Ralph Deluca In The News

NJ collector outbids heavy hitters, pays $1.2M for Metropolis poster group in courtroom auction

LOS ANGELES, CA.- A courtroom is probably not the first place one thinks of when searching for rare movie posters, but that’s where New Jersey collector Ralph DeLuca made the score of a lifetime – a 1927 German poster advertising Fritz Lang’s sci-fi classic Metropolis.

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Rare 'Metropolis' poster fetches high price in U.S. auction

Dec 13 (Reuters) - A film memorabilia collector paid $1.2 million for nine rare and early film posters, including the world's highest-valued poster of the 1927 film "Metropolis," in a bankruptcy auction in Los Angeles on Thursday, the trustee in the bankruptcy case said.

Ralph DeLuca, who owns New Jersey-based film memorabilia company Movie Archives Inc, won the bidding against three others in the court auction, said trustee John J. Menchaca.
Bidding for the lot of posters started at $700,000. DeLuca beat out memorabilia powerhouse Heritage Auctions.

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Movie memorabilia comes with million dollar price tag

What is the price of history? Well if it’s Hollywood history, it’s over a million dollars. Collector Ralph DeLuca paid $1.2 million dollars for an extremely rare “Metropolis” poster, along with eight others, in a Los Angeles bankruptcy auction.

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Metropolis' Poster Leads $1.2 Million Auction of Movie Memorabilia

The rare Metropolis poster that was caught up in a messy bankruptcy case was auctioned today for $1.2 million by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles.

Bundled with the rare international version of the poster from the 1927 Fritz Lang classic were posters from King Kong, The Invisible Man and Arsenic and Old Lace, as well as the original painting of Elvis Presley used for the Jailhouse Rock poster and several other pieces of memorabilia.

The winning bidder was East Coast collector and dealer Ralph DeLuca, who had made the initial $700,000 offer to the Bankruptcy Court.

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Metropolis Poster Purchased for $1.2 Million at L.A. Court Auction

A Metropolis movie poster hailed as the most valuable one sheet in the world was auctioned by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles on Thursday for $1.2 million.

Ralph DeLuca's bid beat out three other collectors to claim the prize he compares to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and he says he got a deal too.

"I was expecting to pay $1.5 to 1.6 million at least," DeLuca told TheWrap hours after making the purchase. "Had this been a proper auction, the Metropolis alone would have been bought for $1.6 million."

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Rare Metropolis poster fetches high price in U.S. auction

Ralph DeLuca, who owns New Jersey-based film memorabilia company Movie Archives Inc, won the bidding against three others in the court auction, said trustee John J. Menchaca.

Bidding for the lot of posters started at $700,000. DeLuca beat out memorabilia powerhouse Heritage Auctions.

The "Metropolis" poster, the crown jewel of the collection, was purchased by California collector Kenneth Schachter for a record $690,000 in a 2005 private sale. But he was forced to sell the poster along with eight others after declaring bankruptcy.

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Collector Buys 'World's Most Valuable Movie Poster' In L.A. Bankruptcy Court

What is thought to be the world's most valuable movie poster along with eight others sold to a film memorabilia collector for $1.2 million. The Metropolis poster by German Expressionist Heinz Schulz-Neudamm was purchased as part of a lot in a Los Angeles bankruptcy court Thursday.

Schulz-Neudamm created the poster in 1927 for the German Expressionist science-fiction film of the same title by Fritz Lang.

New Jersey resident Ralph DeLuca, who owns film memorabilia company Movie Archives Inc., won the bidding over three other bidders, Reuters reports. Bidding for the poster started at $700,000.

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