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Thai theatres did a wonderful series of Lord of the Rings
theatre promotions, which are quite popular with collectors.
Unfortunately, their popularity created a booming market for bootlegs.
Theatre tickets in Thailand take a higher proportion of the family budget than they do in the west. To lure patrons and fill seats, film distributors and even some theatre chains have rights to create special promotional materials for popular movies, particularly Disney, the Matrix, and the Lord of the Rings movies.
Promotions for Lord of the Rings viewings in Thailand included postcards, magnets, cups, elaborate bookmark packets, and even tiny Sting sword keyrings.
When some Thai Ebay sellers saw the prices these promos were fetching, they rushed to create homemade copies. While many of these copies are outstanding in their own right (some people particularly collect the bootlegs!), they were not licensed material. Many collectors don't realize this, and as a result these same sellers rock along with stellar feedback from unwitting collectors, all the while continuing to sell bootleg material.
"Old time" collectors did not realize there was a problem until after The Two Towers release, when the market was absolutely flooded. We couldn't figure out why so many different items were hitting the market, particularly in magnets, postcards, and bookmarks.
Thankfully, Thai bootlegs are particularly easy to spot. For whatever reason, while Thais have no qualms about making up "new" art and printing bootlegged promo items, they seem to draw the line at putting copyright information on the faked items. Simply look at your magnets, postcards, etc. If you do not see the NLC copyright logo clearly printed somewhere on it, chances are very good that it is a fake.
Probably 95% of the Thai LOTR items on Ebay right now are bootlegged copies. But, these sellers kindly put up large, clear images, so you should be able to spot them easily.
If in doubt, contact an experienced collector, and ask their opinion. Most collectors (me included) are happy to talk your ear off about LOTR collectibles!
If you are collecting Disney, Matrix, Star Wars, or other popular movies, I would imagine this rule of thumb to hold true also.
Theatre tickets in Thailand take a higher proportion of the family budget than they do in the west. To lure patrons and fill seats, film distributors and even some theatre chains have rights to create special promotional materials for popular movies, particularly Disney, the Matrix, and the Lord of the Rings movies.
Promotions for Lord of the Rings viewings in Thailand included postcards, magnets, cups, elaborate bookmark packets, and even tiny Sting sword keyrings.
When some Thai Ebay sellers saw the prices these promos were fetching, they rushed to create homemade copies. While many of these copies are outstanding in their own right (some people particularly collect the bootlegs!), they were not licensed material. Many collectors don't realize this, and as a result these same sellers rock along with stellar feedback from unwitting collectors, all the while continuing to sell bootleg material.
"Old time" collectors did not realize there was a problem until after The Two Towers release, when the market was absolutely flooded. We couldn't figure out why so many different items were hitting the market, particularly in magnets, postcards, and bookmarks.
Thankfully, Thai bootlegs are particularly easy to spot. For whatever reason, while Thais have no qualms about making up "new" art and printing bootlegged promo items, they seem to draw the line at putting copyright information on the faked items. Simply look at your magnets, postcards, etc. If you do not see the NLC copyright logo clearly printed somewhere on it, chances are very good that it is a fake.
Probably 95% of the Thai LOTR items on Ebay right now are bootlegged copies. But, these sellers kindly put up large, clear images, so you should be able to spot them easily.
If in doubt, contact an experienced collector, and ask their opinion. Most collectors (me included) are happy to talk your ear off about LOTR collectibles!
If you are collecting Disney, Matrix, Star Wars, or other popular movies, I would imagine this rule of thumb to hold true also.
Guide created: 10/20/06 (updated 07/11/09)
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