Deciding who the right mounter is for your magic posters depends on the type and the condition of the piece. The first thing you have to determine is: a) The value of the poster and b) Its condition – does it need restoration? See our recommendations below.
If the poster is in fairly good condition and does not need restoration, but only straight mounting, then almost any company will do an adequate job. However, you have to make sure that they do not dry mount. You want wet mounting instead. The latter method employs water soluble substances to mount the poster. It is acid free and reversible. Dry or heat mounting is not recommended as they used chemicals and the poster is glued permanently to a board. We find that the most reasonably priced company is Sei Petersen from Baltimore or Phil Temple from CA.
If your poster needs restoration then you have to decide what kind of restoration work you want and what you are willing to pay for it. Every mounter has their own particular techniques of mounting and restoring posters. Some techniques involve painting in the missing part of the poster with water soluble paints. Other restorers use an airbrush to do this process. However the most advanced technique is replacing the paper of the poster. In other words, they will cover the holes or missing parts with either paper or a substitute material and paint over it in such a way that you wouldn’t see that the poster was restored.
Of course, the more sophisticated the restoration, the more expensive it will be. Mounting and restoring a poster with paper restoration can cost anywhere between $300 to over $1000.
So, who do you send a poster to?
As mentioned earlier, you have to determine its value. If it is a poster that is only worth $200, for instance, then it is not worth sending it to a restorer that is going to charge you $500 to mount it. If on the other hand your poster is worth $5000, then, you probably want to send it to the best company. It is just common sense.
For mounting that requires some restoration (painting and/or airbrushing):
Funny Face Productions
147 Main Street
Box 282
Haydenville, MA 01039-0282
Email: postersandrestoration@gmail.com
http://www.funnyfaceproductions.com
Tel: 413-268-9215
Poster Mountain
8749 Shirley Avenue
Unit B
Northridge, CA 91234
http://www.postermountain.com
Tel.: 818-882-1214
Fax: 818-882-1215
Sei Petersen – The Poster Repair Company
1810 Maryland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21201
Tel.: 410-625-4917
Email: seipete@verizon.net
http://www.posterrepaircompany.com
Sei Petersen replaced Garo, which we used quite often. And several customers of ours have been very satisfied with his work.
For more complex projects that involve a lot of paper replacement and restoration:
Studio C
1040 Los Vallecitos Blvd.
Suite 109
San Marcos, CA 92069
http://www.atstudioc.com
Tel.: 800-583-8379
Customers of ours also recommend:
Poster Conservation, Inc.
200 Henry Street
Stamford, CT 06902
Tel.: 203-324-9750
We have not used them yet, but have received good feedback from a couple of their customers.
For obvious reasons, we will not quote prices. Call a few of these mounters and send them each a poster or two and you can decide for yourself who will ultimately fulfill your mounting needs.
Finally, please tell them that you heard about them through Nielsen Magic! Those “brownie points” help!