Framing the Steve Steigman Weaver Gallery Blown Away Posters (Maxell)
- May 30, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
UPDATE 6/25/2026 - I have several of these posters and will frame them as time permits. As they get framed, I will list them for sale on the store. We ship worldwide and are masterclass packagers to get it to you safely. You can also Contact me to inquire on availability and pricing of anything not formally listed - Note that I only sell these framed (or if you can persuade me otherwise).
Current Inventory of Weaver Gallery Steve Steigman posters (lithographs):
Blown Away Man in Chair - 2 Available (1 exc, 1 vg-, both unmounted)
With framing, these will generally sell for $1500+ depending on condition and options.
Blown Away Porsche Targa - 3 Available (1 exc, 1, vg framed, 1 vg-, both mounted)
With framing, these will generally sell for $2000+ depending on condition and options.
Mounted means that poster is mounted on matboard or similar and is not rollable, generally lowers the value of the poster. Unmounted just means it is still on original form and can be rolled, preferred and helps retain/increase the value of the posters.
We only sell original posters and ads, never reproductions. Look at the portfolio (second button below) for other lower cost options that will allow you to get the nastalga of this iconic photograph.
*** If you have one of these posters and have a desire to sell, Contact me. ***
Prologue
When I first started out on eBay, I would go to estate sales like many many other sellers did (and do). For $60, I purchased my first Weaver Gallery Blown Away Man in Chair poster in great condition. It was framed, but poorly and old framing. I decided to take it to Michael's to get it framed with that awesome 80% coupon sitting in my email. So I bring it in to the store, the give the framer my vision, and the framer takes me over to the computer workstation and I kid you not, basically asks me to put in all of the window location measurements and location into the software (which I presume will directly drive a computerized mat cutter (CMC)). I had no idea what I was doing at the time.
So $400 later, I go to pickup the framed poster and the "Weaver Gallery" text is just sooo out of position, its crazy and obvious....the framer says "well, you signed off on it". So, I bought a reproduction poster and decided I would just cut that off the new poster, and put it on top of the original poster in the proper location. When I opened the metal frame and tried to take the mat off, the framer had used ATG double-sided tape to attach the mat board to the poster...I mean all over it, effectively diminishing all value from the poster. Looking back, I should have made more of a stink or better yet, just told the framer my ask and let the framer (i.e. the "expert") figure it out...chalk it up to experience. I did sell the poster and basically recouped my costs (with full transparency of what I did and the poster condition).
I decided, then and there that I could do better....I do. I kid you not, this was the experience that would change my life. Upon early retirement, I had no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life and finally the search was over...Custom Picture Framing.
Present Day
One of my favorite vintage posters are the Weaver Gallery posters from photographer Steve Steigman, used for the Maxell Blown Away Guy (or Guy in Chair) ads for Maxell Audio tapes in the 1980s. There are many of the free and $2 send away offer posters available, but the Weaver Gallery versions which were printed in France are getting more and more difficult to find in good condition (i.e. not mounted to backing boards or foam core and suitable for framing. Whenever I see them available, I will usually pick them up and its getting less and less often that they are coming available. The Blown Away Guys is easily going for $400 plus unframed and the Porsche Blown Away version going for $1000 and higher (as of early 2026 anyway) and the offering of excellent condition un-mounted examples is even more and getting harder and harder to find....they are a good investment poster and I do not see the prices coming down...ever.
There is also a very hard to find massive 36" x 54" version of the Man in the Chair / Blown Away Guy which I think may have only been sent to select music / audio stores. I have seen 2 of these available but have had to decline on purchasing due to 1 being mounted and the other having had an acrylic glazing coted on top of it, both condition issues make it nearly impossible to effectively ship as they can't be rolled and the acrylic covering pretty much ruins the poster. I hope I come across one one day in the right condition.
I have framed and sold several of these and they are a real pleasure to do them. The Porsche Blown Away posters are most often purchased by a Porsche owner and always generates some great dialog in the framing design process.
I have a specific framing style I think works great for these specific posters and recently a customer approached me from Gainesville, GA (a Porsche owner of course!) and he decided to get both of the posters for his garage, although they ended up in his music room. After some design discussions, we pretty much went with my recommended design but made some minor tweaks to the window cutouts for the "Weaver Gallery, Steve Steigman" window so that they would align in a way that worked best. The location is slightly different of that window between the two posters, so we wanted them to look symmetrical for the most part.
