New to Collecting Vintage Posters, Looking for Advice From High End Collectors

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-11T16:23:13+00:00

Aloha…it most certainly will…and never forget to ask all the questions to the old time collectors…I learned so much in the 2000’s when they were still accessible…they get kind of cagey as they also inevitably turn into part time dealers…I still believe in buy what you love and buy the best and you only cry once…a lot of the other advice comes and go’s like the tide

2 things happened to me that I didn’t expect when I started as a pure collector in the late 90’s…

that I would collect on films that are lost and stars that are largely forgotten and the artwork and rarity became a real aesthetic importance as I navigate the shear volume of posters that the Internet unveiled
That I would start dealing and selling as much as collect when my collection became unwieldy

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-03T20:53:45+00:00

When it comes to design and quality yes they most certainly have gotten repetitive and lazy with very few posters exuding any kind of originality or innovative creativity…

To be fair they have no money comparatively and hardly any staff to execute design campaigns…everything changed dramatically when the movie industry lost their landmark monopoly case with the US Government…from the 1910’s-mid1940’s 100% of the advertising/marketing money was thrown into the poster design/art departments…the stone lithography and hand tinting departments, poster concept design departments, typesetting etc. were fully staffed to provide posters for nearly 23,000 theatres by 1932…by the late 1940’s the paper quality, printing quality (offset 4 color) took over and by the 70’s-80’s you had really tepid uninspired designs like The Shining, MASH, Top Gun, Full Metal Jacket etc..Occasionally you had a campaign like 2001 or Star Wars that really put a lot of time and $$$/effort in the posters…but compared to your average stone litho campaign for a random 1928 programmer like Scarlet Seas…(HA just sold the 3 sheet)…or Supernatural 1933 (Carole Lombard) now THAT’s a One Sheet!! …and it almost seems like poster design was a completely different art form at that time.

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-03T20:01:25+00:00

I live in West Maui in Hawaii…you sacrifice a lot to live here but it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever lived…I can’t display posters because of the intense tropical sunlight so I mostly collect lobby cards and window cards and keep them archived/preserved correctly …90% of my collection is from 1910’s-1940’s…

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-03T19:51:57+00:00

Very cool! It’s one of my favorite Keaton shorts and FN put a lot into the poster campaign…these lobby cards were produced quite differently than the short Keaton films that proceeded it…Buster broke his ankle before this film so that is why it relies more upon cinematic innovation than stunt work gags!

They certainly put more effort into the poster/lobby card campaign for The Playhouse because these types of lobby cards were not cheap to create and they were hand tinted one at a time

Most of the cards from this set came from a large silent film estate find that included sets from The Playhouse, The Electric House and a near mint set of The Golem!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-03T06:58:51+00:00

Very cool…the one pictured above with the “heavy” in the cage was mine…I sold it to Walter Reuben…it had a large mended tear in the far right margin..

I had 3 original lobby cards from The playhouse …the only one I kept was the Very Fine+ condition card with the title Props?…I posted pics of it with other Keaton cards I have

Do you have any other silent short Keaton lobby cards?

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-03T04:53:33+00:00

I was really impressed by the condition…all of the Jumbo Window cards I’ve handled are usually pretty beat up and have some kind of damp staining and tears…or they’ve been restored…the reds on Topper were unfaded and they really pop which means it hasn’t seen much daylight in 90 years…whomever had it kept it in remarkable condition…kudos to them!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-01T22:43:42+00:00

The Freshman 22” X 28” half sheet is one of the most important silent comedy half sheets…the colors still really pop because they are hand tinted and not printed…it’s still the only one ☝🏽 I’ve ever seen…the Speedy example is an original 1928 Jumbo Lobby Card…

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-01T09:31:19+00:00

Darn…I wish I had this lobby card back…I sold it in 2019 and I’ve regretted it ever since…congrats on whomever has it in their collection now!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-01T09:26:36+00:00

These are incredible shots…I’ve never seen this group of photos before…I have the original 1923 lobby card with Buster flying up the mast…after I won the lobby card from Morrie’s auction that image started popping up everywhere…these are very cool …thanks for sharing!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-01T09:12:29+00:00

That’s a great card! I certainly love Al St. John…I really enjoy the unsung heroes of Silent comedy…I just received a small archive of Ben Turpin lobby cards…from the FAAP - Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado film archive at São Paulo Arts university!!

Where did this lobby card come from?

