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Are posters worth more if they’ve never been opened?
I have a particularly rare stone of a pilots poster from 1995, this poster has never been opened. Just curious if I should leave it or if it wouldn’t affect the value, if I opened it.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joe Ervin
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I have rarely seen this poster, unraveled it has sold online for an increasingly larger amount each time, the latest online sale I witnessed was last year when this poster sold for about $185, it was In a cheap frame, but I’m curious if mine might be fetch a bit more considering it has never been opened. I do have it in a protective sleeve as well.
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Sorry if I am not using this platform correctly, I’m new here and still learing.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin
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You posted in the right place. Yes, posters are generally worth more when sealed with the tag.
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Permalink Reply by Rich
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I don’t gather that keeping posters unrolled/sealed is really a thing collectors opt for as opposed to say keeping a collectible toy in the packaging, or even vinyl in the shrink wrap. Also keep in mind that many (most?) posters aren’t really packaged that way, at least not anymore. I’ve purchased my share of posters in the past, and I don’t recall any of them arriving that way. I’d think that anyone purchasing might want to see what the actual poster looks like unrolled - 30 years is an awfully long time to have it stored like this.
if there are any poster collectors out there with different takes, I’m also curious.
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Posters have always come that way, as long as I can remember for the last 40 years from record stores, to movie rental stores, to Walmart or Kmart or any department store for that matter but thank you for your thoughts.
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You know what, you’re right. I was thinking entirely in terms of signed posters, artist merchandise, limited edition prints, etc. The ones that stores have sold (I.e. under those flip racks, intended to be pinned up in bedrooms, dorms etc) for decades always have had that shrink wrap.
That being said, I would think that some of my other concerns may still be valid. Is there any possibility of something like humidity damage that might be hard to id and assess without opening and unrolling it? On the other hand, those types of posters do crease quite easily, so maybe keeping them like that to ensure it’s mint with no handling damage could possibly be the right call.
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Well, I do know that only one poster was ever printed for the band with flamingos on it and it is a rather rare poster considering not many were printed. One would also hope that with the sleeve in tact with no rips or tears that humidity would not be a factor, this isn’t just an average poster, it is a collectors poster and even though you can’t physically see the poster, the person that is going to buy it will know what looks like and I feel as though it does make it more valuable if it’s never been touched by anyone. Let me ask you this, if you where someone that was shopping for a 1984 Voltron Panosh Place WEP you will find a market flooded with them in various conditions, scratched, faded, missing parts, with prices ranging from $85-$350. And then you come across one that is still sealed in its original box, never opened in a protective sleeve, if it meant putting off acquiring your next collectible for a few months would you pull the trigger on the $1,200 toy or the one scratched up.
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