Movie Posters Found Under Floor Net $219K at Heritage
A cache of rare movie posters that were found under a linoleum floor in York County, Pennsylvania sold for an impressive $219,000 in Heritage’s Vintage Poster Auction. The November 21-22, 2015 sale closed at a total of over $2 million, featuring Golden Age rarities from the Golden Age of film, and some never before seen pieces. Robert Basta, the owner of the posters, said that the sale would be put into his retirement fund.
“You always hear about these stories and I never believed it would happen to our family,” Basta said following the auction. “We are beyond thrilled with the results – we feel truly blessed.”
The stash of posters was found by Basta’s sons, Bob and Dylan, while they were removing linoleum during a renovation project. The discovery included the only known copies of five posters, which are true pieces of Hollywood history, according to Grey Smith, Director of Vintage Posters at Heritage.
The Tarzan The Ape Man style D one-sheet saw feverish bidding, selling for $83,650. The only known Any Old Port for the 1932 short starring Laurel and Hardy ended at $8,962, an only known Sporting Blood one-sheet featuring Clark Gable’s first starring role brought $2,987, the 1932 bad girl classic Red Headed Woman poster realized $77,675, and a Doctor X one-sheet reached $23,900.
“Collectors and historians didn’t even know some of these posters existed before this discovery,” Smith said. “Rare finds are still out there and you never know when a missing piece of history will be filed in.”
Outside of the Basta find, prewar releases did well, including an Italian Casablanca two-foglio which sold for $95,600, a Frankenstein window card closed at $89,625, and a Swedish oversized King Kong poster brought $31,070.
Additional highlights included an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Great Guns! one-sheet for the rare cartoon that ended at $37,045, The Batman studio-issued cloth banner realized $26,290, and a Little Rural Riding Hood one-sheet sold for $16,730.
Science fiction hits included a Creature From the Black Lagoon one-sheet which brought $21,510, a Things to Come one-sheet reached $20,315, and a Son of Kong three-sheet sold for $17,925.
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Movie Posters Found Under Floor Net $219K at Heritage
A cache of rare movie posters that were found under a linoleum floor in York County, Pennsylvania sold for an impressive $219,000 in Heritage’s Vintage Poster Auction. The November 21-22, 2015 sale closed at a total of over $2 million, featuring Golden Age rarities from the Golden Age of film, and some never before seen pieces. Robert Basta, the owner of the posters, said that the sale would be put into his retirement fund.
“You always hear about these stories and I never believed it would happen to our family,” Basta said following the auction. “We are beyond thrilled with the results – we feel truly blessed.”
The stash of posters was found by Basta’s sons, Bob and Dylan, while they were removing linoleum during a renovation project. The discovery included the only known copies of five posters, which are true pieces of Hollywood history, according to Grey Smith, Director of Vintage Posters at Heritage.
The Tarzan The Ape Man style D one-sheet saw feverish bidding, selling for $83,650. The only known Any Old Port for the 1932 short starring Laurel and Hardy ended at $8,962, an only known Sporting Blood one-sheet featuring Clark Gable’s first starring role brought $2,987, the 1932 bad girl classic Red Headed Woman poster realized $77,675, and a Doctor X one-sheet reached $23,900.
“Collectors and historians didn’t even know some of these posters existed before this discovery,” Smith said. “Rare finds are still out there and you never know when a missing piece of history will be filed in.”
Outside of the Basta find, prewar releases did well, including an Italian Casablanca two-foglio which sold for $95,600, a Frankenstein window card closed at $89,625, and a Swedish oversized King Kong poster brought $31,070.
Additional highlights included an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Great Guns! one-sheet for the rare cartoon that ended at $37,045, The Batman studio-issued cloth banner realized $26,290, and a Little Rural Riding Hood one-sheet sold for $16,730.
Science fiction hits included a Creature From the Black Lagoon one-sheet which brought $21,510, a Things to Come one-sheet reached $20,315, and a Son of Kong three-sheet sold for $17,925.
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