1940's Halloween Black Cats on Stockade Fence Cut Outs Stand-Ups Interlocking

These fence table decorations, largely made by Whitney, are nearly impossible to find in mint condition. This complete set of four pieces was made during the late 1920s and sold with stock number 2348. This set has the typical weakness to the section hooks, plus appears to have some color toning issues. Still, overall this is a very desirable decoration that has a SGV of $275. What makes it more desirable than some others is that each section is different. To save money, Whitney often produced fences with either identical sides or with only two different designs per four-piece set. The seller has started this low with no reserve. This augurs well for ending at or above SGV. 

02/08 Update: The listing ended well below SGV - $209.50. 

Vintage Halloween Place Card, Skeleton Ghost in Front of Shed, Full Moon, Unused

This is an extraordinarily high price to pay for this attractive, but not overwhelmingly so, place card. Not attributed to any particular manufacturer, the subject matter is cool, but I don't understand the ending price. That is the price level for a good Dennison place card or one of the Beistle place cards with a flip-out base. I am thrilled for the seller, a wonderful person and knowledgeable seller, but $140 and change for this - really? 

vintage halloween 2 party games

Be cautious here. These games were made sometime after 1980 and don't have the collectible value of the first iteration version made in the United States. The next iteration was made in Japan. This iteration is one I haven't seen before, and was made in Taiwan. The styrofoam middle is also something new to me. It screams "crap." Unpunched games from the 1920s and 1930s are desirable and hard-to-find. This isn't that. 

Vintage die cut embossed halloween decorations germany 5 pieces

Although it is a great feeling to expand one's collection of German diecuts by five in one fell swoop, it is important to pay attention to condition in formulating an appropriate bid. Except for the JOL, which doesn't have a great deal of value, the lot is made up of items that have a battered look - lots of wear and tear. Because of the condition, I feel the prevailing bidder overpaid. German diecuts, by and large, are relatively common, so when evaluating condition one should take a very hard stance so as not to do what this bidder did - overpay - only to have to upgrade at a later time. 

Vintage Halloween Black Cat Drum Decoration

I believe this item is something handmade, not commercially produced. (It is for this reason I place this post here rather than in the "Fakes, Etc." section.) Although the photos show an item that looks like it has some age to it, I can't be certain. What I do know is that this has zero collectible value. 

01/31 Update: Someone liked this well enough to have paid $34.99. 

Vintage 1920's Halloween Embossed Black Pumpkin Head JOL Made In Germany

This diecut was made in two sizes and at least one variant. This appears to be the smaller of the two based on the teeth. (You can see the difference in the teeth with the larger size on page 171.) The variant is that this size was also produced with a printed paper backing for the eyes, nose and mouth. This variant, also shown on page 171, is exceedingly rare. I've only seen it one time and I bought it straight away. 

(2) Early Halloween 7 3/4" Jointed Crepe Figures WITCH & SCARECROW. c1930s NR

The seller is off by up to three decades as to when these were made. Both the scarecrow and witch "whimsies" were made by Beistle during the 1950s. (An owl was the third design of the set.) Only later, almost certainly under license, were these designs made in Japan. The designs marked as being made in the United States have sustained collector interest. When the ones marked "Japan" do sell, they bring half or less of what the older ones made in the USA bring. 

Vintage Bugle Toy Halloween Noise Maker Tin Wood Handle

Bugle made some wonderfully eccentric tin Halloween designs - so different from their "kill-me-I'm-so-bored" paper over cardboard horns. This shaker from the 1920s with a very high dome doesn't come up for sale in this condition often, so it was great to see it at this barren time of the year. It came in right at sustainable guide value of $100. 

Vintage Devil Satan Paper Mache Halloween Lantern

I've seen these oddly colored devil head lanterns occasionally over the decades and remain unimpressed. They just don't have the impact the traditionally toned ones have for me. I do believe F.N. Burt made these with varying odd colorations, probably late in the overall production run. As with all inserts I haven't examined personally, I assume it is newer. Sustainable guide value for this lantern with a typical look is $350. I can't imagine, even during an optimal listing time, that this would get more than a fraction of that value, even if it didn't have a carved bottom. 

