Cool and Collected

Collecting pop culture toys, comics, and collectibles collections

TV & Movies

This is the show you’ve been looking for: Mark Hamill’s Pop Culture Quest

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There have been a lot of shows for collectors, some good, some not so much. The latest offering is from Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. Pop Culture Quest just released its first episode and it is FANTASTIC! This is exactly the kind of show I have been waiting for — a show by passionate collectors talking about pop culture collectibles — there is no pandering here, or fake knowledge (or lack thereof). Mark Hamill is the perfect host for this show and his inner fanboyism is infectious.

Shows like this could go a long way towards legitimizing our obsessions with the outside world. If mega stars such as Mark Hamill are passionate about these items, maybe it’s not so strange that we have old cereal boxes and broken toys on our own shelves. Seriously, drop what you’re doing and watch this show now!

Original E.T. movie poster art sells for $394,000!

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original painting for E.T Movie PosterThe Original Promotional Movie Poster Painting for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial sold for $394,000 at Heritage Auctions.  The art was produced by esteemed movie poster artist John Alvin, who used his daughter’s hand as a model and taking inspiration from Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. This iconic painting was used on the initial release poster in 1982, and has been used to promote the film for nearly 35 years on posters, DVD and VHS box covers, lobby cards, T-shirts, and many more collectibles, making that $394,000 price seems like a true bargain to me!

 

Top 10 Mondo movie posters

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There’s no question that the market for movie art posters has grown to monumental proportions, and Mondo, the granddaddy of them all, is still going strong. With weekly releases, there are plenty of gems in the mix (and some huge misses). I thought it would be fun to go through the Mondo poster archive and choose my top ten favorite posters that have come out of Austin over the last several years. With over 1,600 posters to choose from, this was no easy task!

My criteria for selecting a winning poster is pretty simple: I have to enjoy the movie, and the poster needs to look like an actual movie poster and not just a great illustration, which excluded a lot of Mike Mitchell and Jason Edmiston’s work. The poster design needs to be cohesive from top to bottom — many posters have the potential of greatness but the design and/or typography just falls flat. I also appreciate the designs that have a clever hook, which is hard to do, but when it’s done right, the results are truly exceptional (see Moss’ Star Wars trilogy).

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10. The Rocketeer by Martin Ansin

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9. Superman the Man of Steel by Martin Ansin

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8. Conan the Barbarian by Martin Ansin

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7. Star Wars trilogy by Tyler Stout

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6. Robocop by Olly Moss

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5. Wolfman by Martin Ansin

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4. Planet of the Apes by Jason Edmiston

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3. The Hateful Eight by Jason Edmiston

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2. Star Wars trilogy by Olly Moss

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1. Batman by Martin Ansin

I think it’s pretty obvious who my favorite poster artists are — heck, I probably could have made up an entire list of just Martin Ansin posters. Mondo has employed dozens of artists over the years, and the artists shown above are the true masters of the genre.

 

What are some of your favorite Mondo posters that didn’t make it to my list?

This week, the Pop Culture League is making some lists (like this one!). Check them all out here.

Draw, draw, draw. Practice every day.

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During a visit to a used bookstore recently, I stumbled across a copy of Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad and a flood of long lost memories came bursting to the surface.  If you’re like me, when you were a kid, Mark Kistler was the Man. I couldn’t wait to get sick so I could stay home from school and watch his show, The Secret City. A quick Google search revealed that Mark Kistler is still an active illustrator and appears regularly at conventions — now, that is something that might finally get me to crawl out from under my nice cozy rock.

The Secret City was a PBS show that taught kids to draw things in 3-D. Commander Mark was the mustachioed host, and he was an absolute wizard, or maybe an alien, who could sling a black marker across a blank page and bring aliens to life right before your eyes. In each episode, he would add to a massive mural on the wall that depicted the Secret City, an alien environment based on nothing but his creativity. I wanted to live in the Secret City.

Many people have fond memories of Sesame Street, or Mr. Roger’s hood, but all my grilled cheese and tomato soup memories recall the hours spent within the Secret City. I honestly credit this show (and Ed Emberley) with making me pursue a career in art later in life. Anyone else out there remember Commander Mark and his Secret City?

If aliens were to invade this planet, I would want them to be the friendly inhabitants from the Secret City.  Read about more alien invasions in this Pop Culture League challenge.

King Kong Posters on the Auction Block

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This week, emovieposters.com is holding their 3-part “August Major Auction,” featuring some of the best movie posters in their stock. There are some truly amazing items in these lots, including an ultra rare Mad Max Australian one-sheet and a beautiful 1/2-sheet for the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, but my eyes were immediately drawn to this…

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This is a MASSIVE and insanely rare 24-sheet King Kong poster from 1952. This is the only example of this poster known to exist!

“To give you a sense of how very rare they are, we have held over 1.2 million auctions, and of those, around 75 of them were for 24-sheets, and only a dozen of them were from before 1960!”

If you were to buy this poster, you are going to need a very large wall, because it measures 9′ x 20′. The current bid price of this poster is over $8,000 but you can bet that will go up quite a bit before the auction closes tomorrow evening.

So, that one might be a bit out of my budget, but luckily for me, there are a few more King Kong items in the auction…

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This 1956 King Kong lobby card shows the classic image of Kong holding Fay Wray while standing over the New York City skyline.

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This particular King Kong poster is rare in that it measures 30 x 40 and is a screen printed poster with the black and white photo glued to the poster.

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This is a 1970’s commercial King Kong poster by Portal Publications that reproduces the artwork seen on on the 1938 re-release poster. I remember when I bought a copy of this poster years ago, I thought it was possibly a rare treasure, but a quick internet search revealed that it is a common poster — but that didn’t keep me from framing it and hanging it on the wall — it is a truly awesome image!

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Now here’s a poster that fits my budget! You all remember King Kong II right? It’s even linen-backed people!

So, emovieposter is bringing some King Kong-sized awesomeness this week. Check out their site for these posters and plenty more!