Movie Posters Discussion Thread

[EvilE981]

Hey everyone!

I was thinking of redoing my HT room's "wall art". For a few years now I have kept my apartment with a Japanese theme. Id like to take down the framed work I have and go for a more relaxing yet stylish wreck room appearance.

If you ever looked through my DVD collection gallery you know I am a big collector Limited Edition and Collector Edition DVD gift sets. I plan on displaying a hand full of these gift sets in the room along with some comic book type posters.

I saw several people with posters from comic book movies and cult classic films. I was curious where everyone gets them.

I also see several framed art proudly displaying the brands they own like Onkyo or Polk, and THX. Does anyone know what kind of quality they are or of any sites that sell them on line?

I really want to take the feel of the room to more of an upbeat fun HT room vs a living room. Ill probably go out and buy some collectible busts later on as well. If anyone has any suggestions or info Id greatly appreciate it.

[OrlandoEastwood]

Evil, if you are in the US, see if you have a Suncoast videostore in your area. They sell reproduction single sided 24x36 and theatrical double sided 27x40 posters for home use. For the reproduction posters they go for about $15 and under. Theatrical $20 - $25. Luckily for me, my uncle worked at a videostore in the early 90's and he ended up passing down his posters that he got to me. I got posters for Seagal's Out For Justice, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Oscar (Stallone), Ambition (Lou Diamond Philips), Dances with Wolves, and some others. Also eBay is a good place to look but make sure your seller has a good score. For me, I bought off of www.moviegoods.com . They have deals on posters through their ebay site http://myworld.ebay.com/moviegoods.com I got a Teaser Poster for Saw II and Alone in the Dark off of them for $15 total.

[EvilE981]

Yes I live in the US, however 2 yrs ago I moved to the MIdwest. The only Fye in 200 miles went out of business last yr. The only places to shop for Blus and DVds are Best Buy Target and Walmart. As well as 1 or 2 locally used joints.

So I tend to just buy online.

Thanks for the online venders you mentiones Ill check em out!

[OrlandoEastwood]

Check Moviegoods' website first and then check their eBay store to compare their prices.

[EvilE981]

Thanks again. They have a huge selection.

[OrlandoEastwood]

http://www.moviegoods.com/price_special.asp?&

These ones are on sale for $5 + Shipping.

[squirrel101]

framedpictureenterprise.com has those ones that look/feel kinda like a painting , the same ones that blockbuster carries.

[xtop]

on average, how much more are your authentic posters compared to the reprints we get from the internet?

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

http://www.moviegoods.com/price_special.asp?&

These ones are on sale for $5 + Shipping.

Yes that link will take you to their clearance section if you will as those titles listed are originals as they have the seal on there. It isn't uncommon for a dealer to blow-out slower moving titles like what they have listed. I don't carry every poster out there, because I generally know what will sell and what won't. I am not right 100% of the time, but I tend to be more picky about what I offer. Some dealers offer everything, and generally end up blowing titles out at cost, etc. I have no problem with competition either, I think it is great to have it in all forms of business, and MovieGoods has been around a long time, but most collectors prefer to go to the dealers that only carry originals, or don't care about the collectibility factor, etc.

[xtop]

all the posters in that link are "near mint" too btw. i think i'd rather pay more for one that was in better condition.

near mint..

may have small pin holes in the corner
may have minor wrinkles or small tears on the border
artwork has no blemishes

[Blu-Benny]

Originally Posted by Kinsella5

MovieGoods in the movie poster arena deal with a lot of reprints. Yes, they have originals but in the past few years they have been focusing more so on reprints than anything else. One of the gripes I have about them, and other dealers and collectors do is they take images that aren't even movie posters and sell them "as" movie posters (again the Dark Knight is a prime example of this). I have even seen them take fan-created imagery and sell them as movie posters. They do at times offer up a "seal of authenticity" on their site when it is an "original authentic movie poster", but in most cases they do not, because they are dealing more with reproductions.

I actually ordered a dark knight poster from this company, it was labeled as a reprint but when it showed up….double sided!!!

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by xtop

on average, how much more are your authentic posters compared to the reprints we get from the internet?

