Saga Posters
Star Wars Trilogy Anniversary Posters
In the summer of 1985, L'Affiche, which was a division of Kilian Enterprises, issued a 'newsletter' poster called the - Star Wars Saga - American One-Sheet Poster Checklist. Lucasfilm Ltd. had authorized them to reprint the artwork from the original theatrical movie posters onto a new one-sheet poster, that acted as a checklist or guide for the featured domestic posters. The new checklist poster showed a small picture of the posters and their official title and gave an informative detailed summary of each of the original USA Star Wars trilogy one-sheet posters, plus a few other sizes and special event commercial posters. This guide poster was a big hit among fans and poster enthusiasts, and because of its success, Kilian Enterprises was allowed to continue printing other authorized saga posters with Lucasfilm Ltd.'s blessings as time went on. A good share of the newly created posters they continued to issue to the public was the bulk of the early anniversary movie posters for the Star Wars trilogy until around 1995. For these anniversary posters, Kilian Enterprises incorporated and used artwork from the Bros Hildebrandt, Drew Struzan, Kazuhiko Sano, and Lawrence Noble, along with other illustrations and layout designs from his partner Dayna Stedry. There are also a few other anniversary posters listed in this gallery archive section from other artists. They were issued by the fan clubs and magazines, and although we are only showing a few of the foreign 'SW Anniversary posters', there are other countries like Japan, which have produced posters for the anniversary occasions of the films. We will continue to add new 'Anniversary' posters to this section as time marches on for the saga and as we reach new future milestones.
Mass Market & Premium Tie-in Posters
The term 'mass market' refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. Traditionally, film studios reach out to the mass market with advertising messages through a variety of media including radio, TV, newspapers, posters, and nowadays the Web. In this section, we are focusing on the 'posters', which include promotional, premium "tie-in", commercial, video rental, public service, and other Star Wars posters created to be sold or viewed by the general public that had some association with the saga. The original production company itself, the government, and the number of licensees that printed up artwork and layout designs to promote stuff, that was based on characters, key visual art, and other illustrations from the movie were and still are a staggering amount of printed-up paper. This collection of posters shown in this gallery section represents only a small sampling of the numerous "other Star Wars posters" that one could/can obtain. Many of these posters were easily obtainable back in the 70s and 80s (except for a select group of them), and now - some of them not so much. But, because there are literally still thousands of these promo posters to choose from in auctions, online stores, and flea markets, collectors will often select just the various styles of artwork that are popular or appealing only to themselves. Enjoy the selection!
Soundtrack Posters
The soundtrack came into public consciousness with the advent of so-called "soundtrack albums" in the late 1940s. First conceived by movie companies as a promotional gimmick for new films, these commercially available recordings were labeled and advertised as "music from the original motion picture soundtrack", or "music from and inspired by the motion picture." In movie industry terminology, a soundtrack is an audio recording created or used in film production or post-production. Initially, the dialogue, sound effects, and music in a film each have their own separate track (dialogue track, sound effects track, and music track), and these are mixed together to make what is called the composite track, which is heard in the film. Before, during, and after the release of a film, moviegoers will often want to purchase these audio soundtracks for their own personal listening pleasure. This is where the soundtrack posters come into play as a way to promote the selling of these audio movie tracks to consumers. In this unique category, we are showing some of the Star Wars saga soundtrack posters that were used to promote the film's soundtracks to the general public. They demonstrate how powerful the Star Wars advertising effect had on the music industry. These posters were not available for sale to the general public, except when they came as an added bonus with the purchase of an LP, Cassette, or CD. They were used by retail outlets to promote the different soundtrack albums and many of them were thrown away after the initial release campaigns. Throughout the years, die-hard Star Wars poster fans have had lots of fun trying to hunt some of these down.
Specialized Event & Misc. Saga Posters
The first piece of physical media produced for an event is typically a poster, usually derived from a digital graphic nowadays. If done properly, posters can be very effective at generating interest and excitement for the event. This set of posters in the gallery matrix represents specialized event posters and miscellaneous advertisement materials associated with the Star Wars saga. They were used to promote the film series and conjure up buzz in all the facets of yesteryear's marketing. Today they are still being produced for Star Wars concerts, newer sequel films, conventions, exhibitions, and for sale as limited edition artworks. Many of the originals have become as popular, or in some cases, more popular than the vintage movie posters themselves. You can also see in some cases, with the provided design layouts, what the direction of Twentieth Century Fox's film marketing department was headed in. The unique illustrations created for the events on these posters have become favorites among collectors, who have wanted to diversify their collections with posters other than just the theatrical paper memorabilia. Some of these posters are still easily obtainable, while others have reached mythic status because of their appeal and rarity. The posters shown below on these gallery pages are only a sampling of the numerous "other Star Wars posters" one could/can obtain.
