A Guide to the Best of Southern California : COLLECTIBLES : Taking Batman Home

ONCE AGAIN California leads the way in changing our perception of art. Now it’s “standees,” the cardboard cutouts you see hyping the latest releases at your neighborhood video store. Recently featuring such big-time movie characters as Batman and Dick Tracy, these frequently life-size displays are being nabbed by a growing number of collectors who consider them works of art.

Malcolm Willits, a recognized movie-memorabilia expert and owner of Collectors Book Store in Hollywood, counts himself among such true believers. “Standees are the best kind of collectible--they’re not intended for sale, and they’re limited in quantity.”

Willits defends standees as art of pop culture; others go further. “Some of the greatest fine art was produced for commercial reasons,” says Scott Morgan, a commercial photographer. “Michelangelo was commissioned to do the Sistine chapel, and Paul Outerbridge’s classic photo of a shirt collar on a checkerboard originally appeared as an ad in Vanity Fair.”

Chuck Diets, owner of Movie Mart in Canoga Park, sold a life-size Batman standee for $100; smaller ones sell for much less. And the farther from L.A. one ventures, the lower the standee price. If you get lucky, you might even find an out-of-the-way little store that tosses its standees in the Dumpster after they’ve served their original function.