It really depends on the poster. A reproduction is generally poorly done, not as clear, and size is a factor too. Most of the commercially licensed reprints out there are 24x36 but there are some that are 27x40 too.

Also the term single-sided doesn't always mean it is a reprint. Studios produce single-sided ORIGINALS as well, they are just not as rare as their double-sided counterparts. Collectors prefer double-sided over single-sided, but there can be a big price different between the two.

For example, take the "Blade Runner: Final Cut" 2007 re-release (which is one of the most beautifully done posters to come out in a very long time). Because the re-release was on a small scale, originally only two cities were going to be showing it theatrically. The studio then decided to extend the limited engagement and offer it to other cities. This was also coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the film and DVD/Blu-ray release. Sometimes studios offer a re-release of a movie and produce a brand new poster for the re-release with different artwork so collectors' then want to add it to their collection. Blade Runner is an iconic film and the re-release poster is some of artist Drew Struzan's best work in my opinion. He also did one for 2004's re-release of The Shawshank Redemption, which saw a very small limited engagement in the Fall of 2004 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the film. Not every film sees a re-release, but every so often we movie lovers are treated to one. I am hoping Warner Brothers does a 20th anniversary re-release of Goodfellas next year myself.

So back to Blade Runner. Collector's want the double-sided 2007 re-release poster but they were not readily available for dealers, thus, making them quite rare and collectible. They also can get expensive, but generally around the $75-$100 price point. Some dealers may sell them cheaper, some may sell them more expensive. Since they did produce a single-sided original, a lot of collectors if they can't afford double-sided will go the single-sided route. Single-sided I have seen sell for $50, but generally you can get it for cheaper than that.

Dark Knight posters are still quite popular but a ton of misinformation (and fakes) are out there, especially on the 2nd advance style which was the only style that featured Heath Ledger as The Joker on it. The actual authentic originals for that poster are 27x40 1/16 inches in size. That 1/16 is very important too. And yes, sadly, there are double-sided fakes being sold of that style too but that opens up a whole other can of worms. But in the case of the authentic style, there are really only three poster dealers that carry them, and I am one of them. My price on that poster is about 1/3 the price of others who sell them for upwards of $350 because it is a popular poster, but also because Ledger's performance, the film's performance, Ledger's awards that he won, but sadly, because of Ledger's death too.

On an average most (not all) originals sell for around $20-$25 and then can rise depending on some of the factors I mentioned before. A reprint usually is around $10-$15, which is why a lot of people tend to go for originals when they can.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by xtop

all the posters in that link are "near mint" too btw. i think i'd rather pay more for one that was in better condition.

near mint..

Near-mint to one dealer may mean something totally different to another. It is best to always email a dealer through their site or direct email and ask them for the exact condition. Condition wise, I am rather strict in my grading. None of my posters have pin holes, etc. If a poster isn't mint condition, then I will be as descriptive as I can. Remember, movie posters are big pieces of colored paper, and paper is a very delicate product, but condition is key, and very important to collectors and rightfully so. When I say a poster is mint, it will arrive mint, and not previously displayed in a theater.

[xtop]

Originally Posted by Kinsella5

Near-mint to one dealer may mean something totally different to another. It is best to always email a dealer through their site or direct email and ask them for the exact condition. Condition wise, I am rather strict in my grading. None of my posters have pin holes, etc. If a poster isn't mint condition, then I will be as descriptive as I can. Remember, movie posters are big pieces of colored paper, and paper is a very delicate product, but condition is key, and very important to collectors and rightfully so. When I say a poster is mint, it will arrive mint, and not previously displayed in a theater.

good to know, i'm gonna keep this thread saved and maybe hit you up one of these days

thanks for all the info

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

I actually ordered a dark knight poster from this company, it was labeled as a reprint but when it showed up….double sided!!!

