GD Poster help

There have been some really fantastic posters made. There are at least a couple of Zoners who know about GD posters and posters in general. I hope they'll come by to connect with you.

What I would do is try to look at as many posters as you can, see what you like, etc. And you'll also see that some places price things higher than others for the same item. Lots to learn. Go slow.

There's a fine book called the Art of Rock that's amazing, by the way, and others.

If no one comes by to talk about it with you, I can connect you with at least one.

I was in an Art gallery in the early 80's on Ventura Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley, Ca. that had a huge Blues for Allah lithograph for $50. I mean it was like 4 foot by 4 foot. I think even signed by the artist.. Lost opportunities! 

C'est la vie

you can start here if you like to spend.......

https://www.wolfgangs.com/

If a poster expert sees this thread I also have a question about a Rick Griffin poster.  According to what I have found online the large poster I have doesn't exist.  The original sold for $19,200. 

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16257/lot/42/

"Rick was asked to produce an image for concert promotion on the Dead's October 1988 Southern Tour, with venues in Florida, Louisiana and Texas. This colorful, American Civil War-themed image incorporating elements of the Confederate flag was controversial in 1988, and still is. His idea was a play on the grey of the Confederate uniform and the band's popular song, 'Touch Of Grey' (translated into the French as the tour was to visit New Orleans). The crossed sabres, as well as being a Civil War image, might also be a visual refernce to the term 'touché, used in swordplay."

"Owing to the sensitive nature of the imagery in this design, it was not used for posters or advertising, but did appear on Southern Tour T-shirts."

let price be your guide.......

I can probably answer a few questions.

Hooper- Be prepared to go down a pretty deep rabbit hole when it comes to figuring out assorted printings and technical info. Over 50+ years down the line and we're still trying to sort a lot of it out. There are a lot of pitfalls, but once you get the hang of it you will find some great original stuff. Stick with trusted sources and don't be afraid to ask a LOT of questions if something catches your eye. And it definitely helps to be patient, you never know what will turn up.

Coolio- That gallery is still in Southern California, she moved to North Hollywood. She still has the Phil Garris signed fiddler silkscreen, but it's $350 now. I can forward a link if you'd like.

China>Rider- Does the "Touche' Gris" Griffin poster have a printer's credit? The Bonham's information isn't entirely inaccurate, but they may not have known about the poster when they wrote the description. I'm pretty sure it is an official Grateful Dead Merchandising piece, but I don't know how many were printed and when. They may have shelved it in '88, but it could have come out later when they outsourced a few things to larger distributors (Brockum is one that I remember).

I have quite a few original (and reprinted) Grateful Dead posters, anyone who is interested, feel free to ask Judit for my email. 

There you are, Burnz, thanks for stopping by. (Hooper, he's a person I was referring to.)

Cool Burnz! Post a link please! Only $350 after all these years. Still a good deal. That was a cool gallery. Lot's of original posters if I recall correctly.

Cu$tie up. Ain't gonna be cheap.

When you get past owning 300 it all becomes one big blur

Burnz, thanks for the info!  I will check for any printer's credit this evening.  I had it professionally framed with UV plexiglass and acid free materials.  I picked a wooden frame with a spiral design that matches the saber handles. 

Burnz no link necessary. Google is your friend. The place is a hell of a lot bigger now than when it was on Ventura Blvd. 35 years ago. Couldn't find that huge Blues for Allah lithograph on their site.

http://www.limageriegallery.com/aboutus.asp

She still has it, Coolio- here's a link to the purchase page;

http://www.limageriegallery.com/Grateful_Dead_Blues_for_Allah_Original_Print_p/rock_124.htm

A bunch of years back I got the Europe 1980 "Skull in Sand," from D King Gallery. They advertised it as a first pressing. I've since learned that the poster may not be. I also got the poster signed by Mouse, and that didn't seem to raise the value.

So...I have no idea!

I don't have a lot of posters, but it always surprises me that the "Family Reunion, 2002" one is worth way more than any of the others.

How big was that Burnz. It doesn't say on your link. I remember it being huge like I said before. Maybe 4x4ft.

