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Movie posters are posters used for the advertisement of films. Their use goes back to the earliest public exhibitions of film, where they began as outside placards listing the programme of (short) films to be shown inside the hall or theater. By the early 1900s, they began to feature illustrations of a scene from each individual film.
Historically, movie posters were produced for the exclusive use of the theaters exhibiting the film the poster was created for and the posters were required to be returned to the distributor after the film left the theater. Usually posters were returned to a nation-wide operation called the National Screen Service (NSS) which printed and distributed most of the movie posters for the studios between 1940 and 1984. As an economy measure, the NSS would regularly recycle posters that were returned, sending them back out to be used again at another theater. During this time, a film could stay in circulation for several years, and so many old movie posters were badly worn before being retired into storage at an NSS warehouse (most often, they were thrown away when they were no longer needed or had become too worn to be used again). Those posters which were not returned were often thrown away by the theater owner, but some movie posters found their way into the hands of collectors.
After the National Screen Service ceased most movie poster printing and distribution operations in 1985, some of the posters which they had stored in warehouses around the United States ended up in the hands of private collectors and movie poster dealers. Today there is a thriving collectibles market in movie posters. Some old movie posters are considered rare and hard to find, while others are more common and available. Old movie posters are priced in a very wide range, depending on demand. Some have be become very valuable among collectors, with a few rare examples being auctioned for $500,000 or more. The record price for a poster was set on November 15, 2005 when US$690,000 was paid for a poster of Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis from the Reel Poster Gallery in London. As a result of market demand, some of the more popular older movie posters have been reproduced either under license or illegally. Often there is no indication on these reproductions that they are reproductions, which has lead to some problems in the collectibles marketplace.
Beginning in the 1980s, the movie studios began taking over direct production and distribution of their posters from the National Screen Service and the process of making and distributing movie posters became decentralized. Today, movie posters are generally produced in much larger quantities than necessary to promote a film at the theaters, because they are also sold directly to the public by retailers who purchase them at wholesale prices from the studio distributors. Modern movie posters are also often sold from websites set up by the studio to promote a given film. Because of this, modern movie posters are not considered rare and are usually readily available for purchase by collectors.
Movie posters come in different sizes and styles depending on the country. The most common are listed below.
United States:
The following sizes were in common use in the United States prior to the mid-1980s, but have since been phased out of production:
One sheet, 27 inches by 41 inches, portrait format (This size is 1 inch longer that the modern One sheet)
Six sheet, 81 inches by 81 inches, a square format, often printed in landscape format
United Kingdom:
Australia:
Notable film poster artists include Saul Bass, Drew Struzan, and Bob Peak.
Lobby cards are like posters but smaller, usually 11" X 14" (but also 8" x 10" before 1930). Lobby Cards are collected and their value depends on their age, quality and popularity. Typically issued in sets of 8, each featuring a different scene from the film.
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Collecting Movie Posters
The act of collecting various things is as old as human history. From firmly established fields of collecting, such as Fine Art, Rare Books, Fine Wine, and Antique Furniture, to more obscure collections, such as Beer Cans and Coca-Cola Merchandise, the act of collecting can almost be considered "human nature."
The concept of "Movie memorabilia" began with such things as scrap-books, autographs, photographs, and industry magazines, but quickly expanded in the post-WWII era. Collectors began seeking out original advertising material, and the classic "onesheet" movie poster became the pinnacle object to own for any given film. Other material, such as lobby cards, other-sized posters, international posters, personality posters, and glass slides began also becoming highly sought after. Today, the field of movie memorabilia collecting has grown into an internationally recognized Community of increasingly serious and financially secure collectors, making it one of the fastest areas of speculation for investment.
Any new person to the Movie Memorabilia Collecting Community should absolutely do the research necessary to make wise investment decisions. If, however, the motivation is a passion for everything cinema, then, by all means collect what you love and not what may be a better investment.
TOP SELLING MOVIE POSTERS AT AUCTION
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