The basics material for this build include (all in duplicate):
Nielsen Profile 117 Aluminum frames in German Silver (get it...German...Porsche...) cut to 26" x 38" (+ 1/8" allowance)
Several sheets of acid free foam core cut to 26" x 38" (1 of the sheets black)
Sheet of acid free mat board used for the platform mount under the double mats
Crescent Select Concrete 9594 (Alpha Cellulose Acid-Free) top mat cut to 26" x 38"
Crescent Select Before Dark 9598 (Alpha Cellulose Acid-Free) bottom mat cut to 26" x 38"
Tru Vue Conservation Clear 99% UV Glass (Museum Glass optional)
Various normal custom framing supplies, glues, etc.
(A shout-out to Jason and the awesome team at International Moulding!)
The first time I framed one of these, I framed it at 24" x 36", leaving no real room for a supporting platform and it started to sag slightly in the middle. While I was able to remedy this, it is much more stable and more cosmetically pleasing by adding the extra inch to the edge.
This starts out with cutting the platform mount and getting it in the final place. You can see the painters tape on the corners to ensure there is no movement during the marking process on the mats. I don't use a Computerized Mat Cutter, and these are all done with a manual mat cutter. This will then get transferred to the mat board, but has to be done in a mirror image, that is why I do the marking on the edge and then flip the mat board over and mark on the opposite edge.
The green painters tape above is actually not sticking to the poster, I put some paper underneath the corner so it wouldn't actually adhere to the poster, but still hold it firmly. I don't have picture of the window markings and transferring them, but you should be able to figure that part out.
Then onto the mat cutting. The first time I did this mat layout, it took me 2 days. Now I can mark and cut top and bottom mat in 2 hours and get it right the first time.
I mentioned that we redid the "Weaver Gallery" window for the Blown Away Guy poster. I like that window to line up at the right edge of the main poster, but what happened is they are different locations and turned out that it had different widths on the left and right margin, so we recut to be better cosmetically.
So now we were ready to put the poster in the platform mount. I used some japanese tissue and Klucel-G to put some straight hinges in the middle to help limit/prevent sagging of the poster over time.
Once the hinges dried, we carefully glued the mats to the platform perimeter, normally I would not do this with the poster in place, but needed to this time since it was affixed at the top, but was very careful to ensure no PVA glue got to the poster.
After the glue dried, then the Tru Vue Conservation Clear glass was cut, cleaned and put on top of the mats. We discussed using acrylic, but customer really wanted glass. These were being shipped to Marietta GA, so just meant additional packing care.
The glass and backing were tape sealed, discussed in more detail here.
With Nielsen metal frames, they come with these springs that are used to fill the void, but I think they look terrible and I like to have the back look as good as the front. So I fill it will foam core with a final black foam core covering to ensure the void is filled but not super tight.
Then add the hanging hardware, bumpers, etc.
Since I just got a laser engraver and cutter, I decided why not make an upscale framer label!
Well, the results were stunning (IMO anyway)...these are statement pieces and was a pleasure todo these wonderful pieces.
Ship it!
I recently worked out a deal with someone to buy their lot of 10 New Old Stock of the mail-away posters.
Below is a sampling of our inventory of Steve Steigman Blown Away related ephemera.
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Yet Another!
A internet client reached out looking for a high quality version of the Weaver Gallery Blown Away Man in Chair lithograph poster. I had a couple in stock, but the condition wasn't above VG+. We found one in Germany and struck a deal with the seller and had it shipped over. Once received, the condition on this was near mint with almost no handling half-moon creases. A few tape spots on the back but I removed those.
The customer wanted it framed (of course) and we decided to make a few design changes:
TruVue Museum Glass
Single mat in Crescent Select Before Dark
Thinner border, so the frame is just over the poster size of 24"x36" (the one in the main blog is 26"x38")
I won't do a full walk-though, but here are some build and final pictures:
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John does an incredible job with framing...I got one of his framed Steigman Targa magazine ads and it looks fantastic. He takes just as much care in shipping as he does in framing!
I recently found a Weaver Gallery version on Facebook Marketplace. The condition was good and the price was right, but the matting and framing is not in the same ballpark as John's!
No comments….really?