Coolio- I don't think it is 4 x 4', more like 2 x 2', I'm not sure there is a signed silkscreen that was done in the xtra-large format. The REALLY big one that I remember was the thin stock promo poster that came from Round Records, most of them were folded for distribution. Here's one for reference;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GRATEFUL-DEAD-BLUES-FOR-ALLAH-PROMO-LARGE-MINT-POSTER-33-X-40-/321882406893?hash=item4af1afbfed

Brian- If you got it from Dennis, it's most likely legit, he's pretty good at separating the real ones from the boots. The real one has lighter chocolate-brown "Grateful Dead" lettering, it turns dark brown (almost black) on the bootleg. A lot of the large mid-'70's-early '80's BGP posters were booted, some are easy to identify, others can be a real pain in the ass.

Burnz I just remember it being really big. 2x2 doesn't sound right. But it was such a long time ago and the memory fades. You could be right.

Now that I reminisce about it 2x2 is way too small. It could have taken a large space on a wall. I have a 3x3 painting on my wall and looks similar in size from what I remember. But 2x2 is way too small from what my memory serves..It was huge. 2x2 isn't huge.

The Touché Gris poster says Portal Publications ltd. Corte Madera, California.  That must be the printer's credit.

The size is 36" x 50".

Coolio-  If you consider some of the really amazing, over-the-top stuff she has had in that gallery over the years, I wouldn't be surprised if she had the actual original painting at one point. If it was taking up a lot of wall space, it had to be worth some substantial $$$$ or she wouldn't bother putting it on display. The walls are generally saved for high-ticket items.

China>Rider- Portal was a BIG merchandise distributor of all sorts of posters for many years (going back to the '70's, if not before), I'm guessing that some were printed up at the time as samples and remaindered when the Dead decided not to use them. A few copies probably leaked out over the years through odd sources here and there, but they definitely didn't see wide distribution. OR... they could have been printed much later, depending on when their contract with GDM was. Either way, pretty uncommon late-period Rick Griffin GD piece.

I have this one...

I think it's pretty rare. The band didn't sign off on it's being released so I don't think it was ever distributed.

It was given to me by someone who knew how much I loved those shows.

I see you have visited my website. I took that photograph!

I don't think so. I googled looking for an online image of that Greek poster and came up with this...

http://concertposterauction.com/detail.asp?id=5787&bigpic=0

Nice photo though!

Lance, surprise! That's Burnz's site and auction.

Well there you go.

We learn as we go!

Lance, as I'm sure Burnz can tell you,  this poster retails between $200-300. I believe I have read they made at least 500, and the band said no, you can't sell these. (I have the poster made for the 1982 Greek shows, which i'm sure was also unauthorized). So it is out there.

I was just reminded that this is the 35th anniversary of The Catch; you were in the house, right? 

If it's unauthorized where is the value?

And Burnz it was over 30 years ago and that gallery was puny compared to what they show on their website today. It was like the size of a 7-11. I'm not sure they had such high-end stuff back then. But I could be wrong. But $50 for the original Blues for Allah painting isn't possible. It was a litograph for sure.  Also there was an old hippy deadhead who had a used record store on Ventura Blvd. in maybe Woodland Hills back then. Remember him? I was living in Woodland Hills at the time.

Today was indeed the 35th anniversary of The Catch, and no I was not there.

Up to & through most of the '81 season I would go to a few games individually. The NFL wasn't as popular in those days, the 49ers sucked and the 'Stick was huge so for most games at that time you could walk up to the door and buy an endzone seat for $5.00 (good lord) and often find a seat on the 35-yard line, but obviously that game wasn't so easy. I tried & failed to get tix when they went on sale, and at 21 I didn't have the connections or the jack to get into the building otherwise.

They got better faster than I expected, but fortunately I had the foresight to see the tide was turning during that '81 season and I put my money in for a season ticket down payment for the next season in September of '81. It was fortunate because I didn't wait for my friends to come back from college so I put in for one seat, and when they ended up winning the whole thing naturally everything sold out, but because I had put in for just one I got a great seat, a seat I had for the next 32 years. If I had waited I would have been shut out, and starting in '82 the waiting list began, a list that continues to this day. A day sooooooo far away from that great day in January of '81.

