What are presskits?
     Presskits came into existence sometime in the 1960s, primarily as a replacement for pressbooks (although there was a period of several years when both were made for most films). Basically, theaters started running fewer and fewer newspaper ads, and switched to newspaper and radio advertising, and so pressbooks became pretty superfluous. The studios would prepare a presskit which was a cardboard folder with two pockets within it. Usually the outside of the folder had the title of the film and sometimes an illustration. Inside of one pocket would be a set of 20 or so 8" x 10" stills from the film and in the other pocket were 10 or more supplements (on inexpensive copy paper), which described the film and the actors (basically the type of text material that used to be in pressbooks). Sometimes collectors would buy presskits and sell some or all of the stills individually to other collectors. It is rare to find a presskit with most or all of its original stills and most or all of its original supplements. For each presskit we offer, we note how many stills it contains and how many supplements.

A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT THE AMAZING COLLECTION OF 7,308 VINTAGE STILLS IN 999 LOTS WE ARE CURRENTLY AUCTIONING:
    Over the past several years, we have been consigned several major collections of vintage stills, and, given that there are so many dealers who sell reproductions for more than many of our original vintage stills auction for, this is a great opportunity to add vintage stills to your collection, since all of these stills are being sold with no reserve with an opening bid of just $1 (per lot, NOT per still!). This means you could theoretically purchase a lot of 8, 12, or even more stills for just a few cents each (and while we do not think that could happen, you may well see some of these lots selling for just pennies per still, and probably a fair number of them will sell for under one dollar per still, even though many of them are in pristine condition!).
    IMPORTANT! FOR THE LOTS THAT CONTAIN COLOR STILLS, MINI LCs, GROUPS OF STILLS ON A SINGLE STAR, OR ENGLISH FRONT OF HOUSE LCs, WE PICTURE EVERY ONE OF THE STILLS IN THAT LOT.  BUT FOR THE LOTS THAT CONTAIN NINE OR MORE BLACK AND WHITE STILLS FROM A SPECIFIC MOVIE, THEN, FOR THOSE LOTS ONLY, ONLY EIGHT OF THE STILLS ARE PICTURED! THE HIGH BIDDER ON EACH BLACK & WHITE LOT THAT CONTAINS MORE THAN EIGHT STILLS WILL RECEIVE THE NUMBER OF STILLS LISTED ON THE AUCTION, and NOT just the eight pictured! We realize there is an element of gambling to this (because you are only seeing eight images, and are not seeing the other images), but we made only a small effort to find the best eight stills in these lots, and, if you have any willingness to gamble at all, you may find that you get some great stills that were not pictured! Please do NOT bid on these lots which don't picture all of the stills unless you can accept that you are only seeing eight of the total number of stills offered (each lot clearly states how many stills are contained in it).
    IMPORTANT!  Some of the still lots from "newer" (post-1960) movies, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT HAVE 9 OR MORE STILLS IN THEM, may contain a few duplicated stills.  We only picture eight of the stills, so realize that on some of these post-1960 lots with 9 or more stills there may be a few duplicates, SO PLEASE BEAR THIS IN MIND BEFORE PLACING A BID ON THOSE LOTS (this does not apply to pre-1960 lots).
    Note that we can't make an exception "just for you" on these lots and find a specific lot and photograph or describe the stills currently not pictured, BECAUSE WE CANNOT DO THAT FOR ANYONE! All of the still lots are completely sealed and ready for mailing. We could never auction 7,300+ stills in a single day without doing it the way we are doing, and we ask you to be understanding of that, or to not bid on them.
    IN THE PAST, WHEN WE HAVE SOLD GREAT STILL LOTS LIKE IN THIS SET OF AUCTIONS, AFTER THE AUCTIONS CLOSED WE RECEIVED LOTS OF E-MAILS FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE SORRY THEY HAD NOT BID HIGHER ON ONE OR MORE OF THE LOTS (and likely are kicking themselves over some of the lots that they missed out on!).

