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Where have all of the vintage Hollywood collectors gone?

One thing I've noticed recently on the board is that collectors of vintage/classic Hollywood seemed to be missing in action. Or maybe posts are not gaining traction and getting buried in discussions?  I do miss the sharing and opinioning of that kind of material. 

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on November 3, 2021 at 11:11am

Let's try to bring the temperature level down a bit, please.

Permalink Reply by David Lewis on November 3, 2021 at 2:14pm

Crazyrabbits23, How are you doing today. I am no fan of Arbuckle….I do not own one…..That being said….In my 40+ years of collecting I do not recall ever seeing a large format movie still ever sold. I did see a large format portrait photo of him sell in 2009 for $2231.00. Any portraits 8x10 and under have gone up in value…..a 2008 7x 8.5 portrait sold for $943, and a 2020 7.5x9.5 portrait sold for $1399….In September of this year a non TPA signature sold for $750….well above any of his signatures sold in the last 12 years at auction…just the facts...

Permalink Reply by Eddy on November 3, 2021 at 2:35pm

Years ago, there was a dealership that was snapping up any Fatty Arbuckle material that came to market.  I think they still have quite a bit in their inventory which may have kept Roscoe somewhat off the market in the years since they were actively buying.

Permalink Reply by Mike White on December 25, 2021 at 3:00am

"History for Sale" is an absolutely terrible, and I mean terrible, place to look for anything you want to buy.


The vast majority of their stock is so ridiculously overpriced that there's no point in looking at it for anything more than a laugh.

They had the audacity to come in here a few years ago to claim that they were adjusting their prices to be more in line with the market. When I pointed out that they had pictures for $100+ that were still available directly from the signer's website for around $20, they not only didn't bother responding, but they still haven't bothered adjusting the prices to better match market value like they claimed.

You can check it out for yourself.

COLONEL C. E. "BUD" ANDERSON - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSI...

Regular Price: $150

Sale Price: $144


Same 8x10 picture, directly from Bud Anderson himself:

$25

All that $1500 link tells me is that those pieces were never worth anywhere near $1500, because, if they were, History For Sale would be listing them at $5,000+.

Permalink Reply by Eddy on December 25, 2021 at 11:47am

I guess in fairness, the reality is that it would be a massive undertaking to adjust prices to reflect more realistic values. It would seem it would be a lot of study and research involved. 

Permalink Reply by David Lewis on December 25, 2021 at 12:13pm

Etienne, On this site is it about the ink or the money. Back in the day people would buy autographs and post them at 3 or 5 times the going value. Eventually the price caught up, and items were sold. Jealous much, hahahah. Sometimes little acorns grow up to become a business.

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 25, 2021 at 12:33pm

May all your acorns have great contrast, excellent condition and be on double weight matte gelatin silver photo stock with a photo studio stamp! :)

Permalink Reply by crazyrabbits23 on December 25, 2021 at 4:45pm

The market as a whole has softened due to portions of normalcy returning, but we're still far off pre-COVID levels. People seem to forget that we had two straight years of tens of billions in stimulus checks pumped into the economy and collecting becoming much easier in the hands of new collectors wanting to jump into the market.

There are also hordes of resellers and scalpers artificially running up prices on a number of items -- but that seems to have stalled out as well, as even a number of modern key collectibles have softened.

There will always be winners and losers in the market, even now, with some of the most hyped-up athletes utterly cratering and some of the most unexpected stars and players making unprecedented gains. There are also plenty of deals to be had, if you know where to look.

Permalink Reply by Eddy on December 25, 2021 at 7:13pm

All good insights, crazyrabbits23.  
I guess the original question that started this thread was not so much why aren't people buying but why aren't we even discussing Classic Hollywood much these days on this board.

Maybe there just aren't that many of us around with that interest these days.

Permalink Reply by Mike White on December 25, 2021 at 5:37pm

I don't disagree, if not for the part where they came onto this board and explicitly claimed that they were doing just that.

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 25, 2021 at 12:05pm

IMO it is my job to know what tp spend, to know the secretraials and so on. Otherwise I am buying a list of names. HD have been fine dealers to work with, in my experience. As they say "make an offer". Many of my finest items come from them. I find them fair and reasonable to work with. Russell is a very nice guy.

Permalink Reply by Eddy on December 25, 2021 at 12:23pm

Eric -  I certainly respect your thoughts on this.  You are absolutely correct when you say it is your job as a collector to know what to spend, how to weed out the secretarials/forgeries, etc.  

The other side of that coin is that you are indeed a seasoned collector.  However, many people do not know how to go about doing their own authentication work.  As far as prices, it seems more straightforward to work with a dealer who's transparent and lays out their best price so we can go from there.

Having said that (and as you know) I've also acquired some great things from them.  But I also like to think I'm somewhat adept at the things you mention.  

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