


#Movie poster size series
Some collectors specialize exclusively in the Star Wars or Harry Potter series of movies, while others gravitate to genres like horror (a whole subgenre exists just for Universal Studios monsters), Westerns, foreign language films, rock music or the silent film era. Poster collecting is highly subjective, with some collectors primarily interested in a favorite movie, actor or director.
#Movie poster size movie
Early movie posters were generally not dated but in 1940, the National Screen Service, which was in charge of distributing most movie posters until 2000, began assigning a four-digit number that includes the year of release (77 for Star Wars, for example) and a number for that film (21). In most cases, interest in a poster owes more to the film than the poster style itself, however some style versions with limited production runs can be quite collectible, owing to the nature of supply and demand.
#Movie poster size plus
A few studios did as many as four styles, adding Style C and D to the mix.Īlfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ (Paramount, 1958), one sheet, 27 x 41in, Saul Bass artwork, sold for $4,500 plus the buyer’s premium in July 2012.

Most studios would release two versions, identified as Style A or Style B and noted as such on the poster’s lower border. Often several variations of movie posters were made, varying the artwork style or imagery on each. The standard size was 11 by 14 inches but they were also made as 8-by-10s and customarily released in sets of four or eight cards per movie. Half-sheets are popular with collectors as they are easy to frame and don’t take up much room.Īlso on the smaller side, photographic lobby cards were made from around the early 1910s and were printed on heavy cardstock. Movie studios first mailed one-sheets and half-sheets to theaters, folded or later, on, rolled up in cardboard tubes. They measured 22 by 28 inches, were printed on cardstock and displayed in theater lobbies back when most cinemas only had a single screen or two. Horizontal half-sheets were also a mainstay in cinema advertising until the advent of multiplex cinemas. Photo courtesy of Julien’s Auctions and LiveAuctioneersĬollectors and poster sellers routinely mount posters on linen before framing. This ‘King Kong’ poster, style A, designed by Roland Coudon, brought $27,500 + the buyer’s premium in March 2018 at Julien’s Auctions. For blockbuster releases, multiple one-sheets were often created to be displayed together as a three-sheet or a six-sheet poster. Even larger-size posters were printed for billboards, railroad and bus stations and other high-traffic areas. After this time, they were shortened to 27 by 40 inches (sans border), allowing for modern printing techniques to print images from edge to edge. They typically are oriented in portrait-style (vertical) and, until the mid 1980s, measured 27 by 41 inches, including the border. Vintage movie posters were most commonly produced in single-sheet size, known as a one-sheet. Today, rare and early original movie posters, as well as examples from iconic movies, command great interest - especially those that display strong imagery and graphic appeal.īefore spending large sums of money on expensive posters, new collectors should educate themselves, starting with some of the basic nomenclature. Posters that ordinarily would have been discarded instead were being salvaged and appreciated as a form of art. NEW YORK – Movie posters were intended to be ephemeral, as they were replaced weekly in glass cases outside theaters to announce current and coming attractions, but they’ve earned enduring status as collectibles.īy the 1960s, poster collecting had taken off in earnest. Photo courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers This Style B half-sheet movie poster for ‘Casablanca’ made $45,000 + the buyer’s premium in April 2018 at Heritage Auctions.