A special note about the shipping of the presskits in this set of auctions
     We are auctioning both sets of stills and presskits that contain sets of stills. Because the presskits are larger than the stills, we need to charge $11 U.S. shipping for orders that include presskits (orders that solely include sets of stills are charged $7 U.S. shipping).

About the originality of these stills
    WE GUARANTEE THAT EVERY STILL IN THIS AUCTION IS ORIGINAL (just like the ones we sold in our earlier weeks of still auctions)! Why?  Because these stills are from several remarkable collections, which were purchased by VERY knowledgeable collectors, who could tell original stills from repros, reissues, or restrikes and it only contains original stills, and YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT!  We know you will agree these are surely original stills, but if you have the slightest doubt, you can return ANY still within one week for a no questions asked refund!

About the condition
    We give a detailed overall condition grade ("fine", "very good to fine", "very good", "good to very good", and only a few which are less than "good to very good") along with more details about the condition described in words (where we thought additional details were needed, because the defects were hard to see).  We felt this would help bidders identify items they want to bid on more easily.  Of course, we could not describe every single defect, so we still strongly recommend that you look at our super-sized image to see the extent of the defects that we describe and to examine the still for minor defects that we did NOT describe.

About surface scuffs and creasing
    As anyone who looks at old photos knows, twenty to eighty year old photos are almost certain to pick up faint scuffs and creases in the surface emulsion of the photo. Vintage stills are the same way. But when these creases and scuffs are light, you can't see them when you look directly at the still from straight on, but you CAN see them when you tilt the still to the light. We don't consider this a major defect, because we don't know anyone who displays their stills tilted to the light. So if a still has minor scuffs and creases that are not very visible when it is viewed straight on, we still grade it as "very good or very good to fine" (or a higher grade). The only exception to this is if there are scuffs and creases throughout the entire still. Then we grade it as "lesser" (or a lower grade), even if the scuffs and creases are not visible when looked at straight on. We DO feel most collectors can accept minor surface scuffs and creases that can hardly be seen from straight on and are relatively minor. If you disagree, you probably should think long and hard before bidding on the stills that we grade as "lesser", or "very good or very good to fine" (but you still likely will be happy with the stills we grade as "fine or better", because we won't give a still those grades if there are scuffs in the surface emulsion that are at all visible when the still is viewed head-on).

     MANY OTHER SELLERS WOULD ASK $4.99, $6.99, $9.99, OR MORE EACH FOR REPRODUCTIONS OF STILLS THE SAME OR SIMILAR TO THESE, AND MOST OTHER SELLERS START SIMILAR ORIGINAL VINTAGE STILLS AT $14.99 OR MORE EACH but you may be able to buy one or more stills from us this week for as low as $1 PER STILL (if you are the only bidder, but of course, there may well be other bidders; IN OUR AUCTIONS, THE FINAL PRICES ARE ALWAYS SET BY TWO REAL BIDDERS, NOT BY YOU BIDDING AGAINST AN ARTIFICIAL RESERVE, "STARTING PRICE", or a "HOUSE BIDDER", who seems to have a spooky ability to always bid just under your bid!). And these are vintage stills, which have collectible value, as opposed to reproduction stills, which have NO collectible value.

U.S. buyers need to enclose $7 or $11 shipping (which includes full insurance), no matter how many items you purchase from this set of auctions (NOTE: The presskits ship for $11 and each is noted on the auction page for those items)! NOTE: Our $7 or $11 flat rate shipping is good for three weeks. If you haven't paid within three weeks, you will then be quoted the actual cost of shipping when you request it.
     Missouri customers: You must pay an additional 7.162% sales tax on your purchases.  If your order is sent within the state of Missouri, we MUST collect this tax (if it is shipped to another state, we do not collect the tax).

Will your order be shipped to you by UPS?
     UPS does NOT automatically require a signature to deliver packages, so if you want the signature to be required, you will need to pay the extra $3.00 UPS charges for "signature required" Delivery Confirmation, and please realize that they will then NOT leave the package, and you may well have to go to the UPS facility yourself to pick it up.  But if you prefer this, that is fine, and if you have any other special requirements, please tell us when you are paying for your order.  IF YOU DO NOT SPECIFY THAT YOU WANT SIGNATURE REQUIRED, THEN YOUR PACKAGE WILL BE SENT WITHOUT SIGNATURE REQUIRED!

