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.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.
