Glenn,
I completely agree with you. October does look like a great
month....cant wait for the RKO Karloff/Lugosi box....I do love the Val
Lewton box from a few years ago....and the B Universal box.
It is just incredible with "all" these experts and just about nobody
knows whats going on...and even experts and top collectors cannot spot
a fake....certainly several people have known about fake posters for a
while but did not mention it....certainly not....why should they really?
For certain I will not buy any linen backed posters or any touched up
posters without getting any expert COA....but COA from who?....who can
you really trust now? Look at what happened to my good friend Jim
Gresham....there is just too much going on....can you really go out now
and buy posters from anyone without being scared of buying a fake? Dont
know but I will only buy non-restored posters going-forward.
Also look at all these movies being produced these days? Just
terrible...the only show you can watch are cable and network tv
shows....Mad Men...Dextor...30rock etc...Gallactica....well Star Trek
nad Hangover were great......then I go back to the good old day 1970s
film collection many times....
WELL....It is a FAST destruction of our hobby......just really
sad.....thanks that I always tried to only collect near mint or
non-restored posters for a long time....well...for over 25 years now....
Philipp
-----Original Message-----
From: glenndamato <glenndam...@earthlink.net>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Sat, Sep 26, 2009 7:31 am
Subject: [MOPO] SLOW DESTRUCTION OF OUR "HOBBY'
Folks-After this latest-dealer-restorer-consignor fiasco with the
"Dracula" one-sheet, I felt compelled to make this post. To me it seems
the movie poster biz has gone the way of New York City. In the
seventies & eighties, Both New York & the hobby were a little dirty,
but still relatively cheap and fun, and both were enjoyed by people who
really appeciated them. You could make poster finds relatively cheap,
and you pals would hold whatever posters you wanted to purchase from
them until you had the dough to pay. I remember old time dealers like
Steve Sally, Eric Caidin, Bob Coleman, Dino Sisto, and many others
would say-"pay me when you have the $$$". Friends would actually meet
and discuss films and posters. Many folks (myself included) collected
16 & 35mm film, the purest form of cinema collectable. New York was the
same. There were plenty of cheap places to eat, shop & visit. Realtors
would work to get you deals on apartments. People were street smart &
tough and didn't n!
eed 5'2" cops from East Cupcake to protect them. Only folks who really
loved the city were here. Then, during the late Eighties, something
happened. Certain individuals (in the case of movie posters, they were
ex-comic geeks & Wall streeters) felt they could exploit both the
poster biz and New York real estate market. The poster hobby was
"cleaned up". New York was "cleaned up". "Pretty people" starting
moving into "the hobby" and into New York. Prices rose slowly through
the roof. From the outside, everything looked rosy. But was it? Not
really! Poster dealers used corrupt auction houses to sell stuff.
Realtors developed every piece of land using crooked contractors and
shoddy construction. Cheap ethnic eateries, small businesses, and
rent-controlled lessees were forced out. Reasonable and free parking
became non-existant. Old time poster collectors were harrassed night &
day via phone by high pressure dealers demanding they sell there stuff.
The fun was gone. Rarely did a!
high priced poster change hands between two collector friends. Auctio
n house fees went through the roof. Lots of "salt-of-the-earth" folks
abandoned the city. The degradation of both hobby & city mirrored each
other.Do you want to have an $8- glass of beer with a white-bread
yuppie? Do you want to discuss posters with some geek who has never
seen the movies? Does anybody want to be here anymore?
The first sign that the poster hobby was going down the tubes occured
to me in the early 90's at a major auction house. A "relative" of a man
running an auction had a slip-up while shilling one of the major items.
I knew we were in trouble after that. The vortex swirled down into the
cesspool gradually after.
As far as the current poster problems, I don't know what to do. We seem
to have all these restoration "experts", but does anybody know what is
really going on? About a year ago I purchased a "Werewolf of London"
half-sheet from this fellow Thomas Rega, who is alleged to have
consigned this fake "Dracula" one-sheet to Joe Maddalena. It was
rolled, looked nice, but had a little staining. I sent it off to Ted
Eiseman Of Funny Face to be cleaned. He promptly told me that the
stains were printed into the poster, that the item was fake, and that
he doesn't do any work on fakes/reproductions (quite admirable in these
days & times!). I contacted Mr. Rega and he proceeded to "beat around
the bush". I filed a Paypal claim, left him bad feedback, and said I
would drive to his home. He refunded my money. I called Ebay and told
them about this perpetration. They said they wanted nothing to do with
it as long as Mr. Rega refunded my money. Nobody cares. I, personally
would never patronize!
a restorer who worked on fakes or made a mistake evaluating a
$250,000- poster. Whoever did the Haggard jobs should be blackballed by
all. I had an e-mail exchange with Haggard years ago and he quoted "my
reputation means nothing to me". Obviously! Any major auction house who
doesn't step it up to restore integrity (what little there is
left!?!)should be boycotted. Maybe one of these auction houses should
hold a "sale"-where fees are lowered for a time to foster good will
(doubtful). Collectors should be wary of buying from anybody who uses
shills (including "friends" who say "bid this up for me"). People
should also not buy from anybody on Ebay who "sells" something, and
then the same item, same condition appears again (often more than
once!). Know who your real friends are. In years gone by, folks cared
about there family, friends, pride and reputation. Nowadays, people
care about Andrew Jacksons, Ulysses S. Grants amd Benjamin Franklins.
How sad.
On a good note, October will be a banner month for DVD releases. the
'52-'54 Shemp Stooges, the RKO Lugosi-Karloff box, The Columbia noirs,
and that much awaited box set Of "B" Universal Horror Movies will be
released, but maybe I'm one of the few who cares-have fun!
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
