Scott - You hit us with a long post and am gonna hit you back. Have been reviewing many missed posts. Since I rwead your in its entirety you must read mine in its entirety1 ;-)
I confess to not being active in Mopo for a while now but my poster collecting interests have returned. I never lost interest in posters but was spending more time researching and acquiring pre-code horror comic books. But I knew I would get back into poster collecting. And now, for the first time in my life, I seem to have achieved a balance betyween the two.
ANYWAY - Scott - not even sure if you remember me but man - don't turn out the lights because of the classic internet mindset. People forget they are people talking to people and often say and do things they would never do "in real life" - like Mopo isn't real life!
Even when I was deepest in comic books I knew I would return to posters, and why? Because of Mopo. Mopo is the one thing in the poster world that seems a constant. A refuge, as it were, to a world that really just don't get it!
I have loved movies since I was a kid. I remmeber in the 50's watching Creature Feature and Creatuire Double Feature and Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chan on the relatuively new IHF television (we got one of those special antennas that let you tune to UHF on your VHF TV). And I found my self almost addicted to movies - and expecially the black and white ones. I remember when Channel 38 (as I recall) in Boston had a Humphrey Bogart film festival. They showed maybe a dozen of Bogie's best (and some lessers) and I was introduced to folks like James Cagney, Edward G Robinson, Lauren Bacall and a host of others. Suddenly those old movies were just amazing.
So I started "collecting" videotapes when VCRs came out. But that never really felt right. I didn;t feel like I was collecting a part of the movie itself. So one day, I am in The Outer Limits comic book shop in Waltham Massachusetts, and I see a Mothra insert on the wall. I asked what it was and Steve Higgins, the most excellent owner of that shop, told me it was an insert from Mothra. We talked about movie posters for a bit and turned out he had some oither pieces. Suddenly everything "clicked". THIS was how to "own" a movie. The comic book collector (aka paper lover) in me responded immediately.
Not too long from then I discovered Rudy Franchi's The Nostalgia Factory in Boston. Man did I have a time. Rudy was just great. He seemed willing to chat with me for some time when he realized I had a genuine love of both movies and movie paper. I bought many pieces from him of lesser things that reflected my horror interests: but all in the $25 - 1oo range.
Well, one day, I walk in and Rudy looks at me with a twinkle in his eye. He says "You have to see this" and he pulls out an original Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man lobby card with the great closeup of the monster carrying the Baroness. Well, we talked a bit but I could NOT take my eyes off that lobby. It was literally the first Universal Horror pice I had ever seen. And the Universal Horror films were and are, hands down, my favorites.
I don;t know who was more surprised, myself or Rudy when I pulled out a credit card and bought what was, by far, the most expensive piece I had even bought.
Well, I bring it home and am looking at it and it suddenly dawned on me "You can DO this!". Meaning, I can actually get pieces form the Universal films I love so much.
And by gum, I DID! I started hitting ebay. I hit Deke's Poster Palace (I still have some pieces from him I bought years ago, including a gorgeous Jungle Captive 1-sheet and a stunning Realart title card to Werewolf Of London). I started branching out into Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chan pieces. I found I really liked lobbies. Easy to frame (I frame everything myself with colored aluminum frames - red, blue or green usually) and archival backing boards and mattes (I like to matte the lobbies with a matte the same color as the frame - 14" x 18" is my preference - I find that 16x20 overwhelm,s the lobby - and display larger pieces with no matte board but mounted flush, again with a complmentary colored frame. And with internet obtainabvle framing materials the cost is remarkablty cheap.
So then I discover my namesake - the Poverty Row movies, especially those by Monogram and PRC. Lots of my favorite horror actor (Lugosi) and some Karloff and some great things by the ilk of Atwill and Zucco. So yet another crusade begins and to my delight, the Poverty Row pieces are often quite cheap for wonderful images.
Phew! I could go on as to how I branched out more into things like the Mister Moto and Mister Wong and Dick Tracy type films, but you get the idea.
So what is the point to all this. Witrhout Mopo, my dear Scott, I would not have a place to express this, to explain my love of the hobby and to have it understood. You turn out the lights on Mopo and - well - let's say that Karloff and Lugosi may not be as out of reach as you think! :-)
Pov
Michael
Scott Burns <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I should let this die without comment but I just can't...
Scroll down for a post (forwarded to me) that appeared today on Style-B.
