Welcome back to the Profiles & Premiums Newsletter!
Welcome back, hope you had a great month! We open with quite a few site announcements, auction notes, new and updated Photo ID Guides for collectibles, DVD release announcements, before finally getting to this months new profile and slide show -- Marilyn Monroe. The Marilyn profile is written by Susan M. Kelly and can be found at the bottom of this issue, but I also hope you enjoy all of the news and notes before it as well:
I made what I consider to be some improvements to the site since last month, which you've probably noticed if you're interested in any of the card and collectible information on the site (which I hope you are!). The contents pages for cards and collectibles have been combined into a single index.
The index lists items chronologically over six pages with each item having a little flag denoting country of origin for each particular issue as well as icons denoting whether they are new, updated, and in some cases highly recommended. The recommended pages have shooting stars next to them, and these are the pages which I'm most proud of, those which I consider the best resources for those particular collectibles found anywhere!
I've purchased several vintage collectibles lately, and so the auction scene will be picking up in the coming weeks. The action on the eBay Storefront though will be a different story.
The recent eBay price gouge on store sellers will make it difficult to list lower-priced items as I've done in the past. As many of you know through updates in this newsletter I had been researching alternatives for almost a year now and have finally made my purchase. Prior to the eBay fee hike I had intended to keep my movie collectibles for sale in my eBay store (using the new store as a magazine outlet for my other site), however I'm now pretty excited and anxious to get my new private online store up and running and include a detailed movie collectibles section there.
I purchased X-Cart software, which does involve a good deal of set-up and has a bit of a learning curve, but my plan is to have all of my stock listed in that shop by the end of the year. Since this store will be my own, paid in full with no eBay-style boss to answer to, I will be taking care to heavily integrate every listing in the new store with the movie profiles, reviews, and photo ID pages found on this site. I really think it's going to be pretty cool when I'm all set to open and hope you do as well. (I just hope people can find me!). So be on the lookout for a prominent announcement once this new store is ready for business, and wish me luck!
Auctions will continue to run on eBay as per usual and items sitting on my desk but coming to you soon include single cards from the early edition of the 1929 Movie-Land Keeno Game, a handful of early postcards of silent stars, a break-up on another 1917 Kromo Gravure Set, and several singles from the 1933-1938 M23 Philadelphia Supplement series -- on this last item my purchase included several supplements I had not seen before, and so I have complete updated the M23 Philadelphia Supplement Photo ID Page. If you collect 'em, check it out, there are quite a few new ones listed!
Another, more recent, yet still exciting item that I've come across recently are the beautiful color prints found inside the John Ford Cowboy Kings of Western Fame collection. I've created a full Photo ID Guide for this 1973 issue and the 24 single prints are at auction on eBay this week with bidding opening at $6.99-$9.99. The issue includes giants of the Western as selected by John Ford shortly before his death -- there are 24 blazing color prints, illustrated by Will Williams, each measuring 11" X 16" and perfect for matting and/or framing. Stars include William S. Hart, Tom Mix, William Boyd, Bob Steele, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, and John Wayne.
The John Ford Cowboy Kings issue appears to have been initially issued in a numbered limited edition of 500 copies in 1973, and then I believe the first hardcover edition was published in 1974 and is still pretty rare. I wasn't familiar with this issue before, but I had been watching one on another auction site which had opened around $100 and blew me away by selling for about $400 -- and this wasn't the limited edition. I went hunting after that, had to have one set of these, and by the time that I finished I had two! I broke this first set to make singles available since I know there are a lot of cowboy collectors out there. The second set that I have is a little nicer than the first and I plan to make it available as a set, but I do want to see how these singles sell first. So, bid away!
I've added a page about 1936's Bullets or Ballots to Cliff's DVD List, and hope to add some more mini-reviews (I prefer opinions) to this section soon. I had mentioned it last issue, but in case you forgot, I'm now including links to the most recent handful of mini-reviews/opinions at the bottom right corner of the home page. It's a good place to check in between issues if you're worried that you missed something.
A couple of brand new box sets that I'm mulling over, but that fans should go buy right now, have been issued for Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan. Frankly, I'm not very interested in the Reagan set, but I'm a huge baseball fan and I had really wanted to pick up just The Winning Team (about Grover Cleveland Alexander), however for some reason it is not (yet?) available individually. Other films in the Reagan collection are the highly anticipated release of Knute Rockne All-American, Kings Row, Storm Warning, and The Hasty Heart.
More interesting to me is the Jimmy Stewart collection beginning once again with baseball tale, The Stratton Story, and also including the excellent The F.B.I. Story (interesting side note, the book that this film was based on was dedicated to someone who used to live next store to me by the author, his grandfather), two classics that I've never seen but want to: The Spirit of St. Louis and The Naked Spur, and then a couple of much more recent film, The Cheyenne Social Club and Firecreek, which I'm not too interested in. I'll probably pick this set up later this week (and so look for it on the DVD List!).
Both retail for just $49.95, which is a pretty good deal considering what you receive, but since they're brand new releases Amazon has them on sale currently for just $34.95, which is a great price!
I'm not a huge fan, but I'm awaiting the arrival of the recent Ava Gardner book
I hadn't heard back from him, but I had also been contacted recently by David Menefee, who has authored The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era, and who wanted to announce the release of the only available DVD's of Sarah Bernhardt in Camille and Bernhardt's rival Eleonora Duse in her only film, Cenere. I hadn't heard back from David, but I see both items are available in his eBay listings, found here.
For those interested in acquiring Clara Bow films on DVD, I've purchased a couple of copies from eBay seller lfdvds and been pretty happy. He describes his releases quite well and lets you know about any glitches or quality problems. The two DVDs I've purchased have been better than described.
While I'm at it, don't forget the growing collection of DVDs offered by my friend Brad Lang of Classic Movies.org. Brad's now offering a few hundred out-of-print titles on his Free Classic Movies on DVD page. For example, I just ordered Honkytonk with Clark Gable and Lana Turner and I Married a Witch with Veronica Lake this week!
Another item of interest that we have to look forward to in the near future is the planned November 2006 release of the Louise Brooks classic, Pandora's Box, as item #358 in The Criterion Collection. Details can be found on The Criterion Collection's site found here.
Our featured star this issue, though of a little more recent vintage than usual, has been a somewhat criminal omission four to five years into the history of this site -- Marilyn Monroe as written by regular contributor Susan M. Kelly:
Marilyn Monroe by Susan M. Kelly
Okay, I'm all done rambling. When I sit down to put together the next issue of The Movie Profiles and Premiums Newsletter, scheduled for September 15, I expect some beautiful, cooler weather and I can't wait. I'm hoping to officially announce the new store's opening with that issue and to bring you a new piece in The Silent Collection by Tammy Stone. Thanks, and have a great month!
Clifford Aliperti
things-and-other-stuff.com
