Archie-
I'm trying to assemble the facts that we know. So far your contributions have been very light on usable facts:
It's a fact, not conjecture that Warner Bros. used theatrical one-sheets for video releases during the '80s.
Ok, although I don't know this to be true personally, I'll give you that one as a
FACT.
According to Dan's story, this poster was reprinted from the source at the time of release, and for several years after, for use by cable companies, video releases and just about any time someone asked for some posters
No offense to you or Dan, but I rate that one as 2nd hand unsubstantiated
CONJECTURE at this point.
This was the changeover period and it can be rather title dependant. For the larger titles (Ghostbusters was another) the studios were already feeding the commercial market through people like Kirby, who sold at conventions and colleges. There are tons of rolled studio BttF, at one point there was a near endless supply on eBay that Dave L. practically made his living reselling. I would caution against misconstruing what you see for sale versus what exists.
Sounds plausible. However, is there any proof that extra copies were in fact printed by the studios
specifically for non-theatrical uses? I'll put on my conjecture hat and ask, couldn't they just be extras from a 2nd printing after it was a bigger hit than expected? Or in Blade Runners case, extra copies from their 3 different print runs after it bombed in the theaters? And does this mean that all rolled studio issue BTTF 1-sheets are also suspect? If studios printed a larger run for other uses does that make them no longer 'movie posters'? What about the extra posters Hammer printed up for Dracula has Risen From the Grave? They specifically printed extra and gave them out to people who wrote in... does that mean they aren't real movie posters? I rate that one as
CIRCUMSTANTIAL which proves nothing about Blade Runner in question.
You are asking to prove something that is likely unproveable. What would MPG be testing? My point was just that the MPG grading service can only establish date ranges that are not in issue in this case. Variant 3 may well be the real deal, but there may very well be plenty of Var 3 copies that came from Joe Cable guy.
Exactly. I am asking you to back up your statements... if they can't be they probably shouldn't factor into a posters authenticity or not. In this case, MPGrading can prove that the poster was printed during the appropriate time period. However, you claim that it
could have been in the months afterwards using the original plates and at the behest of the studios. Sure, but
couldn't that have happened with EVERY SINGLE MOVIE that was released in the early days of the video/cable market? Are we not to trust any posters from this period? What is so special about Blade Runner? What about The Shining? Caddyshack? Creepshow? The Outsiders? Vacation? Risky Business? Right Stuff? Gremlins? Once Upon a Time in America? The Goonies? By your logic, studio or nss or rolled or folded, all Warner posters from the early 80s should be avoided just in case -- because, you never know. Right?
More like Joe Cable operator and others operating in conjunction with Warner publicity on the official side and after hour runs for 'friends and family'...
See my response above.
Alternatively, here is what we know:
1) There are three different styles of Blade Runner posters -- 2 NSS variants and 1 studio -- all of which or none of which could be original.
2) If we think Bruce's sales figures are representative of the larger market, we can assume:
2a) All three styles show up folded as one would expect from original movie posters.
2b) One of the NSS styles has yet to show up rolled, but the other two do occasionally show up rolled -- again as one might expect during this time period.
2c) The studio printing shows up rolled much more commonly than the NSS poster does -- which one might expect with a normal run of posters from the mid-80s.
3) There are personal testimonies on MOPO that claim all three versions have turned up in lots bought directly from theaters. Conjecture, yes, but it is directly related to the posters in question and it won't be used as definitive proof. I'm going to allow it
4) Variant 3 (NSS with offset name/number) showed up rolled in the Continental Litho stash Dave acquired from an NSS employee and that also included other posters most everyone believes to be genuine (and amazingly given how far back they go, rolled).
5) There is a full-sized, confirmed (based on fiber match to modern bootlegs, and lack of alkaline) bootleg of the studio issue Blade Runner poster. I'm willing to send mine to someone with a confirmed original -- preferably folded and from a theater lot just to be case -- for comparison if they'll share the results here on the board.
Nothing from the above (except for the bootleg of course) strikes as particularly fishy for an early 80s movie poster. If we are willing to entertain stories like the ones you are suggesting, then they should by no means be limited to just Blade Runner -- unless of course you have evidence to the contrary. So either all posters from the early 80s are suspect (Warner only?), or what seems to be the more likely case, there are rolled Blade Runner posters of various print runs that are
likely originals -- just beware of bootlegs.
