Vintage Beistle Halloween Die Cut Cat Decoration.

I returned yesterday from a quick trip to southern California. One of the many activities during the trip was visiting the home of this fine seller. He specializes in figural advertising but dabbles some in Halloween. I had the opportunity to personally examine this smiling Skairo diecut made by Beistle in 1931. Aside from some raised paper at some of the fingertips, the diecut is amazingly bright and free of most of the issues that plague these very large diecuts. If one wasn't already part of the collection I would have endeavored to snap it up that evening. If you've been looking for one, you'll be hard pressed to find a better example. 

10/25 Update: This great item brought $461.89. 

THE HALLOWEEN BUG~DIE CUT BEISTLE JOINTED SMILING SKAIRO~1931~SMILING CAT

I think all four of these imaginative Skairo designs by Beistle have now appeared in the last few weeks. This seems to be in near-perfect condition, a miracle considering just how large and complicated this diecut is. Beistle only issued this design for one year, 1931. Frankly, I can't imagine that another in better condition will ever surface! This seller has been releasing some real treasures from her large collection. What else is coming? :) 

Vintage Beistle Jointed Skairo Cat Halloween 1930's

It is great to finally see some truly vintage Beistle items being offered for sale. This Skairo cat jointed diecut is being offered by close friends, Tammy and Barry, who contributed numerous items to be photographed for my third edition, including a vast array of coveted celluloid items. I appreciate their many photos clearly showing the condition of this desirable and hard-to-find Beistle treasure. I also appreciate they trust in the auction system, starting this off at $9.99 with no silly reserve. Bid often!!

RARE AND HTF -BEISTLE'S "SKAIRO- THE HALLOWEEN BUG", 1931

A collecting friend wrote this morning to say she was thinking of listing a few vintage items since prices on Ebay have been going crazy. Although I think much of the craziness can be attributed to the imminence of the season, I am scratching my noggin over this result. Yes, these Beistle decorations are desirable and hard-to-find, but given the missing parts I wouldn't have expected this to fetch $330. Beistle's product line was idiosyncratic, but I have long felt that the two Skairo versions and the two Wumpus versions sure pushed the envelope, even for them. These 4 designs were not popular so there are few extant examples available today. However, there are enough of them that paying $330 for an incomplete one is a surprise.