You CAN usually combine shipment!

NOTE: These Sunday items need to be sent in flat packages so... IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT COMBINING: Flat rate shipping is good for 3 weeks worth of purchases. If you win items over a span of more than 21 days, you will then be charged the actual cost of shipping plus $3 for packing materials. *they can be combined with these auctions (NOTE: In the event you win items of two different shipping rates [such as $7 and $11], you will pay the higher of the two; rates noted below): Thursday September 12th single lobby cards ($11) Thursday September 19th vintage 8" x 10" stills in lots of 2 or more Tuesday September 24th folded one-sheets ($11) Sunday September 29th vintage single 8" x 10" stills Tuesday October 1st window cards, pressbooks, & misc. oversized items ($15) Sunday October 6th programs (many German + more) & pressbooks ($11) Tuesday October 8th folded one-sheets ($11) Thursday October 10th French & Italian posters ($15) *they must be sent separately from these auctions for an additional shipping charge: Sunday September 15th rolled one-sheets Tuesday September 17th rolled non-U.S. posters Sunday September 22nd bulk lots Thursday September 26th inserts & half-sheets Thursday October 3rd rolled one-sheets

Note that we not only allow you to combine as many items as you want from a single set of Tuesday, Thursday, and/or Sunday auctions, and still pay only a single shipping charge for all of the items, but we also allow you to wait until the next three weeks of auctions end (a total of up to eight sets of auctions) so that you can combine your current purchases with those of our following auctions (if possible), and that means there is a chance you could combine items from up to eight of our sets of auctions, and still pay only a single shipping charge (assuming those items fit into the same type of package, but of course, there is a limit to how many items can fit in a single package or tube, and if you end up with several packages, you will need to pay that many shipping charges). We KNOW there are other sellers who charge a little less on shipping than we do, but we know that our packaging is the best there is, and our orders virtually never arrive damaged (and on the very rare times that they do, all our U.S. packages are fully insured, and FULL INSURANCE IS INCLUDED IN THE U.S. SHIPPING CHARGE).

DON'T BID ON OUR ITEMS UNLESS YOU WILL PAY THE $7 OR $11 U.S. SHIPPING!

Non-U.S. buyers must pay the actual cost of shipping their order (you can choose whatever method you prefer), plus $3, for both the best packaging materials you have ever seen and a separate printed invoice mailed to you.  All non-U.S. buyers must tell us if they want the package sent insured or uninsured at the time they pay for their order.

For Canada/Mexico, we estimate the "actual cost of shipping" to be approximately $15/$20 for First Class or $32 to $37 for Priority Mail for up to 20 stills. NOTE: This estimate is only good if you solely purchase still lots. If you also purchase other types of items, you will be charged the actual cost of shipping which will be higher, because most other items measure larger than the stills (and usually they weigh more).

For everywhere else in the world, we estimate the "actual cost of shipping" to be approximately $21 for First Class or $44 to $47 for Priority Mail for up to 20 stills. NOTE: This estimate is only good if you solely purchase still lots. If you also purchase other types of items, you will be charged the actual cost of shipping which will be higher, because most other items measure larger than the stills (and usually they weigh more).

Have you heard about our Pay and Hold Program?
This lets non-U.S. buyers pay for their purchases from 6 consecutive weeks (a total of 15 auctions and around 12,000+ items!), and we then send all your purchases at once saving you LOTS of money!  Click HERE to learn more (if you are not one of the hundreds of our non-U.S. buyers who are already part of this program)

Learn more about how to save money on shipping by shipping to friends/family in the U.S., insurance, and customs fees.

DON'T BID ON OUR ITEMS UNLESS YOU WILL PAY THE ACTUAL COST OF SHIPPING (the actual cost of shipping plus $3 outside the U.S.)!