Movie Memorabilia Collector
Insider Info
Sometime this year it will happen. One movie will capture the attention
of the public. People will be lining up to buy tickets and scooping up related
items. Avatar did it in 2009 -- the film raked in $75.6 million in ticket
sales during its opening weekend alone in the United States. In its first
four months those numbers shot up to over $2.7 billion worldwide.
Memorabilia collectors keep old movies alive. They search out, collect,
preserve and share posters, photographs, merchandise, scripts, props and background
decorations.
Don Smith has been a collector since he was a kid. Now, he owns a business
specializing in Marilyn Monroe items. "When I started collecting, it wasn't
cool to collect Marilyn Monroe. I was a closet collector," he remembers.
How times have changed! Today, Smith sells his collectibles with pride
and continually upgrades his knowledge of Monroe memorabilia. "If you have
an interest, you're going to learn. And if you learn, you're going to teach
others," he says.
Collectors may pursue clothing, wigs and masks worn in a film, or related
cups or T-shirts. Furniture that once decorated movie sets now decorates the
living rooms of some collectors. And smaller items, such as a cel -- a single
frame of animated film -- can be just as valuable.
Carole Sampeck collects autographs. She started as a child -- her father
was a prominent medical practitioner with well-known patients, like Charlie
Pride. Sampeck thought she'd use her paternal connections to get some autographs.
"When I grew up and actually had money, it went a little further than that!"
laughs Sampeck.
One of the dangers of collecting, warns Sampeck, is phony merchandise and
forged signatures.
Meanwhile, she's learned how to avoid getting duped. "We have to know exactly
where it came from, exactly who signed it and when and how. Mostly we're doing
contracts and signed checks because it's almost impossible to get stumped
on those things."
Collecting memorabilia isn't limited to the big screen. Television shows
can become hot commodities at trade shows.
And despite the rise of the Internet in selling movie-related merchandise,
shows are still the place to go -- especially so collectors can get to do
a hands-on inspection for authenticity.
Getting Started
According to George Weinpold, co-owner of a collectibles business, the
best way to get started is to eat, breathe and sleep movies. Watch them, read
about them and learn everything you can.
"You've got to really know what you're talking about. People who just do
it for the money or because they have nothing better to do are probably going
to sell out because their heart's not in it."
According to Weinpold, collecting seems to be a male-dominated hobby.
And he's got a theory as to why this is the case. "Men are collectors in
general....The majority of women are thrower-outers. How many times have you
gone through a guy's garage and he's got stuff from 12 years ago?"
Weinpold would love to figure out what kinds of collectibles women would
go crazy about. "I would love to see more women in the hobby!"
Links
MovieProp.com
Links to celebrity items and movie memorabilia
The Numbers
Find out which movies are lighting up the box office
The Internet Movie Database
Online database for movie, television and entertainment information
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