Poster Condition Grades at Original Film Art

At Original Film Art, we inspect, authenticate and grade every movie poster we sell.  We choose not to use an overly technical grading scale as the difference between one grade and another can, and often is, subjective from one person to another.  

As the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words."  Original Film Art offers high quality, accurate photographs of each and every poster we sell.  We invite buyers to carefully inspect the photos before buying one of our vintage posters. 

Please remember that many of these posters have been handled or displayed at theaters and are not in brand-new condition (as one would expect from most reproductions).  

Please look carefully at the poster photos and read the descriptions.  We do not use stock images and you will always see the edges of the poster you are buying (we do not crop out the edges). 

Here are general guidelines for our grading but please note that posters will not have every fault listed these grades.  Each poster has an individual description that aims to point out all faults.

Product descriptions contain the following grades at Original Film Art:

Excellent (similar to Mint or C10)

A excellent graded poster is in virtually perfect, unused  condition with no visible defects on the edges or surface of the poster. It is unlikely that many, if any, vintage posters will receive this grade at Original Film Art.

Very Good to Excellent (Similar to Near Mint or C9)

Very good to excellent posters have the smallest of defects that are limited to the edges of the poster.  There are no pinholes, tears of any kind or visible surface wear. If folded, the poster has no visible fold-wear. Very few posters will receive this grade.

Very Good  (Similar to Fine to Very Fine or C8-C9)

Posters is this category may have minor edge wear or very minor spots of surface wear. Folded posters will have minimal, yet, age-appropriate fold-wear.

Good to Very Good  (Similar to Fine or C6-C7)

Posters may have minor to moderate edge (and/or fold) wear. There may be tears in the edges of the poster or tiny parts of paper missing from the corners of the poster.  There could be some minor surface creasing or scuffing.

Good  (Similar to very good/very good to fine or C4-C5)

Posters may have minor to moderate edge wear. There may be small tears in the edges of the poster or tiny parts of paper missing from the corners of the poster. Color on the poster could be fading.   Folded posters in this category will have moderate fold wear and may have minor spots of age-related fold separation.

Fair  (Similar to Good/good to very good or C3-C4

Posters graded as fair will have significant defects that may include moderate to severe edge wear and/or moderate surface wear. Posters may have blemishes that directly affect the artwork. The poster should still be presentable and recognizable but would likely benefit from restoration.

Poor  (Similar to Poor/Fair or C1-C2)

Posters in this category have major defects as described in the Fair category and will also have significant tearing, paper loss, surface damage, or color fading.