Is That Monster's Face Really a Fake?
By MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: September 25, 2009 New York Times
LOS ANGELES - In the close-knit world of those who collect vintage movie posters, one of the few things rarer than a genuine lobby card for Universal Pictures' 1931 "Frankenstein" has been a forgery of the same.
Perhaps until now.
Over the last several months, collectors of movie memorabilia have been rocked by claims that a Georgia-based collector, Kerry T. Haggard, has corrupted what had been seen as a relatively safe market for classic horror film posters by selling or trading forgeries of the promotional art for pictures like "Frankenstein," "Dracula" and "The Mummy."
In July a Los Angeles collector, Ronald Magid, filed suit against Mr. Haggard in Federal District Court in California. Mr. Magid claimed he had been persuaded to swap Mr. Haggard 20 genuine posters and other memorabilia valued at about $150,000 for nine items Mr. Magid said were fakes.
In August another collector, James Gresham, filed a similar suit in Federal District Court in Michigan. That suit claims that Mr. Haggard had joined a restoration artist to create forgeries, 28 of which Mr. Gresham bought or traded for in deals he valued at $852,400.
In an answer filed on Monday to the California complaint, Mr. Haggard denied committing any fraud, contending in turn that Mr. Magid had not only damaged his reputation with smears on various Internet sites, but also sold him items that Mr. Haggard, upon reselling them, were told were fake. As of Friday, federal court records available online did not show a response by Mr. Haggard in the Michigan case.
In response to an e-mailed query, Mr. Haggard said he was the victim of a "colossal frame-up."
He added: "The monsters of fiction that I have loved & adored so all my life have destroyed my life in a conspiracy not seen since Lee Harvey Oswald."
Whatever the outcome of the legal cases, a clubby world that often had less to do with business than with shared enthusiasms appears to have lost its innocence.
"It's very unusual for movie posters," Grey Smith, who specializes in the category for Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, said of the fraud accusations. "It's quite new to us."
If fraud has been rare, Mr. Smith said, or at least rarely detected, that is partly because the network of those willing to spend $42,000 for a "Bride of Frankenstein" lobby card, or as much as $286,000 for a full-size one-sheet poster for "The Black Cat," is small - and the pool of available posters is even smaller. According to Mr. Smith, as few as a half-dozen of certain lobby cards promoting "Frankenstein," for instance, are known to exist.
Mr. Smith said he was among the first to question the authenticity of a poster sold by Mr. Haggard, when he was shown an example that is not subject to either of the suits.
Mr. Magid, a freelance writer who has contributed film articles to The Los Angeles Times, said in his suit that he was first introduced to Mr. Haggard by a fellow collector. During visits to his Los Angeles home in 2008, Mr. Magid said, Mr. Haggard accepted his genuine posters in return for what turned out to be photographs of original posters that had been fixed to original lobby card material and airbrushed to make them appear real.
In the second complaint, Mr. Gresham, who operates a snowplowing business, said he was befriended by Mr. Haggard and even joined him on a visit to an Oceanside, Calif., restoration artist, Jaime Mendez, whom Mr. Gresham accused of involvement in the forgeries.
Charles Penzien, a lawyer representing Mr. Mendez, said his client did not join in any fraudulent acts or mislead anyone about his restoration work. "Mr. Mendez was shocked to hear that his name has been involved in the fake movie poster controversy," Mr. Penzien said in a statement sent by e-mail.
Reached by telephone, Mr. Gresham said he had first become aware of Mr. Haggard when he found they were sometimes bidding against each other in online auctions, and that they were eventually introduced by a collector who knew them both.
"We were friends," Mr. Gresham said of the relationship that developed with Mr. Haggard. "He'd come over to the house, we vacationed with our wives, I trusted him."
Mr. Gresham said that as word of the suits circulated, he heard from as many as 20 other collectors who feared they might have bought or swapped for forgeries.
Mr. Smith, whose company is a principal clearing house for vintage movie posters, said, "Now we've all got to be somewhat more on our guard."
The items in his next auction catalog, Mr. Smith said, were getting a level of scrutiny that had usually been reserved for coins or baseball cards, which have more often been the focus of collectibles fraud.
"It saddens me," he said. "I feel like this hobby has been degraded in a way."
By MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: September 25, 2009 New York Times
LOS ANGELES - In the close-knit world of those who collect vintage movie posters, one of the few things rarer than a genuine lobby card for Universal Pictures' 1931 "Frankenstein" has been a forgery of the same.
Perhaps until now.
Over the last several months, collectors of movie memorabilia have been rocked by claims that a Georgia-based collector, Kerry T. Haggard, has corrupted what had been seen as a relatively safe market for classic horror film posters by selling or trading forgeries of the promotional art for pictures like "Frankenstein," "Dracula" and "The Mummy."
In July a Los Angeles collector, Ronald Magid, filed suit against Mr. Haggard in Federal District Court in California. Mr. Magid claimed he had been persuaded to swap Mr. Haggard 20 genuine posters and other memorabilia valued at about $150,000 for nine items Mr. Magid said were fakes.
In August another collector, James Gresham, filed a similar suit in Federal District Court in Michigan. That suit claims that Mr. Haggard had joined a restoration artist to create forgeries, 28 of which Mr. Gresham bought or traded for in deals he valued at $852,400.
In an answer filed on Monday to the California complaint, Mr. Haggard denied committing any fraud, contending in turn that Mr. Magid had not only damaged his reputation with smears on various Internet sites, but also sold him items that Mr. Haggard, upon reselling them, were told were fake. As of Friday, federal court records available online did not show a response by Mr. Haggard in the Michigan case.
In response to an e-mailed query, Mr. Haggard said he was the victim of a "colossal frame-up."
He added: "The monsters of fiction that I have loved & adored so all my life have destroyed my life in a conspiracy not seen since Lee Harvey Oswald."
Whatever the outcome of the legal cases, a clubby world that often had less to do with business than with shared enthusiasms appears to have lost its innocence.
"It's very unusual for movie posters," Grey Smith, who specializes in the category for Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, said of the fraud accusations. "It's quite new to us."
If fraud has been rare, Mr. Smith said, or at least rarely detected, that is partly because the network of those willing to spend $42,000 for a "Bride of Frankenstein" lobby card, or as much as $286,000 for a full-size one-sheet poster for "The Black Cat," is small - and the pool of available posters is even smaller. According to Mr. Smith, as few as a half-dozen of certain lobby cards promoting "Frankenstein," for instance, are known to exist.
Mr. Smith said he was among the first to question the authenticity of a poster sold by Mr. Haggard, when he was shown an example that is not subject to either of the suits.
Mr. Magid, a freelance writer who has contributed film articles to The Los Angeles Times, said in his suit that he was first introduced to Mr. Haggard by a fellow collector. During visits to his Los Angeles home in 2008, Mr. Magid said, Mr. Haggard accepted his genuine posters in return for what turned out to be photographs of original posters that had been fixed to original lobby card material and airbrushed to make them appear real.
In the second complaint, Mr. Gresham, who operates a snowplowing business, said he was befriended by Mr. Haggard and even joined him on a visit to an Oceanside, Calif., restoration artist, Jaime Mendez, whom Mr. Gresham accused of involvement in the forgeries.
Charles Penzien, a lawyer representing Mr. Mendez, said his client did not join in any fraudulent acts or mislead anyone about his restoration work. "Mr. Mendez was shocked to hear that his name has been involved in the fake movie poster controversy," Mr. Penzien said in a statement sent by e-mail.
Reached by telephone, Mr. Gresham said he had first become aware of Mr. Haggard when he found they were sometimes bidding against each other in online auctions, and that they were eventually introduced by a collector who knew them both.
"We were friends," Mr. Gresham said of the relationship that developed with Mr. Haggard. "He'd come over to the house, we vacationed with our wives, I trusted him."
Mr. Gresham said that as word of the suits circulated, he heard from as many as 20 other collectors who feared they might have bought or swapped for forgeries.
Mr. Smith, whose company is a principal clearing house for vintage movie posters, said, "Now we've all got to be somewhat more on our guard."
The items in his next auction catalog, Mr. Smith said, were getting a level of scrutiny that had usually been reserved for coins or baseball cards, which have more often been the focus of collectibles fraud.
"It saddens me," he said. "I feel like this hobby has been degraded in a way."
