The six sheet is scarcer in general, than, say a three sheet on the same title. This is so because fewer sixes than threes, and threes than ones etc., were manufactured to begin with. And because larger
posters were often dismissed as "too big" by collectors in the early years, they were often discarded or treated casually, further reducing their numbers. Six sheets may be offset photolithography or they may be stone lithos; they are printed on paper stocks. They are even more expensive to prepare for display than a three sheet. When they are good, however, they can be very impressive indeed. Obviously, they can be very impressive in a larger room.
Twenty four sheet. The twenty four sheet was used as an outdoor billboard. They are sometimes called poster panels. Twenty four sheets can vary in size, but most of the ones I have encountered are about 20 feet wide by 9 feet high. These posters are scarce with few exception. They are normally the scarcest poster on any title; on many titles no twenty four sheets are known to exist. This can be true for any size poster on a particular title. No one can say why, for some titles, no known posters exist in a given size or, indeed, at all. But it is known that twenty four sheets were intended to be used in the initial, first-run release of a film. A billboard space had to be rented from an advertising display company. Usually the budget for this existed only in the first-run of a movie. Once a film had moved to the neighborhood theatres, twenty four sheets were seldom called for. Twenty four sheets were the only posters that were routinely destroyed when they were used. Most posters were used by the exhibitors and then returned to the exchanges from which they had been leased. A twenty four sheet was purchased by the exhibitor, pasted up, displayed, and pasted over with another billboard as soon as the advertising contract expired. When a film was out of first run distribution and the personnel at the film poster exchanges felt certain billboards would not be called for again, the surplus copies were discarded. They were bulky and took up valuable space. So relatively few survived. This is what has been explained to me by people who worked in this business over the years. Who collects these behemoth posters? Completist collectors who are looking for every poster on a particular film, dealers who are interested in selling to completist collectors, and the occasional collector who sees a magnificent twenty four sheet and has to have it. There have been some memorable examples of twenty four sheets which have commanded big prices at auction and through private sales. When they are good, they are spectacular.
Pressbooks. Pressbooks are not posters. They are called pressbooks for short, but they were called Exhibitor's Campaign Manuals. They were produced by the studios and distributed to the exhibitors to help them market the film in their area. The pressbook contained articles, targeted at the local newspapers, with information and publicity about the film and its stars. These were often regurgitated by local writers or simply lifted intact and published. The pressbook contained ad mats, ideas for marketing schemes, product tie- ins, and, most importantly for contemporary poster collectors, examples of the posters and other campaign items intended for the exhibitors. Pressbooks are themselves collected today. They are most valued with they are completely intact and nothing has been cut from them. The pressbook will usually show every poster produced for a film; of course there are exceptions to this.
Twenty four sheet. The twenty four sheet was used as an outdoor billboard. They are sometimes called poster panels. Twenty four sheets can vary in size, but most of the ones I have encountered are about 20 feet wide by 9 feet high. These posters are scarce with few exception. They are normally the scarcest poster on any title; on many titles no twenty four sheets are known to exist. This can be true for any size poster on a particular title. No one can say why, for some titles, no known posters exist in a given size or, indeed, at all. But it is known that twenty four sheets were intended to be used in the initial, first-run release of a film. A billboard space had to be rented from an advertising display company. Usually the budget for this existed only in the first-run of a movie. Once a film had moved to the neighborhood theatres, twenty four sheets were seldom called for. Twenty four sheets were the only posters that were routinely destroyed when they were used. Most posters were used by the exhibitors and then returned to the exchanges from which they had been leased. A twenty four sheet was purchased by the exhibitor, pasted up, displayed, and pasted over with another billboard as soon as the advertising contract expired. When a film was out of first run distribution and the personnel at the film poster exchanges felt certain billboards would not be called for again, the surplus copies were discarded. They were bulky and took up valuable space. So relatively few survived. This is what has been explained to me by people who worked in this business over the years. Who collects these behemoth posters? Completist collectors who are looking for every poster on a particular film, dealers who are interested in selling to completist collectors, and the occasional collector who sees a magnificent twenty four sheet and has to have it. There have been some memorable examples of twenty four sheets which have commanded big prices at auction and through private sales. When they are good, they are spectacular.