Filmmakers have advertised their films by every means conceivable since the first producer decided to splice his footage together, load it onto a projector, set up a screen and some chairs, and sell tickets. Film trailers, handbills, heralds, radio and TV spots, sneak previews and the revered publicity stunts of the great showmen of the past have all played a role in getting the attention of the public when a film needed selling. But for film fans all over the world, one area of film advertising remains specially connected to the heart of filmmaking: the movie poster.
Posters go right back to the beginning of movie exhibition a century ago. The evolution of advertising using posters was inevitable; in the previous century almost anything you could buy had been advertised on posters. Posters were colorful and they were ubiquitous. They were cheap to produce and they really grabbed one's attention. So it was natural that filmmakers would turn to posters as a means of arousing curiosity. The modern one sheet posters of today, offset printed on translucent "lightbox" paper, fulfill exactly the same function as did the stone lithographs which announced exhibitions of cinema by Lumiere and Edison. By the exploitation and juxtaposition of image, text, and color they attract the public's attention and invite people to reach for their wallets at the boxoffice.
But aside from this primary function, film posters have another quality. They are at once mementos, memorabilia if you will, of the experience of attending a film. In this they are artifacts of our culture. The poster that you see at the cineplex for a film like
Jurassic Park or
Howard's End could have the same nostalgic appeal in fifty years that a poster for
The Wizard of Oz or
It Happened One Night has for us today. It's hard to say for sure. The possibility that it might is part of the charm and allure of collecting.
The ability to see something special in a poster is the hallmark of a talented collector. A collector may have great posters and yet have a lackluster collection. Collections with verve are amassed by collectors with vision. This is true with all collectibles, and it is equally true with film posters. Happily, this is what makes collecting fun. Not everyone can own an original 1933
King Kong one sheet. Not everyone has the money, but even if they did they still couldn't because only a few are known to exist. But anyone interested in movie posters can have a wonderful collection. That is to say, a collection filled with wonders.
Poster Sizes
Movie posters were made in certain specific sizes, sometimes in multiple styles (different posters in the same size), to be used in different situations. The most common size, the one sheet poster, measuring 27 inches wide by 41 inches high, is today triumphant over the other sizes which are, for the most part, no longer manufactured. The one sheet poster is what one sees when attending a theater today.
But in the past, as recently as the 1970s and 1980s, posters were made in several configurations. Classically, from the smallest to the largest, posters were produced in the following sizes:
Publicity Stills
Usually 8 inches by 10 inches, stills are glossy black and white or sometimes color photographs produced on the set of a film by the film's still photographer. They are not, strictly speaking, a poster, although at movie houses they might be displayed in groups like lobby cards. They are not, usually, strict frames from a film enlarged onto a photograph although in some rare cases they may be. They are tableau or scenes from the film set up and photographed in such a way as to look as if they are lifted from the film. In the old days the film's still photographers used 4x5 cameras that would create razor sharp stills for better newspaper reproduction. Sometimes producers would lithograph (print) color still sets in 8x10 format for use at the theater location for display. These are called still sets, and they are sometimes numbered like lobby card sets. But the garden variety black and white still is the copper penny of movie posterdom. Normally in the bottom border are printed title, production and copyright information. There were billions of these produced worldwide. Sometimes stills were produced in 11 by 14 inch formats - oversized stills. (The most regal type of still are the glamourous stills produced by smart photographers like George Hurrell which are generally elegant photographs of the stars. These are quite valuable and are not to be confused with normal production stills. They are often embossed with the photographer's imprimatur.) Generally you find them in shops where you can look through the inventories in a self-serve situation. Or you may see them at poster and movie conventions around the world.
Lobby Cards
These are 11 inch by 14 inch posters printed on card stock. They are generally printed in sets of eight different cards, but not always. Each set will consist of one (usually) title card and several scene cards. The scene cards are so called because a black and white still, a scene from the movie, is generally hand tinted and reproduced in color on the card. The card is embellished with other art, text and design and each scene card will have a same or perhaps similar design with a different still used.
