I love this statement: "older posters of nondescript nature losing the greater part of their value"
I am not sure that a poster has to be all that old to fall into this category. I think that this statement describes about 95% of all movie posters in existence. Evan ----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Halegua Posters + Comic Art <sa...@comic-art.com> To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Sent: Sat, 11 Aug 2012 22:46:49 -0000 (UTC) Subject: Re: [MOPO] Is this the WORST time ever to sell vintage movie posters? At 03:04 PM 8/11/2012, Bruce Hershenson wrote: >I guess if you are talking as an "investor" then yes, it is a "bad" >time to sell "out of favor" items that are currently selling for >lower prices than they once were. > >And if you paid sky high prices at the "top of the market" then now >is a "bad" time to sell. >But some things will be higher in five years and others will be >lower yet, and I doubt anyone can say with any certainty which is which. >I saw some collectors holding on to "out of favor" items ten years >ago, waiting for a rebound, only to see them currently lower yet. >And there are also lots of items that were $20 ten years ago that >are $200 now. the generalized statements in this post could be used for almost any conversation talking about any type of item. with more specificity, markets change and most of the time what those changes are cannot be reliably predicted except in small areas. For instance, Bruce and I have felt for 20 years that the comic book hobby has been ripe for collapse. well, while some parts have collapsed (golden age and silver age book below fine 6.0 are generally worth 1/2 price guide give or take) other have completely skyrocketed with the modern-era comic art being the most obvious winners (excluding Action #1, which really has nothing to do with anything else aside from other Action #1s). Never in my life would I have thought that Frank Frazetta, Alex Raymond and Hal Foster would not be the Gold Standard in b&w comic art, but Todd McFarlane, Frank Miller and to some extent John Byrne have clearly overshadowed those artists. Whether that can continue is debatable, but the likelihood is that even if McFarlane's status changes due to the fact that such prices for his art are being paid by a select community and at some point they will stop also. So Bruce and I have been both right and wrong. on posters, it is clear where the market is headed 1) modern posters due to an influx of younger collectors in a process we know as Generational Swapping which is in tune with older collectors leaving the hobby and a reduced generational want for older posters 2) older posters of nondescript nature losing the greater part of their value 3) older posters of well known classics as well as horror & sf either increasing in value, albeit at a slower pace than is historical due to smaller % increases. The reason for this is that these films are still shown, and people buy from good feelings memories. Gone With the Wind will probably continue to be in demand in years to come, while the large majority of all other Clark Gable films with the exception of IHON and the Misfits will become $20 posters (for 40s-50s titles), if they haven't already. so actors like Roy Rogers and Robert Young, being of less interest to young collectors will lose value or salability, while Star Wars and most certainly Harry Potter will be the peak of their era. one more thing, where comes to "supply and demand" issues, it is clear that 50% of the material pre-1970 in varying degrees from earliest to most recent are very obviously more abundant than collectors for such and that as you move up the scale from worst to best even Creature From the Black Lagoon one sheets aren't selling as well as they used to, in part because everyone still wants (or needs to get) top price of the 2006-2008 market which was overheated. There has to be a happy medium for even a poster of that nature to sell, because at those price levels, supply IS greater than demand. 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.