Yes what you got was a double-sided reproduction courtesy of MG. They were listing them as "reproductions" on their eBay accounts and no one had any reason to question them being anything but single-sided. Double-sided fakes have been popping up for nearly as long as I have been in this industry. Generally they are easy to spot, with size, coloring, etc being a good clue. When I first saw MG offering reproductions of the Dark Knight style "B" on eBay I didn't think much of it, even though I suspected it was something they were producing. Some of my customers pointed them out to me and one of them ordered one just to see, and then got back to me and said it "double-sided". Why they were producing double-sided reproductions was quite troubling to me, and to fellow dealers, and collectors. I contacted them and was told it was double-sided. To me, it showed a total lack of respect to collectors because there was a time when the term "double-sided" meant authentic originals, but when a dealer that had always appeared to be legit starts offering up double-sided reproductions (for reasons I still can't comprehend to this day), then it only upsets collectors down the road. Sadly there are a large amount of people who have that very same poster who think they have an original but don't.

Also, the unknowing collector orders it as a reprint, and gets a double-sided one, and then thinks to themselves "Wow I got an original!" when in fact that isn't the case at all. Or, they go and buy more hoping the dealer makes the same mistake and then they re-sell on eBay as originals, and now you have basically sold reprints to others, thinking they are original when they aren't. Trust me, I have seen plenty of people on eBay doing this and all of them have told me they got their posters from MG because they thought they got originals by mistake "just because they were double-sided". This has been the case for a few of the Dark Knight styles, but also for films such as Twilight, etc. The more popular the film, the more likely you will find people trying everything they can to profit off of it, ethical or not.

There are some really good honest dealers out there too, as well as authentication websites, forums, etc. Movie poster collecting is like any other hobby in that it takes a desire to research and learn all you can about it. This is the business I am in and I have a passion for being as honest as I can to my customers. I don't know the world of stamp collecting but if I wanted to become a collector of stamps I would do all the research that I could to learn about it. That is what poster collectors are doing, not all, but many, and in the long run it pays off because knowledge is key.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by xtop

good to know, i'm gonna keep this thread saved and maybe hit you up one of these days

thanks for all the info

Absolutely, anytime Xtop, I will send you a PM now as well and that goes for everyone here that wants to get into the movie poster collecting hobby. But don't think I am trying to say all dealers are bogus and I am the only legit one, that isn't what I am saying or implying. I guess I just hold my customers and this hobby in a higher light than some. Again, there are good dealers and sellers out there who feel the same way I do, and then there are those who don't, and go on the attack when they feel they are being threatened. If a dealer isn't able to get a certain title, but others are, some may go on the attack of their character out of spite. I haven't made the best calls when it comes to every poster out there (good lord I totally underestimated the first Pirates of the Caribbean posters) but I do as best as I can.

[EvilE981]

I had no idea posters were so big.
Now that you mention it... I cant have a fake. I was looking on line and decided I want the bigger ones 27"40" around there give or take an inch on either/both sides.

Let me ask you as a novice. Whats a clue its a fake aside from where you are buying it. Walmart isn't going to have originals neither is Spencer's gifts. LOL

Since I will be buying from online some helpful hints would be cool on how to spot a reprint.

I saw a few images id like to get but not if they are reprints. Can you PM me the link to your site if you have one?

I was looking for The Matrix Revolutions with Smith and lightening. Is this one real? Do you sell frames too. I cant find any 27"40" locally so id be buying them on line too.

I also saw a Spiderman3 image of the red and blue spiderman facing the cosmic spiderman. Each is sitting on an ledge facing inward with the moon in the top center. This print was shown horizontally vs vertically

[OrlandoEastwood]

Yeah, to compare Terminator Salvation

Real: http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_prod...movie_id=37941

Reprint: http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_prod...movie_id=37941

[Blu-Benny]

honestly, i could care less about reproductions/reprints vs. originals. i get them to make my soon to be HT look awesome. i'm a movie fan, what else would i decorate my HT with??

i've got reprints of The Matrix, Gladiator, Raiders of the Lost Ark, they all look great framed and hanging on my walls.

[EvilE981]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

Yeah, to compare Terminator Salvation

Real: http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_prod...movie_id=37941

Reprint: http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_prod...movie_id=37941

When I see both of them I can see the difference. But unless I saw both Id never know. I guess what I was curious about is- is there a water mark kind of feature or a specific stamp, marking, imprint, symbole, in one of the corners or something specific to origionals that you cant find on reprints?

Like I used to sell seiko watches. Some knock offs were dead on. But they had 1 difference besides being fake lol. The seikos had screw on backs to keep water out. The "fakos" had a push back that would pop off to change the battery.