "acrylic". Once that's understood you can narrow acrylics down to commercial brand's like Lucite, Acrylite, Polycast, Oroglass, Lexan and of course Plexiglass. Different acrylic manufacturers boast different strengths but Plexiglass brand acrylic is what most framers use. Glass sucks for a lot of reasons.

Offline holiday

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2010, 01:25:57 PM »
You just made my head hurt, Carson....
Best regards,

Holiday


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Carson

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2010, 02:45:32 PM »
It's just about terminology: Plexiglass is a trade name (brand) of acrylic even though we often mistakenly refer to all clear-plastic as "plexiglass". Just as we often refer to ALL soda as "coke" or all tissue "Kleenex".

Plexiglass is a synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate, called "acrylic" for short. And plexiglass is one brand of acrylic. Sue sells true plexiglass. Snapframes use common plastic. I love both frames but for different uses: I use snapframes for posters I switch-out often and I use Sue's frames with plexiglass for long term framing of more valuable posters.


Dread_Pirate_Mel

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2010, 03:55:05 PM »
I use snapframes for posters I switch-out often and I use Sue's frames with plexiglass for long term framing of more valuable posters.

I have the same game plan.  My valuable original ET/Star Wars/James Bond/Pulp Fiction posters are permanently ensconced in Hollywood Poster frames, the rest get rotated in snap frames.

I like the Frenchie-size Snapframe so much, that I'm ordering several more snapframes to fit Italian two-panels (100cm x 140cm), Japananese B1s & B2s, and printer's proofs and other odd sized posters (29x42).

These snapframes in effect "open the door" to collecting large international and odd-size posters because you can easily display and switch them, which makes the initial high expense worth it.   Otherwise, they'd just sit in storage and only occasionally be viewed.

Carson

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #12 on: January 20, 2010, 07:07:51 PM »
Exactly. Snapframes rule for a lot of reasons, especially among those who like to SEE their collections.

And Robert doesn't mess around on measurements. He always gets it cut right the first time. I had a freaky-deaky Belgian poster I needed a custom cut for and he rocked it.
I use snapframes for my Italian 2 sheets and swapping little B2s in a snapframe takes 10 seconds. It's a blast. The East Coast Master was the tip-off on snapframes a ways back.

Offline supraman079

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #13 on: January 20, 2010, 09:23:38 PM »
I love the snapframes. If I plan on keeping a nice poster in the frame for very long. I just replace the acrylic with higher UV quality and I'm good to go.

Chad

Dread_Pirate_Mel

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #14 on: February 04, 2010, 11:15:10 PM »
Cool thing about Spotlight's frames: the back is transparent, so you can show off two posters at the same time:



Here's my new Italian two sheet Spotlight frame:



Here's the Japanese B2 flip frame:


Offline holiday

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #15 on: February 04, 2010, 11:20:39 PM »
Exactly. Snapframes rule for a lot of reasons, especially among those who like to SEE their collections.

And Robert doesn't mess around on measurements. He always gets it cut right the first time. I had a freaky-deaky Belgian poster I needed a custom cut for and he rocked it.
I use snapframes for my Italian 2 sheets and swapping little B2s in a snapframe takes 10 seconds. It's a blast. The East Coast Master was the tip-off on snapframes a ways back.

 :)

Robert does great work.  I've got around 10 of his frames in my home and office, and they even work as the face of the lightboxes I build.  Very very useful.
Best regards,

Holiday


Check out my new place!
Two Parrots Gallery

"What happened to all the people?" Mystified MPF Member, February 20, 2010

"I actually quite like the name Peanut."  Andy Neal on MOPO, April 22, 2010

Thierry:  Type the word APF on MPF and it spells: "Banned due to malicious unsolicited private message ".

Charlie to the guy who lost to EatBrie:  You just got "T-boned"!  Happens to the best of us...  Wait until you get "Holidazed"!

Thierry to Silhouette:  Please tell her it's a tiny part of my collection so she doesn't think I'm a total creep.  Oh wait, no, I am a total creep.

Offline Harry Caul

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #16 on: February 05, 2010, 03:59:21 PM »
What sort of "depth" do these frames have?  By that I mean, could you swap out the two pieces of styrene and put in some art care and UV plexi?  That way you could have a conservation frame that is easier to swap out posters in...

Offline supraman079

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #17 on: February 05, 2010, 04:41:01 PM »
What sort of "depth" do these frames have?  By that I mean, could you swap out the two pieces of styrene and put in some art care and UV plexi?  That way you could have a conservation frame that is easier to swap out posters in...

