I just saw this pending sale on Ruby Lane for this highly desirable German window pane diecut. The lucky buyer got a true bargain at $825. Wow! I sure wish I had seen this first as the seller left gobs of money on the figurative table.
03/31 Update: The fortunate buyer contacted me to say she actually negotiated the price down to $675. Wow!
This Ruby Lane seller is wrong in stating, "These decorations were made in Germany beginning in 1920s and 1930s and again distributed at the end of the cold war in 1990." In fact, this devil head container is one of the best known fakes or fantasy pieces that began polluting our hobby in about 1995. There are no vintage counterparts. This has purely decorative value - nowhere near what this seller is offering this POS for. Fair market value on a very good day is about $15. By the way, this seller's handle on Ebay is brendasawa, or something very similar.
I am trying something new here by commenting on an item offered on Ruby Lane. The listings on Ebay these past few months have been woeful garbage by and large, which plays into my theory that Ebay is becoming (has turned into...?) the low-end bazaar it never used to be. Anyway...This devil humidor is rare, but this one isn't complete since it is missing its eyes. If you turn to page 115, you'll see one of only 10 complete sets ever made including this devil head humidor. Now, this doesn't mean that there were only 10 humidors made. In fact, from what I understand, the humidor and the match striker were made in relatively robust quantities over a handful of years. However, a complete set consists also of an ashtray and a serving tray. Only ten of these latter two items were made. Who knows how many actually still exist. Outside of my collection, I have never seen another tray or ashtray.