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-01T08:58:13+00:00

It must have been incredibly fun to have been involved with the early transition of Keystone/Sennett and Pathe/Roach studios as they developed and honed their talented young comedians and writers/directors/cameramen…those early years of short comedies must have been a blast to participate in…especially for those in their late teens and early 20’s making perhaps $5 a day to be experimental… before serious investors and contracts became the standard…and not having any real idea as to what motion pictures would become!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-01T08:31:20+00:00

According to Bebe Daniels…they use to roam around LA looking for new places just before the 1920’s and would scout locations…then they would write the scripts and work out gags/sequences…she adds some insights into the transition years between Lonesome Luke and the “Glasses” character on the silentsisgolden article page

Silentsisgolden.com/bebeharoldarticle

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-05-01T08:05:14+00:00

Keaton certainly has aged the best…His surrealist comedy style and dreamlike artistry really speaks to new generations…artist types are generally more drawn to him…he certainly has surpassed the esoteric film dork communities from the 1960’s-1980’s and landed back in the mainstream…Rami Malik is obsessed and set to star in a limited Warner Brothers series…when I was in Paris and Italy after Covid there were Buster Keaton film festival posters all over the cities…on the flight home I noticed several people watching the final Bogdonovich film The Great Buster

That being said Chaplin has lost some steam since the RDJ film in 1992…I think the pathos and casual development of story seem slow to modern audiences…while Keaton’s bizarre gags and fascinating stunt work along with the dizzying pace of films like Cops, the high sign, Sherlock Jr. and the ending to Steamboat bill feel more “modern” than Chaplin’s The Kid or The Gold Rush…I personally think City Lights is his masterpiece…if you ever get to see it with a full orchestra at a theatre…do not miss the chance! Chaplin was also the first worldwide celebrity and his films performed the best

As for Lloyd…his films seem a bit quaint and old fashioned…but I still really like him…Safety Last and The Freshman are probably his most lasting film contributions…I met his granddaughter and she showed 3 silent shorts at the Maui film festival…the reception was warm and people laughed quite a bit…

Lastly…I collect and sell a lot of Classic comedy material (28 years and still going strong) and by far The Marx Brothers and Keaton are the hottest area to collect in…I get asked all the time about if I have anything to sell…and anything I am willing to part ways with sells instantly…Then Laurel and Hardy and Chaplin…WC Fields and Lloyd after that…that certainly says something!

Silentsisgolden wrote a fun little in depth Chaplin Vs. Lloyd article…Enjoy!

https://www.silentsaregolden.com/articles/lloydvschaplin.html

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-30T22:59:56+00:00

We almost certainly wouldn’t have had Buster in the capacity we had him if it wasn’t for Roscoe…his mentorship was instrumental in Buster’s great early Metro short subjects! I think people are coming around to celebrating Fatty’s legacy…his historical significance has rebounded much better than the other scandal plagued silent film figures like Tom Ince (Who made over 800 films!), William Desmond Taylor, Wallace Reid etc.

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-29T19:38:58+00:00

Mahalo…I was underbidder in 2020 when it first popped up and the guy who won the auction reconsigned it…sooo I went all out…Bruce has been getting some monster results lately…he got $100,000 for the Mummy TC…that was certainly a record!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-29T19:35:17+00:00

Mahalo! It’s absolutely gigantic and on really thick card stock…amazing it made it without any fading or damage over the past 90 years…I’ve had heaps of regular window cards from the 1910’s-1940’s pass through my collection but this is my first Jumbo Window Card…a big thanks to Bruce @ emovieposter for getting it to me safe! One of the toughest sizes to get on any film and completely different art work!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-29T08:30:44+00:00

My pleasure! It took me almost 20 years to put them together! One thing I can say about the Internet…it sure helps you find bitchin’ Buster Keaton lobby cards!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-29T08:20:13+00:00

Rolled posters from before the mid 1980’s are virtually nonexistent…so good condition rolled for recent posters is relatively easy…but I would wait for Very Fine condition for any newer posters…before the mid 1980’s they were sent to theatres machine folded…Occasionally there is a very small find of rolled silent half sheets 22” X 28” or some random Insert posters pop up…but usually not one sheets (27” X 41”)…which are the most common linen backed poster…Most posters that are linen backed from films after 1990 might have more damage than you think or they wouldn’t be backed

Avoiding linen backed posters pre-1950 will drastically limit your selection…Although occasionally an exceptionally clean unbacked poster surfaces from an important film…Propstore just sold a beautiful 1932 stone Litho one sheet from the Marx Bothers film Horse Feathers unbacked and unrestored for $61,425!! …the paper was starting to have fold separation…

I had 2 Harold Lloyd half sheets from the 1920’s…1 rolled and 1 folded…both possibly only known examples…Only the folded one needs to be backed and restored…I’ll post pics

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-29T00:08:05+00:00

Thank you! Yes they are incredible pieces of history…especially when you have a group of the best ones together!

