$20 for WINDOWCARDS?!?

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 12:57am

What's the deal?

The last few shows I've gone to have charged me 20 bucks for a damn windowcard.

How come I can go to Sam Goody and buy a poster for 7 to 12 dollars that is twice the size of what I get on Broadway?

I remember back when windowcards were ten bucks. Then they went up to fifteen. And now twenty. A bit exorbitant, no? I could go out to the store and buy the cast recording for less than what they're charging for a piece of posterboard. And that cast recording sure cost A LOT more to produce than it cost to print that windowcard.

This is getting out of hand.

Updated On: 4/4/07 at 12:57 AM

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 1:13am

Windowcards have been $20 for years now. That's the price I've always seen them at. (The first windowcard I remember buying was in 1999 and that was for $20.)

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 1:15am

I really don't remember paying twenty for longer than a year.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 1:18am

Supply and demand.

People are buying them...they'll keep producing them at that price.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 1:20am

Well, duh.

I'm just remarking that they have the gaul to charge that much. But with the way ticket prices are it's not surprising.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 1:20am

It also depends on a show's popularity. In early 2004 I bought the souvineer brochure and a T-shirt for Wicked, for 20. I went back a year later, and got a shirt for a friend, for 20.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 1:25am

If they were $10, I would buy one for every show I see. I only own six because I only now buy windowcards for shows I truly loved.

[kyle.]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 1:48am

When I was in New York in January I bought one at the theatre for only $15. It was either Grey Gardens or Company, and I remember thinking $15?! It is my lucky day!

I love buying window cards and having the cast autograph them after the show! Such a beautiful piece of theatre history to have, and a reminder of seeing the show.

[winston89]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 2:02am

See thing is that windocards are for broadway shows. Usually you don't see the words broadway and cheap in the same sentence. Merch is so high at broadway shows because it is another way to get your money. Plain and simple as that. Why do you think they charge you more for the cast album then at the times square virgin? Reason is that they want you to think that the prices at both places will be the same and then buy it at the theatre when it is easier to get because you are already there.

[winston89]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 2:06am

See thing is that windocards are for broadway shows. Usually you don't see the words broadway and cheap in the same sentence. Merch is so high at broadway shows because it is another way to get your money. Plain and simple as that. Why do you think they charge you more for the cast album then at the times square virgin? Reason is that they want you to think that the prices at both places will be the same and then buy it at the theatre when it is easier to get because you are already there.

[craig238]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:04am

No different than going to a ballgame and paying $25 for a hat that you can get for $10 at Sports Authority or going to a movie and paying $4 for a box of candy that you can get at Kmart for a buck or.............

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:15am

The going rate for theater posters is $15 and $20.

Occasionally, you'll see the $10 poster, but those are a rarity these days.

There's always ebay.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:22am

They've been 20 for quite some time now.

What you CAN do... is go over to Triton and rumage around the damaged bin. I know they have some new ones that were damaged in the first shipment.

I've gotten tons of card for 10 or even 5 dollars with a bent corner thats only half a centermeter wide, or theres a line across the back of it, that doesn't even affect the front.

Triton's Damage Bin= Love.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:23am

Triton's a bitch to get to now....I can't help but wonder how much their business has dropped off since the move.

But yes, I've found numerous great things in their damaged bin. Nothing like a poster with unnoticable damage for $10.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:35am

Triton isn't terribly far away.
It's on Ninth between 44th and 45th.

It is a pain to have to sign in and then schlep up the elevator, but I definatly enjoy my walk down 45th with my friends everytime I go to Triton.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:37am

Yes, that's what I meant.

[wendi]

Posted: 4/8/07 at 8:27pm

I found a website that has reasonable prices
www.broadwayauction.com

[BDavis0092]

Posted: 4/8/07 at 8:30pm

I posted this in another thread but it never got answered. What do you guys even do with window cards? I want to get one for Spring Awakening or Drowsy but I don't know what I would do with it. Do you frame all of yours? Pin them on your wall?

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/8/07 at 8:31pm

^ Oh yeah, 50 bucks for an Elaine Stritch At Liberty windowcard is such a great deal!!

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/8/07 at 8:35pm

I frame mine and hang them around my house.

I got Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for $10 when that first opened.

Company was $20...the same price as a hat.

[BDavis0092]

Posted: 4/8/07 at 8:43pm

How much does the frame usually cost? That's a lot of money for window card + frame isn't it?

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/8/07 at 8:46pm

I just wait for the local frame store to have a sale (which is surprisingly often).

[Dover]

Posted: 4/8/07 at 9:13pm

I think there are still a good number that are $15. Usually it's cheaper at the theatre than in the stores. Les Miz's is $10. I think the new design is nicer, too.

As for the CDs being ridiculously expensive, one reason is that whereas say, Virgin might buy millions of CDs from a record label or distributor or whatever, a Broadway show is buying at most a couple thousand at a time. And it doesn't particularly help that it's the CD for that show. They still don't get the deal the big chains get. I'm not saying they're selling it to the public at cost, but just because you see it on Amazon for $10 less doesn't mean they're pocketing all that extra money.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 12:22pm

I got one for "The Vertical Hour" (shut up. I loved it.) signed and next paycheck I'm getting it framed to hang. (Would have been this one, but buying tickets for my parents and I to see "The Year of Magical Thinking" in July trumped a frame. That show = no guarantee on tickets even if waiting "only" a week vs. Frame = van do anytime.)

[G_Schlozinski2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 5:38pm

window cards acutally used to be worth something before they started selling them!