The title card is like a small poster with the title and credits of the film setting it apart from the other cards. In later years, generally the late sixties and after, true color photography was used in the creation of scene cards. Lobby card collecting is one of the most varied and interesting areas in the hobby because of the endless variety of cards and the varying quality of the images used. Generally the more pertinent, memorable and central the image on the scene card is, the more valued the card is. The term dead card refers to a card that lacks the more interesting or compelling aspects of the film - either stars or subjects missing from the scene portrayed. For example, a scene card from an obscure Bela Lugosi film in which Lugosi, the chief element of interest, is not portrayed, or a card from a Marx Brothers film without any of the brothers pictured. Individual scene cards from many films have a number printed in or near the border area. Some films have no title card in the set. Sometimes there may be only four cards in a set or sometimes more than eight cards in the set. Most lobby card sets have been broken up over years of collecting, so finding a complete set is increasingly difficult. Complete sets often came in paper bags with the name and studio information printed on the bag. The presence of the bag with the set is very unusual today. Very occasionally, two different lobby sets may exist for the same film.
Jumbo lobby cards, measuring 14" by 17", are another type of lobby card. They can be vertically or horizontally oriented. Jumbo lobby cards were produced from the silent era through the early 1940s. They are scarcer than standard lobby cards.
Window Cards
The window card is a poster which is 14 inches by 22 inches. It is one of the easiest sizes to handle and economical to frame because an oversized piece of glass is not required in the framing process. It, too, is printed on a card stock. Window cards were designed chiefly for off-premises advertising. Thus, they were often seen in the window of the barber shop, the butcher shop, the dime store, ect. - advertising a film that was playing at a local theater. A blank area was left at the top of the poster; in this space the exhibitors could print the theater locale and playdates. Of course, many window cards survive with these imprintations. Some collectors prefer to find a copy of a window card with nothing printed on it, but other people, myself included, find that playdate printings can add an individual character to a poster. Some window cards have had this area trimmed from the poster. Trimming a poster devalues a poster and is always a bad idea; but finding a trimmed window card on a rare title is OK. Given the choice between a trimmed window card and a complete one, whether printed or not, the untrimmed care will have a wider collector's appeal because it is complete. The mini window card (8 inches by 14 inches) is a smaller incarnation of the window card. These were not made for every film, and while they can be quite desirable, they are relatively scarce. Likewise, the jumbo window card (22 inches wide by 28 inches high) is a larger version of the window card.
Insert
Sometimes called insert cards, they are printed on a heavier card stock. This poster has a vertical format, 36 inches high by 14 inches wide. This poster, because of its vertical format will fit, when framed, in an area where other posters won't fit. And inserts can be very beautiful. Inserts can utilize painting in their design, but some of the most affecting designs are photographic. Inserts which have never been folded may be referred to as flat or rolled. These rolled posters preferred to one that has been folded. But an insert that has been folded should not be turned down if the design is good and other areas of condition are satisfactory. A trip to the restorer can brighten any poster and folds can be minimized.
Half Sheet
Half sheet posters. Also printed on card stock, the half sheet is sometimes called a display. It is more often called a 22 by 28 referring to its dimensions - 22 inches high by 28 inches wide. These dimensions give the poster one of its greatest elements of appeal: a convenient size with a horizontal orientation that is easy on the eyes in a smaller room. Like the insert, both painted art and photographic designs are found. Framing is usually reasonable because again, no oversized piece of glass is required. And, once again, rolled or flat posters and folded ones are also found.
