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YORK, PA.- In 1935, Universal Pictures released the now-classic horror film Werewolf of London. Its storyline involves one Wilfred Glendon, a famous English botanist who journeys to Tibet in search of the rare mariphasa plant. While in the Himalayas, he has the misfortune of being attacked and bitten by a half-human, half-beast werewolf. To add insult to injury, the bite causes Glendon, himself, to morph into a werewolf.

To promote their groundbreaking movie – the first mainstream Hollywood production about a werewolf – Universal issued a set of eight pictorial lobby cards to theaters across the United States. Each 11- by 14-inch card features a different important scene from the film. Collectors of horror-film memorabilia know the lobby-card series well – with the exception of the apocryphal card that includes a full, unobstructed frontal view of the werewolf’s face, and Glendon’s Tibetan guide. This card never before appeared at auction, but an example is entered in Hake’s Nov. 11-13 Americana & Collectibles’ pop culture sale with a $5,000-$10,000 estimate. According to Hake’s, it’s already creating quite a stir.

“Many collectors need this card to complete their set, and they know this might be the only chance they’ll ever have to fill that slot. Whenever those two factors come into play, you can expect a bidding war to follow,” said Hake’s president, Alex Winter. “In fact, less than 48 hours after the auction opened for bids, the card already had seven bids on it and was up to $6,000.”

Typically in any lobby-card series, the title card is, individually, the most valuable, but that’s not the case with the Werewolf of London set. “This is the first time we’ve seen the ‘Tibetan guide’ card anywhere, either at auction or in a private collection. It’s especially desirable because it includes a powerful central image of the werewolf’s face without any text overlay or obstruction – not even the title card has that,” said Winter. “It’s possible that this card is a lone survivor, although no one can ever be sure. The consignor, who has actively collected ephemera for decades, said he knows of no other.”

Winter said he expects the selling price for the ultra-rare card to eclipse that of the Werewolf title card and four other cards from the series that are entered in the November 13 auction session.

“Collectors view this as an unusual opportunity,” said Winter. “Only rarely have six different lobby cards from the Werewolf of London series appeared in the same auction.” All six Werewolf cards in Hake’s sale have already attracted bids.