Five Ways to Collect Movie Memorabilia

 Collectors of movie memorabilia all have a story to tell about their first piece of collectible movie art. It may have started when he spotted an original lobby card from the movie that was playing on his first date and decided it would make a lovely framed art piece on his wall.  Or perhaps she couldn’t resist owning the fabulous necklace worn by the star of a favorite movie. No matter what started it, movie item collectors often suddenly find themselves with bits and pieces collected from everywhere—posters and props and cards and promotional items all mixed in willy-nilly. That’s no way to have a collection!

Whether you collect stamps, books or movie memorabilia, the most valuable and attractive collections are those that center around a central theme. Choosing a theme for your movie collection helps you focus and creates a cohesive collection that’s easier to display and sell, if and when you choose to do so. There are many ways to collect themed movie items.  These tips will help you sharpen your focus and create a more complete and attractive collection.

Focus on an Item

Choose one type of memorabilia in which to specialize – autographs, movie posters or props from mystery movies, for example. Even within those broad categories, you can narrow your focus and concentrate on things like lobby posters from romantic comedies, or autographs of Best Actress Oscar winners. A random collection of movie star autographs might be fun to own, but a collection that includes the autograph of every Best Actress of the last 25 years would be worth some serious cash , and be far more interesting to other collectors.

Focus on a Genre

Narrow your focus to items connected with movies from a particular genre.  For example, sci-fi is extremely popular because of the cool factor of special effects props. The tendency for production companies to release sequels makes it easy to narrow your collection to items connected with one particular series.  Star Wars and Harry Potter collectibles are high up on the desirability chart, but even lesser-known movies can be fun to collect.

Focus on a Celebrity

Choose a director or actor and focus on collecting props or posters from their movies. A collection of movie pieces from Hitchcock movies might include posters from all of the director’s best-known films, or iconic items from his movies. Other ideas include autographed publicity photos from each of an actress’ movies or costume pieces worn by a particular actor in each of his films.

Collecting movie memorabilia can be an interesting hobby, and specializing in specific eras, types and personalities can make it all the more interesting.