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Looking for good, affordable frames for movie posters
Gaslight
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Last fall I purchased three large (27x40) movie posters (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Kagemusha, and The Empire Strikes Back, if anyone cares). However, after lo these many months they are still without proper frames. I bought three "frames" from Frameplace.com which were very affordable, but stupidly realized too late that the reason they were so affordable is that they aren't actually frames at all: they're just sheets of clear plastic, cardboard backing, and little strips of plastic molding that are supposed to clip onto the edges, which don't stay on for shit. They are a huge finger-cramping PITA to get on in the first place, they don't fit together flush at the corners, and every couple of days some of them start popping off and falling on my floor.
Now Frameplace does appear to also offer a real, honest-to-god (though barebones) poster frame. However, while the debacle that was my first purchase from them was largely my fault for not paying close enough attention to what I was buying, there is not as much info about the construction of these frames on their site as I would like and I frankly don't trust them after seeing how their cheapo clip-on crap doesn't even work right.
Looking at the page now, it appears I can actually get a better deal by using FrameUSA, which is the Frameplace partner site for big orders. Even with their service charge for making an order under their minimum buy, it would come out to something like $80 for three frames. I am wondering if anybody knows of a place to get a frame of decent, comparable robustness and quality for an equal or better price.
I realize I am sort of being a cheapskate here, but I can't really find anything in local stores, and from what I can tell framing is one of the biggest rackets on the planet (go to a place like Allposters, pay $10 for your poster, $150 for a frame).
(It occurs to me I should specify that my posters are mere reproductions - if they were originals or anything I would be willing to go to more trouble and expense to protect and display them. But since they're not, I just want a solid, real frame that will hold together, stay on my wall, and look alright.)
Now Frameplace does appear to also offer a real, honest-to-god (though barebones) poster frame. However, while the debacle that was my first purchase from them was largely my fault for not paying close enough attention to what I was buying, there is not as much info about the construction of these frames on their site as I would like and I frankly don't trust them after seeing how their cheapo clip-on crap doesn't even work right.
Looking at the page now, it appears I can actually get a better deal by using FrameUSA, which is the Frameplace partner site for big orders. Even with their service charge for making an order under their minimum buy, it would come out to something like $80 for three frames. I am wondering if anybody knows of a place to get a frame of decent, comparable robustness and quality for an equal or better price.
I realize I am sort of being a cheapskate here, but I can't really find anything in local stores, and from what I can tell framing is one of the biggest rackets on the planet (go to a place like Allposters, pay $10 for your poster, $150 for a frame).
(It occurs to me I should specify that my posters are mere reproductions - if they were originals or anything I would be willing to go to more trouble and expense to protect and display them. But since they're not, I just want a solid, real frame that will hold together, stay on my wall, and look alright.)
Gaslight on
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I am not sure off hand because it is usually on sale... but I pay $25 or so per frame and they are fairly high quality.
For what it's worth, I've framed a lot of big pieces and if you genuinely care about the pieces then you should get plexiglass and not regular glass. 27 by 40 in regular glass is quite heavy and if it were to fall and break it would be extremely dangerous - take this for someone who has been cut by glass more often than he likes to remember.
If you are planning to get anything framed with wood, complicated mat cuts, or specialty glass (UV filtering, non-glare, etc.) then you really owe it to yourself to go to a local CPF rather than a big chain.
Otherwise, I'd look in the yellow pages and contact some of the local businesses prior to going to Michael's anyway. Many places have a 'Poster Special' that includes dry mounting, glass, and a small selection of metal frames with big discounts.