In the last post, I spoke of the frenzied bidding wars eBay can induced in individuals, causing them to pay far more for items than they would ever pay in person. On the flip side, fabulous items sometimes get listed and slip though the cracks, leaving a very happy collector paying far less than they would in person. Which brings us to the latest collection spotlight.

The above picture of Ann Dvorak was taken on the set of Housewife (1934), co-starring Bette Davis and George Brent. As I had mentioned in a previous post, Housewife is not Ann’s best movie, but it’s enjoyable enough and only one of two times she shared the screen with Bette Davis. When this photo was listed, the opening bid was only 99 cents and the description was very vague, leading me to believe that it was a cheap reproduction. Still, I love candid photos and figured this great shot of Ann was worth spending a couple of bucks on.

No one else placed a bid on the photo and it was mine for 99 cents, plus shipping which was four times the cost of the photo. Imagine my surprise when I opened the package to find an original photographer stamped photo!

Between this photo and the candid from The Way to Love discussed last time, the cost of the two averages out to 40 dollars a piece. This is still really high, but at the same time allows me to justify spending way to much on some things, because it all averages out.