Read it and see how it makes *you* feel, THEN come back to the top for my
comments....
COMMENTS: Frankly, I've reached my limit on this kind of attack. MoPo is the
way it is because that's the way the *participating* members want it.
Bitching and moaning over on Style-B doesn't change a thing.
"Stan" (the author of this post) as far as I recall, never voiced his
opinions or concerns to me privately (he admits "he wasn't much of a
contributor"), but he has no problems making them public now. He should have
had the balls to contact me directly when he was a member. He should have
stopped yelling at his computer screen and participated. Hell no, why do
that? It's easier to just leave and post BS comments elsewhere. "Stan" will
probably get great pleasure in knowing he's ticked me off even without
actually being a subscriber to MoPo, and that's fine. Revel in it "Stan."
Way to go "Stan" for your sidelines attack disguised as commentary. You sign
your message "Clueless, Hardheaded, Grudge Holding, Disgruntled Mopolian
(insert your own favorite label here)"....well I think you should really
insert "pompous ass" to the signature. It's easy to be critical on the fly,
at a distance. It's much harder to actually change what you don't like. It
takes participation, something "Stan" didn't care to do while a member of
MoPo.
We started out as a friendly little group of 10 souls who liked to collect
movie paper and talk about it amongst ourselves. I never in my wildest
dreams thought running this group would become so difficult, frustrating and
at times, depressing. Not to mention anger-inducing, as you can tell if
you've read this far! Per! haps on February 24, 2005 as MoPo turns 10 we
should turn out the lights and let this tired old group of "hobby 'elitists'
who seem bent on collector-world domination" rest in peace. Sheesh!
Scott
MoPo List Owner
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Fwd: What Is MOPO ?? [WARNING extremely long post]
--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Stan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
Before anyone takes that question seriously...it was heavily laced with
sarcasm. I know what MOPO is.
So the janitor quit his part time job. What - again ? :)
---
[WARNING & Disclaimer] If you dislike long meandering posts -or- really like
the MOPO list, save yourself some grief & please do not read further, you
may get offended if you do.
This is not a rant, but rather only me making casual conversation about my
take on MOPO, based upon my personal experiences/opinions and nothing else.
If you like MOPO more power to you an! d I wish you well over there.
---
I spent several years on that list. I left and have not looked back.
The timing of when I left, and the birth of Style-B was purely coincidental,
but a happy circumstance nonetheless.
There are some members of the MOPO list I truly liked/admired and they are
missed. Leaving the MOPO list last year was a personal decision that was a
long time coming. I wasn't much of a contributor at MOPO anyway, just like
here at Style-B. I prefer to lurk, being more of a reader/watcher than a
participant. When 'I' feel like it I'll chime in (Besides people write all
these posts, articles, stories whateva...someone has to read them or it's
all for naught isn't it ?)
At MOPO after a long time, I had had enough, and was teetering on the brink
of leaving for about 6-7 months. There came a time when Bruce had gotten his
fill of the personal abuse (I presume) anyway, for whatever his own
reasons..he left and a ! few others did also. I almost left then as well.
Shortly thereafter, yet another round of 527-ish attacks began by
the-(holding head high and speaking down my
nose) MOPO list hoi-poloi...
That was certainly not the 1st time nor the last, but was the last straw for
me and the MOPO list. I realized at that point that the MOPO list is not for
me, and never really was. I don't know why this instance was any different
than the myriad others..it just was. Now I should mention here for the sake
of clarity that at this time Donnie didn't know me and vice-versa. This was
the point at which Donnie and I first became acquainted. Just before the
'excreta hit the fan' at that time. I left MOPO, Donnie left, and a few
others.
Shortly thereafter Style-B appeared on the scene.
MOPO (to me personally) is nothing more than a website/mailing list of hobby
'elitists' who seem bent on collector-world domination.
Good luck with that. I built a col! lection of a few thousand posters,
hundreds of trailers, and dozens of other various movie memorabilia
collectible items without MOPO and that bunch. Fortunately I have the
ability to get along fine without it/them.
I applaud the fact that Donnie has rejected narcissistic type behavior on
this list (for example -the recent revelation of the personal e-mails
threatening to unsubscribe from Style-B if the janitor didn't do something
about so & so...) Therein lies the difference between Donnie & Scott. MOPO &
Style-B. I have abundant respect for Scott, and his efforts over there,
don't get me wrong. I administer several full blown web forums (non hobby
related) and know what it is like to be in their shoes. However, at MOPO the
allowance of nepotism, and the strict on topic only - no off topic being
human allowed, were deciding factors for me leaving.
