DISCOVERY OF
HIGH-PRICED FAKE
COLLECTIBLE MOVIE POSTERS
ESTIMATED TO VALUE OVER $2 MILLION
ROCKS THE COLLECTIBLE MOVIE POSTER MARKET
LearnAboutMoviePosters.com (September 7, 2009) - Allegations have recently surfaced regarding a scheme to recreate high-end collectible movie posters and sell them through major auction houses and private sales as originals. Most of the posters involved represent Universal horror films from the 1930's and 1940's. Posters from this genre regularly command thousands of dollars through auction houses and private sales. In fact, Universal horror posters represent a large portion of the titles represented on the all-time Top Selling List presented on LearnAboutMoviePosters.com.
The Scheme
According to knowledgeable sources, the scheme to produce these fake posters involved taking lower end vintage poster materials (i.e. posters that do not command high dollars), sanding the existing images off , and affixing high-resolution images of the sought-after posters to the sanded materials. These posters would then be painted/airbrushed to give the posters the vintage authentic look of a poster that had been repaired. These fraudulently produced posters were either sold or used for trades for legitimate original material. For the past three years, it is estimated that over $2 million in fake posters have been put into the collector's market. The alleged perpetrators have been named in two civil lawsuits which are addressed below.
Fakes Finally Detected
The plot to defraud millions of dollars from unsuspecting collectors quickly began to unfold over the last few months. A knowledgeable collector purchased one of the alleged fake posters from a reputable auction house. The collector recognized that something was not right and returned the item. The auction house then hired a poster restoration expert to determine if this poster was indeed a fake. Once it was determined that it was, other posters provided by the alleged perpetrator (the defendant named in the two civil lawsuits) were also evaluated by a number of different poster restoration experts. Based on the opinions of these experts, all of the posters reviewed were fraudulently created. This caused a shockwave through the collecting community, with other individuals who had purchased/traded with the defendant to also have their posters evaluated by an expert. It was at this point that the magnitude of this deception began to come to light.
Expert Evaluations
John Davis of Poster Mountain was one of the experts asked to examine some of the purported frauds. With the help of highly sophisticated equipment, Mr. Davis was able to determine that the posters presented to him for review were indeed fakes. Here's an image provided by Mr. Davis showing a side view of the Black Cat lobby card:
This image clearly shows two different layers were fused together along the brown line.
Scope of Fraud Still Unknown
It is still unknown just how many fake posters are currently circulating in the market. The two lawsuits referenced below each provide a list of the titles known to date and total approximately one million dollars in appraised value. In addition, other collectors and dealers are coming forward with lists of possible fake posters, some of which have already been expertly determined to be frauds. Talk within the community suggests that there are a great deal more collectors to come forward, with more titles being added to this fake poster list. It is estimated that at least another million dollars worth is still not listed yet.
CIVIL LAWSUITS FILED
Two civil lawsuits have already been filed in connection with these fake high-end movie posters. More lawsuits and/or victims are expected to be named in the future.
Ronald Magid v. Kerry Haggard
This lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on July 15, 2009. In this lawsuit, plaintiff Ron Magid alleges that in two separate transactions in June and August of 2008, plaintiff traded 20 legitimate original collectible film posters to defendant Kerry Haggard in exchange for nine posters that Haggard presented were original, authentic works. Plaintiff further alleges that in late May or early June, 2009, he discovered that one of the items that Haggard provided, a 1931 Frankenstein title card, was a forgery. As of the time of filing of this complaint, plaintiff has had six of the nine items Haggard provided inspected by restoration experts, who have confirmed that the six items were forgeries. Plaintiff estimates the value of his loss at $130,000 to $150,000.00. Plaintiff further asserts that ...