As the seller rightly notes, "Light color areas are part of the original design & are NOT "worn-away color"!” This German bat diecut is a little gem. Very detailed and spooky, it displays quite well on a wall. (Nearly every diecut I own is hung on a wall.) Although there are two of these up right now, I can honestly say they don't surface often, especially in this condition. (The other one listed is in lesser condition.) The little tab seen on the top of the right wing as you look at the photo gives a clue as to how these were originally produced. Like sheets of paper scrap, these small diecuts were produced with several comprising a sheet. If you don't own this diecut treasure, make sure you grab this one. Another in this condition may not come along for a while.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
Vintage Halloween BEISTLE 1920s game card BAT & SCYTHE MOON of Beistle Party Set
This is an odd card. Beistle issued these game cards as part of a set introduced in 1918 and made for only one or two seasons after. (This early, original party set was available in boxed and enveloped versions; both being exceedingly hard-to-find complete.) I have never before seen a game card with the egregious misspelling of the word adjective before. My initial theory: This card was originally part of an early printing run, perhaps one and only run, after which the spelling was corrected. Collectors, do me a favor and check your game cards from this early set. Do any of you have cards with this error? Write and let me know, please!
4 HALLOWEEN STAND UP Vintage Jack O’Lantern Pumpkin Black Cat PLACE CARDS
I feel these were an exceptional buy for $169.49. Any one of them represent the smallest of the Johnny Pumpkins family issued by Beistle in 1920. There are a number of these well-designed stand-ups, ranging in size from ~5.25" high through ~20" high. The largest of these is quite rare - I have only seen it once, offered through Bertoia's in a double lot. I bought this lot for roughly $900 each, so they were quite costly. Whereas the rest of the family was issued only in 1920, these smallest members were sold in envelopes of differing quantities for perhaps five years. They come in two different iterations: the one represented in this lot and another with an attached curved easel. These latter are otherwise identical and significantly more rare. Others in this family can be found on page 249.
MINT MIP Vintage 1960s Halloween BLACK CAT Decoration in Package
Given Ebay's somewhat new but definitely annoying policy of not showing the final price when a Buy-It-Now offer is accepted, we'll never know what this jointed diecut actually fetched, but let's assume around $40. This is a Japanese reprint of an original Beistle design that could have been made during the 1970s or 1980s. This has little true value and certainly nothing approaching our assumed $40 price. As collectors, be aware of packaging. This item's packaging has Japan indicated on the lower right portion of the banner. When you see such an indication, know that by and large you are looking at a reprint that may be fun to decorate with, but doesn't belong in a vintage collection.
Antique Celluloid Girl Holding Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Toy!
I never began collecting celluloid in earnest mainly because it is such a delicate medium that discourages much handling. Nonetheless, I certainly appreciate the art form. I have some good friends who live about 2 hours away who have one of the best celluloid collections I've ever seen, spanning several holidays. I don't recall seeing this one in their collection, nor have I seen this one before, so it must be rare.
Pair Rare Bugle Tin Halloween Lithographed Frying Pan Noisemaker Witch Black Cat
I just made an offer through Ebay for these two noisemakers, sending the following message along to the deluded seller with the offer: Your pricing has elicited many laughs throughout the collecting community. On what, pray tell, are you basing these ridiculous asking prices? My offer was for $60.00 and it received an auto-reject. I find sellers like this one annoying. This particular seller has listed quite a few lots of vintage Halloween items with the same pie-in-the-sky pricing wholly unconnected to any semblance of reality or condition. This is another example of how Ebay has devolved into more of a junk store.
Antique Folk Art Halloween Decoration Sign Witch on Broom Flying Black Cat 25"
A good friend of mine who also happens to be a collector of vintage Halloween items wrote yesterday about this item. Mark, I can't believe that someone (or 13 someones) bid this item up to $345. Can you please post something on your blog? This is a Bethany Lowe reproduction made out of resin. It's about an $80.00 piece. Someone got taken big time! I have this piece. The one on Ebay had a part missing as well. There is a pumpkin face that goes on the hook at the bottom. Remember, you can't be too careful these days when collecting anything. Research, befriend other collectors, build a library of reference works, etc. Do your homework so that you don't make a bad decision as the bidders on this piece apparently did.
Vintage Halloween Die Cut Cats with Jack O Lantern on a Pedistal
Can anyone help me understand why anyone would pay nearly $41 for such a common diecut in such pathetic condition? Just when I think I understand this market I come across an outlier result like this and end up scratching my noggin! What was the buyer thinking?
Vintage Halloween Gurley Candles Witch Scarecrow Jack O Lantern
Hey, seller, thanks for using my book cover as a backdrop!
HALLOWEEN RED DEVIL COMPOSITION CANDY CONTAINER--MINT
The seller's memory is probably correct as to when he purchased this - one of the best known of fantasy pieces in this genre. These devil heads began appearing around 1995, brought over initially through Atlantic City via a German-based exporter who made them from nicely detailed, yet completely new molds. If you want a quick way to catalog fantasy pieces that do not belong in any vintage collection, watch an Ebay seller with the handle robodicki. Naturally, he has one of these up right now with a modest Buy-It-Now price if it was truly vintage, quite high for something possessing only decorative value.
Rare Vintage Halloween Empress Makers Rattler Noise Maker Cats Bat Witch Pumpkin
The lucky buyer acquired a truly rare item. I've been collecting and researching vintage Halloween for 25 years folks, and I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE or heard of the manufacturer. I love the graphics along the rim and the way the designer crammed in the word "noise" in the center of the top piece - very snazzy. The imagery looks Germanic to me. I think this went for a pittance. Kudos to whomever scooped this up!
Vintage Halloween PAPER Candle SHADE Witch Bats Cat Owl Great CONDITION EARLY
This is a German shade made in the 1920s. Typically, the panels consist of faded, punctured paper, so it is great to see an example with complete, bright inserts. The starting price is not unreasonable, although as the seller intimates, the brace that would fit in the slots toward the top is missing. Take that into account when considering whether to place a bid.
VTG HALLOWEEN GERMANY 20's-30's, BOX WITH 10 DIECUT DECORATIONS
Although it is nice to see an unusual set of items amidst the Ebay dreck, given the condition of the box and the incomplete number of diecuts in decidedly less than perfect condition, the seller is asking for a very aggressive price. Naturally, I wish her well, but I think a more realistic number is in the $500-550 range.
Rare Large thick Vintage Halloween Window Pane Die cut - Germany
I just saw this pending sale on Ruby Lane for this highly desirable German window pane diecut. The lucky buyer got a true bargain at $825. Wow! I sure wish I had seen this first as the seller left gobs of money on the figurative table.
03/31 Update: The fortunate buyer contacted me to say she actually negotiated the price down to $675. Wow!
VINTAGE WHIRL-O HALLOWEEN FORTUNE AND STUNT GAME & FORTUNE VERSES
The gem of the lot is the "24 Fortune Verses" envelope. The set was made by Whitney, a company that went out of business in 1943. This is a desirable set in that the simple fortune verses were often cut up and discarded. You see the envelope now and again but to find a completely extant example is a fun challenge.
04/06 Update: I am not surprised that this lot brought $214.37.
