Back


Star Wars Reprints
How can I tell if my Star Wars one sheet is a reprint?
by Jon R. Warren

One of my most frequently-asked questions has to do with verifying the authenticity of original Star Wars one sheets. Many thanks to those of you who have read this article and supplied additional information.

First off, let me make it clear that I am talking about original Star Wars Style A one sheets. Over the years, I've owned almost all of the various sizes and styles of Star Wars posters, and I've not seen any fakes or reprints of the other styles or sizes of this title. I've never seen a questionable lobby card, window card, insert, half sheet, 30x40, 40x60, three sheet or six sheet. I've seen rolled inserts, half sheets and one sheets that were without doubt authentic. Every authentic three sheet or six sheet I've ever seen was folded (unless it had been linenbacked in which case it was rolled due to the linenbacking process.). Because of the large size of the three sheets and six sheets, it is doubtful that rolled versions exist. I've never seen a Style C or Style D one sheet that I thought was a reprint. The only reprint Star Wars poster I am familiar with is the Style A reprint published by ZigZag posters in 1993.

The problem has been that recently I've had a number of new collectors come to me to authenticate their Style A poster and I've had to give them bad news ... it was the ZigZag reprint. If you are a long-time Star Wars poster collector, I know what you are thinking: "How could anyone think that the ZigZag reprint is the real thing when it is clearly dated 1993?" Chalk it up to beginner daffness, I guess.

Although the vast majority of Star Wars Style A one sheets were folded at the printing plant at the time they were produced, apparently some were distributed rolled, not folded.

The rolled reprints are easy to distinguish from the rolled originals, however, by a line of tiny print just below the line that reads "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on 20th Century Records and Tapes." The tell-tale line reads "TM & (c) 1993 Lucasfilm, Ltd. (LFL) All Rights Reserved Published and distributed by ZigZag Posters, Germany (Tel 0711-456 0488)." Obviously, if the poster has a 1993 copyright date it can't be an original.

The rolled originals that I have seen are different from the folded originals I've seen in the past. The difference is the National Screen Service number, located at the bottom right-hand corner of the poster. The NSS# on the folded originals is 77/21, on the rolled versions the NSS# is 77/21-0. Question: Why did National Screen use a different NSS# for these rolled versions? In fact, every insert, half sheet, lobby card, three sheet and six sheet I've ever seen had a NSS# of 77/21. So why, for this one version, did NSS use a different number? Was it a special print run?

I hope as more collectors read this article and contribute information, that I can answer that question. But for now the main thing to watch out for if you are trying to collect Star War posters is that you really need to be careful about the ZigZag reprints from 1993. If you are buying other sizes, such as inserts, half sheets, three sheets, etc., I would not worry about it being a fake, because as of this writing I've never heard of fakes in those sizes.

If you read this and know of other ways to identify Star Wars reprint posters please email me at jon@jonwarren.com.

Here are some close-ups of the small, bottom-border printing on an authentic Style A rolled one sheet, courtesy of Rob Bender (thanx Rob!).


Jon Warren is author of Warren's Movie Poster Price Guide and other books for collectors.

(c) 1999, All rights reserved. Republication without prior written consent is prohibited.