Advice On How To Sell Movie Posters & Movie Memorabilia

VINTAGE MOVIE POSTERS ARE RALPH’S PASSION

To bolster transparency efforts, Ralph DeLuca has curated an archive of resources on his website tailored for collectors of entertainment ephemera and memorabilia. This archive includes a showcase of his own purchases, complete with prices and dates, offering invaluable insights into the value of various items.

Entertainment ephemera and vintage movie posters have been a lifelong passion and pursuit for Ralph DeLuca. He is committed to their preservation and fostering accessibility and community among fellow collectors. He has helped individuals and institutions acquire world-class ephemera collections, and his personal collection is recognized for its quality and breadth and has been the subject of multiple gallery and museum exhibitions.

DeLuca seeks to provide a valuable educational resource for collectors and share knowledge within the community. Because the prices of memorabilia and ephemera are much harder to obtain than fine art, which has many more tools, DeLuca has posted some items he has purchased, with prices and dates, to promote transparency and guide others towards building museum-quality collections of entertainment ephemera.

Original Vintage Movie Posters

Movie posters have been used to advertise films since the earliest public showings of movies. While today’s movie posters typically show photographs of the main actors, illustrations were far more common on vintage movie posters. There is a market for selling original vintage movie posters in all sizes and in any condition.

Vintage movies have been his passion for a long time, and he has spent many years collecting all forms of classic movie memorabilia—ultimately amassing one of the largest movie poster collections in the world. As an avid collector, Ralph is intimately knowledgeable on the current value of movie memorabilia and has paid record-breaking prices to expand his collection. You can check out some of the examples of classic movie memorabilia he has purchased below.

The value of vintage entertainment memorabilia extends far beyond its material worth. Each piece tells a story—a glimpse into the bygone era of Hollywood glamour or a snapshot of a cultural moment frozen in time. Recognizing this intrinsic value requires more than just a cursory glance; it demands a nuanced understanding of art history and cultural context.

As a dedicated collector of vintage entertainment Ralph’s knowledge can help not only in quantifying the monetary value of an item, but also in illuminating its historical and cultural significance, enriching your appreciation of your entertainment memorabilia or movie poster.

Furthermore, the market for vintage entertainment memorabilia is constantly evolving. Trends shift, tastes change, and new discoveries emerge, making it essential to stay abreast of developments in the industry. Here, my deep-rooted connections and insider knowledge provide a distinct advantage.

If you have a vintage movie poster (or other piece of classic movie memorabilia) and are hoping to sell it, getting an accurate appraisal for your movie posters can be challenging because of all the variables that make one poster worth only a few dollars but another worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Finding a knowledgeable appraiser or collector who understands the true market value of your poster should be your first step. Without a seriously experienced guide, it is easy to fail to get the money your posters are worth.

Ralph can assist with sourcing third-party market valuations—authenticity is paramount in the world of vintage memorabilia. With the rise of online marketplaces and the proliferation of counterfeit items, distinguishing genuine artifacts from fraudulent replicas has become increasingly challenging.

After the value of your classic movie poster has been determined by a certified appraiser, you have the option of trying to sell vintage movie posters or other entertainment ephemera through an auction house.

However, Ralph would generally advise you to sell through a private collector because selling through an auction house is inherently riskier and more complicated. Not only are there fees that reduce the amount of money you will end up taking home, but there is no guarantee that your poster will sell for its true value.
See Ralph’s blog post discussing auction houses.

Movie Crazy

The Public Enemy

The Song of Songs

The Golem

There is always a market for:

• original movie posters
• movie memorabilia
• vintage concert posters
• original music posters
• vintage lobby cards
• old movie photos / stills
• old movie photo archives and film
• boxing style concert posters

OTHER MOVIE MEMORABILIA RALPH COLLECTS

Original Lobby Cards

Lobby cards are no longer used in theaters and rarely printed for today’s films. These small posters (usually 11" x 14" in a horizontal format) were generally produced in sets of eight consisting of one title card and seven scene cards each featuring a different scene from the film. There were some exceptions to the standard eight cars with some lobby card sets including up to 12 cards.