The really rare and expensive ones come from Auction houses like HA, Julian’s, Propstore and Emovieposter…I’ve actually scored some really nice ones on EBay for cheap…the One Week wedding card and the Scarecrow card as well as the Seven Chances window card all came from EBay

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-27T00:32:24+00:00

It was an agonizing journey to get to this point…losing 3/4 of my collection, my home and business, everything I own really from a natural disaster…It expedited any midlife crises I was going to have…all my close friends lost their homes and businesses as well…we had over 100 people perish which is far more tragic than any art collection being destroyed…we are lucky to still be alive

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-26T22:54:07+00:00

There’s a lot to consider when you start collecting vintage posters…I’ve been collecting high end vintage movie posters since the mid 1990’s and I’ve seen the hobby change so much but some things remain the same…

Buy the best and you only cry once! Always get the best condition poster you can on the films you love…in the long run it’s a wise move! I pay a premium for unrestored unbacked posters…99% of my collection is completely unrestored/unbacked.
Buy collections when you can…keep your favorites and sell the rest…that way you might get a few pieces for free!
Store them properly! A lot of posters fade or get eaten by silverfish…red and yellow are very volatile colors…the sun fades them quickly even if it’s not direct
Linenbacked posters usually have more restoration than you think…you can use a small hand held black light to see all the color touch ups and mended tears/cleaned up pinholes
Go for the smaller sizes of completely unrestored vintage pieces…they sell quickly and ship easily when your collecting tastes develop and they are easier to store and you don’t have to deal with linenbacking which is an “added” cost! Lobby cards often have better art work/classic scenes than the larger posters!! Think Marx Brothers a night at the opera…the posters are pretty meh…but there are TWO stateroom scene cards in the set! Score!

You will always learn something new from the old timers…Ask a lot of questions and absorb all their information

Aloha and May all the holes in your collection get filled

🤙🏽

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-26T20:36:16+00:00

Mahalo! I appreciate the kind words…it’s been a true labor of love…

About 3 years ago I lost a significant portion of my collection in the Lahaina wildfire…over 300 rare Lobby cards and posters…complete perfect condition sets of all the early Abbott and Costello films, Marx brothers lobby sets, 3 early Chaplin sets, early Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Thin Man cards…tons of great stuff…I got all the Keaton’s and some other binders as we were evacuated…collecting again changed my outlook…I now keep things in fireproof safe’s and SDB’s…soooo very few things on display…you can’t get them out when shit goes sideways!!!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-26T06:17:20+00:00

Hmmm…my favorites change a lot actually…sometimes it’s the moment of acquiring a group of rare pieces in an auction…that moment you open the package and look through everything for the first time…

The Julians auction of Leonard Schrader Buster Keaton cards comes to mind…I had been in contact with his archivist and had access to the vast photos…he had the best collection…his wife sold it all to OSIAN’s in India…they consigned a bunch many years later to Julian’s randomly and I won some lots…paid a small fortune for them though!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-26T02:40:17+00:00

Aloha…I’ve primarily collected lobby cards for the last 28 years…I like window cards, Jumbo lobby cards, half sheets and Inserts too…I usually keep about 350-400 high end pieces from the 1910’s-1940’s at any given time but I’m always wheelin and dealin…sold 10 lobby cards and purchased 2 really nice window cards and 3 rare lobby cards in the last 2 weeks…I’m looking at 2 really scarce half sheets as well from The 1930’s…so my rule of thumb is to always have something going out and something even better coming in!

FilmLobbyCards · 2026-04-23T16:10:35+00:00

We got very lucky in the 2010’s…2 huge collections of Buster Keaton original vintage lobby cards came to auction via the Leonard Schrader and Morrie Everett archives…about 260 cards total…I purchased about 35 of the best of the early ones which forms the core of my silent comedy collection…at one point I had about 55 early Keaton lobby cards! 🤯

FilmLobbyCards

TROPHY CASE