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Posters from The Phantom of the Opera, The Mummy, and The Wolf $15,000, the vibrantly colorful circus-style Dumbo poster sells for
Man can also realize six figures. Not to be outdone, MGM’s London $9,000, and a motley party gathers on the Alice in Wonderland poster
After Midnight poster exceeded $475,000 nearly a decade ago, and that averages $5,000.
RKO’s King Kong three-sheet has sold for nearly $340,000. One of the great things about collecting Disney is that opportunities
Universal monster movie posters routinely outsell other posters of the can be found in any price range. Posters for other classics like Sleeping
same era, and the trend continues when later horror posters are compared Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and The Jungle Book sell in the range of
to their contemporaries. Horror movie posters typically feature artwork $750-$2,000. Fans of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast,
that is frightening, even shocking, producing an authentic visceral Aladdin, and Lion King, aka the Disney Renaissance, can find those
response from viewers that is not replicated by other genres. This is posters for $80-$300, and more modern entries like Moana and Frozen
rue for famous franchises like sell for around $40-$100.
Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A
Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as The Comedy
lesser-known movies such as The Posters featuring iconic comedy
Burning and Trick or Treat. teams mirror the lightness of their

films. The chemistry of Laurel and
The Wholesome Hardy, caricatures of the Marx
For comparison’s sake, in 1978 Brothers, knucklehead antics of the
Grease was the highest-grossing Three Stooges, and circus art of
movie of the year, and its one- Abbott and Costello instigate
sheets featuring stars John Travolta laughs. Some of their top sellers are
and Olivia Newton-John now go the Duck Soup three-sheet which
for around $400. While the one- can fetch $115,000, and one-
sheets for Halloween depicting a sheets for Another Fine Mess,
menacing jack-o’lantern and knife, Playing the Ponies, and Abbott and
which also came out that year, are Costello Meet Frankenstein which
selling for $1,200. Similarly, in ’96 can sell for $10,000-$45,000.
Independence Day was the highest
grosser, with one-sheets of the alien Marilyn
ship destroying the White House For a more feminine approach
now averaging $30. Scream posters to poster collecting, look no
with a closeup of Drew Barrymore’s From Russia with Love quad (photo courtesy Heritage Auctions) further than Marilyn Monroe.
terrified face are up to $140. One of the most popular actresses
On the family-friendly side, collectors can turn to the wonderful of all time, the blond bombshell shines bright on any of her posters. She
world of Disney. Mickey Mouse is always a big seller, including the looks sexy on The Seven Year Itch, glamorous on Gentlemen Prefer
stock poster with a casual portrait of the Disney mascot selling for Blondes, feisty on Some Like It Hot, confident on How to Marry a
$20,000. The posters for his 1930s movies are particularly popular, Millionaire, and like a femme fatale on Niagara. The posters from her
such as Society Dog Show, The Barn Dance, and Alpine Climbers, which most popular movies routinely sell for $2,000-5,000.
average $15,000, and Whoopee Party, Wayward Canary, and Mickey’s
Pal Pluto have sold for nearly $50,000. The classic Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs poster by artist Gustaf Tenggren reaches $20,000, The Franchises
Pinocchio appears at his happy-go-lucky best on his posters that realize As far as movie franchises go, Star Wars rules the galaxy in poster
collecting. Teasers, advances, different styles per film, anniversary

Mickey Mouse stock poster (photo courtesy Heritage Auctions) My Fair Lady one-sheet (photo courtesy Heritage Auctions) Star Wars Triple Bill one-sheet
(photo courtesy Paul Wilson/StarWarsMoviePoster.com)
26 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles