Noob to Posters ... Bought Star Wars Posters ... What do I have?

Stoopalini

I saw these on craigslist, and the wife and I just happen to be in the middle of redoing my 10 year old son's room to a Star Wars theme, so I decided to pick them up.

They are apparently originals, from 1980 and 1983.

They're in worse shape than I thought, but decided to get them anyway.  One is framed (dry mounted maybe?) and the other two are loose.  My 1st instinct was to just take them to Michael's, or Hobby Lobby, to have them framed up so we can hang them in his room, but now I'm wondering if that's the best course of action.

I guess my 1st question is:  Is there anything special or unique about these, or are they just rough posters from the movie's releases? 

Next question would be:  Is it worth seeking out a professional to steam them flat (or some other treatment?), and frame them up in some particular way?

We still want to hang them in his room, as there's a lot of nostalgia for us in these, and he's really excited about it; but of course, I don't want to spend 100's of dollars on prep, restore, framing, etc ... for posters that aren't really worth doing.

Here are the pics that were in the craigslist ad:

And here are some pics I took after I got them home:

Thanks for any input!

Charlie

I am not a Star Wars expert but if you could provide measurements that would help.

Stoopalini

Thanks, guess I should have provided those ...

The "Return of the Jedi" one is 21" x 33"

The "Empire Strikes Back" Coca-Cola one (Darth Vader with two light sabers) is 23.5" x 34"

The other "Empire Strikes Back" one is 25" x 38.75"

theartofmovieposters

Your Empire strikes back looks like a Coke promo poster...checking a few sites brought up this:

https://movieposters.ha.com/itm/movie-posters/science-fiction/the-empire-strikes-back-coca-cola-1980-premium-poster-24-x-33-science-fiction/a/161738-53141.s

The sizes on the others tend to success commercial reprints, but like Charlie, I am no expert on SW.

Charlie

I agree with Vesna. Doesn’t look like the any of these are original theater release posters purely based on size alone.

Stoopalini

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info!  So in their condition, probably not worth doing anything with then ... as I can buy similar, new, posters for my son's room on Amazon for $15 or so.  Because these were from the movie release time frame, I wasn't sure if they were worth keeping/displaying.  Sounds like they're not ...

Charlie

You can always keep them!  I’ve seen old reproduction half sheets sell for $30 or so. Plus they aren't bad to looks at. You could have them framed and enjoy them.

The Coke poster is a legit poster...

Stoopalini

Thanks ... ya, I think we will display them ... but seeking out a professional to steam them, and mount them in some special way, may not be worth the cost; is what I was getting at. 

My initial thought was to just have them dry mounted at a craft store, but then after reading about proper care of movie posters, I wanted to know more. 

Learning what I have in here, makes me think it's not worth spending a couple hundred dollars on treatment and framing for these, and just mounting them in a cheap frame with some sort of mat, would be fine. 

Any advice on mounting them in a way which will prevent any further wrinkles?  Should I still look to have them pressed, to try and remove the existing wrinkles?  I've no idea what to look for in a shop for doing this though, or how much I should expect to spend on it.

Thanks again for the input, I greatly appreciate it!

theartofmovieposters

Why not take a leaf out of Matt's book and repurpose existing frames from a thrift shop?  Shop around for some thing roughly the same size which you can open up and put these into for display?  The frame you should be able to pain whatever colour works for you.

Stoopalini

theartofmovieposters said:

Why not take a leaf out of Matt's book and repurpose existing frames from a thrift shop?  Shop around for some thing roughly the same size which you can open up and put these into for display?  The frame you should be able to pain whatever colour works for you.

We actually have frames that will work, sitting in a closet ... but should I use poster tape on the back of them, to prevent further wrinkles?  And is it typically expensive to have a shop press them with a steamer?  Or maybe I can use some towels and a clothes iron/steamer to do it myself ...

theartofmovieposters

I would just whack em in the frames and enjoy them.