MIB LE Original or Preprinted Signatures?

[Dominik Pfleghaar]

Just got the awesome MIB box set yesterday, and knowing that a limited number of the limited edition (no limits Ltd ) contains artwork with original signatures, this was one of the first things I was checking out.

But for the life of me I wasn't able to tell if the signatures were original or preprinted. Even a magnifying glass didn't get me any further. I just couldn't tell.

Any hints as to how I could tell? (Given my luck I'd say it's preprinted, but one never knows).

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Unca Dom
dvdfile.com Administrator
pfleghaar@dvdfile.com
My HT My dvd collection

[Hendrik]

...isn't the so-called 'limited' edition 'limited' to something like 'only' 50'000 copies? ...if so, just try to imagine someone signing their name 50'000 times...

! !

[Dominik Pfleghaar]

Yes, and that's exactly why only a limited number of the already limited edition contains original signatures.

My point is still, how can you tell wether you have one with original signatures or a preprinted one?

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Unca Dom
dvdfile.com Administrator
pfleghaar@dvdfile.com
My HT My dvd collection

[micahp]

I'd be very interested in an answer as well.
The sig I got looked original but everyone I know got one that looks original.

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Resident Me,
Micah P.
www.micahpearson.com

[Dominik Pfleghaar]

Maybe we could collect some scans of the signatures.
Overlaying them would then reveal the truth. Those who fit on each other are preprints, those who don't must be originals.

[Tyler Durden]

Try looking for any indentations on the reverse of the poster also look for imperfect pen marks such as staining or brush strokes (caused by the use of a felt tip pen) if it looks perfect then it's a print.

[BasicBlack]

Ditto, I also scrutinized the signatures and they look far too clean and shiny. No imperfections.... alas I have a copy.

Did they really print only 50,000 copies?? I suspect they must have boosted the production number more than that. Anyway to confirm?

[Hendrik]

...oh, youse guys is naive!...

The reason I picked the '50'000' number is because the back cover of my Anchor Bay "Supergirl" (...I know! I know!... ) 'Limited Edition' DVD states very clearly:

" 38983/50,000 "

so I may reasonably assume that this set is indeed 'limited'.

If, as Dom says, the 'Signatures' constitute a limited set within the limited set, somewhere on the disc or front or back cover there should be an indication similar to the one on my Supergirl set, i.e.

" #27/150 "

or whatever.

I can see from your comments that none of you ever collected First Editions of books!...

! !



[This message has been edited by Hendrik (edited 09-14-2000).]

[Wesly Moore]

I don't remember the exact wording, but the stick-on advertising flier (which left a smudge on the cool black box when I removed it, by the way ) indicates that all the posters have a reproduced signature, but only a few will have real signatures. I got all excited when I saw the signature on mine, but realized after reading more carefully that I had a run-of-the-mill poster. Oh well.

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Wesly Moore
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weslymoore@aol.com

They mostly come at night. Mostly.

[This message has been edited by Wesly Moore (edited 09-14-2000).]

[samuelk]

I don't think that the LE MIB DVDs with the actual signatures have a different numbering than the rest of the LE DVDs. The original signatures are probably randomly inserted
into the LE DVDs.

And by the way, the MIB Limited edition is not numbered, at least not that I can find.

Sam

[This message has been edited by samuelk (edited 09-14-2000).]

[Hendrik]

"...And by the way, the MIB Limited edition is not numbered, at least not that I can find..."

That leaves two possibilities:

1) Somebody goofed - badly, I'd say - since, if the discs or the case(s) they come in are not numbered prominently (as described in my previous post), the whole idea of this being a 'limited' set is nonsense, pure and simple.

2) The more likely possibility: whoever thought up this lazy scam (of the supposedly 'genuine original' signatures) was pulling everybody's legs.
Let's say there were 50'000 copies made. This being a highly anticipated release, let's assume these will all have been sold, down to the very last one (which would be "50/000/50'000"), two months after the original release.
The set would then be "OOP" and would begin to appear on Ebay - at outrageous prices!...

(thinks: I really don't want to rain on these people's parade, but still...)

Peace!

! !

[Tyler Durden]

Hiya Hendy

I think it is you who are being naive if you think that your SuperGirl double disc set is really 'limited'! Anchor Bay have proven that their idea of limited is not really all that precious - Army of Darkness being a case in point - how many limited editions of that have been released!!! Also, I'd be quite interested to know what 1st editions you have. Many valuable 1st editions, and I mean valuable, were not numbered at all - numbering editions is a relatively modern phenomenon.

[samuelk]

Wesly Moore,

I you want to get rid of the glue-smudge on the back of your MIB box, here's how:

Just take a wet cloth and wipe of the glue...it will dissolve in a few seconds. The guys who decided on what glue to use were smart and made it water soluble.

Just make sure to dry the box quickly.

Worked perfectly for me.

Sam

[Hank]

If you want the real sigs. Write to the celebrities involved. I write now and then and get about 50% back. I have over 100 sigs. Just do an interent search and or try here for a few free ones. http://www.celebrity-addresses.com/

[Hendrik]

"I think it is you who are being naive if you think that your SuperGirl double disc set is really 'limited'!"

...as I wrote above, my 'LE' of Supergirl bears the prominently displayed number "38983/50,000" on the back cover - if anyone else reading this has the same set, I'll eat my hat - and yours, too! - if theirs bears the same number, rather than, say, "00376/50,000" or "01798/50,000" - get my drift?

Remember that samuelk wrote about his Men In Black set: "...the MIB Limited edition is not numbered, at least not that I can find." - either he didn't look very closely, or the set quite simply is not limited...

I have a two-DVD French limited edition of the 1913 silent serial "Fantômas" - it comes in a sturdy cardboard slipcase (quite unlike, e.g., the tacky Fight Club 'case'), includes a 32-page booklet printed on fine paper, and is labeled (on the back cover) "Série limitée à 12000 exemplaires. Ce coffret porte le numéro..." ("Issue limited to 12000 copies. This case bears the number...") and below it is a sticker saying 00897 - now that is what a 'real' LE should be (of course, it helps that 5 hours 35 minutes of silent movie serials - be they ever so famous and influential - is not everyone's 'cup of tea' ...)

Peace, nevertheless...

! !

[Tyler Durden]

Hiya Hendy

You seem to be missing my point somewhat - of course nobody has the same copy of SuperGirl - but the fact that Anchor Bay will probably re-release SuperGirl in yet another limited edition, as they have done with Army of Darkness, kind of makes the moniker Ltd Edition a bit of a misnomer to my mind. I am not disputing the fact that a DVD with numbers on it may be part of a limited print run but even those editions with no numbers on form part of a limited print run - Criterion is a case in point. Furthermore, you could say that ALL dvds are limited as many older titles will be deleted at some point. But I'd be really interested in knowing what 1st edition books you have that are numbered editions? None of any real value I would think. As I say, numbered editions are a relatively modern phenomena and include, numbered artworks, prints, signatures, DVDs, CDs, Laserdiscs, sculptures, ceramics and so on. Numbers are a very, very successful marketing tool to increase the perceived value of a product and are, in many cases, meaningless. Many ltd ed prints, dvds and so on can be numbered to an initial print run of let's say 1000 and 50000 copies respectively, however, this does not mean that the producers cannot then make a second edition print run, which does not have to be marked on the product as a second run, of let's say a further 1000 or 50000 - this is common practice in all areas of commerce. I can think of many, many ltd editions that have had 7 or 8 reprints each claiming to be a Ltd Ed. I am quite glad the MIB box set doesn't have numbers all over it as ultimately this is meaningless and the bods at Sony know this.

[Grizzly]

hmm, i was thinking about that today too as i got my MIB LE today, i looked at it so that you could see the reflection and mine reflected over the signtures so that means mine is pre-printed. i'd say if it's a real signature the part of the signature won't be reflective since it's on top of the print.

[samuelk]

Not necessarily...certain types of permanent ink are a bit reflective.

Does anybody know where we could find scans of the reproduction signatures? I guess there are different posters, too. Mine is a concept sketch of the Edgar Bug makeup.

Sam

[This message has been edited by samuelk (edited 09-15-2000).]

[samuelk]

Hendrik, why do you say that if a box isn't numbered, then it's not limited? Just because there are no numbers, doesn't mean they will keep producing them.

Columbia/Tristar could make 50,000 and stop, whether they're numbered or not.

Sam

[Hendrik]

(thinks) ...this could go on for weeks or years...

Tyler Durden & samuelk: Both of you are even more cynical than I am!...

If the phrase 'Limited Edition' doesn't mean anything, then why use this moniker at all?...

