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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Very Rare Plastic Witch And Pumpkin Carriage candy container Rosen ? Rosbro

The buyer got a real bargain here, even with the fully disclosed, very minor repair. I have never warmed to hard plastic but have to admit that the Kokomold products have an inescapable charm. Although I don't own any Kokomold items, for the first time ever, I'm open to that possibility. The seller knew just enough to know it was rare, but doesn't seem to be up on current prices. 

THE HALLOWEEN BUG~DIE CUT BEISTLE JOINTED SMILING SKAIRO~1931~SMILING CAT

I think all four of these imaginative Skairo designs by Beistle have now appeared in the last few weeks. This seems to be in near-perfect condition, a miracle considering just how large and complicated this diecut is. Beistle only issued this design for one year, 1931. Frankly, I can't imagine that another in better condition will ever surface! This seller has been releasing some real treasures from her large collection. What else is coming? :) 

Antique Dennison Spook Sticker Box 1920s

This great set first went on sale in 1922. There is a companion set to this, sold with a stock number of H637. Both have a RSIN of 3. Some Dennison boxed sets are more desirable than others due to design and overall scarcity. For the most common sets, always buy full boxes. 

Halloween Party JOL Scarecrows Place cards table decoration Dennison Co 1919

Dennison boxed items are one of my favorite collecting genres. I haven't really seen too many of these little gems listed this season. This box is early and quite desirable. Dennison was well into its adventure into boxed holiday items and was finding it to be a lucrative business. This set is one of the first of their large form factor designs, quite detailed and a bit saucy. Their place cards lost this innocence during most of the 1920s and regained it briefly from  1928-1931. 

Vtg Rare Halloween Germany Embossed Die Cut 3-Part Panel Screen with Crepe Paper

WOW!The Vintage Halloween category of eBay, typically a very mixed bag of dreck, has certainly been perking up lately. Look at this absolutely stunning fireplace screen made in Germany. I've seen many of these in my collecting career, and this has to be the second best example I have ever seen. There seems to be but a single imperfection in the crepe and a minimal number of surface paper abrasions, nearly impossible to avoid with something this massive. Sustainable guide value is no less than $2600. Who will step up? 

RARE Antique Halloween Parade Pumpkin Lantern w/ Original Sticks! 1800s JH

It irritates me that so many of these have been popping up on Ebay with sellers claiming they are vintage parade lanterns. These are not vintage! They were made about 7 years ago by Bethany Lowe. I have one in my seasonal displays. Please, readers, contact this seller and educate her. However, if the past is any guide, the seller will remain blissfully wrapped tightly in their ignorance. 

Halloween BAT with WINGS 1940s

Here is another listing from the same seller with the winged ghost decoration. This devil bat was made by Beistle only from 1925-1931. Given its six season production run, these are extraordinarily difficult to find complete. Typically, the wings are ripped and/or the feet are missing. Often, the horns are long gone. I love just how evil this diecut is! The manufacturers made party decorations for adults back then, and this design exemplifies this fact. In my view, this is one of the VERY best examples of this incredibly desirable Beistle masterpiece. If you don't own one, bid on this one for sure! 

09/25 Update: Items from Beistle's Golden Age have been white-hot for many years and keep setting record prices. Here is another record: This superb example sold for $1,025. 

Halloween Ghoul with Wings 1940s cardboard/crepe paper decoration

Although there are condition issues with this winged ghost decoration Beistle issued only in 1925, they are easy to overlook given just how unusual it is to see complete examples. Yes, the top knots are hanging on by a thread and there is unfortunate discoloring to the area around that face that only a mother could love, but importantly for me, the base is intact. As I write on page 228, "Weirdly, both ends of the base are generally also missing." With well over five days to go, this iconic Beistle masterpiece has already been bid up to nearly $225. It'll be fun to see where it ends. 

Halloween Candy Containers Veggie Men Germany 5 different original box

The seller states that, "Opinion is divided as to whether these are old, new, fakes, etc." There is not a single advanced collector I know that believes these things have any age to them. From the perspective of those that have been in the hobby for decades, opinion is united that these are fakes. There is zero documentary evidence of their existence prior to the great avalanche of fakes from Germany that began at the Atlantic City show in 1995. The seller offers a wide-ranging theory trying to justify why she believes these are the real deal. I applaud her creativity but wish she'd simply remove the listing (and several other of her listings of dubious age). It is well-known that the importers faking Halloween beginning in the mid-1990s used truly vintage boxes to house their newly made forgettables. Let's not conflate the age of the boxes with the age of the housed items. 

Vintage antique U.S.A. Halloween owl lantern - large

It is nice to see this owl lantern get some loving. Years ago these commanded high prices, but as eBay upended the market's assumptions as to what was rare and what truly wasn't, prices for this lantern, as well as its cat mate, began to fall. When Beistle reproduced this lantern a couple of years ago (doing it the right way by making the new ones MUCH smaller than the vintage ones and ensuring these new items were well marked), prices continued to fall. To illustrate, in my 2007 second edition, this is valued at $70, whereas in the new third edition the value is given as $55. Now, whether this auction result is an anomaly or the start of a trend will have to await more data. 

Scarce c.1920 Vintage Beistle Halloween Lantern - Made in Germany-Witch-Cat-Bat

I've never seen this lantern before. I am curious about the seller's statement that it was made in Germany for Beistle. In looking at the lantern, I don't see any markings to that effect. (I wonder if the seller simply lifted the verbiage from one of my books?) In any event, this is a rare one, snapped up for a song. This listing demonstrates the peril of using a BIN. I would have been a bidder at a level significantly above $125. (The same seller sold an identical lantern a bit earlier for $110 using BIN.)

Antique Vintage BEISTLE ? Halloween Die Cut Cats Rolling a Pumpkin

I bought one of these diecuts from this seller about one year ago. They sent it in a mailing envelope with no protection, hence it arrived damaged with creasing where the creases on this one are. (I suspect this is the very one I sent back.) They were wholly unresponsive to my concerns until I was compelled to get eBay involved. Once that happened, they were argumentative and unpleasant. I will never do business with them again. 

Halloween Skeleton Skull Chalk Ware Ashtray Tip Tray ~ Odd Fellows Memorabilia

Over the last ~18 months, a small avalanche of items supposedly from Odd Fellows' lodges has cascaded down from Mount Fakery. The vast majority of these have been figural skeleton heads/upper torsos. Now, these ashtrays have appeared for the first time. I believe these are an extension of this new area of peril. Although these, truly old or brand new, are not really Halloween items in any event, I wouldn't buy them as anything more than poorly made decorative items.