I have loved movies for as long as I can remember.  Growing up, there was something about the experience of going to the cinema that I found magical. Watching movies at home on my parents’ old, small, black and white TV was all well and good, but it couldn’t compete with the immersive experience of sitting in the dark of a local cinema for a matinee, transfixed by the big screen. Beyond enjoying the movies themselves I also began to develop a lifelong interest in how movies were made and marketed.

I have been collecting movie memorabilia, on and off, since I was a teenager.  Over the years, I have amassed quite a few movie books, soundtracks and stills, but movie posters have always been my main collecting passion. They remind me of movies, genres and eras of cinema that I’ve loved. I started collecting posters for films and actors that I liked in my youth – primarily for James Bond and Hammer Horror films as I was a big fan of both. By chance, it turned out that both of these genres were and still are highly collectible.   

In the pre-internet days it used to be something of a challenge to get hold of original movie posters. Cinemas were obliged to send them back to the distributors after display, so unless you knew a friendly projectionist prepared to bend the rules you needed to look elsewhere. My father had a friend at one of the printing companies which produced movie posters in the UK so I managed to get a batch from there. Others I found rummaging through antique shops, but most I bought at movie memorabilia fairs, which I found advertised at the back of movie magazines.   Some of these events were quite huge and geeky.  I would get there early then spend the entire day searching stall after stall for posters.

In the internet age, it has become much easier to search and find even old and rare posters. There are a lot of specialist movie poster dealers selling online, many of whom will ship worldwide. Plus there are lots of individuals selling on eBay, although I would be wary of buying here as there are a great number of reprints around, especially for very popular posters, so buyer beware!  There are now many regular specialist movie poster auctions around the world, which can be a good place to find very rare and valuable posters.  One of the biggest is Heritage Auctions in the US, who hold both a weekly online auction plus quarterly ‘signature’ auctions of rarer items.  

Poster values (like many other collectibles) have increased exponentially over the years. It used to be that only very old movie posters (60s and earlier) were expensive, but now posters from the 70s, 80s and even later are fetching high values.  So it has become quite an expensive hobby. I once owned hundreds of posters but I sold off a large portion of my collection in an auction at Christie’s in London back in 2003.  As I had picked up many of these for a song I turned a tidy profit.  But this in hindsight turned out to be a lousy decision on many levels.  I kept back a number of favourites, but there are many more I let go and now wish I hadn’t.  The lesson I learned was if you like collecting something, keep it, cherish it and don’t chase making a profit.

This blog is about my personal journey with movie posters and other memorabilia – some recollections of the movies themselves and what they mean to me, my experiences of buying, owning and selling movie posters, plus a few lessons learned the hard way on poster conservation.  But mostly it is about sharing my passion and enjoyment. So, whether you are into movies or memorabilia collecting or not, I hope you find it enjoyable too.

You can find my latest posts on my Blog page or search the images themselves on the Gallery page.   Some items are For Sale, click here to Buy Now.  If you have any feedback I would love to hear from you.