Of course it's true that your basic Criterion DVD is 'Limited' even if it doesn't say so on the disc - let's face it: how many people do you know that would pay for a very early 1930s black-and-white German 'talkie' like "M"? How many of your DVD-collecting, cinemaphile friends ran out to buy Criterion's "Amarcord", "The Red Shoes", the faintly tedious Norwegian/Swedish "Insomnia" or - in the days of LaserDiscs - "Ugetsu Monogatari" or "Fires On The Plain"?(*) By their very nature such films have limited appeal and - since Criterion does not produce movies but leases them - any runs of such discs would perforce be limited - if not through their general appeal, or rather lack of it, then by whatever was stipulated in the leasing contract.

[(*)Ever notice that when people mention Japanese movies at all, they almost invariably refer to Kurosawa's films - as if there had never been an Ozu, an Ichikawa, a Kobayashi, a Mizoguchi, an Oshima, et al.]

Tyler: "...I'd be really interested in knowing what 1st edition books you have that are numbered editions?"

The answer is: none - but I know people who do collect first editions, and who spend quite a lot of money on them - there must be a reason for that!...

Don't know about books printed in the USA, but certainly in France it is quite common for a new novel, say, to have a very limited number of first-edition copies printed - on special paper and/or bound in some luxury material like Moroccan leather and/or with one or more illustrations not present in the 'standard' run - this is always mentioned in the frontispiece of such a book.

For that matter, the booklet that accompanies my DVD set of the "Fantômas" movies states on page 2: "Il a été tiré de cette édition vingt exemplaires hors commerce numérotés de I à XX, et 11980 exemplaires numérotés de 21 à 12000" ("This edition was released in twenty non-commercial copies numbered I through XX, and 11980 copies numbered 21 through 12000.")...

So, yes, I have no doubt that this - very handsomely designed, featuring color reproductions of contemporary posters, etc. - set is indeed limited --- Now if only I could get my hands on one of the copies numbered I through XX...

! !

[samuelk]

If the phrase 'Limited Edition' doesn't mean anything, then why use this moniker at all?...

Oh yes, marketing departments NEVER use phrases like "Limited Edition" or "Special Edition" JUST to sell movies...never...

But back to what I was saying before. I NEVER said that MIB wasn't a Limited Edition. I just said that they don't have to number limited editions in order for them to truly be limited editions.

And as for books, while publishing companies may indicate that a book is a "First Edition", they NEVER number the books. A first edition printing of a book can have 5,000,000 copies made.

Remember that samuelk wrote about his Men In Black set: "...the MIB Limited edition is not numbered, at least not that I can find." - either he didn't look very closely, or the set quite simply is not limited...

Thank you for your faith in my observational skills. But it's not numbered. Does that mean that it's not a Limited Edition? Of course not. If I print ONLY 500 t-shirts with a unique logo on them, and never print them again, then those are "Limited Edition" t-shirts. Do I have to number them? Of course not.

Sam

[Tyler Durden]

Sam's the man! At last, someone here who talks some sense!!

[esc]

Samuelk: Mine is a concept sketch of the Edgar Bug makeup.

i too got the Edgar Bug sketch, what conceptual drawings have other people gotten?

[Wesly Moore]

I also got the Edgar Bug makeup concept sketch. I'm wondering if there are any others...?

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Wesly Moore
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weslymoore@aol.com

They mostly come at night. Mostly.

[Dominik Pfleghaar]

I have the same one. Maybe the original signatures have a different picture?

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Unca Dom
dvdfile.com Administrator
pfleghaar@dvdfile.com
My HT My dvd collection

[Grizzly]

the easiest way to check this is by looking at the first page of the little booklet that comes with the Limited Edition. it's a note from director Barry Sonnenfeld and his signature at the bottom. that signature looked exactly the same as the one on the poster, i.e. mine isn't an original. if those two look different on yours, since all signatures look slightly different more or less, then you're in luck and you have an original signed poster.

[vinzi]

Edgar Bug sketch?? I thought that bearded guy was Mr. Sonnenfeld....Huh?



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Vinzi.
Actresses rescued, directors slain.
Have portable player, will work for food.

[This message has been edited by vinzi (edited 09-20-2000).]

[vinzi]

BTW...you can test whether you have an original sig like that:

put some alcoholic solvent on a piece of tissue and VEEEEEERY CAREFULLY dab at the end line of the signature. If some black spots come off, chances are that you have an original.

I do not recommend to test it like that though, ya never know what the solvent does to the paper.....

I had a VHS tape with some sigs on it, and fortunately there were some smudges on the reverse side and with that method I was able to prove they were original...