01/19 Update: This brought $153.50, a bit more than I would have guessed. 

VINTAGE 1950’s HALLOWEEN WITCH BATS CATS TAMBOURINE KIRCHHOF NOISEMAKER NM

There are a couple of quick ways a collector could immediately determine this tin litho tambourine was manufactured during the 1950s. First, this Kirchhof noisemaker is marked, "Life of the Party," a mark only used during this time. Second, the colors are much brighter than the original design. (Look at the bottom of page 215 to see the original design issued during the 1930s.) The price of this older tambourine design tends to hover around $60, whereas the "Life of the Party" releases tend to bring less, sometimes much less. 

01/19 Update: This brought $39.88, about the right amount. 

6-vintage HALLOWEEN PAPER CANDY CONTAINERS ca.1930's unused mint

This poor result is surely a function of selling these six mint Beistle nut cups at the wrong time of the year. There simply aren't as many eyes on these sorts of listings right now. Typically, each one of these in this condition would bring no less than $20. 

Group of 6 Different Antique Halloween Placards with Moon and Black Cat

This well-designed complete set of six place cards was made by Whitney during the 1930s. I have long appreciated the differences in each one of the six including the different expressions of the moon. In order to make it easy for each to stand on a table, the sides of each card bend inward - a nice touch. This set used to surface more regularly than now. It is a tough set to find with no extraneous markings or missing pieces. Sustainable guide value is $185 for the set. 

01/17 Update: The set brought $227.50, a nearly 23% premium to SGV. One hasn't surfaced in some time, so if another were to come up for sale in the same condition, I would expect the price to normalize to the $185 SGV. 

Beistle Halloween bat diecut and tissue

Man, I haven't seen one of these offered for quite some time. This rare devil bat diecut was made by Beistle for a few seasons bracketed by the years 1925-1931. It was sold in two variations: with either orange or black crepe paper wings. This diecut is impossible to find in truly mint condition given the way it was designed. Knowing this, the one being offered here is darn nice. The imperfections the seller has endeavored to highlight are all minor. Sustainable guide value is $400, but early and rare Beistle items have routinely been bringing well in excess of guide during the past year. It will be fun to see what this listing fetches. If you don't own this yet, don't let this slip through your fingers. 

01/17 Update: This great item brought $485. 

Welcome to 2017!

Hi Faithful Readers, 
Well, the 2016 holiday season has come to a close and we are on to the new year. I just trolled through the eBay listings and found almost nothing to comment upon - not uncommon during this time of the year. 
As the most coveted vintage Halloween items continue their sustained price ascent, unscrupulous dealers are redoubling their efforts to peddle newly made crapola as old to fool trusting collectors. One troubling and accelerating trend is the marrying of old elements with new elements to create a "vintage" item. The genre most affected by this is anything having a mechanical/clockwork feature. If considering such a purchase, be sure the entire item is old and complete. So many, especially those being sold that look new, have been "Frankensteined" together. I don't know if I've seen a single example during 2016 that didn't raise at least one eyebrow. 
Don't be an easy mark. Do your research and buy from dealers only after checking around with other collectors as to these dealers' reputations. 
I am already busy preparing for my annual May auction, with all lots consisting of truly vintage Halloween items. The auction is open only to those who have purchased a copy of my third edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles. If you haven't invested in a copy yet, consider doing so before long. 
Look for more frequent updates to the blog now that the holidays are in the rear view mirror. 
 

Vintage Halloween Haunted House 1969 Empire Light-up Orange Plastic Blow Mold

I like many of the blow molds produced in the late 1960s but this one is my favorite. The designer was really talented in incorporating a skewed perspective to the haunted house. Nicely detailed and compact, this is one of the first ones I place in my front garden window each season. Although not rare, finding one with no fading or other condition issues is a pleasant surprise. Sustainable guide value is $65, but given that the seller is offering this with free shipping, this may be one to pick up.