One sheet posters. The most popular poster size is arguably the one sheet. One sheets are 41 inches high by 27 inches wide. They are printed on paper stocks which can vary widely in quality from beautiful enamel stocks to the cheapest newspulp. One sheets can utilize art or photographic elements. One sheets are printed now by offset photolithography, a process by which original art which is used to make the poster is photographed and a printing plate is made from the film. But in the first half of this century, older posters may have been printed by lithographic techniques utilizing stone or zinc plates. These posters are referred to as stone lithographs and this printing technique, now largely confined to fine art editions, was once used commercially to produce all types of posters. Stone lithography stopped altogether in the early 1950s, as photo offset printing, being cheaper and faster, dominated. But stone lithographic one sheets (as well as three and six and even twenty four sheets) have become the rosetta stones of many collections. Ask a collector or dealer to show you the difference between these two kinds of printing methods and you will understand why collectors ooh and aah over stone lithos. The one sheet is, for the most part, the smallest poster which can be a stone lithograph. This, as much as anything else, has accounted for its popularity. But it also must be said this has been historically the poster which, through the decades, has been used by the exhibitors more than any other poster. It is virtually the only size used today by all exhibitors in all parts of the country. It's importance in recent times in the minds of collectors has been shaped by it's preeminence as the favored size for inclusion in auctions. Great posters are not defined by their dimensions alone but rather by their design overall. There are wonderful designs in every size.
30 x 40 and 40 x 60 inch posters. These posters are printed on card stock, generally, and are somewhat scarcer to find than the smaller posters. I have seen them folded, but usually they were stored flat or rolled. Because they are bulky, and because they were not used for every film, fewer of them are seen. Both sizes are oriented verticaly, so that the longer dimension is the height of the poster. Sometimes multiple styles may exist in these sizes. Most of these posters that I have seen have been offset photolithography, but I have also seen silkscreened examples and they can be very interesting. Like all larger posters, framing is more expensive because of the oversized glass or plexiglass that is required, more running feet of frame, etc. Homemade frames begin to look very cost effective for larger posters.
Three Sheet. The three sheet poster is printed on paper stock and is three times larger, in square inches, than a one sheet. Its dimensions are 41 inches wide by 81 inches high. So, like an insert poster, it has a long, vertical orientation. It may be printed by offset photolithography or by stone lithography. Three sheets are generally scarcer than smaller posters on the same title. Because it is large, preparation of the poster for display is more expensive than for a smaller poster. But if you have the space to display one, or even it you are simply in love with larger posters, three sheets are wonderful. They may simply show a larger image of the same art as is found on one or more of the smaller posters on a title, or they may offer an image that is different altogether from any other poster. The most successful three sheets are ones which are designed to best utilize the vertical scheme.
Six sheet. The six sheet poster is six times larger, in square inches, than a one sheet and twice as large as a three sheet. Normally a six sheet measures 81 inches wide by 81 inches high: the only movie poster that is a perfect square. I have been six sheets that were slightly larger and slightly smaller than these dimensions but these are unusual. By any definition this poster is BIG. Three and six sheets were usually used in the big, downtown movie palaces, and, to me, they are especially evocative of the golden area of movie exhibition. The six sheet is scarcer in general, than, say a three sheet on the same title. This is so because fewer sixes than threes, and threes than ones etc., were manufactured to begin with. And because larger posters were often dismissed as "too big" by collectors in the early years, they were often discarded or treated casually, further reducing their numbers. Six sheets may be offset photolithography or they may be stone lithos; they are printed on paper stocks. They are even more expensive to prepare for display than a three sheet. When they are good, however they can be very impressive indeed. Obviously, they can be very impressive in a larger room.
Twenty four sheet. The twenty four sheet was used as an outdoor billboard. They are sometimes called poster panels. Twenty four sheets can vary in size, but most of the ones I have encountered are about 20 feet wide by 9 feet high. These posters are scarce with few exceptions. They are normally the scarcest poster on any title; on many titles no twenty four sheets are known to exist. This can be true for any size poster on a particular title. No one can say why, for some titles, no known posters exist in a given size, or, indeed, at all. But it is known that twenty four sheets were intended to be used in the initial, first-run release of a film. A billboard space had to be rented from an advertising display company. Usually the budget for this existed only in the first-run of a movie. Once a film had moved to the neighborhood theatres, twenty four sheets were seldom called for. Twenty four sheets were the only posters that were routinely destroyed when they were used. Most posters were used by the exhibitors and then returned to the exchanges from which they had been leased. A twenty four sheet was purchased by the exhibitor, pasted up, displayed, and pasted over with another billboard as soon as the advertising contract expired. When a film was out of first run distribution and the personnel at the film poster exchanges felt certain billboards would not be called for again, the surplus copies were discarded. They were bulky and took up valuable space. So relatively few survived. This is what has been explained to me by people who worked in this business over the years. Who collects these behemoth posters? Completist collectors who are looking for every poster on a particular film, dealers who are interested in selling to completist collectors, and the occasional collector who sees a magnificent twenty four sheet and has to have it. There have been some memorable examples of twenty four sheets which have commanded big prices at auction and through private sales. When they are good, they are spectacular.
