Rudolph Valentino's 1925 French Avion Voisin

This is one of Valentino's many cars. This is a 1925 French Avion Voisin. This car appeared in the auction catalog, page 15, auction number 8. The catalog lists the car as having a "high lustre taupe colored lacquer paint job." The new photos of this car are gray, which is obviously not the original paint job. The hood ornament is of the cobra with the blood red fangs, which became a staple for Valentino after his film, Cobra. I believe this car is in the Nethercutt Museum in San Francisco. The photos are from the Nethercutt website. This is obviously a one of a kind personal effect that would be highly sought after by any collector, although it would be difficult to fit it into my Valentino room.

Very Rare Lenci Doll from The Ealge

This a ultra rare Lenci Doll from the film, The Eagle. I came across this online, which was taken from the Theimer Auction catalog. The most well known and highly sought after Lenci Doll of Valentino is from The Sheik. I was unaware one from The Eagle even existed. These dolls are very fragile and highly collectible, most of these dolls are valued in the thousands. The photo of this one from the auction catalog appears to be in fantastic condition. I did notice they listed the date of the film as 1922, which is obviously incorrect, it is 1925, which is when they date the doll from. If anyone knows of any other Lenci dolls in existence, besides these two, let me know. I do not own any of the Lenci Dolls, let alone seen any in person. That's right, I am a full grown man, looking for a doll!

Hand Written Letter from Valentino

Bryan, who is new to reading the blog, the owner of the Monsieur Beaucaire Coat I posted a few days ago has sent me some absolutely fantastic photos of items from his personal collection to post. This is a hand written letter from 1923 as they set sail for Europe. It is addressed to Mr. Rosen, I believe thanking him for a basket he had sent to the Valentino's. It is written in Valentino's favorite green ink on the ships stationary. This is yet another "one of a kind item." Yes there are other letters out there but each one is obviously unique. This one is wrote in the green ink, it is dated, and signed with his full name. Overall, a truly fantastic and valuable piece! Congratulations Bryan and thank you so much for sharing, we all really appreciate it!

Photos of my Personal Valentino Collection

I have discussed with a few of you about posting photos of my collection along with some of yours as well. I decided to post a few photos of my collection, some of the photos may appear grainy, I took them with my iphone; furthermore, this room has poor lighting...no windows. You have all seen almost all of these items here on the blog individually, it appears a bit different all grouped together in a room. Now you can finally see what I mean by lack of wall space, especially my sheet music wall. I love the look on people's faces when the first walk into my room and are unaware of my small addiction. They look around with their mouth open, while saying Rudolph Valentino?? That is when I say, I could try to explain it, but, most likely you would not understand, lets just say, I am a fan! At least now I will be sharing a glimpse into my room with people who get it!

1925 Picture Show Magazine

This is a Picture Show magazine from 1925, depicting Valentino on the cover. This is one of the photos from the many Henry Waxman photo shoots. These Picture Show magazines always seem to be sought after by collectors. He appeared on the cover of this magazine numerous times. This is not a rare or colorful magazine, but again highly sought after. I currently do not have any of these in my collection.

Spanish Edition of The Sheik, El Arabe

This is a Spanish hardback edition of The Sheik from 1948. This edition was published in Barcelona, the cover art was by well known artist, Soligo. This is one of those many items that some Valentino collectors want and some do not, since it actually does not depict Valentino. I am on the fence about most items like this; however, being a book collector this would be something I would look for. This is not a common book; but, being from the 40's it would not be as valuable as some of the original editions from the 20's. Still a sought after item for book collectors like myself.

I would like to thank one of the many people who read the blog, Carmelo, for sending me the photo of this book. I appreciate you sharing your book with all of us!

Lobby Card from Moran of the Lady Letty

First of all, Happy St. Patrick's Day! I had no idea what to post for St. Patrick's Day, I mean there are no photos that I am aware of, of Valentino celebrating March 17, so how about a good old fashioned brawl from Moran of the Lady Letty. This is a lobby card from the film, which was a mild success. The lobby cards from this film are all black and white and seem to be difficult to find. I own a couple of them, not this particular one, honestly I do not think I have seen the entire set before. Anyway enjoy the day, have a green beer, and kiss someone who is Irish!

Photos from The Young Rajah

The following are five photos from the film, "The Young Rajah." The film was made in 1922 and most of it was lost up to a few years ago. The copy out there is not a complete copy, so we as collectors can piece the film back together with many of the stills that are out there. A few of these photos are fairly rare and not seen to often. Valentino did not care for this film, he felt they were exploiting him, which they were, which was not difficult to understand.

Tobacco Card from Beyond the Rocks

This is a tobacco card from the film, "Beyond the Rocks." I am unsure of the maker of this card, other than is depicts Valentino from Beyond the Rocks, which most likely dates it from 1922. This is not a common card, but not overly valuable. Most movie star tobacco cards can be purchased for a reasonable price. This is not the case for sports tobacco cards from the 20's, these can bring 10's of thousands of dollars. This never made a great deal of sense to me, but, it is what it is. If anyone owns this card, let me know who manufactured the card.

One of Rudolph Valentino's Coats from Monsieur Beaucaire

This is a wonderful coat from Valentino's 1924 film, "Monsieur Beaucaire." Just like most of his films, he had various costume changes in this film, so hopefully there are many more coats out there. I am unsure where this coat lives today, in a collection, or a museum. A few interesting things about this piece: first, the vibrant orange color, it is great to see costumes from black and white films, since we have no idea what color they are. Second, the label in the coat that reads "R.Valentino." Not all costumes have stitched name labels in them, thus making it more difficult to authenticate.

Authentic costumes and props are ridiculously expensive, for example a pair of the Ruby Red Slippers from The Wizard of Oz sold for over $600,000. With that being said, this coat is quite valuable. I would be happy just to see it in person, and maybe try it on, my luck I would rip it; but, I would have some great photos, before the owner tackled me!

1926 Cuban Carteles Magazine

This is a Cuban magazine from September 1926. The name of the magazine is Carteles, which translates to Posters. Items from some countries such as Russia, China, and Cuba are more difficult to come across. I do not own this item, it appears to made from a thinner newspaper material. This magazine is most likely not as valuable as a color-cover magazine, however, the rarity of being from Cuba would increase the value.

Lobby Card from the film, The Eagle

This is a lobby card from the film, "The Eagle." This particular card is not one of the more common cards seen from the film. Most lobby card sets consists of 8 cards, one of which being a title card. There is a dead card in this set, one that does not depict Valentino in a scene from the film. This is a great colorized version of a hard to find, valuable lobby card. One I am still looking for myself.