eMoviePoster.com

NOTE: This article was written on March 30, 2014 and refers to our April Major Auction in 2014, but of course, the information remains true to this day!

Part I and Part II of our April Major Auction together contain ONE THOUSAND professionally linenbacked posters. Just about every collector of "older" posters knows that a large majority of those that survive have been professionally linenbacked and restored, because those posters were not only printed on an inexpensive paper stock, but they were also used in theaters, so most have pinholes or tape stains, and many have tears, tape repairs, etc. And even the best condition ones often have foldlines (almost all older one-sheets, three-sheets and six-sheets were folded before being distributed, and those foldlines are distracting, even in a nice condition poster.

So most collectors get these posters professionally linenbacked, and they are also restored during as part of the backing process (although some collectors prefer to simply back the posters and have NO restoration performed, and because this was more common in Europe than in the U.S., this is often referred to as being "in the European style").

When a poster has been well backed and restored, the difference can be night and day! All the unsightly defects vanish, and the poster now looks close to how it did when it was first created, and can be more fully enjoyed while it is displayed. Linenbacked posters are far easier to frame. An unbacked poster must be either "floated" in a frame, or carefully attached with conservation tape, whereas a linenbacked posters can simply be taped on the back of the excess linen, with zero chance of harming the poster. Linenbacked posters are also far easier to transport, as they are far less fragile than unbacked ones.

But this process is fairly expensive. Most top restorers charge around $125 to linenback a one-sheet that is in nice condition, and one that has restoration needs can often run $175 to $250, and even more for more serious defects. Larger or smaller posters cost more or less, depending on their size. So most people will only linenback a poster that is worth a few hundred dollars or more, although many others will linenback a less valuable poster, simply because they want to display it at its best and don't care if they are "losing" some money backing it.

BUT YOU CAN SAVE A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF MONEY WHEN YOU PURCHASE A POSTER THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN BACKED! Why? Because people tend to somewhat disregard the cost of backing when bidding on such posters. If a one-sheet poster usually sells for around $300 unbacked, then it might sell for $350 linenbacked, even though the earlier owner may have paid $200 to have it backed!

This is especially true with less expensive posters. EVERY time we auction linenbacked posters, we have LOTS of them that end up auctioning for LESS THAN THE COST OF LINENBACKING ALONE! Sometimes you can even buy linenbacked one-sheets for just $20 or $30! So if you like great deals, be sure to check out the ONE THOUSAND professionally linenbacked posters in Part I and Part II of our April Major Auction!

This can be even MORE true with linenbacked larger posters! Part III of our April Major Auction contains around 150 linenbacked three-sheets, Italian one- and two- panels, French one-panels, and other large sizes, and almost all of these were backed at a cost of $250 or more each, and yet some of them will sell for $25 to $50, a massive savings off of the linenbacking alone!

But when buying linenbacked posters, you always need to be careful that the seller or auctioneer is being 100% truthful about the amount of restoration a poster has had. We at eMoviePoster.com ALWAYS give a thorough description of the "pre-restoration" defects a poster has had, so you can bid knowing full well that what you receive will match what you saw, and that the poster did not have more restoration than what was described.

MANY OF THE BEST DEALS OF ALL THE POSTERS WE AUCTION EACH YEAR ARE THE LINENBACKED POSTERS WE AUCTION IN OUR MAJOR AUCTIONS!