Vintage movie posters can be true works of art and there are copies that are so sought after that they can fetch prices of hundreds of thousands of euros. Fortunately for the private collector, there are also plenty of original vintage movie posters available for a lower price, sometimes even for just a few euros. Unfortunately, with movie posters it is often difficult to distinguish the original print from an emphasis or even a fake poster. Especially with the highly sought after vintage movie posters, it can sometimes be difficult to get a real original for a good price.
Types of vintage movie posters
Vintage movie posters come in all shapes and sizes. The most famous poster variants are often the versions that originate from the country of origin of the film. For example, American movie posters are the best known for American films. Yet these do not always have to be the most interesting posters. There are different countries where they designed a different poster for the same film. For example, posters from countries that used to belong to the communist Warsaw Pact, such as Poland or the Czech Republic, have a completely different design than the American editions. Although these Polish and Czech movie posters are less known, there are many artistic masterpieces among them.
Original vintage Polish and Czech movie posters
Design of vintage Polish and Czech posters
The Polish and Czech film posters that were released in the 1950s to the 1970s have a very unique design. Subsequent posters, after entering the Western market, are virtually all copies of the original American design. The old vintage movie posters made in the preceding period were designed by artists who had unprecedented freedom in design, despite the apparent censorship culture. The freedom of the artist during this period is also partly due to the lack of pressure from the studios, actors’ managers or moneylenders. There was also a culture among the designers to summarize the entire film in the design of the poster. For example, the Polish poster for Rocky shows a glove in the shape of a heart. This portrays both the romantic aspect from the film and the boxing theme. This is in contrast to the original American poster, which relies more on the composition of the photo and the power of the image from this photo.
Price of Polish and Czech movie posters
In price terms, the Polish and Czech movie posters are not yet as highly valued as some American movie posters. There are still very nice original vintage posters available from a few dozen euros. More expensive copies can yield up to 10,000 euros or more, but then it is really about the rare masterpieces. Still cheaper than the expensive American ones.
Buying original American movie posters
Most expensive movie posters
Original American movie posters are now highly sought after collector’s items. There are posters, such as the original vintage poster from the movie Casablanca, which are sold at prices of over 100,000 euros. Fortunately, this is not the case with all interesting posters, and there are certainly still good and beautiful original movie posters available at more reasonable prices. Consider, for example, the original poster of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with Clint Eastwood from 1966. This poster costs around 1500 euros, but is also available for several hundred euros in a lesser condition.
Average prices of American movie posters
If a poster of more than a thousand euros is still too expensive, there are many other vintage posters for sale at more reasonable prices. Think, for example, of some Hitchcock posters, which are already available for a few hundred euros or even just under a hundred euros. This price range should also be seen as the average for original American movie posters in reasonable condition. It is also possible to buy cheaper movie posters, but these are often posters that are less in demand or that are more recent.
Foreign movie posters
Another option is to look for a poster with the same American design, but from a different country. In many cases, foreign movie posters have roughly the same design, but they can be purchased at a lower price because the title is in a different language. Yet this can also have a very nice effect; the aforementioned poster of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, for example, is also available in Italian or French at a lower price, while it cannot be said that this is less beautiful or original.
Original Belgian vintage movie posters
Belgian vintage movie posters are also interesting to collect. Not only are many of these posters still available at reasonably reasonable prices, but the format of these posters is also smaller than the American movie posters. This makes it easier to give the posters a good place on the wall and they dominate a living room or bedroom less. Belgian movie posters also have an extra element; the title is often mentioned in two or even three languages. The Dutch translation in particular is often found to be very creative and therefore makes the poster that little bit more special. The early Belgian designs are often very beautiful in drawing and design. The 1950s posters in particular are very strong in this regard.
Reliability, originality and counterfeit
Many posters, American, Belgian and other posters, have been reprinted afterwards. This is partly because of the demand for such posters, but in some cases it is also really about attempts to sell the reproduction for an original. When making a purchase, always ask carefully and see if the seller is reliable. For example, is it a seller who has his own shop or a seller who only wants to sell through internet shipping? In addition, for example, Belgian posters are often stamped by the film approval. This can serve as an additional proof of originality.
