Halloween Cat Banjo In Pumpkin Embossed Die-cut Germany

I was buckled in tight for the ride but didn't see that last sharp turn on the roller coaster. I knew this spectacularly rare German diecut would go for gobs o' cash but not that many gobs! Listen, I've been around the vintage Halloween market for nearly three decades and have seen hundreds of private collections, hundreds of brick-and-mortar auctions listings and tens of thousands of on-line listings and I have NEVER seen this particular diecut or anything remotely similar. The seller bought out a huge collection from the estate of a quite elderly and very long-time holiday collector from somewhere in the upper Midwest and has been smartly selling things off for years. This is surely one of the diecuts made around 1935 and sold only to eastern Canada. Given the extreme rarity, perhaps this represents one of the final diecuts from that batch of designs that is characterized by an aggressively out-there design aesthetic. I love items from that final year and they are hard to come by. This is in a league all its own. I decided this morning not to bid as I felt it would go to ~$3500. There are many other great paper items I can and will pick up for that sum. Imagine my shock when my phone began to light up with text after text from collector friends who wondered my opinion on the price threshold. My opinion is simple: for items that are truly unique, the sky is the limit. I wasn't willing to go to the outer edges of the atmosphere for this item, but I congratulate whomever did! It will absolutely be the star of the show, the belle of the ball and all that!