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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

RARE: Vintage HALLOWEEN 9" Cardboard Cat w/Pumpkin Cart / Candy Container

Here is yet another example of a seller offering an item in poor condition but not accounting for the poor condition in the starting bid. If this Fibro Toy cart was in perfect condition, the opening price would still be high. These were manufactured from 1934 through 1953 so there are a lot of them out there, most of them looking as bedraggled as this one: faded, missing surface paper and lots of wear to the points. Remember, as will all paper-based collectibles, condition is key. 

Vintage Halloween Paper Mache Pumpkin Jack O' Lantern 1940s-1950s

This isn't a vintage item and, therefore, has zero collectible value. Authentic USA pulp JOLs will have the expected bumpy pulp texture unlike this one that appears to be as smooth and unused as Bush's brain. Authentic JOLs will not have this lifeless mien, which reminds me of Joan Rivers these past few years. Lastly, authentic JOLs will have impressed rings on the bottom, unlike this one that has none. 

Antique Beistle Halloween Lantern. 1930-31 Amazing Bright Colors.

This seller is a long-time collecting friend of mine who lives nearby. Sandy brought over the lantern on Wednesday for me to examine. I have never seen such rich colors on the two faces of this iconic Beistle lantern. Once the bottom of this lantern is stabilized, this will be a show-stopper in any case into which it is placed. Sandy has provided excellent photos and a description that is detailed, but which makes the lantern's condition sound worse than it truly is. I can't wait to see what it fetches! 

09/08 Update: I was astounded, as was Sandy, that this brought nearly one thousand dollars! This iconic Beistle lantern is a true show-stopper, so maybe I shouldn't be all that surprised.  

Vintage Dennison USA Black Cat Die Cut Wall Decor Halloween

This Dennison snarling cat face diecut was made in three sizes, with this one being the largest size. The design first surfaced in 1927 and was made for many years, evidenced by a previous owner unfortunately having written 1946 right on the front of the image. This action does show how little thought was given to these decorations, accounting for their rarity in collectible condition today. This particular diecut is in pretty awful condition, yet the seller has slapped a very aggressive BIN price on it. I doubt it will sell for that price. 

Vintage Black Crow German Embossed Paper Die Cut Halloween Decoration

This is one you don't see too often. Crow imagery is, as expected, unusual. As far as I know, the Germans made only two embossed crow diecut iterations. Of the two, this is the more common, although both are hard to come by. The other is shown on page 152. The condition of this particular example is quite good. My opinion is that if a prior owner has written their name on the reverse, even in ink, it makes no difference to assessing condition if that name is otherwise invisible. 

08/30 Update: I wasn't surprised that this superb diecut fetched $253. Congrats!  

ANTIQUE BEAUTIFUL WITCH COMPOSITION HALLOWEEN CANDY CONTAINER AS FOUND

This seems to be a nice 1920s German compo witch candy container. The damage to the hat that the seller points out is a fairly common condition issue for these types of containers and shouldn't greatly affect value. Bear in mind that this container was originally "holding" a broom, not a plain piece of wire. Given that it looks as if the wire has been glued to the hand, that is the more concerning condition issue to me. 

vintage halloween decorations

As I point out on page 145, most of the value for this set is in the box alone. The diecuts, two of which are missing from this lot, are so common and pedestrian that they bring $2-4 each on a good day. Given that the diecuts are not shown here completely, leaving you to your imagination as to their actual condition, and that the box is in less-than-mint condition, the minimum opening bid price of $49.50 seems high. I feel the seller would have been better off taking more complete photographs and starting the listing at no more than $9.99.