As for the poster, I'm not much into 'things' and I usually have no interest in posters and other collectibles, but I was really excited when my friend gave me that poster a few years ago because I loved those shows and because I had never seen that one before, or since.

It was thoughtful of him and it means something to me, and I certainly wouldn't sell it for $300.

Now if someone added another zero or two on there, well I like it and all, but...

Ok. First of all Judit is correct on the art of rock book by Paul Grushkin.  I worked with him at Winterland Productions when I lived in Oakland back In the late nineties.  He is he authority and a really chill guy.  Loved talking poster art with him. Also check out Art of the Fillmore. It is also very valuable in determining originals vs reprints.  I own quite a few originals such as the closing of winterland Blue Rose signed by mouse and Kelly.  My wife used to work at Artrock in San Francisco and we picked a bunch up at dealer cost.  Nice perk.  However Artrock no longer exists.   There is plenty of info that will decipher the differences.  Such as which print house did the originals vs the reprints etc.  I just would be really careful about buying off eBay etc. unless you know the sources.  Im sure you will find what your looking for. Just do the research like you said you've been doing

And as stated above. Wolfgangs vault is totally legit!

Seems that September '81 was very good to you Lance.

I wasn't insinuating that you would sell the poster, just giving

you the idea of its value so you could see that it's slightly rare, but available...

That was a kind gift from your buddy.

Burnz - Thanks for the information about Portal and my poster. 

For you, Hooper-

Dennis has the GD Movie poster (the real one, there are a TON of bootlegs) for $150. Legit source, not a bad price. You can risk it on eBay, but beware of boots;

http://www.dking-gallery.com/store/Dead_Movie1st.html

This seller (on eBay) is also legit, but a LOT of the Randy Tuten posters from the '70's were reprinted (by Randy himself) using the paste-up art from old BGP newsprint ads. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Grateful-Dead-Original-Concert-Poster-Shrine-Auditorium-1977-Signed-Randy-Tuten-/231811381175?hash=item35f908f7b7:g:knIAAOSwaA5WlLd~

Hope this helps!

Thanks again, Burnz.

Burnz's current auction has a really interesting assortment of posters, including some rare ones - Rick Griffin, an Acid Test, some great stuff. Take a look at http://concertposterauction.com

New entrant to this thread and I don't think I saw this mentioned above.

Friend sent me a text last night with a picture of a very old skull and roses poster he just received. He mentioned that he's thinking of getting it bleached. Don't think I would ever do that, but also, I'd never heard of it being done. Zoners have any thoughts (pros, cons) I could pass on to him on this?

Thanks!

i have 2 oo posters.  they are on heavy stock and really done well. one has a flying saucer and another has a stand of trees.  any value beyond the purchase price?  wondering if posters for the dead and the oo have value.

Markd....depends on the printing issue.....I think there were 5 different printings over time

Hey ales.....those are Gary Houston posters who just about signed everything..... trees & saucer only goes for about 50-60....crow and tree if you have it about $300.... skull hand with red roses about $200.... well made posters on heavy stock, just too many available at this time

Markd....just a follow up....if the poster is going to be bleached and framed for personal use, it's well worth it....resale, not so much depending on the print issue. They were printed in the 80's last edition if I am not mistaken. I will check my art of rock book when I get a chance. I personally think all editions are brilliant, I have a couple of few and my crappy bar stained, thumb tack holes with corner tears 3rd printing is probably my favorite. 

thanks captain, i actully have these oo posters:
>crow in a tree nye 2002/03 (#388/810)
>flying saucer fall tour 2002 (#1275/1700)

they really good qulity time to frame them

Captain, not sure of print edition. It does appear to be signed by Kelly and Mouse, would that be cause for concern relative to bleaching?

I suspect he is not at all concerned about resale. Rather, it will be framed and displayed for personal use.

Signatures alone on a skull and roses is gold....no bleach please....Hell I will by it for the right price

Signatures alone on a skull and roses is gold....no bleach please....Hell I will by it for the right price

The above poster is worth $300.... that's what it sold for recently

If the skull and roses is 28 x 22 its a very recent reprint signed by both.....need a photo though, hope that helps

Thank you.

Have just passed on your comments to him.