I used to read MOPO messages and occasionally yell out at my monitor at
m! essages posted by these prigs. My meaner half..(ouch) um...er..
I mean my girlfriend would hear me cussing my Philips monitor, come into the
office and say "what, that poster collectors list again ?"
I'd say "yea what a bunch of pathetic snobs"..and she would shake her head &
say "if that bunch is so bad, why don't you just unsubscribe ?". Turns out
she was right (yes again :).
The only valid reasons I could come up with, was:
. I would miss out on postings the members I respected and admired.
. I might miss a tidbit of treasured info from a restoration specialist,
framer, power-seller et al.
. It was a broadened form of contact with others sharing the same affinity
for movie paper.
I was hooked.
But on MOPO that segment that I enjoyed hearing from was growing smaller &
smaller and posting less frequently, perhaps weary of being downtrodden by
the MOPO aristocracy..I suppose.
I didn't join the MOPO list solely ! to buy or sell posters. I sold only 2 the
whole time. "The Sting" and "Breaking Away". I had my e- mail client set to
automatically delete the FA posts. (because I don't do the auction gig to
get or sell posters) I did check out the WTB's in case I had something a
fellow collector needed & I was willing to part with..and the FS's. I didn't
join to discuss the idiosyncrasies of PayPal or feeBay. I joined for 2
reasons:
fellowship with other collectors, and most of all to learn.
See, for over 2 and 1/2 decades, I collected just 'to be collecting'. I
didn't really know why or care for the longest time.
I would show portions of my collection and non-hobbyists would say (even to
this day) "you do realize what this stuff is worth ?" They couldn't tell me,
but would be like.."I'm sure it's quite a bit." I would be thinking as I put
the stuff away 'they just don't get it'.
Monetary value had no significance to me. Although I recognize it, it's way
down on the list to me. Hard to explain. My original '101 Dalmations' means
the same to me as my 'Blade Runner' or my 'American History X'. My Ben
Affleck posters proudly sit beside my Vincent Price, with little distinction
other than release dates.
Equality reigns in my collection.
I did learn a lot of valuable info during my duration on MOPO. Like, who to
avoid (crooks), that I was storing posters wrongly for a couple of decades
and contributing to their decay, poster restoration, framing etc.
Most importantly, I learned that MOPO is just like society in general. There
are the haves and the have-nots, left and right, good bad and ugly. There is
a cliq or group on MOPO just like in society in general, who think they are
special, and that every facet of life or the hobby in this case...flows
downward from them. The big difference (and best part) is that MOPO unlike
society, has an UNSUBSCRIBE button, and I utilized it. T! he valuable,
occasional tidbits I miss out on since leaving - well what I don't know
won't hurt me (maybe my posters - perish the thought).
Just like an addiction, it's was very hard and seemed impossible to let go
of, but time heals & after a year of being MOPO free I'm happier and
healthier. Just like in society when I see folks who think they are better
than others, form their little members only cliq's etc in the neighborhood.
This REALLY bothers me for some reason. I wish it didn't.
If this sort of thing doesn't bother you, if the sterile business side of
the hobby means more than the art, historic, or sentimental value of the
paper...if you like speaking only when spoken to, being seen & not heard,
are a conformist or brown noser..maybe MOPO is the list for you.
If you like to just be yourself, and speak your mind, or are prone to make
waves, forge your own path --> you won't last over there. I wonder how many
poster enthusiasts that MOPO bunch have dissuaded away from the hobby over
the years ? I suppose that's a goal for them. The 'more for us/me'
bwahahahahaha mentality. Judging by the
(worldwide) size of the poster collecting market you would think that the
MOPO list would/should be around at least 5000 instead of the 500 made
reference to. Style-B memberships as well, should be much higher I would
think - ooops forgot there is a cap on Style-B.
Anyway I digress....
During the years I was on the MOPO list I saw several come & go and some
return & leave again. I will never consider going back. (I don't think).
MOPO who ?
Signed,
Clueless, Hardheaded, Grudge Holding, Disgruntled Mopolian (insert your own
favorite label here)
--- End forwarded message ---
SCROLL BACK TO TOP FOR MY COMMENTS.... Scott
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