Posters & Stuff

 

The posters for the early Hammer Horrors are some of the most popular British posters. Any time that posters start moving out of reach of the average collector, it's only a matter of time before reprints and reproductions are introduced.

Here is the original information that we had received:

"Full size reproductions of Hammer's legendary posters. Each poster comes in a heavy duty black glossy tube. Postage and packing is FREE anywhere in the world."

"The posters are litho printed in the UK on 170gsm paper. Each title in the series has been scanned from an original poster at a very high resolution. They are then digitally restored. All the creases and fold marks are removed along with any pin holes, tears, dirty marks, etc.. This restoration process takes several days to complete, but once done the poster artwork is the same as when it was originally printed. The posters are fully licensed by Hammer Film Productions Ltd and each restored poster has been approved by Hammer Films."

"There will be 12 posters in the first series, 1 per month, starting with The Curse Of Frankenstein to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year and ending with Dracula in its 50th anniversary year 2008. These posters are available to buy individually, or there is a subscription offer with a free double bill Hammer quad for all subscribers and a specially designed box will be available to purchase which will be able to hold all 12 poster tubes."

When we heard that Hammer Horror reproduction quads were being issued, we wanted to call and get the details first hand... So I contacted Steve at PostersandStuff.co.uk to find out the actual details. Here is Steve's initial response:

"The original idea for the reproductions came from the fact that I collect Hammer quad posters and found that they were becoming more and more expensive and less and less easy to find. When I realised that the ones I had left to collect were really expensive and virtually impossible to find anyway, I thought of trying to make reproductions. I thought this was such a good idea that I approached Hammer to get the license to reproduce a series of 12 posters back in March. I prepared a few samples to show Hammer and they were delighted with the quality and granted me a license straight away. In the initial discussions I suggested putting the 2007 Hammer Copywrite onto the posters but was told that I should have the image on the poster as close to the original as possible."

"Then I had the challenge of finding someone who could print to the old quad size, in addition to this I didn't want cheap digital prints I wanted Lithographic printing as I know this is the best way to print this size poster. I then chose to use 170gsm paper to give it a substantial 'feel' but still be able to roll the poster. Once we decided on the paper, we didn't want just any packaging and finally decided on heavy duty glossy black tubes, suitable to withstand the postal service. To finish off the tubes, there are full colour glossy labels of the posters on the front. Then, being a collector myself and realising the advantage of having something to store your collection in, I designed a purpose built box to hold the 12 posters in the series. It is glossy black to match the tube and has a full colour original montage of Hammer creatures on the front."

"The main differences between these replicas and the originals is the paper quality. The paper we use is much heavier and has a different finish to the original paper. If this paper is folded, due to the difference in the modern print technologies and the difference in inks to the originals, the new ones the ink tends to flake off if the posters are creased to replicate the original folds. This way, it allows people who have the rare, expensive, original quads, to be able to handle and display these replicas and people who cannot find or afford these originals, can now own a replica that is as near to the original as can be.

I've attached a photograph of The Curse of Frankenstein poster with the tube and a photograph of the display box with 12 posters in it."

I was concerned with the posters being made identical to the originals, even down to the original printer tag, and the studio insisting that it be that way. My question was then... is there a way to put a stamp with your contact information on it.. in ink to at least mark the BACK side? At LEAST, if someone was trying to pass these off as originals, that they would have to cover or remove the stamp and linenback the poster. Steve's response was:

"I've been thinking how to put some sort of 'mark' on the posters without affecting the image and I think you have it with the stamp on the back of the poster. I can get a stamp made with the company logo and our website address and stamp it on all the posters. Obviously all the ones sold so far won't have it but any sold from now on will. Brilliant idea."

The stamp that will be on the back is shown on the right.

When asked about which posters were being reprinted, I was told that the clean up was still in process but sent this list:

The titles of the first 5 are:

The Curse of Frankenstein, Countess Dracula, Vampire Circus, Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, Twins of Evil.

We are giving a FREE quad to subscribers, and this one is ready to send to you. It is The Mummy/Curse of Frankenstein double bill.

The others cleaned up ready but not in the series are The Phantom of the Opera, Evil of Frankenstein and Quatermass and the Pit

Steve was kind enough to send over the images of these posters. I have already put them into the archive and marked them as a 2007 Special Issue until we can determine more what category they would fall under. Steve is suppose to send over more information on how many have been sold without the stamp and more printing information... As soon as we receive it, I will include it in the writeup in our archive.

Summary

High quality reproductions have been a benefit to the hobby as long as they are marked, like the S2 Art prints, or Jeff Kilians Star Wars Anniversary Posters or the Film Prints issues. These are at least blatantly marked to make it easy for a younger collector to be able to tell.

The other end of the spectrum is the unmarked high quality reproductions, such as the Bond restrikes, which have become a nightmare for the hobby... At least with the stamp on the back of the poster, these Hammer Quads will undoubtedly be somewhere in the middle.. The stamp will at least be a mark for collectors and honest dealers. But as we all know, there are enough dishonest dealers in the hobby that these will DEFINITELY become a problem 5 or 10 years down the road when the paper has enough wear to give it that older look. I'm sure that it will eventually have a negative effect on the value.

We will try to document as much information as possible for future references.