Original movie posters and stills are the artwork of movie history. In recent decades, they have become valuable collectibles, like coins, stamps, sports cards and comic books. As such, understanding pricing has become more important as time has gone on.
Unlike other popular collectibles, movie posters were never intended to be collected. They were printed in limited quantities to supply theaters showing the film. Prior to the early 1980’s, movie posters that survived were legally required to be returned to the studios or the poster source, or to be sent on with the film to the next theater showing the film. For every decade we go back, the numbers printed were lower, reflecting that fewer movie theaters existed. Many posters were discarded or destroyed after being returned and others were lost to fire, water damage and the volumes of paper destroyed during World War II.
It is estimated that fewer than twenty copies of movie posters exist from most films made during the period of 1930 through 1945. For many films produced during the Depression, only a handful of posters have ever surfaced.
Our price for a movie poster or still reflects a number of factors that include:
- the desirability of the movie title, the movie stars, and the overall visual appeal of the poster or still
- the rarity and the frequency with which the poster or still has historically been available for purchase
- the amount that we anticipate we may have to pay to replace the item in our inventory
- the condition of the poster or still
You too can own a valuable piece of movie history that will bring you pleasure for many years.
