Last weekend PAE was on the road, exhibiting at the annual TRPS Concert poster show is San Francisco. Here are some general impressions of the market and the show, in no particular order.
1) The attendance at the show was outstanding. We heard several different dealers remark that the number of visitors was far greater than in years past. This was confirmed by multiple members of TRPS, the organization that runs the show.
2) It was truly a pleasure to have so many of our clients come by and say hello. It’s always great to put a face to a name, particularly when we were able to finally meet people that have dealt with us for many years.
3) There was a distinct and actually glaring, lack of high quality material available for purchase. The few mint condition posters shown were for “display only” and were not for sale at any price. This underscored a major point –if you have the opportunity to acquire mint condition posters, grab it. This material seems to be in the very strong hands of collectors that have no intention of selling, particularly since we are just in the first or second inning of this emphasis on quality.
4) The market for modern posters is alive and well. There can be no denying that Emek, Chuck Sperry, Dave Hunter and other modern masters are perfectly adept at producing irresistible images at affordable price levels. This bringing young collectors into the hobby. It should be only a matter of time before some of these new market participants graduate to the vintage material that is so much more rare and historically important.
5) We had on display our first batch of posters that were independently authenticated and graded by CCG. This is the same organization that has created literally BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF MARKET VALUE to rare coins, paper money, and comic books. Collectors as a whole were extremely enthusiastic about the concept and the packaging. We received dozens of raves against one negative comment from an old time dealer that didn’t like the idea. This is exciting development has major implications. We will discuss this in detail in future blogs.
6) The show was organized and promoted by The Rock Poster Society. The board members and volunteers working the show were just a delightful group of people that couldn’t have been nicer or worked harder to make sure a great time was enjoyed by all. We will repeat once again, TRPS membership is an essential investment (that’s dirt cheap) if you want to be involved join this field at all. To join, click here.
