I believe that Film Noir posters are becoming more deisrable than ever. Many
collectors who purchase these posters have never seen the films and just buy
them for the image or the tagline.
However, the prices that This Gun for Hire one sheets were going for always
seemed to me to be over the odds and the $47,000.00 (approx) that it achieved a
few years ago must surely have just been a case of two bidders with deep
pockets competing to produce a grossly overinflated price. The poster is now
available for $17,925.00 as a post auction buy and I think that is still a high
price for for this poster.
Regards
John
Website: www.moviemem.com
JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA
PO Box 92
Palm Beach
Qld 4221
Australia
----- Original Message -----
From: Ron Moore
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 1:35 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] This Gun For Hire.
Well, I can't speak for your screen and how your colors are adjusted,
but hopefully your computer is pretty accurate. However, I did look at the
poster itself quite closely. The colors on this poster were simply blazing! The
reds were not painted over as I could easily still see the "dot" pattern of the
offset lithography. In fact, I have to say it was one of the best examples of
this poster I've ever seen.
For the record, I've seen Grey go way out of his way to make sure the
colors in the catalogs are as close to the actual colors on the poster as
possible. He has a very high level of integrity and, like yourself, wants to
make sure that the potential bidders get an accurate image and representation
of the poster so they can bid with confidence.
I really wish you would attend the auctions yourself and then you could
easily respond to some of the comments posted on MoPo that allude to images
being doctored. If you could do that, I think you would see that this simply
isn't the case.
I think the bigger question here, is why the poster passed at the sale?
Is it indicative of the economy? Is it simply the case of supply and demand
that there are more of these one sheets available out there than previously
thought? Could it be that although demand (and desire) is high for this poster,
that the higher prices have already been achieved and as each buyer acquires
the item, that there is a smaller pool of bidders still out there? Is it a
generational thing- and now perhaps the younger generation entering this hobby
don't have the appreciation or desire for posters of films in the 1940's- or
follow film noir? And honestly, what else can we do to try to bring "new blood"
into the hobby? Do we need "new blood" in the hobby? Do you think the hobby is
growing or not?
I really don't know the answer to those questions but I think they're
the ones we should really be asking. As one of the hobby's most public faces,
I'd love to hear your take on some of these issues.
--- On Sun, 7/18/10, Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MOPO] The Scandal-plus cut, pressed washed, starched &
dried....
To: "Ron Moore" <cinemaicon...@yahoo.com>
Cc: MoPo-L@listserv.american.edu
Date: Sunday, July 18, 2010, 9:47 AM
I trust you and believe you Ron. But why are the reds on the poster
unlike the reds on any other example of this poster I have seen? Is it possibly
from a variant printing? Or maybe I need to adjust the colors on my screen?
Bruce
On Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 9:07 AM, Ron Moore <cinemaicon...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
Hey Bruce!
I was at the Heritage auction on Friday and Saturday. Dallas
is so close to Austin so it's easy for me to travel there and actually attend.
If you had come to the show, you could have actually compared the This Gun For
Hire one sheet to the photo in the catalog- which I did. The colors were'nt
"punched up". Since the poster passed at the sale, there's still time for you
to go to Dallas and check it out for yourself! I daresay you'd lose your $100
bet.
Ron
--- On Sun, 7/18/10, Bruce Hershenson
<brucehershen...@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MOPO] The Scandal-plus cut, pressed washed,
starched & dried....
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Date: Sunday, July 18, 2010, 8:57 AM
I had a chance to look at the This Gun for Hire image, and
I will bet $100 that either the image or the poster itself (or both!) have had
mucho "punching up"!
When you say, "I know you err well on the side of
unflattering in your listings, and I think it's a smart policy. And though you
wouldn't "punch up" pics, I assume you still have to adjust for accuracy?" know
that our goal is ALWAYS to present an image that accurately represents the item
you will receive. I have SO often received purchases where the buyer
photographed it in such a way that defects were hidden or obscured (my favorite
was one where the seller placed a drumstick on the top border, ostensibly to
"hold it down", but it also served to hide the rat chews in that area!).
Of course, there is also the issue of auction images where
no matter how much you "zoom" or "pan and scan" you still can't see the
pinholes or foldlines that somehow magically disappear (until of course you get
the actual item).
I think this proves to be "penny wise and pound foolish".
If you are solely looking to sell one item, it may benefit you on that one
item, but if you are in this for the long term, then you have to wonder if such
deceptive advertising doesn't lose you the trust of many bidders, causing them
to bid less on your items (or not bid at all) due to the "fear factor".
Bruce
On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 12:25 PM, Richard Evans
<evan...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
I'm not automatically assuming that example was punched
up, it may well just be the case that the reds were originally extremely strong
and have remained so, and that the online reproduction is accurate, (within
it's limits).
Washing, bleaching etc may have had the effect of
intensifying the colours, dunno.
(Though if that is how This Gun for Hire appeared when it
was fresh off the press, in this instance I certainly prefer a little faded
grandeur.)
Generally, and especially with something in this price
range I still think using some kind of a colour correction system like Pantone
would be more professional, (with the colour bar appearing beside poster)
rather than relying on adjusting by eye.
I know you err well on the side of unflattering in your
listings, and I think it's a smart policy.
And though you wouldn't "punch up" pics, I assume you
still have to adjust for accuracy?
Even if you don't go near photoshop, presumably in some
way, like adjusting lighting so repro appears true to the eye, as in the case
of the Vertigo?
On 17 Jul 2010, at 17:11, Bruce Hershenson wrote:
I actually had one of my employees suggest to me that
we should "punch up" the images of items we sell, and I told him that we NEVER
do that (he is new, or he would have already known that). Of course, there is
no way to know if others feel the same way (at least until you get your package
and compare the item you get to the image you saw).
Bruce
On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 11:06 AM, Richard Evans
<evan...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
I thought the This Gun for Hire went beyond strong
colours and looked unflatteringly garish.
Presumably not a result of restoration judging by the
listing, but was it really actually that vibrant, or did the colour
reproduction exacerbate it online?
On 17 Jul 2010, at 16:44, Bruce Hershenson wrote:
I personally agree with this. I didn't like the
"make it look perfect" school of restoration even BEFORE the Haggard scandal
broke.
First, because the restorers were in effect hiding
their restoration, making it impossible to see exactly what was done (and a
long time pro like myself could spot some restoration that most amateurs would
never see, creating a "fear of restoration" among many collectors).
Second, because many of these items were SO
restored that they looked almost like "recreations". I LIKE the items in my
collection to show at least SOME signs of age, unless they are in truly mint
unrestored condition, because that is part of the joy of owning an original,
knowing that it survived all these years. If you want a perfect looking item,
why not just get a reproduction? But don't take your "very good" condition and
have someone make them look like new. If you MUST restore, why not simply do
minimal restoration to the areas that most need it?
Bruce
On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 9:58 AM, glenndamato
<glenndam...@earthlink.net> wrote:
Regarding the Heritage auction: I do believe the
fakes scandal hurt the hobby, plus many of the restored posters look like they
were cut, bleached, washed, starched & dried. I'll take old Igor back
anyday.......
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at
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