Jon Warren has been a collector since childhood. Stamps and coins were his first foray into collecting, then comic books, blues and jazz records, vintage guitars, movie posters, vintage paperbacks, and... name it, he’s probably collected it.
He began selling collectibles at a very early age and by age 14 was selling rare United States commemorative stamps to collectors around the world. He started Rarities, Inc., his first collectibles business, in 1976 at age 17. In 1983, while on a road trip in search of rare blues records, he stumbled upon a collector in Houston, Texas who was selling movie posters. Fascinated by the beauty of these Hollywood icons, Jon began searching small-town theaters in hopes of a "poster find." The first edition of Warren’s Movie Poster Price Guide was published in 1985.
"Of all the collectibles I’ve searched for, movie posters are my favorite and are by far the hardest to find. Most theaters simply threw them away. Someday I hope the general public will appreciate the rarity of these Hollywood advertising pieces."
Warren is the author or editor of several other collector guides, including The Official Price Guide To Paperback Books (House of Collectibles, 1991), The Overstreet Comic Book Update (Overstreet, 1982 - 1992), Posters At Auction (ACEX, 1994), The Wizard Comic Book Annual (Wizard Press, 1994), Wizard: The Guide To Comics (Wizard Press), Inquest: The Guide to Magic The Gathering Collectible Cards (Wizard Press, 1996), and Toyfare: The Guide to Collectible Action Figures (Wizard Press, 1997).
About collecting and the rising costs associated with the collecting endeavor, Jon says, "People should remember that price guides are not bibles — they are intended as a general guide to values. Too many people use price guides as the ending point in a negotiation, rather than as the starting point. The final and real price is what one collector is willing to pay to another at that given time. Also, I think it’s very important for collectors to focus on collecting for the love of the collection, not for any speculative future value the collection may (or may not) achieve."
Jon resides on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee with his wife, Margaret, and their three children, Elizabeth, Susannah, and Jonathan.
