For those that know me personally, they know I’m always dumping my extra cash into collecting movies and movie memorabilia. Adding a region free blu ray machine to the movie room has opened up movie editions from overseas that has kept the postman busy in the little town I call home. Then there’s the matter of movie posters of which I have finally embarked on cataloging. Co-workers love to ask me how many movies I own and follow up with “how many posters are in your collection?”
Movies I can give them a reasonable count in the neighborhood of 11000 in various formats. I do keep an up to date catalog that I’ve been working with like the long gone blockbuster stores on computer. As for the posters I usually throw out the number 1500 maybe 2000. Which brings me to this post. It’s impossible to hang these throughout my house but that doesn’t stop me from buying them whenever possible if the price is right.
While I do have a few framed like this 1958 beauty, the majority are tucked around the vault one way or another.
I do like to buy them in a plastic sheet and cardboard. It allows me to place one on each side facing outward and leaves them flat as opposed to folded as many originally were.
Inserts like the framed Machine Gun Kelly or this Hammer title are littered about.
Speaking of Hammer and my love for the studio that dripped blood, I’ve been itching to unveil six prints I added a couple years ago that feature new renderings of 6 classic titles. Here’s a taste of two of them.
The walk in closet off the movie room? Let’s just say there are no clothes inside.
Envelopes and tubes hold the treasures.
Lobby Cards? They’re here too and a great way to begin your collection with a Yul Brynner card or perhaps one with Roger Moore embracing Angie Dickinson. Lucky bloke!
A bunch of classic one sheets like this Peckinpah favorite laid flat in a number of portfolio sized plastic billboards that offer a great way to store them.
Which brings us to the boxes of folded one sheets I have piled up in the closet. I’m scared to even have a look to see what I put in the basement 15 years ago when I moved to my current residence. I know there’s more down there just awaiting rediscovery.
 
Now in these boxes that are alphabetized I’d begun the tedious task of cataloging them on my computer. Alongside the title I add the year, maybe a couple star names and suggest a condition based on a scale of 1 to 10. So it was time to unfold this less than pristine copy of The Comedians that starred Liz and Dick, Mr. Ustinov and Sir Alec. I would suggest a 4 or 5 out of 10.
Did you look carefully at the above photo? Glad I looked a bit closer at this rather dull beat up one sheet from 1967 that I’d never ever consider hanging in my office at work. But what does one do when he discovers that it’s been signed and based on a bit of research it looks rather genuine. I highly doubt it’s a forgery because if it was then why wouldn’t all four names of the leading players be forged as well.
Paging all Star Wars fans looking for Sir Alec’s autography. Below is one I found on line that looks just about exact to mine prompting me to believe I have the genuine article.
Now back to cataloging. Who knows what else I may find. And don’t get any ideas either as these posters are guarded by the one and only Brando.
Mike's Take On the Movies 
Hi Mike ,
With that new museum opening in Los Angeles , you could probably sell your collection to it for a good bit of change . That way , you could re-cycle the money and buy more posters etc. for your collection . LOL Jane
Like anything we take value in, the question is would they pay my crazy asking price? If they did then yes I’m back on the hunt.
I am in awe. Wow. Cheers, Mark
Kind of cool I thought. Still I always think the pleasure in an autograph to a certain extent is to get it yourself and not have to pay for it standing in a line at a “con”. Still, I won’t say it didn’t come as a pleasant surprise.
I love seeing the methods to your madness. Those portfolio books are great for lobby cards. I also have rolled and folded posters. I unrolled all of the rolled and store them in stacks between giant pieces of foam core held together with binder clips. I can’t flip through them, but it maximizes space. They’re on a spreadsheet so I can locate any that I want to remove. The folded ones remained folded in individual manila envelopes with a photo of the poster stuck on the front, then alphabetized in a plastic storage tub that’s the perfect size. Question: do you also collect video store posters, or just original one-sheets? I have a ton from when I was in the business, but I’ve never considered them equal and wonder if it’s even worth saving them.
It is am addictive thing to collect. Just got to have that one even though I have no place to showcase it…..lol. Hang a new one in my office every month which keeps people chatting. I do have a bunch of video store posters but buried on the basement. I’ve always felt them beneath me when they were available and not genuine but now with Video gone, maybe they are a bit more collectible. I’ll have to raid the cellar. So you should hang on to them.
Alec Guiness’s autograph?! Awesome!! What an incredible bonus!
As for cataloguing movies: Hats off to you for creating a database for films and memorabilia. I need to do the same, but keep putting it off. Perhaps one cold, blistery winter day I’ll get to it…
If I hadn’t been doing this for years I’d have to begin cataloging my movie collection. It would take me way to long.