Heritage Auction Galleries’ recent auction of Vintage Movie Posters set a new world record with prices realized of $2,663,774 for 1,335 lots sold, shattering the old record of $2,147,623, set by Heritage in July of this year. After auction sales are still ongoing, and are expected to push the final total to even higher levels.

“It’s very gratifying to see the incredible robustness of this hobby,” said Grey Smith, Director of Vintage Movie Posters for Heritage. “Bidders responded to the high level of rarity and quality offered in this auction, and competed aggressively for the pieces they wanted. There was quite a lot of activity on the floor, as well as on the phones and over the Internet, particularly on our new live bidding system, Heritage Live, through which bidders can follow the auction and bid in real time, via streaming audio and video.”

“Of course, the star of the show was the unique Style D Bride of Frankenstein one sheet,” Smith said. “We knew this was going to be hotly contested, and we were not disappointed. There were a number of people competing for this incredible treasure, but at the end of the day, one person walked away with one of the most exceptional pieces in the whole hobby for $334,600. It was thrilling to watch the bidding happen, and I’m sure the purchaser is going to be very happy with this gorgeous piece.”

“Classic horror was strong throughout,” said Smith, with strong prices realized for such desirable pieces as the Son of Frankenstein half sheet, which brought $89,625, and the Dracula title card, which realized an astounding $65,725, easily setting a new record for the sale of a single lobby card (the previous record was set by Heritage in November 2004 when a Bride of Frankenstein title card sold for $46,000).”

“Of course, all the big results weren’t for horror titles,” Smith said. “A very rare one sheet for Baby Face brought $71,700, the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 40″ x 60″ fetched $65,725, and the three sheet to Mary Pickford’s The Pride of the Clan brought $53,775, more than tripling our pre-auction high estimate. Additionally, a one sheet for the classic noir film This Gun for Hire blew away all expectations when it sold for the unheard of price of $47,800.”

“Without a doubt, this was an exceptionally strong auction,” said Smith. “Now that it’s over, we’re hard at work preparing our next auction for the Spring of 2008. All those interested can watch the auction grow by visiting our website at www.HA.com, where they’ll see full-color, enlargeable images of each and every lot, along with our thorough and complete catalog descriptions. As the auction draws nearer, they’ll even be able to place their bids online.”

Heritage Auction Galleries’ next Vintage Movie Poster Auction will be held March 14 & 15, 2008 in Dallas, Texas. For more information, please visit
www.HA.com/MoviePosters.

Posted: 01|5|08 at 11:19 am. Filed under: US News.