Pressbooks. Pressbooks are not posters. They are called pressbooks for short, but they are called Exhibitor's Campaign Manuals. They were produced by the studios and distributed to the exhibitors to help them market the film in their area. The pressbook contained articles, targeted at the local newspapers, with information and publicity about the film and its stars. These were often regurgitated by local writers or simply lifted intact and published. The pressbook contained ad mats, ideas for marketing schemes, product tie-ins, and, most importantly for contemporary poster collectors, examples of the posters and other campaign items intended for the exhibitors. Pressbooks are themselves collected today. They are most valued when they are completely intact and nothing has been cut from them. The pressbook will usually show every poster produced for a film; of course there are exceptions to this. The pressbook will show special items and special size posters at times.
Special sizes. Occasionally, special posters were produced in various sizes, such as silk or paper banners, or subway posters. Other special posters include door panels and free standing poster displays called lobby standees. No one knows all of what was made for each film because different items were made for distribution to different localities.
Roadshow Posters
Roadshow (or limited engagement) films often had posters which were printed and distributed outside of the normal National Screen Service channels. 1952 to 1967 was the heyday of reserved seat engagements of such popular films as This Is Cinerama, Around The World In Eighty Days, Oklahoma!, Ben Hur, Spartacus, Cleopatra, My Fair Lady, and The Sound Of Music, to name but just a few. These special roadshow posters are becoming increasingly collected and are sometimes considered the best posters on these titles.
Foreign Posters
Movie posters were manufactured and distributed in England, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Poland, Russia, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, China, India, Australia, and other countries. Each country produced posters for both original films from these countries and films imported from other countries. If you consider this for a moment, you begin to get an idea of the permutations of posters for any given film: a Belgian poster for an Italian film, a French poster for an American film, an Australian poster for an American film, an American poster for a British film, and so on. And each country produced its own particular poster sizes. To complicate matters further, there are original and reissue posters in foreign posters just as in U.S. posters, often without identifying marks to indicate whether the poster is original or reissue.
Obviously, developing a working knowledge of foreign posters is one of the difficult challenges of poster collecting. Yet, more American collectors are discovering that foreign posters can be wonderful. More and more foreign posters are being offered at auction and by dealers. Some dealers in the U.S. have specialized in foreign posters. Certainly these dealers are knowledgeable and their expertise is valuable. And there are a host of dealers overseas who sell to clients in the U.S. The movie poster hobby is strong overseas as well, especially in England and Europe, where there are numerous poster auctions.
Certainly the French, Italian, and Belgian posters represent the mainstay of foreign posters that we see in the U.S. Since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, posters from Poland, quite remarkable in many ways, have made their way into the U.S. Several years ago a huge influx of posters from Argentina were discovered, and many have found their way into the U.S. market. British posters, especially rare from the pre-War years, are gradually finding their way into the U.S.
For more information about foreign posters, try to find the books by Stanisla Chocko and Jean-Louis Capitaine.
One thing worth noting about foreign posters is the interest that foreign poster collectors have in the artists that designed the posters. This contrasts with posters in the U.S., where posters were usually designed by unknown studio workers whose work has gone largely uncredited. The poster artist is often ignored in the U.S., with the exception of posters designed by famous U.S. illustrators such as Rockwell, Vargas, Bass, Hirschfeld, Frazetta, and others. Not so in Europe, where a long tradition of posterization since the time of Toulouse-Lautrec and others have created an awareness of the artists that created the posters. This is a fascinating and worthwhile apsect of foreign poster collecting. Names like Mascii, Roger Soubie, Lenica, Peron, Ballester, and many others are associated with great poster design. Some collectors will collect posters simply for the artist’s work, without an interest in the film whatsoever.
Finally, remember that foreign posters will have titles that are not in English. So Captain Blood becomes Capitaine Blood in France as Les Enfants du Paradis becomes Children Of Paradise in the U.S. Yet, somehow Casablanca is known universally as Casablanca.
Condition
Questions of condition are basic to movie poster collecting. People describe condition differently. I'm not going to try to define these labels like "very fine", "good", "near mint" etc. The fact is: What is very fine to one person may be only very good to another. A poster described casually as being in good condition may be very fine to you. The best way to assure that the poster is in the condition you require is to see it. The second best way to deal with someone who has a reputation for being fair. A fair person knows that condition is a factor. Ask the person to describe a poster to you in detail. Is there any paper loss? Are there any tears or fold separations? Are there stains or watermarks? Are there any marks or writing or imprintations on the poster? Is it brittle? This is the way to assure getting a poster in a condition that you can live with NOT mincing words about very fine, excellent, very good, near mint, fair, poor etc. If you order a poster mail order you should be able to return it if the condition doesn't satisfy you. Period. If the seller says he won't tolerate a return, you have no one but yourself to blame if you don't like the condition of a poster when you get it mail order. Many fears about condition can be avoided altogether by simply dealing with someone who understands your requirements and offers you full money back satisfaction.
Restoration
An entire article could be written about poster restoration. Restoration is the attempt to upgrade and improve the appearance of a poster through paper conservancy techniques. A good paper conservator is a skilled worker, an artisan. He attempts to extend the life of a poster by washing and removing acids and pollutants from the paper, strengthening and improving the appearance of the paper through special mounting techniques, and, if needed, cosmetizing defects in a poster by overpainting areas which may be missing.
Restoration can improve the looks of most posters, but there are limits to what can be achieved. If a poster has a hole in it, it has a hole in it. You can cosmetize that defect, but no true restoration here is possible. But if a poster has border tears, separations, or holes where the paper has been bent back, so that, in effect, there is a semicircular tear, a restoration is possible. There are some great posters of which the only known copy or copies are restorations. Thus, there is a legitimate time and place for restoration. But, restoration is costly and so restoring a poster must be cost effective to be considered. A word of warning: not everyone who says he does restoration is necessarily good at it. You get what you pay for, and fees for restoration can run from the bargain basement to very, very expensive. Never entrust a valuable poster to anyone for restoration unless you have made an effort to find out whether the restorer knows what they are doing. Undoing a bad restoration is triply expensive and sometimes impossible. Get some knowledge yourself and get a good recommendation. Here again, knowing a reliable dealer can help.
Notes on scarcity
Movie posters were never intended for distribution to the general public. They were intended to go to the exhibitors where the general public would see them and be moved to see the films they advertised. That's all. Their desirability as collector's items has ever been enhanced by this one simple fact: they were not printed and sold to the public at large. Unlike many other areas of paper collectibles which were originally intended for mass consumption, movie posters were not. Whatever the printrun for any poster on a given film may have been, it is certain that the printrun was small compared with what they might have been had they been destined for the public at large.
Exactly how many one sheets? How many three sheets, etc? Impossible to say, with absolute accuracy. This would have varied with the film and its anticipated distribution. In general, there were fewer of the larger posters printed than smaller ones. (This gives birth to the theory that a three sheet should be worth so many times the value of a one sheet, and a six sheet twice the value of a three sheet, etc. This is a theory to which I do not personally subscribe - certainly not in every case. You may take this into account, but I think we must look more to the merits of a given poster in a given size to determine it's desirability. Not merely it's size and not it's scarcity. Factors such as these will contribute to driving the desirability and value (and thus the price) of a poster, but not determine them.) Printruns for every size poster were, indeed, limited. A specified number of posters in each size were ordered to be printed for the exchanges when a film was readied for its initial release. Rarely were posters reprinted unless a film was re-issued.