I've done this with all of mine. He as two depths that you can buy. I can't remember them right off the top of my head but you can email him and he will tell you. I get the deepest depth so that I an put a higher grade of plexi in the frame so I'm able to leave the poster in for longer periods of time.

Chad

Carson

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #18 on: February 05, 2010, 06:36:12 PM »
Cool thing about Spotlight's frames: the back is transparent, so you can show off two posters at the same time:





Wo, nelly. I am liking your thinking here. So it's one frame with two posters loaded back to back? Dueling Pulp Fics. I love it! Cool idea, Mel.

Dread_Pirate_Mel

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #19 on: February 05, 2010, 07:42:01 PM »
Wo, nelly. I am liking your thinking here. So it's one frame with two posters loaded back to back? Dueling Pulp Fics. I love it! Cool idea, Mel.

All sorts of silliness possible now:



And another flipper:


Offline paul waines

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #20 on: February 07, 2010, 11:24:54 AM »
We have these type of frames at work to put safety posters in so they can be changed for new ones easily. What I did notice is that when they had been in a while the edge around the poster was flattened, or indented where they are griped by the frame. Is this the same with these? as this type of frame is more for a temporary arrangement, for more throw away posters.
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Offline supraman079

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #21 on: February 07, 2010, 11:31:21 AM »
We have these type of frames at work to put safety posters in so they can be changed for new ones easily. What I did notice is that when they had been in a while the edge around the poster was flattened, or indented where they are griped by the frame. Is this the same with these? as this type of frame is more for a temporary arrangement, for more throw away posters.

I haven't noticed that, but then again I upgraded the acrylic to a thicker sheet than what is given. So it's more rigid and doesn't seem to indent the paper. I think they come with a 1/16th sheet and I've replaced with an 1/8th and a 1/4th in some places. You can always put the thicker side on top to keep from making creases if you are worried about it and a thinner piece on the bottom. The stand sheets that come with the frame are very flexible. The sheets I replaced them with are not. They barely bow at all when I hold them straight out. It's close to glass rigidity.

Carson

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #22 on: February 07, 2010, 01:16:48 PM »
I had the same concern so I did my own real world test last year with a freebie poster (The Simpson's).

I learned the indentation prevention is two part with the spotlight snapframes:
1) the density of the plastic and 2) the resilience of the flanges decreases dramatically, by design, once they are flush with the level of the plastic sheet. Once flush with the poster level the metal flanges give up the majority (~90%) their "spring".

I left the Simpsons one sheet in for months. No denting. These frames are sold repeatedly to the most cautious of collectors.

LuboCZ

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #23 on: February 08, 2010, 12:50:49 PM »
I had the same concern so I did my own real world test last year with a freebie poster (The Simpson's).

I learned the indentation prevention is two part with the spotlight snapframes:
1) the density of the plastic and 2) the resilience of the flanges decreases dramatically, by design, once they are flush with the level of the plastic sheet. Once flush with the poster level the metal flanges give up the majority (~90%) their "spring".

I left the Simpsons one sheet in for months. No denting. These frames are sold repeatedly to the most cautious of collectors.


I could use some help in understanding to the conclusion of this topic. My English isnīt so good and I am getting little bit lost in the posts :)

As a newie to poster collecting I have got a few of them but only the ones I like and these werenīt for free. So my aim is to preserve them as long as possible but I would also like to see them.

So far I havenīt been able to find a framer who could offer "collector" services here. The only possibility are these snap frames similar to the discussed one:

http://www.jansen-display.cz/~jansen/29-snap-frames.html

Front side is claimed to be UV stable and anti glare. The back is "water resistant plastic". It is the only information they are able to give (I emailed them).

From your conversation I understand that indentation is not the problem. Springs in the frame tend to lose their power. CORRECT?

I am not sure about the styrene and acidity thing now since they canīt provide the information about materials. Similar product is supposed to have antiglare PVC, thickness about 0,5 mm. OK or not?



The only other option I was able to think of are 2 mylar sheets 27x40 which can be bought here and then placed into the frame in front of and behind the poster in order to prevent contact with the frame.



sergmark

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Re: Spotlight Displays
« Reply #24 on: March 06, 2010, 09:27:11 PM »
Wow... Great information for a new guy.... and I'm not confused either. ;D
Years ago I had a couple custom frames made from Michaels here in Michigan, But I have not had any of my new posters framed yet. Those done previosly were permanently mounted on some sort of foam backing..H'mm one may be valuable now I think of it. I didn't no about acid in some of the products...... Thanks 8)