Fotobustas query

Pancho

Hello!

I've picked up a few horror fotobustas recently and I'm trying to learn more about them. Is there any way to tell 1) How many are in a set? and 2) Are they numbered / identifiable in any way? (for example, US lobby cards have individual numbers).

All I've found out thus far is that they can be in sets of 8, 10, 12 or 16!

Thanks!

Matt

I haven't seen any that are numbered.

jayn_j

...and it seems difficult to find full sets.

As for US lobbies, trust me that not all of them are numbered.  Early and late cards are often unnumbered.  And the ultimate joy is trying to build a set and discovering 2 cards from the same release that have different numbers

Charlie

No numbers just got to find pictures of a set.

Pancho

Is it safe to say that any set would have to have at least 8? And while we're throwing up questions - why are full sets so scarce? Is it because defining a 'set' is so tricky? And why are so many of them so beaten up?

110x75

Probably 8 is the minimum number in a set (though I have no way to prove this). There's no better reason for them to be so beaten up than the fact they were heavily used by theater managers.

110x75

I always think about the insane amount of paper the italians produced to promote films (even those that had small releases)...
At least 8 fotobustas, one locandina, one soggettone, one 2 fogli, one 4 fogli, and for big films even 8, 12 and 24 fogli
It's really hard if you are a completist on certain films.

Pancho

Is there such a thing as an Italian pressbook / press sheet? Hunting for rare posters is hard; hunting for ones that don't exist is even more frustrating!

Add in the imaginative translation of titles and there's lot of fun to have!

One recent example for me - 'Black Christmas' ---> 'Un Natale Rosso Sangue' or 'A Blood Red Christmas'

What?? Italians don't have a word for black?? 

Oh wait...yes they do! Nero!

So why is the film not called 'Nero Natale'??

110x75

Pancho said:

Is there such a thing as an Italian pressbook / press sheet? Hunting for rare posters is hard; hunting for ones that don't exist is even more frustrating!

Yep. They're called Guida Pubblicitaria