Originals, re-issues, reproductions, fakes
A poster is said to be an original poster for a film when it is known to have been printed and distributed concurrent with the first release of the film. A poster will often have a National Screen Service service number in the right (usually) bottom border area of the poster. Such a number might read, for example, 57-128. This configuration of numbers means that the poster was made for distribution in the year 1957 and that in that year said poster was for the 128th film that NSS had serviced for the studios. A poster which has a number configured like this may reasonably be construed to be an original poster from a film released in the year 1957, although rarely you will find films copyrighted in the year previous or following the year on the poster screen service number. Keep in mind that these numbers were not invented for the convenience of poster collectors but to assist in the day to day operations of what was a working business. So this numbering system may be regarded as generally correct, but not absolutely correct. Some posters may have no date at all printed on them. If you are concerned about the originality of a poster and there is no date, remember a pressbook for the film will probably show the poster, if you can find one. Or ask for the advice of a dealer or a trusted collector.
Films which were thought to have residual life in them at the box office were sometimes re-released by the studios years after their first release. Certain films were re-released or re-issued several times. Posters for films which were re-released were printed and they are referred to as re-issue posters. These re-issue posters are real movie posters in every sense, but they are simply made for the re-release, not original release of a film. They were usually marked with a "R" in the lower border area near the National Screen Service service number. For example, a re-issue poster for West Wide Story, re-released in 1968 will have R68 on the poster. These posters may have used the same designs as the original posters or entirely new ones, but the “R” designation indicates that the poster was intended for a film that was being re-released. That is why such posters will sometimes have copy to the effect that the film may be enjoyed again and again, or will, in some way clue the public that the film is not a new one. This was essentially a truth in advertising technique; after all, films were as ubiquitous as TV programs and the established producers did not want to be seen as passing off old films as new ones to an unsuspecting public.
A re-issue poster is not to be confused with a reproduction poster. A reproduction poster is merely a reproduction of a real poster, usually an original. Some movie posters have been reproduced by poster manufacturers for mass marketing. A poster producer merely takes a photograph of an old poster and reproduces it on poster stock. Several reproductions of posters from the thirties were done in the big nostalgia crazes of the sixties and seventies. These reproduction posters are not now all that common, and they usually are of films like
The Wizard of Oz or
Casablanca, where there is a mass market appeal. Reproduction posters rarely adhere to the standard movie poster sizes and their offsize nature and the presence of the name of the poster printer, such as Portal Publications, etc., will be easy clues that the poster is a reproduction. Of the tens of thousands of films made in the twentieth century, only small few have ever had their posters reproduced for mass marketing. There have been and are a few companies that have printed high grade photographic reproductions of lobby cards and posters, but these concerns advertise their products as such, and collectors will have little trouble in mistaking these posters for the real thing. Very occasionally printers may have been given access to the original plates for a poster but his is rare.
Forgeries and counterfeits are not unknown, but the incidents of this are, in my opinion, uncommon enough not to present a significant worry. Where there is money there can also be chicanery. Beware of what is too good to be true. If you have doubts about an item, you should seek the advice of a good dealer or a trusted collector. They should be able to tell you if a poster is original, re-issue, a reproduction or a phony.
A very short history lesson
Original movie posters have interested collectors for many years. These collectors were usually men (but now we are seeing a healthy interest from women, too) who were big movie fans. Many had worked in the exhibition business, as ad men, theater owners, projectionists, distributors. They had a nostalgia for this material and a knowledge of where these posters could be found: in the old National Screen Service branches and the independently run poster exchanges which existed around the country. They formed the nexus of poster collecting. Some acquired posters in bulk and rewarehoused them. Others simply approached the exchanges and asked if they might buy this or that. They began to trade with each other. Soon they were getting together at shows and confabs, trading in both posters and actual films. The early conventions happened in the later sixties, but by the seventies, film and posters conventions or shows, were common in the big cities. Stores specializing in selling movie posters, books and memorabilia began to spring up across the country. Collector ‘zines, like The Big Reel and Film Collector's World sprang up, and it was through publications like these that collectors began to know each other, correspond, and trade. The moment that the first movie poster was sold for a profit, the movie poster dealer was born. The mail-order dealer became the chief outlet for much of the trading that was done for many years. Some of the dealers that were there in the beginning are still in business. In the late 1980s, major auctions of film posters began. When the major auctioneers like Christie's and Sotheby's have made time in their schedules for film poster auctions, it indicates a wider acceptance of these posters as legitimate collectibles.
