These are so beautiful! I’ve only seen this set of cymbals a handful of times. They surely were produced for a single season. I’ve never been able to acquire a set. I estimated for a good friend of mine who also happens to collect vintage Halloween that I feel they are worth every bit of $1,500. I’ll be watching to see what they fetch.
09/24 Update: This awesome set fetched $2,050. The best thing about it is they went to a great home - a good friend who lives in southern California.
The buyer got a bargain - rare in these days of irrationally exuberant valuation on eBay. My advice to collectors of vintage Halloween is to wean yourself from eBay. Check out sites like Ruby Lane, icollect247 and Etsy. Although there’s not much up now, get in the habit of also checking out my For Sale page. Get out to shows and flea markets where you are more apt to find bargains.
This exceedingly rare set of cymbals was made by the Gotham Stamping and Die Corporation of New York, NY in the later 1920s. These are big, eye-catching items that display remarkably well. I have seen only around twenty sets surface in 32+ years of collecting. I know the seller. He is an honest and knowledgeable guy, mainly a collector who sells on the side, like me. I like how he started the auction at nearly zero rather than beginning the auction with an opening price that already reflects full market value. The proper strategy for establishing the opening bid price on eBay is a tricky proposition, but too many default to picking any high price out of the ether and crossing their fingers.
The star of the lot is the pair of cymbals. They were made by the Gotham Stamping and Die Corporation of NYC. These rarely surface and typically fetch $450-600.
09/13 Update: This lot brought $810.51, a very strong result, indeed.
This 1920s “Minnie Mouse” German diecut crashing cymbals is a surprisingly hard one to find in this condition. The primary problem with this one is the arms connecting to either the main body or to the cymbals (and sometimes both) are weak and sometimes flop around. For each of the three total in this set the white eye paint is often scuffed. It’s nice to see in this glossy condition.
10/24 Update: This sold for $315.
Someone got the bargain of the year with this lot. The seller foolishly listed this exceedingly rare set of cymbals with a BIN of $25. The seller must now realize that they made a serious error when the listing ended in less than five minutes. How serious? The set would have surely realized $700-900.
The buyer of this desirable diecut got a bargain. This heavily embossed item was made in Germany during the 1920s. This design typically changs hands for $135 or more. Too often sellers deprive themselves of better dollars by listing things as a BIN without any real idea of what they are doing. They would very likely have received more by offering this through an auction format with a modest starting price.
