JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA July 2006 Newsletter
Heritage Auction July 2006 – The Australian results
The latest Heritage auction looks like it was another great success with few lots passed in and the usual strong prices for Universal Horror and high end posters. Heritage have an edge over the other major auction houses with their sophisticated internet site which allows bidding well before the auction and the ability to view real time results of the auctions on line. They also allow bidding through eBay at an extra premium and send hundreds of lavish catalogues out to previous buyers.
There were a number of Australian posters in the auction including the rarely seen one sheets for Creature from the Black Lagoon (sold for $1840.00 inc BP) and Day the Earth Stood Still ($2880.00). If rarity was the sole contribution to prices realised then these would have gone through the roof but the prices realised ultimately represented good value for two Sci Fi classics.
Other highlights among the Australian posters included the only daybill I have ever seen for Cat People, with an almost translucent and eerie image, reach a healthy $1610.00 and a Day the Earth Stood Still daybill for $1150.00. I have never seen a daybill for Cat People before and I was not surprised at the price it achieved.
There were a couple of bargains – Breakfast at Tiffany’s linen backed daybill for a paltry $517.00 and a linen backed Poor Little Rich Girl long daybill, a steal at $373.00.
This wasnt the biggest selection of Australian posters in a Heritage auction and it would be good to see more quality daybills surface for future auctions.
See all the Australian results here…..
I had some slight hope of picking up one of the one sheets for the two Hitchcock classics The 39 Steps ($14950.00) and The Lady Vanishes ($9200.00) but they both went a bit too high for me in the end. A three sheet for Hitchcock’s Vertigo may have surprised many with a healthy $7475.00 and Heritage were once again able to come up with a couple of incredibly rare lobby cards from Secret Agent and The Lady Vanishes which achieved the expected strong prices.
I havent had a chance to have a look at the results of the Swedish posters but I thought it was a fairly brave move to have so many in what was really a separate auction with its own catalogue. Despite this, there were some great titles and unique art and the early bidding on the internet looked as if any risk that was taken would be justified.
BUYER BEWARE
In early June an eBay user nikitas_best from Brazil started listing fairly valuable music related items. The listings were “private” which means that the bidding history and feedback cannot be revealed. Many of the listings were for autgraphed albums. The descriptions included the following……..
“PLEASE BID WITH CONFIDENCE
We are a Private Collector Group buying, collecting and selling items all over the world, during the last 30 years.
Because of our immense experience, our COA includes a Lifetime Guarantee to make a buyer feel safe.
Because we just want to have satisfied customers:
No-Satisfaction and Full-Refund-Guarantee within 14 days”.
and…..
“WE ONLY COMMUNICATE ON EBAY!
NO COMMUNICATION ON WEB OR PAYPAL!”
Now, anyone buying autographed material should expect to see some provenance for the item. How and where was the item obtained. If this information cannot be supplied then I would not be bidding. That aside, there was a great deal of interest in this sellers listings. The feedback was good and if anyone was concerned it didnt show up in the bidding with multiple bidders competing on most of the items.
Over the first few weeks of June the seller sold many items at good prices including:
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Jun-08-06
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Jun-15-06 01:00:35 PDT
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$1,525.00
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The Beatles signed vintage Fanclubcard by all 4 w/COA
wonderful original vintage Autograph 1964 w/COA |
The seller then turned his and our attention on to Movie Posters with some seriously high end material. Ears started to prick with the listing of 2 Goldfinger Door Panels and there was considerable speculation on one or two of the Discussion Boards about the authenticity of these items. These Door Panels are exceptionally rare and generally only ever turn up at major auctions.
It didnt stop there. The seller seemed to have an endless supply of rare material like:
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$1,545.00
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Marilyn Monroe *The Seven Year I* original Door Panel
Original Door Panel 20th Century Fox 1955 |
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$1,105.01
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Marilyn Monroe *Gentlemen prefer Blondes* 6 Sheet 1953
Original 20 Century Fox 6 Sheet from 1953 |
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$1,881.00
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Cat People ultra rare Original RKO Insert 1942
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$3,552.00
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Dracula original Realart R – 1951 Insert Bela Lugosi
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$2,147.00
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Thunderball United Artists original 3 Door Panels 1965
Look up! Look out! Here comes the biggest Bond …… |
He then moved on to Hitchcock lobby cards. Once again the discussion boards were buzzing with more speculation. By now there were open accusations that the listings were fraudulent and that the scans had been lifted from Heritage auctions. Suggestions were made that perhaps the account had been hijacked and used specifically for a scam. There were demands for eBay to end the auctions and, apparently, there were reports to eBay Trust and Safety. I had a very close look at some of the Hitchcock lobby cards and it was very clear that the scans were for the same cards that had been sold by Heritage. I had actually purchased one of the cards from Heritage so it appeared quite obvious that the auctions were scams.
I made a call to eBay and was told that they could not end the listings unless they had definitive proof of wrongdoing. The following day, Grey Smith of Heritage advised one of the discussion boards that he had contacted email and that the listings had been ended. Grey obviously carries a certain amount of weight with the running of the Heritage Movie Poster auctions so presumably eBay would have taken notice of him but I wonder what would have happened if he had not become involved.
The sad thing is that many people appear to have been hurt by this. I spoke to a friend who had bid and won a few choice items to the value of over $4000.00. He paid immediately with paypal and is now very concerned that he may not be able to get all of his money back. He was not sure if paypal would refund all of his money or not but he thought there may be a limit on how much he might get back.
It is obviously very easy to steal images from websites, auction catalogues or directly from eBay auctions. There had been many instances where entire listings have been copied and duplicated, often for nefarious purposes and as always, it is a case of buyer beware.
All I can say is that I hope the poor buyers got their money back.
Future Projects
I am plainning a couple of new exhibitions in the near future and I will also be adding many more Hitchcock items to the site with the aim of having the largest collection of Hitchcock material ever assembled for sale in one place – that is the plan anyway.
Regards to you all
John
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