The Poster Market: Buying
Posters may be bought from other collectors, from dealers and from auctions. Information about where to buy posters can be found in any of the publications which cater to collectors. I have listed several of these in the section on selling.
Buying from dealers and collectors is usually pretty straightforward. He has something for sale. You want it. You ask about condition, you ask for a description. You ask about the price. Is it negotiable? Maybe yes, maybe no. What about a return policy? What about postage charges? Is postage refundable? What are the terms of payment? Dealers may have credit card options like Mastercard, Visa or American Express. A collector is more likely to want cash upfront, but may not have to worry about sales taxes and the like. A dealer operating in the same state usually will. Most collectors are good guys, honest and true. But sending $500 or $5,000 through the mail to someone you never met is daunting. Know who you are dealing with. A dealer who advertises regularly and who has been in business is going to be easier to appraise in this way. A dealer may publish his own catalog; this is very time consuming and expensive for him and increasingly rare. Many dealers now have computerized databases from which you can inquire by phone.
Buying from an auction house or on eBay is known as "bidding". An auction house gets an auction together and publishes a catalog of what will be auctioned. The catalog will publish low and high estimates for each poster - a range of prices in which the poster is expected to sell. Most posters will have a reserve. This is the figure that the auction house and the poster's consignor determined is the lowest price that the auction house will actually sell the poster. Reserves are not published. If the reserve is not met, the poster will not sell. Sometimes the auction house may be approached after an auction has concluded about a poster or lot, that has passed or gone unsold. The auction house may then approach their consignor as to whether the consignor wishes to sell the item at the reserve or some other price. A sale may result from this or not.
Any poster that is purchased in an auction is subject to a buyer's commission. These commissions range from 10% to 15% of the hammer price. That is, if a poster hammers for $1,000 and there is a 15% buyer's premium, then the actual amount that will be paid to the auction house if $1,150, plus any additional fees such as taxes and shipping. Shipping charges from auction houses can be steep.
The above are some of the objective concerns of buying. But there are subjective concerns as well. One man's trash is another man's treasure. This is another way of expressing that the concept of value, in poster collecting, is a relative one, and issues of worth are hard to define in terms of strict money. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Cavest emptor.
About Prices
A poster for Frankenstein auctioned for $180,000 plus a 10% buyer’s premium. It's an impressive figure, but what exactly does it mean? Does it mean that all such Frankenstein posters may be expected to fetch this amount in an auction or a private sale? Is there a solid market for this poster at this price? Will this poster be worth $500,000 in fifteen years? We don't know the answers to any of these questions, but we do know that what is demonstrated here is that someone was willing to part with almost two hundred thousand presumably hard earned dollars for this poster. Was it worth it? It was worth it to that person. That subjective factor in determining value must never be overlooked; after all, the objective record of prices realized for any given poster is merely the sum of all these subjective value judgments: worth it to whom and when? There are many private sales of many posters. These never become part of the records of prices realized because such sales are by nature confidential, but they nevertheless affect the market.
So how do you know what to pay for a poster? I think you not only keep your eyes and ears open to determine what you might be asked to pay but also I think that you have to ask yourself the same question that the buyer who purchased Frankenstein for $198,000 had to ask himself at some point: what is it worth to me? If you balance these two considerations, you can make a reasonable judgment about how much to pay. You may find a raving bargain in a flea market. More power to you if you beat the dealers to a great poster. Or you may be offered a poster you dearly want by someone you feel may be asking 200% more than you might expect it to be. But do you really know the track record on this poster. And what about your time? Do you have the time and money involved to track a similar copy down? These are subjective considerations that are involved in every deal.
