Events, news and information for collectors

I recently received the catalog for Heritage Auction’s 2008 July Signature Vintage Movie Poster Auction #694 (see my June 24 blog) and it’s a keeper – a big, thick, lavishly color-illustrated beauty priced at $50 but which comes with a $50 discount if you actually win a poster in the auction. You can’t say THAT’S not a fair deal! (I get certain catalogs free on request – a perk for bidders in earlier Heritage auctions.)
Even if you don’t want to bid on a poster, film buffs will be hard pressed to find an art book on movie posters to rival this catalog: Put it on your coffee table when friends are over and see where they gravitate.
Which only goes to show you the appeal of film posters, both vintage and modern. Are they kitsch? Real art? Advertising art? Who knows – but if you love the cinema and get a single poster for a film that means something to you, I can tell you from personal experience that it makes a statement and changes any room.
In other words, you don’t have to be a “collector” of posters to get off on a having a one-sheet of you favorite movie or featuring your favorite actor/actress/film genre up on the wall. That’s why I’m willing to wager that a lot of the bidders in these auctions are not collectors but decorators who see the design value of a great poster in a living room or home theater, say.
My advice: If you’re like me – a guy who lurches from paycheck to paycheck but snaps up little treasures whenever possible because the price is right – check out the posters in the auction, either in the catalog or online, and bid what you can afford on one nice item. There’s a buyer’s premium that increases as the bids do, so if you get your bid in early, you may edge out another interested party who doesn’t want to go to the next bid AND pay the next higher buyer’s premium.
More advice: Be liberal in perusing the posters. Can’t afford an original “Casablanca” poster from 1942? Consider bidding on a later Polish or Japanese version! It adds a little exoticism to the deal – and sometimes the artwork is wilder than the Hollywood version.
(NB: Don’t expect to pick up a Japanese poster for “Rashomon” or “The Seven Samurai” for a song, as posters for film classics from their countries of origin are hot items. The same goes for, say, a Mexican version of “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” – the “cool” factor costs mucho dinero.)
The auction ends July 11–12, and you have to pre-register to bid. View the goodies at www.ha.com.