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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Vtg Germany Halloween Toy Tea Set JOL Pumpkin Teapot Cups Saucers Cream Sugar

This is at least the second time this seller has tried to unload this set. It was listed in late September 2012 with an opening bid of $1,900. Here is what I wrote then: "These are all great items (especially the small cups and saucers) and appropriately marked, but the opening price is already a fully valued number. I think the seller is making an error starting so high as that price will engender few bids. Why not start the lot at $500 and let the vagaries of the auction setting determine the price?​" 

The seller is slowly making progress in the right direction. They have listed it with a Buy-It-Now price of $1,695 with a willingness to accept offers. Given the described  condition of the pieces, I feel this set is worth in the $1,100 to $1,400 range depending on your tolerance for imperfection. 

Early Large Pumpkin Lantern

This large German JOL, along with three other items, is being offered by a pioneer in the field of collecting vintage Halloween memorabilia, someone truly in the vanguard of holiday collecting. There was a profile of her collection in a magazine from the 1980s that was an inspiration to me as to how she displayed candy containers. The very large doll house I use to showcase ~35 of my containers was an idea long in gestation arising directly from this article. Sadly, I personally inspected her collection in the summer of 1997 and found much of it stored so haphazardly as to have greatly lessened the condition of virtually everything that I saw. This, apparently, escaped my attention. This person doesn't offer much for sale, and when she does her items often don't sell due to her predilection for asking astronomically high prices.

03/30 Update: I was surprised that this, and most of her other items, actually fetched as much as they did. ​

Vintage 1920's Grinning Black Cat Halloween Candy Container Germany SCARCE NM

I am humbled by the very kind words the seller has written about me. Thanks! Most importantly, though, is this fine German candy container. I had had it in my personal collection for many years before parting with it. (I have several more similar to it and can't keep everything!) ​Whomever purchases this will be obtaining a truly scarce container in very collectible condition. 

VTG HALLOWEEN DUAL-SIDED JOL LANTERN, GERMANY BEISTLE 1928

It's nice to see such a rare piece ​amid all the junk that has taken over the vintage Halloween category like kudzu resulting from Ebay not adequately policing the integrity of their own categories. Although not perfect, this Beistle lantern is a good one to have. As stated on page 35, "This lantern tells a great story. It is an example of the short-lived formal association Beistle had in the late 1920s with German artists and producers, hence the "Made in Germany" mark. It also shows the evolution from this curiously flat German design to the robustness of the memorable Beistle-USA lantern from 1930-31. An 8-inch version was also produced." 

Comment Added 03/22: Given the condition, I feel whomever the buyer was got a solid deal acquiring this lantern for $495.32. Kudos!!​

Halloween decoration "Devil head Candy Container" – Made in Germany

This Ruby Lane seller is wrong in stating, "These decorations were made in Germany beginning in 1920s and 1930s and again distributed at the end of the cold war in 1990." In fact, this devil head container is one of the best known fakes or fantasy pieces that began polluting our hobby in about 1995. There are no vintage counterparts. This has purely decorative value - nowhere near what this seller is offering this POS for. Fair market value on a very good day is about $15. By the way, this seller's handle on Ebay is brendasawa, or something very similar.   

Antique Devil Halloween Tobacco Humidor Jar Estate German

I am trying something new here by commenting on an item offered on Ruby Lane. The listings on Ebay these past few months have been woeful garbage by and large, which plays into my theory that Ebay is becoming (has turned into...?) the low-end bazaar it never used to be. Anyway...This devil humidor is rare, but this one isn't complete since it is missing its eyes. If you turn to page 115, you'll see one of only 10 complete sets ever made including this devil head humidor. Now, this doesn't mean that there were only 10 humidors made. In fact, from what I understand, the humidor and the match striker ​were made in relatively robust quantities over a handful of years. However, a complete set consists also of an ashtray and a serving tray. Only ten of these latter two items were made. Who knows how many actually still exist. Outside of my collection, I have never seen another tray or ashtray. 

Original Early 1930's Halloween Composition Veggie Man Figural - Scarce NM Cond

These diminutive figurals (sometimes they were made as candy containers as they would stand atop a small box) came in a wide variety of forms. I have an entire crew of these cavorting in my vintage Halloween house shown in one of my videos. (Check them all out right here on this site...) This particular figural looks to be in great shape. It is also offered by a friend of mine who is on my trusted sellers list. You can't go wrong doing business with Keith! ​