Authenticating Concert Posters

Hi All!

First post here- just jumping in, feet first. I was wondering if anyone collected concert posters. I've searched and found a few topics related to music memorabilia but nothing in regards to authenticating posters. So, I recently got into collecting 90s concert posters so I haven't built a substantial amount of knowledge yet. There also isn't a lot of information out there for nineties concert posters as the truly rare ones are from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Anyway, I stumbled upon a buyer who had 19-20 concert posters listed amongst the thousands of other items (non-music related) listed. The seller has been an ebay member since '98 with a near perfect feedback score. Over 81,000 feedback left. The musicians range from The Cranberries to Marilyn Manson. The seller has more than 10 for each which was a concern of mine so I contacted the seller and asked what their authentication process was. They stated they bought about 200 posters from around 30 musicians from the Bill Graham estate. All the shows took place in 98/99 and were put on by "Bill Graham Presents".

Two concerns I have. I haven't received the posters yet as I just won them on ebay. Some of them appear in the photos to have uneven sides as in- the information isn't perfectly centered on the 11x17 flyer. Is this common-or can it occur? I'm not aware of the printing/cutting process of concert posters-specifically ones from the nineties. My other concern is that many of them have "Date posted: 4/09/99" (example) at the bottom of the flyer. It appears that this date is usually a month to three months before the date of the concert. Is this common practice for posters to have a date posted printed on them in fine text?

I bought 19 of them due to their price and I'm not entirely sure how to verify their authenticity-or atleast come to a somewhat solid conclusion.

I can provide photos of some of the concert posters if necessary.

Thanks so much and I'm excited to be a part of the forums!

-Josh

 

Unfortunately you really need to have the poster in your hand and enough experience to tell, as printing techniques changed hugely over time, it's not even possible to give a general guide and they are pretty easy to fake, however from what you have written my guess is that they are genuine, frame them up, put them on your wall and enjoy them.

 

Click around Wolfgang's Vault. He has originals and reissues and labels each as such. I can't guarantee he's correct, but I suspect he is. The Cranberries Poster from Shoreline Amphitheatre, Sep 18, 1999 | Wolfgang's »

 

Like any endeavor, collecting posters takes a bit of trial and error in the process and a lot of research. I've been collecting posters and antique paper advertising since the mid-80's, and I learn something new all the time. I don't collect much any more, but the Internet has made things much easier.

As noted above, Wolfgang's Vault is a good resource, as is Expresso Beans. They help you with knowing the printing dates, sizes, paper stock, etc. and often have photos of the items in question. By doing a ton of online research and/or talking to other collectors and dealers, you can usually sort out the details to determine if an item is legit. Certain sellers I have bought or traded from over the years only deal in originals, and are completely trusted. Sometimes the artist will help authenticate a poster, as Randy Tuten did one time for me when I wasn't sure of the authenticity of a piece (reached out to him via email).

With Wolfgang's Vault, some of the really popular posters have been re-issued multiple times. When they do this, they typically have an imprint on them and are printed in a different size from the original. I've had dealers try to pass off a trimmed poster before, which as clearly an attempt to delete the new printing mark or get the poster back closer to the original size. The more popular the poster or artist, the more likely you'll be to find counterfeits out there.

 

When I clicked on that link I thought "That's not Wolfgang's Vault!" I guess they redesigned and rebranded.

For Bill Graham Presents posters it's definitely a good resource. They usually have detailed info regarding reprints, etc.

 

If you're buying newer posters it might be worth tracking down the artist as they sometimes sell the posters they design directly on their website. Nate Duval sells some directly from his own website and sometimes sells a poster of the imagine alone.

For those Bill Graham posters have a look at Wolfgang's vault.

 

I have collected posters and prints for many years. I have a couple thousand at this time. If you are stepping into this hobby, I advise a few things to take into account. First, as with any collectibles, this market is swamped with reproductions and outright fakes. Doing your homework is a must. Second, understand there are many different types and sub types of posters, there are event specific, tour specific, limited edition, signed, numbered silk screen prints, many, many different types of posters. You kind of have to decide what kind of posters you want to collect, maybe it doesn't matter, collect what you like. Third, are you looking for posters that may rise in value, if so, doing your homework is even more important. I really could go on and on, but some resources might be more help than rambling.
Expressobeans.com (an invaluable tool for up to date prices and information on the poster, print world)
Gigposters.com (database of thousands of concert posters)
American Artifact The Rise Of American Rock Poster Art (solid movie, available on DVD, about the screen print side of things)
Those should open many other avenues of exploring things. Just a general bit of info for anyone digging into this hobby. As far as authenticating posters, that's another side of things. Being educated, going into a purchase knowing as much as you can about an item before you buy it, that really is the biggest thing one can do. There are concert posters now being sold authenticated, graded, like a baseball card would be, most of those I've seen are 60's posters by the greats like Mouse and Moscoso. I'm sure some more modern posters are being sold that way also, that's not really where I spend my time, so I don't know as much as I should. In ending, anyone going into this hobby, be careful, you may find yourself spending the entire day waiting with your fingers on the refresh button, just to get a poster or print being randomly put up for sale on a specific day. It is a deep, deep rabbit hole. If the bug really bites you, it can be really all encompassing. As with a lot of things, buy what you like, worry about value fluctuations after. If I had to pick my favorite 90's posters, I'd have to say Frank Kozik made my favorites. You could probably focus just on Frank and never collect everything he ever made. It's a crazy hobby.