For Sale - Complete Sets of Original Printings
The best estimates are that there are about thirty complete sets of
original printings of the numbered Family Dog and Bill Graham series
1966 -- 1973 which include posters, postcards and handbills.
Because of the limited number of existing copies of several key
items, it is unlikely more than a handful more such sets ever will
exist. These sets vary drastically in condition and
depth. Some include many posters in damaged condition.
Others have only one example of each original even when there are
substantial variants. Most include only limited quantities of
copies signed by the artists who created them.
While I have not completely examined many of the sets, I have a
fairly good idea of a lot of what exists. Based on the
criteria I considered most important; condition, depth and
signatures on posters, this set is definitely in the top ten and
probably a ways up from the bottom of this ten. Most key
posters and handbills are in as good a condition as the better known
examples. Most of the important variant original posters and
many variant original handbills are in this set, and approximately
half of the original posters are signed by the artists who created
them. An extensive range of reprints is included.
This is a serious, museum quality set, the product of years of study
and searching, not just to fill in the blanks but to upgrade to near
mint or better. Rather than write a lengthy essay on this set
which might not answer your specific questions, I will leave it to
interested parties to e-mail
me and ask what they want to know.
The price is $750,000.00. If you want it for less, you should
be prepared to explain clearly and definitively why it is worth less
than I am asking. If you want a set for a lot less, I suggest
you contemplate one of the more than two dozen lesser sets.
The above for sale material has been unchanged for about ten years.
In 2014 I realized that there had been several substantial changes
in the poster market which have effected the value of the
collection. Not only have many of the posters increased in value,
but the value of signatures by the artists has taken a major leap
upward. None of the artists whose signatures are represented in this
collection charges less than $25.00 per signature even in quantity
discounts. Most charge a minimum of $50.00, and some charge $100.00.
Wes Wilson, as the father of the art form, always has charged the
most. He now charges $200.00 for signing any poster, and although
Stanley Mouse does not charge that much for most posters, he now
charges $500.00 to sign FD-26, the Skeleton and Roses. Furthermore
both Rick Griffin and Alton Kelley have died, so finding copies of
posters which they signed is much more difficult and expensive. For
example, Rick's signature in the Crucifix form on BG-105-OP-1 can
add as much as $1,000.00 to the value at auction of what already is
a very expensive poster. I mention this because, as I note above,
about half of the originals in this collection are signed by the
artists who created them.