Although arguably the most commonly seen Halloween-themed game out there, I've long enjoyed the simple graphics and premise of the game. Made by Whitman Publishing of Racine, Wisconsin in prodigious quantities for about a seven year span beginning in the mid-1930s, it surfaces regularly for sale and typically brings near or slightly above the seller's opening price. If they had designed the game just a decade later, the witch surely would have looked much less fearsome.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
VERY RARE VINTAGE LOT 6 1950'S CARDBOARD HALLOWEEN CANDY FAVOR BOXES CONTAINERS
When I saw this listing's ending price, I thought it was too high. Interestingly, one of the underbidders let me know that she had received an email from the seller stating that the high bidder had walked away from his bid. I opined that a more sustainable price was around $400, so she offered that and it was accepted. I've seen the market value these candy boxes a bit more dearly than in the recent past.
VINTAGE HALLOWEEN TAMBOURINE GHOST,BAT WITCH BLACK CAT ,SKULL & OWL
This is not an easy tambourine to find, even though it was produced in the USA during the early 1960s. The seller is offering it as a BIN for $29.99, whereas guide value is $125 with an RSIN of 3. That is a very good deal.
Early 1900s German Wooden Cat Accordion Noisemaker--- Rare & Hard to Find
This is a wonderful vintage squeaker made in Germany around 1919-1920, at the beginning of the Golden Age of production immediately after WWI. According to the seller, the squeaker mechanism still works, rare for these old toys. However, I don't think this was made for Halloween, but maybe for Valentine's Day. The price seems right for what it is. If it was truly Halloween-themed, it would command perhaps double, plus some.
VINTAGE U.S.A. HALLOWEEN NOISEMAKER COLLECTION - LOT OF 9
This set of nine tin litho noisemakers from a variety of manufacturers is offered at an eminently reasonable BIN price of $125. Although the two-piece rattler looks problemtatic, the others look great. I'm surprised the listing has lasted this long, frankly. US tin litho items have cooled down considerably over the last decade, yet this is still a great deal. Someone snatch this right up!
Beistle's Halloween Party Helps 3 Mechanical Novelty Place Cards Witch/Cat/Ghost
This was a packaging variant I hadn't seen before, a bit earlier than the one on page 220, the envelope of which housed 4 items, but only these three designs. These great Beistle enveloped goods are very much in demand.
Devil With Flame Bottom- Made In Germany,1920's
This is a common diecut in uncommonly good condition. Nonetheless, the seller's start and BIN prices are the very definition of optimistic: $462.46 and $1156.16, respectively.
1920's Fabricius Mercantile Halloween Novelty Catalog, Rare!
I love wholesaler catalogs as they can give an insight into when things were made and how widespread was the distribution of goods. Fabricius Mercantile was a small-fry outfit in St. Louis. Once the founder's son died in 1919, his two sons took over and renamed the business Fabricius Mercantile. It lasted only until 1936. Catalogs from them are quite hard to find. This catalog seems to be from about 1932 based on the Beistle goods shown on one of the pages. The page showing the candy containers and horns show goods predominantly made in Japan. All in all a great catalog bought for a good price.
Vintage Art Deco Halloween Tin Litho Noisemaker Ratchet Bugle
The seller offered this great Bugle Toy tin litho ratchet for $19.90 via a BIN option. Bugle made some of the most out-there or avant-garde designs of all the major tin litho toy producers. Some of their imagery is wacky, while others, like this ratchet, are highly stylized. These typically trade in a band of $50-70.
BEISTLE "HEP CAT" HALLOWEEN DECORATION - MINT IN PACKAGE
Beginning in 2003, Beistle licensed a firm called Party Partners to issue reproductions of a limited number of their classic designs. Initially, these repros caused confusion in the marketplace. Although the packaging was clearly marked denoting the item as new, the actual items were not, so collectors had to rely on their knowledge of highlight colors, paper stock types and size to differentiate new from old. This association with Party Partners didn't last long. In 2012, Beistle decided to directly sell a line of their own classic designs. When I heard about their plans, I contacted Beistle to highlight the importance of altering their re-issues of their original designs in terms of size, colors, printed sides and paper stock - as well as the need to print the original and updated copyright dates directly onto these items so as to enable the secondary market to easily tell new from old. They found value in those suggestions and adopted them. Consequently, the market for vintage Beistle items remains one of the hottest collecting genres today.
Witch With Cat in Jack-O-Lantern Vintage Celluloid Roly Poly Halloween Toy!
Vintage Halloween celluloid is a genre I have appreciation for. It amazes me the level of detail the producers were able to achieve in such a small form factor. I've never collected celluloid mainly because of its fragility and flammability, yet understand the market. (Check out the eye-popping collection shown in my third edition owned by the famously delightful Tammy and Barry!) Given the poor condition of this offering and the amount of money it would take to restore it properly, the ending price seems high to me.
Rare Vintage Dennison's Halloween Unopened Sealed Packof 16 Halloween Seals
Dennison often packaged their enveloped products differently for the Canadian market. I haven't seen too many over the years. This particular seal design is from the 1930s and is a new one to me. I'm surprised that it didn't fetch a little bit more.
1920's Halloween Fan Black Cats Witches Made by Beistle of Shippensburg PA.
The pickings have been slim on eBay overall, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this exceedingly rare Beistle honeycomb fan up for auction. I have seen this fan only 3-4 times in nearly 30 years. The crease seen near the bottom is a result of the fan being used, unavoidable based on how it was designed. This is an early Beistle item. They made two iterations, one with a black honeycomb interior and one in orange, like this one. Both are valued equally. It has been a long while since one of these has surfaced, so it will be exciting to see what it fetches. Guide value is $450.
4/11 Update: I don't understand this result, as this great and rare Beistle item only fetched $128.30.
Very Old Dennison Halloween Paper Lick Seals in Original Box - FLYING WITCH MOON
The lucky buyer got a true bargain when acquiring these very rare Dennison seals for the paltry sum of $60. (I sure wish I was watching when these were still active!) Dennison made some designs for many seasons and in varying quantities per box. This is one of the designs offered for a season or two only. I've seen it offered maybe three times, tops.
Rare Beistle Halloween Die Cut Decoration Made In USA Green Witch w/Bats 19" 50s
This superbly designed diecut was produced by Beistle in the late 1950s as one of a set of three. Each is hard to find in collectible condition. Made from a thinner, non-embossed cardboard stock, this particular design has eluded my grasp for decades. (I tend to be sometimes too fussy about condition. I was never considering a bid on this item.) The three witches of the set are all idiosyncratic - and therefore quite interesting and memorable. This is actually my favorite design. As I write on page 159, "Get this hag a new pair of shoes!" In near-mint condition, this diecut would easily fetch $300.