Lobby cards were intended for display in a theater’s foyer or lobby. Lobby cards were also issued for some short subjects, but typically those were in sets of four card.

An original lobby set typically consists of one Title Card (TC), a lobby card of special design usually depicting all key stars, listing credits and intended to represent the entire film rather than a single scene; and seven Scene Cards (SC), each depicting a scene from the movie.

In 2009 there was a major scandal unfolding regarding fake posters, lobby cards and window cards in the niche horror film collectors’ market. This scam had been going on for about 3 years before Ralph also was caught up in it; a number of serious collectors were burned.

Although there were some exceptions, at the time, most of the faked collector items were related to Universal Horror film posts, lobby cards and scene. So please be cautious of ANY Universal Horror Title, including re-issues!

The Wizard of Oz

Original Movie Photos and Film Stills

The main purpose of film stills /publicity stills from the Silent Period through Golden Age of Movies was to help studios advertise and promote their new films and stars. A “still” photographer worked on set although was not directly involved in the making of a film. The movie studio included these images in press kits, sent to movie theaters to help them promote the latest offerings, and to publicize the film and actors via magazines, newspapers and other media. The most popular kinds of film stills are those portraying glamour, menace, or gag interpretations. It can sometimes be very difficult to identify original, collectible material since there is a huge market specializing in both standard re-issues and later printings.

Hedy Lamarr by Robert Coburn

Original Hollywood Photography and Portraits

During Hollywood’s golden age (1926-1949), the publicity shots taken of some of the most beautiful and famous Hollywood stars have become highly desirable by avid movie memorabilia collectors.

Exquisitely composed with the use of light, shadows, dramatic make-up, and props, the Depression era Hollywood original black-and-white publicity portrait photographs are truly captivating. They project an incomparable glamour that epitomized Hollywood’s golden age.

See more specifics on my Vintage Photography page.

Joan Crawford by Ruth Harriet Louise

Boris Karloff by Jack Freulich

Ralph has been passionate about collecting vintage photos of actors/movie stars and directors, including the following:

• Adolphe Menjou
• Barbara Stanwyck
• Betty Page
• Buster Keaton
• Carolyn Jones
• Cary Grant
• Clark Gable
• Clint Eastwood
• Drew Barrymore
• Groucho Marx
• Humphrey Bogart
• James Dean
• John Wayne
• Laurel and Hardy
• Louise Brooks
• Mae West
• Raquel Welch
• Steve McQueen
• Veronica Lake
• Howard Hawks
• Clint Eastwood

Cary Grant

Pressbooks

Classic movies made before 1980 were marketed to movie theaters and film distributors through pressbooks, which contained promotional materials, including information about the main actors and illustrations of advertisements.

UFA Exhibitor Book

Campaign and Exhibitor Books

Campaign books, like pressbooks, were used to buy movie studios to market vintage movies. Campaign books were typically hardcover bound books that contained information about the movie stars and plot of the film. Campaign kits also included promotional ideas and copies of advertising materials such as movie posters.

Glass Slides

Glass slides were shown between films and used much the way movies trailers are used today. Glass slides measure 3 ¼ inches by 4 inches and promoted upcoming movies or advertised local businesses. Earlier slides are made up of two layers of glass with a painted surface between the glass layers. Later slides have only one layer of glass with an exposed painted surface.

Photoplay Edition Books

During the silent-film and early-sound years, movies were known as “photoplays.” Photoplay edition books can either be novel reprints that have been illustrated with scenes from the film, or novel-versions of a film.

The Old Mill

Standees and Theater Displays

A standee is a large self-standing display promoting a movie, product or event. Standees are also referred to as lobby stands in the film industry.

INTERESTED IN BUILDING A COLLECTION OF ENTERTAINMENT EPHEMERA?

DeLuca is not a dealer or broker in this area; Ralph advises clients in amassing important collections of ephemera, drawing experience from his personal journey as a collector curating one of the world’s best collections. He has decades of experience building world-class collections of extremely rare music and film posters and graphic design.

If you are interested in building a world-class collection of ephemera or need assistance correctly bringing your collection to market to sell, please contact DeLuca.