In 2001, when the original 1932 poster for The Mummy sold for $453,500, GQ Magazine wrote about the movie poster collector market. Wait a minute...GQ? The magazine read by pretty boys with money? Wasn't poster collecting purely a geek domain? What's an article on the movie poster market doing in the same magazine that featured articles on celebrity limo services and where to buy the best sushi?

In fact, GQ had a regular column called "My Twenty Grand," and this particular article showed you what great cinema memorabilia you could buy for that magical number. Yes, these days collectors are paying big bucks for movie posters, some spending five to six figures on a rare title.

Yet let the buyer beware. There's plenty of B.S. artists in all areas of collecting (the art and baseball memorabilia worlds have been notorious havens for shysters). Where can you shop without getting burned? And if you don't have big bucks to spend, can you afford your favourite film poster? Tom's Hardware Guide has the answers...