I am, at least for the short term, getting out of the poster business. I know I haven't been one of the most prolific or widely recognized dealers out there, but I like to think that I've helped some people get the posters that they've wanted and will enjoy, and have had them delivered with great care and with exceptional customer service. I've always had a 3-day unconditional money-back guarantee, and in that time only had to refund one poster (the guy's wife wasn't having any of that!). I've stumbled along the way, hopefully learned from those times and gotten up to continue on.
But I feel there is a lot of tension out there, not just on MOPO, but in the hobby as a whole. Reprint scammers are out in force now. It's harder to discern new original posters from reprints (anyone remember the Spiderman 2 Doc Ock "pink" first printing?), and people are still disagreeing on them. In spite of what should be healthy competition, the market is sagging heavily. eBay prices are dropping to unbelievable levels. And getting traffic to individual dealer's sites is getting harder than ever. I'm not saying that I'm out of it forever, but I think it's time to take a break and not worry about it for a while.
SO!
I am putting an offer out there to the MOPO community BEFORE I start talking to Heritage, Sotheby's and Christie's about liquidating my entire inventory/collection in one swift stroke. I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 400-500 posters - that's a ballpark, as I need to sit down and finish my latest round of inventory updates. It may be more, may be a little less.
For the last two years I have specialized almost exclusively in vintage and contemporary Japanese posters, primarily of U.S.and international films. A ton of B2s, with a lot of B1s and even a few B0s. A lot of B3s as well. And I have tried as hard as I can to obtain the tatekan, or 2-panel (20"x58") when I can. These aren't titles like Dude, Where's My Car and TimeCop. Even though there are eBay dealers that have a large Japanese inventory, I have been very selective in what I purchase, very much sticking to the adage "quality over quantity". Dirty Harry, The Great Escape, Bridge over the River Kwai, Bullitt, The Wild Bunch, Belle du Jour, Peeping Tom, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Kill Bill, Amelie, In The Mood For Love, Django, For a Few Dollars More, Straw Dogs, The Lady from Shanghai, Kwaidan, My Darling Clementine, Point Blank, Easy Rider (mulitple styles), Hell in the Pacific, Lost in Translation, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Vanishing Point, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull (two styles), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (two styles), Scarface, Rio Bravo, Midnight Cowboy, Le Samourai, Leon (The Professional), Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, Requiem for a Dream, Until the End of the World, The French Connection, The Professionals, Jules Dassin's classic crime film Rififi, Jean-Pierre Melville, McQueen, Eastwood, Hepburn, Alain Delon, Sergio Leone, Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, Scorcese.
In essence, the good stuff.
This is all in addition to my collection of U.S. and international onesheets, which I have also focused on getting double-sided material when possible. Batman Begins international, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, styles A-D DS, The Two Towers and Return of the King, every poster released including the commemoratives from New Line, complete set of 10 character advance French grandes for Fellowship of the Ring, The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction (all styles), Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi all on linen, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Tron, Dune (2-moon advance); recalled and rare advances, full sets like Moulin Rouge, Gangs of New York, Chicago, all DS; Tarantino material including British quads; Sexy Beast, The Limey, Memento, The Matrix DS, the ultra-rare Matrix Reloaded DS Twins style with machine guns, Seven, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Spiderman 1 and 2, the Fight Club set of four ungodly rare SS advances in almost mint condition, Manhunter, To Live and Die in L.A., Casino regular and international DS styles, the set of three Casino French door panel character posters (20"x63"), The Croupier, Trainspotting, City of Lost Children, Delicatessen, Revenge of the Jedi, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Vertigo DS rerelease, Hard Boiled British quad on linen, The Incredibles wilding set, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Heat, Goodfellas, Point Blank French grande and U.S. onesheets, Apocalypse Now,
The list could keep going on and on. Seriously.
If you think this might be up your alley, I am considering bulk sales, but can't afford the time to start separating individual titles out - that will be a job for Heritage, Christy's or Sotheby's if it goes that far. I am currently putting together a master list that I will put up either on my site or by request.
David at Cinemasterpieces, should we be talking? Bruce Hershenson?
--
Steve Zammar
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.dsonesheets.com
303/478-3973
