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TOPICAL INDEX


Please use this index when searching for a particular topic.
Click on the topic below to go to that section.
OVERVIEW - Take a bird's eyeview of the world of movie art/poster collecting. These are your basic keys to understanding:
SIZES - Movie art/posters come in a variety of shapes and sizes and were used in different ways. These are the most common sizes and their purposes.
DISPLAY - These are the common sizes of posters used for display.
Rare/Special Promotional Items

Color Gloss Lobby Cards
Color Panels
Door Panels
Twelve Sheet

Experimental Sizes:

Eight Sheet
Seven Sheet
PRESS - These materials are provided to news media for press release.
PROMOTIONAL - These materials are used as giveaway premium items.

DIFFERENT FORMS - Movie art takes on several forms that will affect its marketability and collectibility. These include the following types:

CHARTS - Use these charts for comparing the different sizes and types of movie art.
Card - Sizes printed on card stock.
Paper - Sizes printed on paper.
Press - Press Materials
Other - Other forms of movie art.
Grading - Condition grades
CONDITION/GRADING - Grading the condition of a poster is based on a number of factors and is essential to determining a poster's monetary value. These are some of the factors to consider:
HISTORY- A look back at the history of the cinema; the creation and evolution of movie art; the individual movie studios and their history, parent company, logo and in-house animators.
Movie and Movie Poster History
Movie Studio History
     20th Century Fox
     American International Picture
     Columbia
     Disney
     M-G-M
     Monogram
     Normandy
     Paramount
     Pathe
     Pioneer
     Republic
     RKO
     United Artist
     Universal
     Warner Brothers
 
LITHOGRAPHY/PRINTING PROCESSES - The movie poster has gone through a number of different and special printing processes through the years. Here are the main processes and the main lithographers:

Printing Processes
     Color Offset Printing
     Double-sided Printing
     Duotone
     Lenticular 
     Photogelatin
     Rotogravure
     Stone Lithography
Lithographers
     Morgan Litho Co
          Morgan number log

MOVIE POSTER DISTRIBUTION - The distribution of movie posters has been handled by the studios and by independent distributors/printers. Here are the main companies:
National Screen Service
     NSS History 
     NSS Numbering System
     NSS Tag
     NSS Demise
     NSS number log
Donald Velde Company
Technicolor, Inc.
Secondary Printers
     Benton Card Company
          Company Information
          Difference in Benton and NSS Numbers
          Benton Card Markings
          Product Line
     Globe Poster Printing Corporation
     Hatch Show Print
     Leader Press
     "Other" Company
    Victor Cornelius Inc.
 
 
ARTISTS - Studios contract with many popular commercial artists to design their poster artwork. Here is a listing of some of the main artists, their posters and bios.

Artist Index
Studio Artists

John Alvin
Richard Amsel
Saul Bass
Reynold Brown
Jack Davis
Frank Frazetta
Albert Kallis
Batiste Madalena
Robert McGinnis
Bob Peak 
Norman Rockwell
Joseph Smith
Drew Struzan
Howard Terpning
Boris Vallejo
Other U.S. Artists
Non-U.S. Artists
     Britain
     France
     Italy
     Poland

NON-U.S. MOVIE POSTERS - Here's a look at the breakdown of the posters for non-U.S. produced films:

Australia
Belgium
Canada
France
Germany
Great Britain/UK
Hong Kong
Italy
Japan
Mexico
New Zealand
Poland

QUASI AND NON COLLECTIBLE MOVIE POSTERS - Not all movie posters are considered original theatre collectibles. Some of these fall into a gray area of collecting while others are just not considered collectible.

Cable TV
Commercial
Limited Edition
     Film Prints, Inc.
     Kilian Enterprises
     S2
     Suncoast
Reprints
Video

CARING FOR YOUR POSTERS - If it's worth collecting it's worth protecting. Here are the ways:

Preservation - Ways to preserve your poster for either display or storage:
     Storage
          Folded
          Rolled
          Flat
     Display
          Boards & Bags
          B&B - variation
          Binders
          Large Pieces
          Racks
          Encapsulation
          Lamination
          Dry Mounting
          Linen-Backing
          Framing
               Q&A on framing
          
Shipping - Proper way to ship a poster and things you need to know about the new U.S. Post Office irradiation procedures.

MOVIE POSTER LISTING - A listing of all movies distributed to United States theatres from 1927 to current, listed alphabetically and by year.

MOVIE POSTER DATA BASE (MPBD) - This is our new large database to collect all info on individual movie memorabilia. This area will continue to grow rapidly.

MOVIE POSTERS BY SPECIAL LISTING - A list of movie posters based on their genre or special distribution:

Black Cast Film
Documentaries
Featurettes
Independent Films
Lenticular
Serials
Shorts
Silent Films
X-Rated

For a complete Genre list

MOVIE POSTERS BY CHARACTER - A list of movie posters based on popular movie characters:

Visit out LEGENDS Section

ABBREVIATIONS - A guide to abbreviations used throughout the movie art industry.

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