Saturday, September 10, 2005

TORONTO/LONDON FILM AUCTIONS; POSTER NEWS BULLETIN

BLOG PRESENTS NEWS ABOUT MOVIE POSTERS;


POSTER NEWS BULLETIN;

A flurry of upcoming activity in the world of movie paper collecting with three auction/shows in the next few weeks.

September 11 marks the first Sunday cinema poster sale for Christie’s South Ken in London. When we were on the antique show circuit, Sunday was our dreaded day, filled with tire kickers, be backers and lid lifters. Most dealers called it Museum Day, with mostly browsers. There were also The Vultures, since this was the last day of most shows and creepy groups of bargain hunters would hang around till we were about to pack and then start making lowball offers. I hope Christie’s has better luck. But then, after eons in business, they’ve hardly depended much on luck all that much. As for the auction, it’s just about the best selection in several years. With over 400 lots, they are revving back up to the late 90s five hour marathon auctions. Among my favorite lots: one sheet (27 x 41 inches) for the 1949 re-release of Tod Browning’s Freaks; War of the Worlds (1953) half-sheet (28 x 22) -- with a hefty estimate of $11,000 to $14,000; 2001 (1968) Eye one sheet; the style B one sheet for The Producers (1967); the Japanese double panel (20 x 58) for Two For The Road plus a strong selection of paper from Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) including several lobby cards (14 x11) a window card (14 x 22) as well as a 3 sheet (41 x 81) and an Italian photbusta(various sizes - this one is 19 x 27). There’s also the 1965 release one sheet, which is one of the better images on the title. The sale also features some strong Bond material, new wave country of origin posters, Hitchcock items and a number of original release UK quads. To order the catalog or view it on line: www.christies.com

Mike Orlando of the noted Toronto poster shop Hollywood Canteen, is organizing a show of tv and movie ephemera to take place Sunday, September 11 at Days Hotel, 30 Carlton Street, Toronto. Mike says there are to be 30 dealers with at least 5 from the U.S. The Saturday before the show, Hollywood Canteen is also having an auction (in association with Richie’s of Toronto) featuring “Art, Fiction & Fantasy In Film” with posters by Rockwell, Vargas, Petty, Bass, etc. plus posters based on famous literary works and a number of posters for major science fiction and fantasy films. Information on both events can be found at www.hcanteen.com Bonus is that all prices realized will be in Canadian $, which gives buyers about a 15% discount. This is in sharp contrast to the Canadian Internet dealers who post prices in U.S. dollars and then pocket the difference. A few years ago I was in Toronto when the Canadian dollar was at about 70 cents. I called a major poster dealer and said I would like to come over and buy a pile of stuff. She told me she was much too busy and that I should use their web site when I got back to the States. Needless to say, I never did. I only register this complaint because we started business in Canada and dealt with American dealers and collectors for ten years . Whenever the C$ was below the US$ (and it did fluctuate back then), we would always give the discount. At any rate (pun intended) Mike’s auction and sale would make for a nice weekend in Toronto, a city that will surprise and amaze you with how boring it is. (Obviously, we spent our ten years in Canada in Montreal, arch enemy of Hog Town.)

rudy franchi
rudy@nostalgia.com
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MOVIE POSTER BLOG REACHES WIDER AUDIENCE

OFTEN CONTROVERSIAL BLOG ABOUT MOVIE POSTERS EXTENDS READERSHIP


MOVIE POSTER NEWS BULLETIN REACHES 3500 SUBSCRIBERS

Poster News Bulletin (http://www.posternewsbulletin.com) the web log embedded on the
front page of the mega movie poster site, Nostalgia Factory (http://www.nostalgia.com), has just had subscriber #3500 sign up to receive the bi-weekly screed written by the site’s owner, Rudy Franchi.

“When we started PNB 6 years ago, the word blog was obviously not in use, but I guess our periodic commentary on happenings in the arcane world of movie paper was just that before there was a that.” The Bulletin not only provides news of upcoming movie poster auctions and shows that sell related ephemera, it often comments, in a somewhat acidic tone, on trends in the field. Several times it has exposed questionable doings at the major auction houses and one of its commentaries on such skullduggery received wide attention in the mainstream press.

The Bulletin lives in symbiotic relation to The Nostalgia Factory web site, nestled on its front page and obviously read by the large number of visitors to the site, which gets more hits and unique visitors than any other movie poster site on the Internet. A hardcore group sign up to receive notification of every new issue and those are the subscribers whose count has hit the 3500 hundred mark.

The Nostalgia Factory has over 41,000 entries of entirely original movie posters and related items (press kits, pressbooks, promos) and is the largest and oldest such site on the Internet. The material for sale dates from the silent era through current releases and comes in formats ranging from lobby cards to immense billboard type 24 sheets.

The site is run by Mr. Franchi and his wife Barbara, who are authors of Miller’s Movie Collectibles, a guide to collecting movie posters. They have been in the business of selling movie paper for 36 years and have associated with the PBS series Antiques Roadshow as entertainment memorabilia appraisers since the show’s first season 10 years ago.

Mr. Franchi states that “PNB started as a ploy to attract traffic to the site, but it’s taken on a life of its own.” Franchi, who’s weakness for puns has left him with no friends (and barely tolerated by his family) states that he has made it quite simple to unsubscribe from PNB. “Actually,” he says “it’’s as easy as falling off a blog.”

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rudy@nostalgia.com
The Nostalgia Factory, 50 Terminal St., Bldg. 2
Boston, MA 02129 617 241 8300/ 800 479 8754/Fax: 617 241 0710
Co-Author of MILLER"S MOVIE COLLECTIBLES available at Amazon
Movie posters: http://www.nostalgia.com,
Official suppliers of images to the IMDb
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Entertainment Memorabilia Appraiser: Antiques Roadshow
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