These are some things you can weigh in the bargain:
1. Condition.
2. Have you ever been offered this poster before? Have you seen it for sale at what price or have you never seen it for sale at any price?
3. Is it good looking or evocative of the film or personality.
The Poster Market: Selling
You may buy for your own collection or you may buy for investment. Investing and collecting are two different activities. Don't confuse one with the other. Success in one area does not imply success in the other. A collector may be tangentially successful as an investor through a series of happy circumstances. But a collector is really concerned with acquiring items in his area of interest because he admires them. If he gets a good deal in doing so, he has made, in effect, a good investment, providing, at some point, there is an opportunity to sell. Many collectors would never sell what they have acquired. They enjoy their collections. An investor is looking from the beginning for the opportunity to divest; a collector is not. An investor in movie posters is just like an investor in the stock market, only with more risk generally. It is beyond the scope of this article, which must necessarily be focused on collecting, to address speculating in movie posters. It has been done, and done successfully. People have also lost money. If you speculate in posters to finance your collections, you must take the risk involved.
Collectors may wish to sell posters, however, without regard to making a return, specifically, on the investment.
Posters may be sold by advertising them directly in any of the various publications that cater to this activity, such as Movie Collector's World, or any other publication that I may have inadvertinently omitted. Websites such as
I Collect Movie Posters.com or ebay.com are another good venue. In this activity the seller owes the buyer all the courtesies that he has expected as a buyer: reasonably prompt delivery, a right of return, etc.
Posters may be consigned to an auction, if the auction house wishes to accept them. This is somewhat more risky because the seller has less control over what the poster will actually sell for. A reserve will be set. That is the lowest price that the auctioneer will actually hammer the poster sold. If the poster does not receive a bid at least at the amount of the reserve, the poster will pass. In that case, the seller must usually pay the auction house something, usually 5% of the reserve or some minimum amount, for the service the auction house has provided in offering the poster during their auction. Of course, the upside of this is that the poster may be sold for more than expected. Read the contracts provided to consignors by the auction house. A commission must be paid by the seller to the auction house. This is called the seller's commission and it varies. Some auction houses have charged consignor's other charges as well. Payment from the auction house comes after the auction on lots for which the auction house has itself been paid. Posters have occasionally been known to hammer for high prices at auction and never actually sell. That's tough luck for the consignor.
Posters may be consigned to a dealer. The dealer, of course, wants to make some money from this, as he should. Details of a consignment must be worked out between the seller and the dealer. Use a reputable dealer; find out for yourself that the dealer is reputable. Sign a contract if you feel it's necessary, but at least lay out the terms of the consignment so that both the dealer and the consignor understand them explicitly. Working with a good dealer can be a very good way to sell a poster that you have without having to deal with the day-to-day inquiries of potential buyers, expenses of advertising etc. The poster may or may not sell right away, but you should have a firm idea what you will get if it does sell. Or if the price is somewhat negotiable you have better control over the deal than an auction consignment. The key to a successful dealer consignment is working with a dealer you respect and who respects you.
Posters may be sold outright to a dealer. This is often faster, but remember the dealer is in business to make money. He has an agenda in this activity as well as you do. He may already have the poster you have to sell - even multiple copies. So he may not be interested in investing in another. Or he may want a certain amount of time before paying. Selling outright to a dealer generally brings in less money than consigning, but there are times when it is desirable. Perhaps you know of something else you want to acquire which is time-sensitive and you need money. Again the dealer you choose is the most important thing here. Courtesy between the dealer and seller should be a two way street.
In Closing
These are some of the basics of collecting movie posters. Check out this website. Go to a convention. Attend an auction. Get on the phone with some dealers and chat. Call up another collector who likes what you do. Don't take anyone's advice as the gospel, but listen to the experiences of others with an open mind. Treat others in the hobby as you would want to be treated and expect the same.