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Vancouver Expo '86: Belgian pavillion poster

Jyrki21
Member
#1 · Posted: 18 Jun 2004 15:26
Though I have no plans to sell (and it's in pretty ratty condition), I was wondering whether something like this is at all rare.

My hometown (Vancouver, BC, Canada) had a very large, transportation-themed exposition in 1986, still fondly remembered back home -- as it completely transformed the city -- as "Expo '86."

In my childhood bedroom at home, I have a poster which the Belgian pavilion was apparently giving away (although I didn't acquire it until a few years later) which displays Tintin, Snowy, Haddock and Calculus in their moon gear, exiting the rocket, holding a sign that says "Welcome!" and "Bienvenue!" (and probably in Flemish too, although I don't remember).

The text above, in the classic font used for the album covers, says "Tintin and Snowy are pleased to welcome you to the Belgian pavillion!" or something like that.

Is the world flooded with these occasion-themed Tintin items, or is something like that actually a rarity?
jock123
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 18 Jun 2004 17:01
I’ve collected one or two posters from exhibitions through the years, but haven’t come across this one, so in that sense, I’d personally regard it as rare, or at least desirable as a collector. I certainly wouldn’t think that the world was flooded with them, but then again there may be thousands of them adorning Vancouver bedroom and garage walls. If they were being given away, then there were probably a lot of them, but they would also have very likely been seen as fairly disposable, so a large percentage was probably thrown away fairly quickly.

So, yes, think of it as a rarity - and now I know they are out there, I’ll keep on the look out for one!

The image is probably the one from the drawing done to be given to Neil Armstrong by Hergé; in the original, but possibly omitted from your poster, as you don’t mention it, is a startled NASA astronaut, just arrived in Apollo 11!
Jyrki21
Member
#3 · Posted: 18 Jun 2004 17:35
If you're curious, this actually isn't the poster, but the image on it is almost the same:

http://bobbea.com/expo-86/belgium.html

The one that I have is on a light blue background, and there is no speech bubble. Plus, as mentioned, Tintin is actually holding a sign.
edcharlesadams
Trivia Challenge Score Keeper
#4 · Posted: 18 Jun 2004 18:00
As jock123 says, that's a modified version of the drawing Hergé did to celebrate the actual Moon landing by Apollo 11. It can also be found on the cover of the book "Ils ont Marché sur la Lune", which explores the Moon books and the themes behind them. Calculus is holding a bouquet of roses, while Captain Haddock holds a sign saying "Welcome!" and Tintin says "Bienvenue sur la lune, Mr Armstrong!".
Harrock n roll
Moderator
#5 · Posted: 19 Jun 2004 17:06
I attended the exhibition "Ils ont Marché sur la Lune" in Paris waaaay back in 1985. I was up in the Pompidou centre (nice view from there) and luckily caught sight of it showing across the road, in the Bruxelles centre I think - I immediately shot over there and bought myself an exhibition poster and a copy of the book. The poster unfortunately got a few creases as I carried it around in my rucksack for a week after in the south of France (doh!). Then it spent about 5 years on my bedroom wall at my parents house. I've since had it framed and it now hangs pride of place in my bathroom :)

From what I can remember the exhibition itself I thought was pretty disappointing but it did have some nice models of the moon rocket and the cut-away which Hergé had made.
jock123
Moderator
#6 · Posted: 19 Jun 2004 23:39
I was in Paris in 1985 (about the start of July, two weeks before LiveAid) too, and also saw the exhibition from the Pompidou Centre!!
However when I got across to it, it was closed (I'm guessing now that it was a Monday, when many places shut), and I had to make do with standing outside and jumping up to look in the windows!

Glad I didn’t miss too much - it’s always bugged me!

Curiously, I bought a copy of the book in the mid-Nineties (1994/5?), in a fairly ordinary bookshop in Thonon (near Evian on the shores of Lac Leman - “Calculus Affair” country!), so the book may have had a longer shelf-life than the exhibition.
edcharlesadams
Trivia Challenge Score Keeper
#7 · Posted: 20 Jun 2004 09:27
Yes I've seen the book for sale as recently as 2000, so I suppose it must have been given at least a second printing.

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