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Insider Secrets of the Psychedelic Art Market

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Insider Secrets of the Psychedelic Art Market Insider Secrets of The Psychedelic Art Market www.psychedelicart.com | 410-464-6180 Insider Secrets of The Psychedelic Art Market Psychedelic Art Exchange represents a select group of sophisticated collectors who are aggressively looking to participate in what many believe is the single most lucrative opportunity in the collectibles market today –1960s Psychedelic Rock Concert Posters. It is widely acknowledged that 1960s Psychedelic Rock Concert Posters are historically important works of art that were produced in exceedingly small numbers. Today, the tiny fraction of posters that have survived in Mint Condition are highly sought after at today’s ridiculously low price levels. Many collectors are convinced that these rarities represent exceptional values that are trading for just pennies on the dollar compared to most other popular collectibles including rare stamps, coins, comic books, baseball cards, etc. Literally thousands of Rock Concert Posters have been issued over the past 40 years and each month dozens more are created –many featuring phenomenal artwork and superstar bands. Psychedelic Art Exchange has conducted exhaustive research over several years to identify exactly which posters we believe have the most potential to explode in desirability and appeal as this ground floor opportunity begins to mature. The purpose of this report is to reveal to you the results of our efforts --- so that you may discover for yourself which posters have been targeted for acquisition by our international clientele. Here’s What We Buy and Why We Buy It We prefer to buy and sell Original Printings Psychedelic Art Exchange buys and sells posters that are Original Printings that were created and distributed before a rock concert with the express purpose of advertising the live event. On some occasions, more than one printing of a poster was created before the event, and each of these pre-event posters is considered an original and would be acceptable for acquisition. Because of the popularity of these posters at the time, many issues were reprinted after the show with the express purpose of being resold after the event. Psychedelic Art Exchange prefers to specialize in the Original Printings. Our Logic: Original Printings were produced as advertisements for live events. They were “posted” on telephone poles, bus stops, bulletin boards, store windows and other places all over town. After the event, the posters no longer served a purpose, so they were quickly torn down and replaced with a new poster advertising the next big concert. Very few of these works of art were carefully saved, and it is indeed a miracle that any have survived in Mint Condition today. In contrast, reprints were never posted, but were kept in neat stacks from the printer and then sold in stores as decorative art and memorabilia. Many reprints are available, even today, in large quantities and possess no rarity or historical importance. That’s why PAE recommends Original Printings. We prefer to buy and sell posters from the 1960s. There is near unanimous consensus among historians that the 1960s represented the most significant social movement of the 20th century. Perhaps Jann Wenner, world famous journalist and Founder of Rolling Stone Magazine recently put it best… “THE CULTURE WARS THAT BEGAN IN THE SIXTIES, ABOUT DRUGS, ABOUT MILITARY IN- CURSIONS INTO FOREIGN COUNTRIES, ABOUT SEX AND HUMAN RIGHTS, THE ENVIRON- MENT AND ON AND ON, ARE STILL BEING FOUGHT. ALL THE ISSUES ARE CORRECT, AND THEY ARE ROOTED IN THE ACTIVISM OF THE SIXTIES. THE VALUES HAVE NOT ONLY SUR- VIVED – IN MANY WAYS THEY ARE THE MAINSTREAM VALUES OF OUR TIMES.” – JANN WENNer These fantastic works of art are without a doubt the most authentic historical artifacts of this historic era. Unlike any other collectible or works of art, they most closely represent and embody the ideals and values that helped shape our nation -- then and now. For this reason alone, the appreciation and importance of these special works of art is guaranteed to grow with each passing year. Psychedelic Art Exchange specializes in posters that were issued before 1970. Our Logic: The reason we believe that 1960s Psychedelic Rock Concert Posters represent the most lucrative opportunity in the collectibles market today is because you can buy something that is ultra rare and historically important. (Not to mention extremely beautiful and underpriced). Without a doubt, there are many very beautiful and extremely rare posters of legendary artists such as Jimi Hen- drix, The Doors and the Grateful Dead that were created in the 1970’s -- and these posters are extremely sought after by many collectors around the world today. In no way do we believe these collectors are wrong. However, even today, hundreds of new concert posters –many featuring breathtaking designs - are