Horror movie poster fakes

Monday, August 31 2009

There has been some great concern lately, and rightfully so, about a major scandal going on in our hobby about fake posters, lobby cards, and window cards.

Being that I was one of the victims, and am very familiar with the situation and all involved I felt in necessary to report the following:

To date, the ONLY items being faked are 1930’s-1940’s, horror movie posters, window cards, and lobby cards, including all known reissues for the Universal horror films.

This has been going on for less than 3 years as far as we can tell and involves at least one known collector and a west coast poster restorer.

It was being done using original posters and lobby cards of little to no value and the restorer sanded or peeled the image off- (I am not aware of the exact science to this) and glued quality reproduction from to the old original backing.

These were meant to defraud us collectors. The people behind this have sold other non horror posters and lobbies, but they all checked out to be good so far. I really think it is limited to Horror ONLY, and if you did not buy (or trade for) any horror cards or posters in the last 3 years or less, you have nothing to worry about.

I myself was burned by 2 very expensive lobby cards which turned out to be high quality forgeries- but my losses were small (around $20k) compared to some friends who are out $100,000’s.

Most people, myself included, can not name names as directed by our attorneys-
but without too much asking around you could find this information out.

It does not makes sense to spook everyone in our hobby, especially those who DO NOT collect horror material, just to feel important by spreading gossip.

Many serious horror collectors are taking some big hits right now…
but speaking for myself I still love the hobby and will continue to buy all genres (even horror), just with a bit more caution in who I deal with.

This problem will sting for awhile but I think it will be under control very soon, and the guilty parties will be brought to justice.

Anyone who feels the material they have may be fake can send it to John Davis at Poster Mountain, http://www.postermountain.com or Carol Tincup, ctincupgmail [dot] com in Orange, CA.

They are the ONLY restoration professionals that I know of who handled and authenticated all the posters so far and help expose this crime.

Do not guess for yourself, if you feel you may have something that might be a fake or know someone that does.

I am always happy to help any collectors who have questions on this matter.

Ralph DeLuca
800-392-4050
ralphralphdeluca [dot] com

You will see for the below list, other than Mark of the Vampire, it seems almost exclusively the Universal Horror films that were faked. So please be cautious of ANY Universal Horror Title, including re-issues!

Here is a partial list of some of the fakes that were manufactured to look old.
Some even have marker and grease pencil writing on the back as well as fake NSS (national screen service) and poster exchange stamps too.

Please note that on some of these there could have actually been as many as an estimated 5-10 fakes made…

Frankenstein: 1931 Title card and scene lobby cards, 1938 Lobby cards, 1947 one sheet, 1951 realart 1/2 sheet
Dracula, 1931 Window Card, Title Card, Scene lobby cards, 1938 re-release lobby cards, and 1947 Re-release one sheet.
The Black Cat, 1934 One sheet, scene lobby cards
The Raven, 1935 Half Sheet, title card, scene cards
The Ghost of Frankenstein, 1942 Three Sheet, Insert, all lobby cards
The Mummy’s Hand, 1940 Half Sheet, Insert, lobby cards
Mark of the Vampire, 1935 Scene lobby card (close up of Lugosi and Borland)
the Old Dark House, 1932 Insert, Lobby cards
the Wolfman, 1941 Lobby card set, Re-release Film Classics Insert
Murders in the Rue Morgue, 1932 window card, lobby cards
The Mummy’s Ghost, 1944 Half Sheet, lobby card set
The Invisible Man, 1933 Window Card
the Mummy’s Tomb, 1942 one sheet, insert, lobby card set
The Mummy’s Curse, 1944 half sheet, insert, lobby card set
Son of Frankenstein, 1939 lobby card set
Werewolf of London, 1935 lobby cards
Bride of Frankenstein, 1935 lobby card set
House of Frankenstein, 1944 one sheet, lobby cards