Movie Poster Questions

[theboytampon]

I'm looking for some art for my walls, and have noticed that in-store selections are very limited. I was wondering whats a good site to purchase movie posters on (preferably untorn and rolled - no crease lines) using paypal. That's the only source I have for paying online.

Also, what's the standard size for a movie poster? What are usually displayed outside a theatre in the "now playing" cases... the size most people seem to be sporting on their walls. I ask this because there are a wide variety of different sizes when I've been looking around and have no idea what to get.

Again... are these just print-outs? If I wanted a print-out like this, is there any store that would do it professionally? Ie -> good quality printing. My printer isn't exactly top-notch.

[mutesaint]

Not entirely sure if they use paypal or not but I have heard that www.allposters.com is a good place to check out.

[jackson13]

Originally posted by theboytampon
Also, what's the standard size for a movie poster?

27'' x 40''

[damien22]

Check out moviegoods.com, they have good prices and a big selection.

[OpT!Mu5]

Actually, I think the standard poster size is 24" x 36"...

27" x 40" is another popular size, although I have noticed that alot of movie posters you would buy in a store have weird sizes, check out allposters.com like he said above, I actually think that you can pay with paypal there...

[Badbird]

Standard movie theater posters are 27 x 40. 24 x 36 are the cheap reproductions you buy in the stores.

All Posters is a good source, but a lot of their stuff is reproductions, even though they are standard size. Ebay is actually a really, really good place to get real theatrical, double sided posters. Double sided posters are better because the color is more vibrant. The ink goes all the way through the paper, making them ideal for back lights if you have the money to do that.

Now, if you go looking for older movie posters, you'll run into a lot of 27 x 41 movies posters, which is aggrivating because you can't find frames for that unless you get them custom made - or you trim the poster itself.

Wal Mart has pretty good 27 x 40 poster frames that look nice and are only $20.

If you go for non-American posters you're going to run into all kinds of different measurements.

[JCPhoenix]

www.movieposter.com is a really good place...i've been to the actual store and it's incredible. I got my Perfume, Little Children, and Motorcycle Diaries posters there...

However, it is a little more expensive than the normal poster stores where you find the usual Scarface, Pulp Fiction, etc posters because it sells a lot of ORIGINAL posters...(it also sells reprints but they have mostly originals I think) Initial prices for movies coming out or that just came out are usually around $20 standard (CDN) but there are exceptions - the Spider-man 3 posters are around $80 I think and The Departed posters were around $60 (depends on design, quantity, rarity, etc)...I just checked and my Little Children poster has gone up to $36...

But again, you can also buy reprints at the store so if you're looking for something cheaper...(reprints are slightly worse in image quality than the originals, they just don't have as vivid colors - for example, any of the posters you get at the "normal" poster stores where they sell those Scarface, Trainspotting, Pulp posters? Those are all guaranteed reprints and not originals...when you seen an original poster, you'll know it, there's actually quite a big difference...they're really, really vivid.

Also, if they don't have something, you can ask them to check for it and order it.

ETA: Oops, didn't see Badbird's concise and comprehensive explanation of the whole original vs reproductions ...

In any case though, about framing or keeping the posters in good quality...www.movieposter.com (and their instore counterpart) have these really fantastic plastic clear sleeves that you can put your posters in and hang them up...they protect your poster nicely and look fairly classy...

I've got two picture below of my posters in the sleeves and hung up...they're $25 each but you have to buy five of them if you get them online (due to shipping costs). I got mine instore so I could get as few as I wanted (I got 3)...

[theboytampon]

I found out that both allposters and movieposter accept paypal. Which should I go with if I want quality for a decent price? I want standard size posters (27 x 40) but it doesn't matter if it's original or a reprint if there's a difference of 20$ between the two. I'm a poor student.

[CyclicNightmare]

Go to your local theatre and ask. Say it's for some kind of school project or something. We are almost always giving them away.

[NuclearMisfit]

Originally posted by Badbird
Standard movie theater posters are 27 x 40. 24 x 36 are the cheap reproductions you buy in the stores.

All Posters is a good source, but a lot of their stuff is reproductions, even though they are standard size. Ebay is actually a really, really good place to get real theatrical, double sided posters. Double sided posters are better because the color is more vibrant. The ink goes all the way through the paper, making them ideal for back lights if you have the money to do that.

Now, if you go looking for older movie posters, you'll run into a lot of 27 x 41 movies posters, which is aggrivating because you can't find frames for that unless you get them custom made - or you trim the poster itself.

Wal Mart has pretty good 27 x 40 poster frames that look nice and are only $20.

If you go for non-American posters you're going to run into all kinds of different measurements.

So walmart has pretty good frames? I had a few good posters but my cat went nuts on them and tore them all down.

[cocksmokinclerk]

Originally posted by CyclicNightmare
Go to your local theatre and ask. Say it's for some kind of school project or something. We are almost always giving them away.

must be nice, i've used that adn the theaters around me are always assholes about it, thats why i try to steal them!

[sirdizzy]

27X40 like stated before is the standard size (I have over 200 of them from working as an assistant store manager of a blockbuster and as a theatre manager) for both dvd releases (ala blockbuster or hollywood video) and for the theatrical releases

Also theatrical releases are semi transparent and 2-sided so that the light can shine through them when they are in the coming soon and now playing cases, normally the dvd releases ones are single sided with a white back on them

You can ask your local theatre as well as your local video store, I gave them away but normally it was ones me or another employee didn't want, I got first dibs, employees second and you the customer third or I just threw em away if no one wanted them. I use to set em out on the counter at the front for people to grab em. Although if you were a really good customer I would give you some of the better posters, used to be a guy who would bribe me by bringing me lunch, hell you never know.


I would also recommend Michael's craft store for really nice frames they do a sale once a month where there poster frams are %50 off and you can pick up a nice frame for $20 a piece

[HiroProtagonist]

Out of interest - does anyone know where to pick-up standard size poster frames in the UK? Preferably at a reasonable price? The best I can find is from Ikea, and it's actually too big (70cm x 100cm)

[bigd23]

Originally posted by HiroProtagonist
Out of interest - does anyone know where to pick-up standard size poster frames in the UK? Preferably at a reasonable price? The best I can find is from Ikea, and it's actually too big (70cm x 100cm)

Don't you guys have Walmart? That's where I buy mine. $20 per frame. Not sure how much they would be in the UK

[HiroProtagonist]

Originally posted by bigd23
Don't you guys have Walmart? That's where I buy mine. $20 per frame. Not sure how much they would be in the UK

Nope - the closest we've got is Asda, who are owned by Walmart, and I haven't seen any in there, or for that matter in the WalMart / Asda centre near by me.

[Badbird]

Originally posted by NuclearMisfit
So walmart has pretty good frames? I had a few good posters but my cat went nuts on them and tore them all down.

Yeah. They're pretty nice. The frame is one solid piece - not those cheap ones that have four pieces that you clip on each side. They're good and sturdy. I have four lined up in my living room and they look great. I can't believe I lined them up so well. If I had a digital camera I'd take a picture and show you.

They have a lot of other sizes too if you have odd sized posters or pictures.