Re: [MOPO] collecting for pleasure or money

[John Waldman]

JR,

I agree 100% with you on this.  In fact you took the words right out of my mouth.  Collectors that are counting on the sale of their poster collection in their retirement years to support them may find themselves saying "Hi, welcome to Wal-Mart.  Would you like a cart?"

John

J R <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Doug, Allen, and others,

I don't have money to burn, far from it -- which is exactly why I
don't worry about the value of my poster collection. I spend only what
I can afford and what I feel a poster is worth to me *as a movie
poster* (not as an investment) and therefore can enjoy it and keep it
as such and not worry about what the current market price is for it.

I have put down tens of thousands more than I ever would for a poster
when I was putting the money in stocks or real estate -- because those
*were* investments and I regarded them as such and fully intended to
sell them eventually and wanted to make a profit. That's investing,
not collecting.

I realize that to many people -- far too many, in my humble opinion --
collecting and investing are one and the same. Not me. I keep the two
areas of endeavor completely separat! e. This lets me enjoy my
collecting and only worry about my investments. If I worried about my
collection because it was also an investment, it would diminish my
enjoyment of it considerably.

It has been pointed out that in general, collectibles are not great as
investment vehicles because they are not that liquid and can take a
long time to get you money out of them -- if you ever do. Yes, you can
get lucky and buy one cheap that proceeds to skyrocket, but you can do
the same with stocks and real estate and other more liquid and
appropriate vehicles as well. This lack of liquidity and the
uncertainty about "what's the real price of my poster?" are just more
reasons why I prefer to keep my investing to more appropriate
standardized vehicles and buy my movie posters just because I like
them and want to own and display particular ones.

Seriously, Allen, I really don't care what the market value of my
collection is. I've never calcu! lated it, even though as a buyer I keep
a fairly close eye on what prices are like because I continue to make
purchases. But once a poster becomes part of my collection, what
happens in the future to its "market value" isn't really an issue for
me.

Because of my attitude of buying a poster ONLY for its value to me as
a poster -- and not as an investment -- I am unlikely to ever pay even
$5,000 for a poster, much less $25,000 or $100,000. Why? Because I've
never seen a movie poster that I liked well enough to pay even $5,000
for -- no, not even the fabled half-million dollar MUMMY poster.
Sorry. They are movie posters, folks -- not one-of-a-kind original oil
paintings on canvas by internationally-recognized master artists. They
are not 300-year old pieces of oak furniture, or ancient Chinese
porcelain, or jade sculptures. Even with the best preservation, most
are unlikely to last more than 100 years. They are movie posters --
cheaply pr! inted, mass-distributed pieces of advertising paper. Some of
them are wonderful, and can be worth a lot because they are beautiful
and rare and more people want to own than the existing supply will
allow -- but that only goes so far with me, because I have a whole lot
of better things to do with 5 grand... or more... than spend it on a
cheaply printed, mass-distributed pieces of advertising paper, no
matter how rare and beautiful. Although I love movie posters and have
been collecting them for 40 years, I'm just not interested in spending
much more than $5,000 for one --usually a lot less -- because to pay
more would mean I would be forced to consider its "investment
potential" and I have no interest in doing that with movie posters.
Obviously, many others do.

I lament this. I understand it... I know why people do it... but I
lament it nonetheless.

Like I've said, it isn't always about the money. Or at least it
shouldn't be. Mak! ing it about the money tends to makes weird and
strange speculative things happen -- like someone being willing to pay
$25,000 for a poster that was only 1/3 original paper and two-thirds
brand-new restoration. In other words, two-thirds fake... a
reproduction... NOT original. Why? Because the *title* is now
considered an investment vehicle worth the $25,000 -- not the
poster -- the title. You can buy a beautiful print of the poster for
$20 or $30 bucks if you just want to own the image. In this case the
buyer was investing in the title, but how good an investment it is?
After all, you're not really buying an "original, rare" poster that is
worth $25,000 because it is an original rare poster -- obviously,
because it is only 1/3 of an original, rare poster -- but somehow that
gets lost in the rush to pay big money to invest in that hot stock...
I mean title... because everyone knows that company... I mean
poster... is just going to keep sho! oting up in value, right?

That's the kind of thing that happens when it becomes mostly about the
money. And it's not for me. Not where movie posters are concerned.

Now, if you want to talk real estate... I've got a house that is 1/3
original and two-thirds restored. What am I offered?

-- JR

----- Original Message -----
From: "allen day" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To:
Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2005 14:28
Subject: Re: [MOPO] collecting for pleasure or money


> Interesting reads regarding the sheer joy of
> collecting and not giving a wit about increasing
> values.
>
> Two words come to mind: hooey ... baloney.
>
> Allen Day
>
>
>
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