Prince Charles hams it up with Laurel and Hardy lookalikes.
Stan Laurel was a lithe kid from Lancashire, Great Britain. Oliver Hardy was a generously girthed gentleman from Georgia. In sync they became girlfriend film clowns whose solicit continued hearty beyond their careers. As of 2011, cups, posters, movies and gifts with their likenesses sell briskly, while actual memorabilia can fetch top dollar at auctions and from specialized sellers and collectors.
Mugs, T-shirts, Etc.
Mugs with colour photos from classic films such as "Exit West" and "Below Nil" sold for $15 Everyone in 2011. Coffee cups capturing ebony and ghastly images from "Dinah the Donkey" and "Crushed Van" further fetched $15 that same year. T-shirts with their mugs on the front, refrigerator magnets, jigsaw puzzles and more items are available through the official online Laurel and Hardy catalogue. A silver necktie covered with pictures of Laurel and Hardy sold for $25 in April 2011.
Movie Posters
Original Laurel and Hardy movie posters are not easy to find because not that many were made, according to collector Gino Dercola. Expect to pay between $30 and $60 for a reproduction Laurel and Hardy poster, or a reproduction set of four lobby cards. An original, four-color movie poster from the re-release of "Saps at Sea' sold for $750 in 2011. An original, black and white lobby card for "Double Whoopee" sold for $1,950 in 2011.
Memorabilia
Other collections, such as "Laurel & Hardy: Alone and Together" feature the pair's solo work before they teamed up. The "Laurel and Hardy Triple Feature" is four hours of films including "Bogus Bandits," "March of the Wooden Soldiers" and "Movie Struck." "The Further Perils of Laurel and Hardy" is five hours of black and white short films and a compilation of scenes from their early, silent short films. Laurel replied to many of his fan letters and, in 2011, one such reply sold for $800 too. Don't spend money on a fan letter allegedly signed by Hardy: He is not known to have ever replied to a fan letter.
Movies
DVDs and VHS copies of the duo's 106 films are available at multiple websites as single movies, or box set collections. One two-disc collection of films from the 1930s retailed online for $31.99 in 2011. It includes "The Devil's Brother" and "Bonnie Scotland," along with excerpts from "Hollywood Party" and "Pick a Star," plus audio commentary and a documentary.Genuine memorabilia signed by either man alone or both are extremely rare, so be prepared to make an investment. In 2011, a letter signed by Laurel sold for $800. A signed photograph of the two of them went for $800 the same year.
