The PULP FICTION “Lucky Strike” Teaser 1-Sheet, which was pulled by Miramax before it was widely displayed at movie theaters, is recognized by aficionados and collectors as one of the most desirable movie posters of the last twenty years – a rare meeting of cool movie, cool design, cool subject, and manufactured scarcity. The popularity of the movie and the desirability of the poster have led inevitably to the production of copies, and, because some have been fairly well executed, distinguishing a repro from the genuine article can be quite difficult.

It’s a real problem for collectors, and testimonials and certificates of authenticity can be faked a lot more easily than posters. Indeed, at just the same time that we first happened to be  preparing our own listing, we coincidentally received an e-mail from a perplexed collector asking for advice on the matter, and, since the time we first listed the poster, we have continued to receive additional inquiries and information. We learned, for instance, that there are some
versions in circulation that even have a phony Miramax stamp on the reverse side supposedly authenticating the poster as one of those withdrawn from circulation. Though we’ve actually handled a poster with this stamp, we finally were alerted to an eBay auction that included an image of it:

The auctioneer obviously hoped, like other sellers over the years, that the presence of the stamp would authenticate the poster. For experienced collectors and dealers, including the image had the exact opposite effect. Because we happen to have both a real Teaser and a repro in my
possession, and because we have the highest confidence in the provenance of the former, we thought we’d share a few points of comparison that will stand up with or without phony stamps or other dead giveaways. Many of these differences may have been corrected in some fakes, though some are more difficult to correct than others.

1. Paper Quality

The original is printed on good, industry standard poster stock: It’s not double thick (or double-sided) like some ‘90s posters – including many from Buena Vista or other Disney
subsidiaries – but the quality is obvious, especially in comparison to the repro, which has begun to wrinkle and crinkle along the edges almost as though water-damaged. When we put the two posters before an experienced collector, the differences in paper quality were a dead
giveaway.

2. Printing Quality

The original Lucky Strike is a fine piece of Hollywood poster work. The repro has been improperly  printed, so that a thin white strip appears along the lower left border.

3. Dimensions

The original is approximately 1/8” wider than the repro. We wouldn’t have been surprised to see  an even greater difference, since preserving original dimensions while also achieving high reproduction image quality is a key problem for copiers, and since 1/8” is said to be within normal tolerances for different authentic editions of the same poster printed in different locations. We don’t know whether the Lucky Strike was printed in different simultaneous “First Editions.” We do know that ours measures just about exactly 27 1/4” in width.

 4. Color and clearity

The colors of the originals will tend to be deeper and richer than those of reproductions. Often there is a huge difference in the clearity of the image. The red stone in Uma Thurman’s
necklace is “dead” or slightly out of focus in the repro. The original is red. The larger swatches were photographed under high magnification in very bright light so the repro image is
lighter.
 
5. Definition

Differences in image quality may be more subtle and difficult to pin down than differences in color, dimensions, printinq quality, and paper, but are worth looking for, especially when you don’t possess a verified original for comparison purposes. Some reproductions may be rather obviously distorted: Imagery that appears naturally curved or blended, or, conversely, edges that appear sharp in the original may not be so in a copy. If you look closely at the slightly enhanced photograph below, the smoke in the repro looks “scratchy,” while the smoke in the original curls smoothly. The difference is hard to locate at first, but, once identified, it’s undeniable.

6. Flecks on Uma

Many of the most popular repros will show white flecks in and around Uma’s chest – a sign of very poor printing. When we first saw them on a repro, we thought they were wear marks.

7. The Little Man

This one can be checked fairly easily (though we’d be careful about presuming that it’s a universal giveaway, since different authentic 1-sheets may sometimes turn up with slightly
variant “cuts”): At the extreme upper edge of the authentic Lucky Strike, there is a marbling  feature that resembles a little man. On the repros, he appears as though beheaded from the shoulders.

If you have any questions or would like images please email me. brian@aussieposters.com

Tags: recalled US Advance 1sh, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino, QT