Recently, on ebay, I bid on a Jimmy Wakely lobby card. Thinking that $4.51 was too low to bid for an original card from 1950, I dismissed the auction. But, I won it, paid for the still, then patiently waited for it to arrive. It did, and I was blown away.
For an image 52 years old, it was in incredible condition. The paper was good, not stale or moldy, a couple of tack holes were in the corners, and there were no colour flecks or wash out on the image. I was impressed, and had to learn more about the hobby of lobby card collecting.
Lobby cards were issued in 2 basic sizes, 11" x 14", and a smaller 8" x 10" of the same image usually. Lobby cards were issued in sets of 8, and designed for the theatre to advertise the movie in their windows. Most theatres promptly threw them away when the movie was done, or put them on the stack with the rest of the 'junk' they saved.
The result is rarity, and with that, value.
Complete sets of cards rarely come up on the marketplace, and when they do, they fetch respectable prices. Singles are more common, but no less desirable, but are priced less than sets.
Lobby cards can be stored by collectors in mylar sleeves with acid free backing boards, just like comic books. This will decrease the possibility of the paper used self-destructing over time.
I purchased my card from Bruce Hershenson, an extraordinary dealer. His website is www.brucehershenson.com, full of excellent images, and packed with information regarding the hobby of lobby (card) collecting.
To further the hobby, he has co-written 32 books featuring the best of Movie art through the decades and genres. With my order, I received "More Cowboy Movie Posters" (1998), and "To Be Continued" (2001), and was thrilled even more.
Filled with images from the Hershenson-Allen Archives (over 25,000 and growing), and the Frank Gutierrez collection, these books present the posters, and lobby cards, as movie fans of the past would have seen them. Glowing colour, ripping action, and movie history all come to life in these 2 volumes, and the rest of the series. Footnoted with year of production and format (one sheet, two sheet, three sheet, six sheet, lobby card), these images are perfect for the collector of Movie art.
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