churned out each month. As a collector, you have to draw the line somewhere. We believe that Concert Posters from the 1960s are far more historically important than those from later decades and therefore choose to target our col- lecting activities to the few short years spanning 1965-1969. We prefer to buy and sell posters that are in Mint Condition Psychedelic Art Exchange strongly believes that 1960s Psychedelic Rock Concert Posters in Mint Condition are vastly undervalued and under-appreciated compared to the prices of similar pieces in used condition! Right now, you can acquire Mint Condition specimens for a tiny fraction of what they should be, and what our clientele believes they will be. This presents astute collectors the opportunity to buy the very best for just a little more and enjoy a collection that should skyrocket in desirability as the true rarity of Mint Condition items be- comes more widely appreciated and understood in the coming years. Our logic: Let’s consider the average poster that was printed in an edition of 1000 pieces. Of those, probably 10-20% (100-200) exist in any condition today. Of these 100-200 surviving pieces, it’s safe to say that no more than 5-10% (just 5 to 20 pieces total!) have somehow miraculously survived in Mint Condition Now take a look at the chart below. You will see that in coins, stamps, baseball cards, comics and every other collectible, it is common- place for Mint Condition examples of a collect- ible to trade for 10-20 times an average, used example. This price differential simply represents the difference in rarity between Mint condition and used examples. Our experience shows that there is a steady sup- ply of “really cool and really rare” posters that are in used, damaged or restored condition. Many collectors enjoy these type of pieces and some even believe a poster with 4 pinholes that came directly off a telephone pole or the wall of a 1960s “hippie pad” is the ultimate in collectabili- ty. We do not believe that these collectors are wrong to hold this opinion…. we just don’t share it. It is an undisputable fact that in every major collectible market, quality is a major determinant of value. Further- more, many of our clientele are extremely well-to-do individuals that enjoy displaying these rare works of art in their lavish homes. Additionally, there is always a ready market from collectors who “want the very best”. And most importantly, Mint Condition posters are extremely undervalued compared to their used or restored counter-parts. It is for all of these reasons that Psychedelic Art Exchange specializes in Mint Condition posters. The Specific Issues We Like and Why We Like Them Bill Graham Fillmore Auditorium Series Issues #1-30 in Mint Condition The late Bill Graham is the most famous and influential concert promoter of all time. Mr. Graham promoted concerts at the world famous San Francisco ball- room, The Fillmore Auditorium. The first concert was held on February 4, 1966 and continued through July 4th, 1971. During this era, Mr. Graham issued 287 concert posters. Poster # 1 was issued in a tiny quantity of just 500 pieces, numbers 2-8 were issued in quanti- ties of under 1000 and then the quantities issued gradually increased until 3500 became the standard number released around poster #30. These posters, along with the Chet Helms Family Dog Avalon series described below are unquestionably the most historically important Psychedelic Rock Concert posters ever issued. Perhaps the late, great author, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson put it best when he said: “NO EXPLANATION, NO MIX OF WORDS OR MUSIC OR MEMORIES CAN TOUCH THAT SENSE OF KNOWING THAT YOU WERE THERE AND ALIVE IN THAT CORNER OF TIME AND THE WORLD. MY CEN- TRAL MEMORY OF THAT TIME SEEMS TO HANG ON ONE OR FIVE OR MAYBE FORTY NIGHTS WHEN I LEFT THE FILLMORE HALF CRAZY… INSTEAD OF GOING HOME I WAS ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT NO MAttER WHICH WAY I WENT, PEOPLE WERE JUST AS WILD AS I WAS. …THERE WAS A FANTASTIC UNIVERSAL SENSE THAT WHATEVER WE WERE DOING WAS RIGHT, THAT WE WERE WINNING.” – DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON Psychedelic Art Exchange advises collectors to focus on the first 30 issues for the following reasons: These posters were first issued during the very birth of the psychedelic rock concert… when “The Scene” was in its embryonic stages. Relatively few people attended the shows and there were no active collectors of the posters in the beginning. Therefore, the earliest issues were the most his- torically important -- and were also the issues that were distributed in the fewest quantities! As the year 1966 progressed, the San Francisco ballroom scene exploded, the quantities issued were ramped up and collectors started to save the posters. In addition, Bill Graham quickly seized on the popularity of the posters and by late 1966 sizable quantities were held back to be sold on a commercial basis.
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