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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

Vintage German Die Cut Halloween Decoration Witch Germany Hallowe'en Embossed

I wanted to point out that the dark-to-light shading on this desirable German diecut is the way it is meant to look. The Germans experimented with this shading technique on a solid number of their diecuts. The diecuts with this shading represent ~20% of any one design except the perched owl you can see on page 180. In that case, the percentages are reversed. 

Vintage German Mini Die Cut Cat On Pumpkin

This is one from a set of six very desirable German mini-diecuts made from 1945-949. Most have the black paper prop seen on this one. These are typically marked as being made in one of the zones administered by one of the victorious allies after WWII. This example doesn't have this mark, which although atypical, doesn't diminish its cachet. The seller has been on my approved dealer list for a long-time. You can buy with total confidence from Scott! 

Very nice extremely HTF Halloween Black Cat Diecut Decoration, Germany 1920s 8"

This result is absurd. The prevailing bidder, the same in all four of these examples, has been caught out by an underbidder who was equally insane. I'm sure that neither party ever expected another bidder to place such a silly and never-to-be-seen-again bid. The only winner here is the seller who has to be scratching his head at his good fortune. Seller, run out and buy a lottery ticket. You're on a roll! The prevailing bidder now has to shell out a laughably high number of dollars for a diecut that surfaces every now and then. SGV is $115. Results like these can contribute to the demise of a great hobby as potential new collectors see these incomprehensible results and decide to move on to other pursuits. I am gob-smacked.

Very nice HTF Halloween Black Cat Diecut Decoration, Germany 1920s 8"

This result is absurd. The prevailing bidder, the same in all four of these examples, has been caught out by an underbidder who was equally insane. I'm sure that neither party ever expected another bidder to place such a silly and never-to-be-seen-again bid. The only winner here is the seller who has to be scratching his head at his good fortune. Seller, run out and buy a lottery ticket. You're on a roll! The prevailing bidder now has to shell out a laughably high number of dollars for a diecut that surfaces every now and then. SGV is $115. Results like these can contribute to the demise of a great hobby as potential new collectors see these incomprehensible results and decide to move on to other pursuits. I am gob-smacked. 

Vintage Halloween Cardboard Decoration Cat & Banjo Germany 26" long, 12" wide

The buyer offered the seller $150 as an incentive to provide a BIN option, something that wasn't part of the original listing. Therefore, this desirable store display-sized German diecut traded for $150, a pittance. The seller should not have accepted that offer. He sacrificed hundreds of dollars - at a bare minimum - from what he would have gotten by simply letting the auction run its course. (Sustainable guide value is $900.) The moral of the story for sellers: Do your research before accepting offers for items for which you know little to nothing. 

Vintage Die-Cut Black Crow Halloween Decoration 7.5" Germany

Ebay has largely become a junkyard but now and then a wonderful piece does turn up - like this exceedingly rare German crow diecut. Heavily embossed, this design simply doesn't surface often, especially in this seemingly flawless condition. The mate to it, showing a crow in three-quarter profile, is much more common. Made during the 1920s, both members of the set can be seen on page 172. 

07/27 Update: Wow!! This rare diecut brought a very strong $440. 

1920's Vintage Halloween German Crow Die Cut NEAR MINT!!

Wow, this is one of the harder German diecuts to get, exclusive of the few produced for one year around 1935 and shipped only to eastern Canada. This looks to be in beautiful condition, although the photographs do lack that level of detail I'd prefer. The buyer got a great item at a very good price, considering that sustainable guide value is $325. 

Old Vintage 1930s Halloween German Skull and Crossbones with Hat Beret Diecut

I love seeing rare and visually compelling items populating the generally drab Ebay listings - and then to find such an item being sold by a premier seller - just makes the treat that much richer. There were at least two variants the Germans created in the 1930s of their basic skull and crossbones design. One is this one being sold now while the other, with a plume, can be seen on page 178. Both are valuable, with sustainable guide values of $525. 

10/29 Update: The end of the season is drawing near and lots of money has been spent, making the great items listed this late end at relative bargain levels. The buyer scooped this up for a mere $404.99. 

RARE NOS Vintage German Die Cut Diecut Halloween Diadems in Orig. Bag Skull Cat

A faithful reader asked me to comment on this auction. These tiaras, or diadems, are rare enough that when several come up in one lot in near-mint condition, with an original envelope to boot, no matter how beat up it was, fireworks were going to be seen. There was MUCH chatter about this listing amongst my friends during its run, so the ending result doesn't surprise me. (Another reason for my lack of surprise is that I was the underbidder, at a hair under $3,000.) Although I didn't need any of them per se, I would have upgraded several in the collection and probably would have kept the tattered envelope. I have several diecuts that have the same notation of "Shadowlawn" on their reverse sides, so re-uniting them at this far remove of time would have been gratifying. Whether these are truly worth over $3,000 is open to question. A part of me was absolutely OK not being the prevailing bidder. (In my view, the star of the lot was the witch. I've been trying to upgrade mine for many years.) 

VINTAGE 50" GERMAN DIECUT HALLOWEEN SKELETON

The Germans made at least three different sizes of their hyper-detailed, highly embossed, jointed skeleton diecuts, with this size, 50", almost never seen. I have one in the collection, but the thing is so massive that I found it impossible to have it photographed for the newly published third edition without the possibility of the diecut sustaining some damage. The ending price of $673.99 is quite aggressive. If you examine the bidding history, the piece likely would have ended ~$457 except for the determination of the underbidder. I feel that lower price is a sustainable value for this awesome piece. 

Rare 1920's Die Cut Halloween Decoration Germany Little Girl Devil Demon Antique

It is so great to see such rare and desirable objects begin to populate Ebay's un-patrolled vintage Halloween category! This German mini-diecut is one of an exceedingly rare set that many of my collecting friends have been struggling to complete for years. (Others to this set can be seen on page 185.) The condition of this she-devil seems to be pretty darn good, so I expect bidding to continue to be fierce. The current price is $90, but I'll be surprised if this sells for less than $250-300. If you like this miniature-sized diecut set, don't let this one slip by. 

08/18 Update: This exceedingly rare mini-diecut brought $317.57, about where I expected it to finish. You don't see pieces from this set too often made available for purchase.