Wow! This excellent reference sure is bringing a pretty penny. Ben should re-issue this so more collectors can afford to get a copy.
09/25 Update: High prices are flushing out other copies. As with so many other instances, the first movers get the best price. A copy sold today for only $102.50.
08/09 Update: I received an email this morning from the seller shedding light on this listing. I have edited only the seller's name and direct contact information:
Thank you for your message. If I understand correctly, you are selling the one copy you received as a gift years ago and are not making copies of that copy. If so, I can see why Ben Truwe would have no objection. (Ben sells CD copies of his Catalog Collection reference through his site (http://id.mind.net/~truwe/tina/horder.html) for $12 postpaid.) I was surprised at the number of emails I received from readers unhappy with their understanding of your listing. I do not have any idea who the Ebay user, EIYS, is. I will post this exchange on my site as an addendum to the original post, only editing out your name and contact information. Regards, MBL
Mark..saw your comments this morning on my listing of the Halloween catalog collection. Years ago I was given this copy as a gift from a fellow collector who made the copy for me. I decided to list it and didn't give much thought about it until I received a vile e-mail from someone who only signed the e-mail with the ebay user-name EIYS...know who they are? You know who I am and could have reached out to me first before putting this on your blog (which doesn't change anything). I got 'spooked' by the email, and took down the listing. Giving it further thought, I called Ben Truwe and told him the situation. and he assured me he has no problem with me listing it as a copy..nothing for me to worry about! I then spoke with ebay's TRUST AND SAFETY dept. and they told me that if the author is OK with it, they are also fine with the listing. I disclosed that it was a copy in the listing! They also suggested that I could report (EIYS) for 'harrassment' because of the language used in the e-mail. I'll probably do that.
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I don't approve of this kind of thing. The seller, who should know better, is offering a COPY of what has become a rare Halloween reference, originally published by Ben Truwe's Talky Tina Press in 2003 with an errata from April 25, 2004. Although the seller is clear that this is a copy, what right does he have to attempt to profit from another person's work? I'm sure that Ben Truwe, who worked hard assembling what I've found to be a very helpful reference, would be taken aback at such a rip-off of intellectual property.
Just as in many genres, stellar prices flush out like items. The first of these great references brought ~$285, whereas this one fetched $224.50. As additional copies in similar condition surface, the price should drift down to what I consider a sustainable level - around $100. Congrats to the seller, a good soul who has long been on my list of those with I love to do business.
This little gem of a reference book is darn hard to find. Ben Truwe issued it in 2003. I used it as an excellent reference to date when items were handed off to the wholesale market, both for my 2007 second edition and 2014 third edition of Vintage Halloween Collectibles. (If you haven't yet purchased a copy of my new reference, there are ordering instructions under one of the tabs along the top border of this site.) I found it to be an invaluable reference, carefully crafted and containing heaps of great information if you are research-oriented like I am. I haven't seen one surface in years, so snap this up.
02/02 Update: Two very determined bidders drove the price for this to the stratosphere and beyond. I don't see this final price of $286.78 being a sustainable one. I felt the listing would end with the book being purchased for around $100.
