BETTER THAN THE MOVIE, PT. 3

The day I never saw coming finally came. After selling off the A-list of my movie poster collection in 2013 to fellow Emerson College alum Sam Sarowitz of Posteriati, I did the same with the B-list last week.

One-sheets, half-sheets, inserts, and a lone three-sheet -- gone in as much time as it took to ride the Q train to Canal Street. Whatever melancholy I might have felt dissipated the moment I deposited Sam's check. It wasn't nearly as big a sale as the A-list, but considering I was expecting a horse-laugh as payment, I did pretty well.

What remain in my possession are roughly a dozen others I have a weird emotional connection to. Movies with titles like Two-Dollar Bettor, The Case of the Babysitter, Today I Hang, and The Magic Face. Tag line for the latter: SEE HITLER KILLED IN SHAME MURDER AFTER WILD WINE PARTY!, along with a promise of $10,000 from Columbia Pictures if you can prove it didn't happen. Something tells me they still have that ten grand lying around in a desk.

I kept a few others that were in such appalling condition -- they'd fall apart if you stared at them too long -- that I was ashamed to even try to sell them.

And yet, I can't just throw them out. After all, I paid for these things, even if those I bought at the legendary Forrest J. Ackerman auction set me back only 15 bucks each when the expected selling price was $150-$200. I kick myself now for realizing I could have gotten a three-sheet of Transatlantic Tunnel for under $275. 

One of the hallmarks of auctions was the crowd applauding buyers who spent thousands of dollars for a poster, while silence greeted my bargain hunting. It made no sense to me then, and continues not to today. The only thing I can compare it to is how the audience goes wild when a contestant says, "Let's make it a true daily double, Alex."

I took photos of the posters I wanted to unload so Sam could see my collection via email. That way, we'd both be saved the embarrassment of a fruitless meeting. If only certain dates during my single days could have been so well planned.

It also gave me the time to ask myself, Why did I spend all this money on this stuff? Before I was married, I hung up plenty of them in my previous apartments, making it look like I lived in a B-movie theater. People would come over and either gape or try to ignore them. I honestly never understood why they weren't impressed by my stash. 

Back then, my motto was Quantity, Not Quality. For what I spent on ten or twelve cheesy movies, I could have gotten a Charlie Chan or Sherlock Holmes -- titles that have exploded in value over the years. Hell, I could have been buying Wheeler & Woolsey posters before they started going for four figures.

Instead, I went the B route, and continued to for the rest of my collecting days. Much of what I prized would be considered tasteless now, which almost makes up for what I missed out on.

Still, the question returned: Why did I buy this stuff if most of it has remained in a box for the last 30 years? Because, as my wife suggested, it was fun. Good enough. 

I'm glad I took the photos, just to remind myself what I used to own. In a piece for Next Avenue, I wrote about the agony and ecstasy of selling most of my vinyl record collection, particularly the UK import 45s of the 1980s. Both then and now I experienced the same feeling: Five minutes after selling the stuff I had never dreamed of parting with, I couldn't remember more than one or two titles. Shows you how much they really meant to me -- particularly after receiving the money.

Which brings me to a second happy ending. A few hours after arriving home, I heard from Sam. After looking over my collection a second time, he was sending me another check.

Sam didn't have to do that -- I never would have known the posters were worth more than he initially thought -- yet he did anyway. What do you call a businessman like that? Honest? Magnanimous? Or just an all-around swell fellow?

Doesn't matter -- I'm just glad someone finally appreciated my haul. Now if only Sam can do the same.

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Part one of Better Than The Movie can be found here.

Part two can be found here.