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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Pair Vintage Halloween Paper Bats Decor Diecuts Ephemera

Unfortunately, whomever the buyer was bought newly made items with no collectible value. The sad thing is that this seller was informed by a long-time collector in Pennsylvania that she was selling newly made items and mightily resisted this information. (I experience this phenomenon all the time, sadly...) Be sure to do your research before buying vintage Halloween memorabilia. Prices are high enough across the board that a little bit of time invested in education in our fun hobby will surely prevent you from buying such things. 

VINTAGE 50" GERMAN DIECUT HALLOWEEN SKELETON

The Germans made at least three different sizes of their hyper-detailed, highly embossed, jointed skeleton diecuts, with this size, 50", almost never seen. I have one in the collection, but the thing is so massive that I found it impossible to have it photographed for the newly published third edition without the possibility of the diecut sustaining some damage. The ending price of $673.99 is quite aggressive. If you examine the bidding history, the piece likely would have ended ~$457 except for the determination of the underbidder. I feel that lower price is a sustainable value for this awesome piece. 

UNCOMMON Vintage Halloween Broomed Witch Old Diecut Decoration, Germany 1920s

This broomed witch German diecut brought a very strong $81, due exclusively to three determined bidders. The differences in this diecut are subtle enough that lots of collectors, including me, would take a quick look and move on certain that it was already part of our collections. Thankfully, ziz did her normal exemplary job in fully describing "Cassandra" so that the price ended a fair amount above guide. 

Rare 1920's Die Cut Halloween Decoration Germany Little Girl Devil Demon Antique

It is so great to see such rare and desirable objects begin to populate Ebay's un-patrolled vintage Halloween category! This German mini-diecut is one of an exceedingly rare set that many of my collecting friends have been struggling to complete for years. (Others to this set can be seen on page 185.) The condition of this she-devil seems to be pretty darn good, so I expect bidding to continue to be fierce. The current price is $90, but I'll be surprised if this sells for less than $250-300. If you like this miniature-sized diecut set, don't let this one slip by. 

08/18 Update: This exceedingly rare mini-diecut brought $317.57, about where I expected it to finish. You don't see pieces from this set too often made available for purchase. 

Box of VINTAGE 1920's Dennison HALLOWEEN Face on Leaf HALLOWE'EN Gummed Seals

This is a super slide box of rare Dennison seals. As this great seller points out, the box of six seals is replete with three each of two iterations. Dennison sold these boxes with each leaf iteration on the front to maximize and extend their product line. This design first appears in their 1924 Bogie Book and were sold with stock number H684. See both examples in the Decorations section, one on page 245 and the other on page 248. Guide value ranges from $180-200. 

08/18 Update: Wow, these brought a very strong price of $227.51, not surprising due to the cool image factor. This design, as well as its counterpart, are amongst my favorite of Dennison designs. 

vintage Halloween diecut

This is one of a set of three 3-D fold-out decorations Beistle made in the mid-1950s. (The other two can be seen on page 231.) These surface on a somewhat regular basis, but typically bring $150-225. This is a great example of how condition affects value. Instead of $150, due to someone carelessly ripping the one side, this only brought $32.99. 

"VINTAGE HALLOWEEN~ EARLY 4-SECTION FENCE~FOUR ORANGE AND BLACK WITCHES"

I love these table centerpiece fences. Most of the time, when they surface at all, they are missing one or more of the tabs that interlock the sections of the fence. There are four sections to this fence. Made by Whitney in the later 1920s, this particular decoration was sold with stock number 2477. This great item can be seen on page 275 of my newly published third edition. 

08/14 Update: The buyer got a real bargain scooping this great fence up for $140.27! 

Vintage/Antique Halloween 1920's Two-Piece Tally Card Beistle Bat

The seller doesn't provide measurements, but this looks to be the earliest iteration of these long-produced Beistle tally cards, and so it should measure 4.25" h x 2.5" w. As I write on page 218, "The actual tally is a card separate from the decorative top card. All sets are held together by their original pink strings. Beistle issued and reissued these items in various packaging for many seasons. The later iterations are taller and not as wide. I am assigning a Relative Scarcity Index number of '3' to this particular set as the older iterations are more difficult to find than their later counterparts." 

HTF Beistle Mechanical Bat & Hoot Owl Diecut Decorations in Original Envelope

If this is an example of the delights that await us all in late 2015 when this seller begins to sell in earnest, them I am chomping at the bit! What makes this exceptional, of course, is its condition. Just look at it! I have two envelopes in the collection, one shown on page 145 and one on page 219. Neither one is identical to the one being sold here. (It is interesting that there were at least three variations.) In any event, these sellers are top-notch. I wish many other Ebay sellers would take a page out of this seller's playbook in that they supply many high-quality photos, have razor-sharp descriptions and stand by their merchandise. I have been one of their customers and can personally attest that they'll treat you right. Significantly better than the set in the collection, I may very well be a bidder!