Film posters

[magval]

Where does one buy film posters these days? Ebay just seems to be filled with posters you can order in any size, which suggests the sellers are just making them themselves, which suggests that quality isn't really guaranteed. Also any one search is littered with magnets, shirts, all kinds of fucking shite I didn't search for. No.

Where do you buy official posters, like? HMV would have been the spot, back in the day, but online, can anyone recommend a reputable source?

[Small Man Big Horse]

I really wish I knew, I used to get mine from The Cinema Store but that sadly closed down four years ago. All I can suggest is searching for "quad poster" on ebay as they tend to be proper cinema size posters, and then try find someone with a decent selection and feedback.

[Puce Moment]

I collect film posters - both old and new. I tend to avoid re-prints of the type you are describing for obvious reasons - the exceptions being super-rare posters like the Polish Sunset Boulevard or the Ivan's Childhood Japanese chirashi flyer.

I do tend to get the majority of mine on Ebay but also through private dealers or really good poster shops (in places such as Krakow and Prague). They charge a premium but if they have had it in stock for a while they are far more likely to drop their price than private ebay sellers who I have found to be remarkably inflexible on price.

I have my eye on a poster in the Budapest Poster Museum that is going for over £300. I have been sitting on it for 2 years waiting for a good time to put in a low offer!

[chveik]

polish posters are beautiful. I wish I had one of those

[Puce Moment]

polish posters are beautiful. I wish I had one of those

I have a bunch of them and they are indeed very beautiful. Even some of the small poster shops in Poland have realised how in-demand these are, as have many of the Japanese sellers. It appears that the less like the film or Hollywood poster style they are, the more fans want them.

[SteveDave]

I bought an original 1971 "Little Murders" daybill poster from eBay and it a) is in great nick and b) seems legit.



It's going to be a cunt to buy a frame for though.

I was also watching a massive "Paper Moon" poster on there and the seller got in contact and offered £20 off. It was still a lot of money though but it is a thing of beauty so I might cave in:

[El Unicornio, mang]

polish posters are beautiful. I wish I had one of those

Some are magnificent, some quite bewildering. I wouldn't even have a clue which film this was without scanning the credits

[kaprisky]

No idea about online but, pre-lockdown, you could find them physically on sale at the BFI Shop (formerly Filmstore). If HMV do them then Fopp would sell them as well. And before they closed a few years ago, Vintage Magazine on the corner of Brewer Street and Great Windmill Street would also sell them. The thing is they tend to have the same range of posters: Pulp Fiction or The Good The Bad and The Ugly, etc.

On the Prince Charles Cinema's FAQ section is this:

Can I have one of your posters?

No, because of our programme we tend to bring back old classic films quite often, so we keep all our best posters in a library in the basement. However once in a while we have a big clear out and give bundles away for free. You just have to beat the staff to the best ones.

Post-lockdown, whenever that may be, repertory cinemas (or any cinema) might be your best bet.

[Neomod]

What was that cinema memorabilia shop in soho (had a yellow exterior and was near the NCP)? I remember getting a massive Italian Taxi Driver poster back in the day.

[SteveDave]

What was that cinema memorabilia shop in soho (had a yellow exterior and was near the NCP)? I remember getting a massive Italian Taxi Driver poster back in the day.

That was the Vintage Magazine shop mentioned above. My friend David worked there so I could get staff discount if he was working. He now works for Flashback Records which is a boon for me.

[Brundle-Fly]

That was the Vintage Magazine shop mentioned above. My friend David worked there so I could get staff discount if he was working. He now works for Flashback Records which is a boon for me.

It closed down about eighteen months ago and is now a boutique. Bah! It was so useful for getting original birthday presents at short notice.

In answer to the OP, I would suggest visiting any Film Fairs that might be happening in your area or maybe a trip to London for their bi-monthly ones but then I remembered it's fucking 2020. As Basil Fawlty would say, "That particular avenue of pleasure has been closed off."

[Puce Moment]

Yeah, I used to pick up posters at Camden Market, Portobello Market and the Vintage shop, as well as a handful of other Soho based film shops.

It's hard not to reminisce about my 16-year-old self back in the late 80s going to Camden Market and picking up original Polish film posters for £10.

[Brundle-Fly]

Yeah, I used to pick up posters at Camden Market, Portobello Market and the Vintage shop, as well as a handful of other Soho based film shops.

It's hard not to reminisce about my 16-year-old self back in the late 80s going to Camden Market and picking up original Polish film posters for £10.

We probably rubbed shoulders at that French bloke's poster stall in the Electric Ballroom, Puce?  I always wanted his Italian Barbarella (1968) original poster but was way out of my price range even then.  Christ knows what it would go for today. Let's have a look. Ouch.

https://www.pamono.co.uk/space-age-italian-barbarella-film-poster-by-mario-de-berardinis-1968/?utm_medium=cpc_test&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=PLA_UK_6497616183_73238117970&utm_content=381960973867_c_&utm_term=pla-294682000766___VDY-470405&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrcyU6oT16QIVj-3tCh0PYgu7EAQYASABEgKNlvD_BwE

[Puce Moment]

Yes yes yes! What was his name? I bought a few Japanese posters from him back in the day when the Ballroom had some great stuff. I always had my eye on an If.... poster that was signed by Lindsay Anderson and Malcolm McDowell. I don't even remember how much it cost, but it was eye-watering.

[Brundle-Fly]

Yes yes yes! What was his name? I bought a few Japanese posters from him back in the day when the Ballroom had some great stuff. I always had my eye on an If.... poster that was signed by Lindsay Anderson and Malcolm McDowell. I don't even remember how much it cost, but it was eye-watering.

I tried to Google him but couldn't find the right combination of search words without ending up looking at pictures of old French cinema posters and Electric Ballroom gig lists.

[Puce Moment]

It's somewhat off-topic and a bit of sad nostalgia, but I do fondly remember in the late 80s coming out of Camden station, visiting record shops, grabbing a vegan pastie, going into the Ballroom for posters, records and bootleg live tapes for gigs I had been to that week, before heading to the outside market to get clothes, Vinyl Experience for more records, and then off to the Lock for cool shit like arthouse VHSs, antiques and vintage posters. Sometimes I would stay in Camden, catch a film, and then see a band at the Falcon.

[Brundle-Fly]

It's somewhat off-topic and a bit of sad nostalgia, but I do fondly remember in the late 80s coming out of Camden station, visiting record shops, grabbing a vegan pastie, going into the Ballroom for posters, records and bootleg live tapes for gigs I had been to that week, before heading to the outside market to get clothes, Vinyl Experience for more records, and then off to the Lock for cool shit like arthouse VHSs, antiques and vintage posters. Sometimes I would stay in Camden, catch a film, and then see a band at the Falcon.

Yeah. Same here. I used to visit NW1 as much as I could in the mid-eighties and eventually moved there a few years later. It's changed so much.

[Head Gardener]

I have several original UK posters from when I worked in a cinema including





and some from when I was collecting them years ago, I'll end up framing them one day





I also picked up some nice film festival posters in an auction not long back which are Peckinpah/Russell related, I still remember my dad selling off a huge lot of original 70's ones in his shop, there were all the sexplotation ones from Come Play With Me to Eskimo Nell and lots of early 70's horror, I think they were a pound each... I took lots and had them plastering my teenage bedroom walls, but they have long since gone.