There seems to be quite a fascination these days, with old stuff. Or perhaps there always has been, but it was kind of tucked away in little niche corners, and unnoticed by the masses. Television shows like the Travelling Road Show, and the internet with its infinite collection of stuff on auction sites like eBay have brought the old stuff into the forefront. Or perhaps the least likely of contributing factors could just be, that I'm getting older and am starting to notice things of the same antiquity as myself. Naaah, it couldn't be that.
Irregardless, one of the more fascinating old type of stuff floating around these days, is rare movie posters. At least, I find these things fascinating, because I've always had an affection for movies and for posters. As a youngster, my bedroom walls were often adorned with all sorts of posters. From movies, to music, to favorite books, to strange abstract images.
Album art covers used to be an obsession of mine as well. I'd be afraid to admit, to how many albums I purchased in my teenage years based simply on the look of the artwork on the album cover. Sometimes, I'd never even heard the song before. The progression to tiny little CD covers certainly ruined that obsession, while the popularity of downloadable MP3s, has all but squashed it into dust.
Fortunately, though movie posters of all types are enjoying a bit of a resurgence these days. Driven partially, by the number of home theaters people are installing in their primary residences. Nothing like a few life sized framed movie posters from some abominable b-grade movie to create a real theater feeling in your home. Antique popcorn machines, and fully reclining lazy boy theater seating just isn't enough.
Truly original, and rare movie posters can be very expensive though. And difficult to find. Price is often driven up by a few factors. The most significant and obvious factor, would be the movie itself. While some of the lesser now B-grade horror and sci-fi flicks may have a very niche underground following, it's the really popular movies like Wizard of Oz that will drive up the price of their posters today.
Personally, I like the older sci-fi, and horror movie posters, but that's just the types of movies I would have been watching, if I'd had been a kid in those days. If I had to pick some favorites for my home theater walls though, it would be the movies Casablanca, Rocky (the first one), the original Star Wars, and The Natural.