One of the trends in the art market in recent years has involved the sale of movie memorabilia. There has been an increase in the number and size of such sales and considerable inflation in the prices paid for such goods as movie posters, lobby cards, props, costumes, and other movie-associated items. Goods associated with certain movies or certain stars command higher prices, and there are a number of specialty markets for goods in certain genres (Westerns, Science Fiction, Horror) as well as for more general goods. One of the things that first spurred this market was the decision on the part of some Hollywood studios to divest themselves of warehouses full of material that they no longer used and that were costing them for storage, thus putting more and more goods on the market and increasing interest on the part of the public. The market has accelerated. In the past, considerable time might pass before props and costumes would become very valuable, while today a hit movie can produce considerable interest within a short period of time.
Entertainment collectibles, as they are called, have a value range from low to very high, depending on the film involved, the time that has passed, and the quality and preservation of the items themselves. These types of items are sold by dealers in entertainment memorabilia, general collectible shows, private collectors, and through auction houses. The field itself is enormous and encompasses everything from tickets to vaudeville acts to the costumes of contemporary stars. The Hollywood division of collectibles covers the period from silent film to the present, and the areas of movie memorabilia are movie posters, paper ephemera, props/costumes, and star or movie-type collectibles (Hughes 160-161).
Posters in particular have shown considerable growth and price increase in recent years. Posters from the past are especially valuable because the craze for collecting them is so new -- in t...