Tweet Stills Collecting

If I want to start a collection of stills, I need to know a few things. Such as where's the best place/second best place to find them, and what's a fair price? I realize certain stars and larger size prints would carry a premium, but a ballpark figure for 8x10s would do. Mostly I'm looking towards mid-late silent and early sound era.

I'd really appreciate any guidance here!

For me, one of the best places to buy stills is ebay, because you can find things on just about anything or any body, with original material or copy prints, it depends on what you're looking for Usually they have good prices. There are places like Eddie Brandt's or other collector stores, but a lot of times they just have copy prints. They're cheap but made decades after the fact. There are collector shows or postcard shows that sell photos. Stills can cost as little as $10 and go up into the hundreds, it depends on the title, person, etc. you're looking for.

If you're interested in the high-end stuff, some auction houses have regular movie memorabilia auctions (Profiles in History is probably the best known). Caveat emptor, as with any auction - a lot of things go for a lot more than I think they're worth, but you can sometimes get lucky and find a bargain, too. Sometimes, items from the mixed lots end up on Ebay anyway. I managed to buy a few things from the Douglas Fairbanks Jr estate auction that way.

For me, one of the best places to buy stills is ebay, because you can find things on just about anything or any body, with original material or copy prints, it depends on what you're looking for Usually they have good prices. There are places like Eddie Brandt's or other collector stores, but a lot of times they just have copy prints. They're cheap but made decades after the fact. There are collector shows or postcard shows that sell photos. Stills can cost as little as $10 and go up into the hundreds, it depends on the title, person, etc. you're looking for.

Thanks, this is exactly what I needed to know. A base price and a few places to go besides ebay. I have a few stills I got cheaper than that, but they weren't anything special. Occasionally I find online auction lots, but they don't have full descriptions on content or condition if there are more than a few. For certain stills, I'm not interested in having an original as I would like to frame them. I've seen what can happen to older, poorly processed stills when they're framed and displayed!

For me, one of the best places to buy stills is ebay, because you can find things on just about anything or any body, with original material or copy prints, it depends on what you're looking for Usually they have good prices. There are places like Eddie Brandt's or other collector stores, but a lot of times they just have copy prints. They're cheap but made decades after the fact. There are collector shows or postcard shows that sell photos. Stills can cost as little as $10 and go up into the hundreds, it depends on the title, person, etc. you're looking for.

Thanks, this is exactly what I needed to know. A base price and a few places to go besides ebay. I have a few stills I got cheaper than that, but they weren't anything special. Occasionally I find online auction lots, but they don't have full descriptions on content or condition if there are more than a few. For certain stills, I'm not interested in having an original as I would like to frame them. I've seen what can happen to older, poorly processed stills when they're framed and displayed!

For originals of Nita Naldi, we've paid anywhere from $15.00 to well over $100.00. Costs will vary according to the photographer and sometimes the originality of the pose--the most expensive shots of La Naldi we've seen were portraits of her with her hair down, the only shots like that we know of. It's a learn as you go thing.

[silentfilm]

Other than eBay, there are places like Larry Edmunds' book shop in Hollywood that have large collections of stills. You can also find them at conventions such as Cinevent and Cinecon.

While I do occasionally find stills at antique shops, they don't have a great selection, and I've ended up with some I wouldn't normally collect, but I got them dirt cheap.

If you are buying on eBay, make sure that the listing says "original" or "vintage", or ask the seller before bidding. The popular stars like Valentino, Bara, and Laurel & Hardy have a lot of more recent "copy" photos for sale. I don't mind buying a later copy if it is really sharp and the price is cheap.

If you have a good scanner and Photoshop software you can acquire some faded and brown original photos from ebay, then scan/Photoshop to restore them to quality very close to "like new." I also agree with Bruce - I've bought a number of copies that are so sharp I couldn't tell the difference from an original - except for the price. Usually, when the seller claims they are high quality copies and has a 100% rating or nearly that, you'll probably like what you buy.

Here's an example as it looks on ebay:


and after Photoshop:

Mary Astor and John Gilbert circa 1935. The photo is still on ebay but Gilbert is identified as Astor's husband, Franklyn Thorpe, despite my notifying the seller months ago. Anyway, don't overlook anything when you're shopping for stills.