I am proud to announce the biggest addition to my movie collection of all time. In baseball there is the rookie Mickey Mantle card, in stamp collecting...well there's that one stamp, and in coin collecting there is that..I don't know..one old coin everybody wants.. but, in movie collecting, there is one movie that virtually every collector strives to add to their stable of features and that one movie is "The Wizard of Oz"!!!
Yesterday I purchased a copy of "The Wizard of Oz" directly from a seller I have dealt with in the past. I made a fair offer for the print, and at least I didn't have to get involved in a bidding war. There has been only one copy of "The Wizard of Oz" offered for sale in the last 16 months, and that was by Thornhill and it was an IB Tech print. It sold for $5,200. My print is not nearly so good, it is LPP with perfect color, however there is wear and some green emulsion lines on the second reel.
An IB Tech print is the most desirable print of all in the film collecting business. It is the absolute highest quality print process and will never fade (though IB Tech can chemically decompose over time, which is just as bad). The IB tech printing process produces the absolute most stunning colors possible. A technicolor print jumps off of the screen and is so bright and colorful it is a treat for the eyes. I only own one technicolor print, "The Court Jester", and it's not that I can't afford more it's just that they hardly ever become available. For example, I have been told there are something like only 6 IB tech copies of "Gone With The Wind" in existance. And an IB tech copy of "My Fair Lady" is worth $10,000.
An LPP print is a low fade print that will either not fade, or take a very, very, long time to fade. The color is excellent, comparable to that on a good quality DVD, but it is certainly not IB tech color. I really can't believe I managed to add this print to my collection. My collection feels much closer to complete at this point. I would certainly like to own more Disney animated features, and I would like to own a copy of "Casablanca", and "My Fair Lady" some day, but those can wait.
I was under the impression that "Wizard of Oz" was the most rare print to acquire, but I spoke to a 16mm friend and he told me otherwise. According to him "Gone with the Wind" is more rare than "Wizard of Oz", and "My Fair Lady" is the most rare of all. With prices set accordingly. I doubt very seriously I will ever have any trouble getting my money back out of the "Wizard of Oz" print, but then again I would never sell it unless I was desperate to raise cash for some reason. For inquiring minds who want to know, I paid the bargain price of only $1,200 for my copy of "The Wizard Of Oz".
Recently I started purchasing movie posters of my feature prints. I am not trying to buy originals, they cost more than the movies themselves!! I am buying quality reproductions and plan to hang them on the wall in my basement. We are going to try to transform our basement into a combination mini-movie theatre for screenings, and an exercise room for the rest of the time.
Well, that's all the news that's fit to print. I will announce upcoming movie showings once we get things set up.
