Fakes, etc.

I'll begin populating this page with photos of reproductions, fakes and fantasy items as I see them listed on eBay, Etsy and other such sites. Hopefully, collectors will refer to this page to minimize the occasions reproductions, fakes and fantasy items are unknowingly purchased. If you see something on this page that was sold to you purporting to be a vintage item, immediately send it back for a full refund. 

Vintage Halloween 1920's German diecut? Beistle, Dennison, Eureka.

I am really surprised that people haven't figured out that is is a newly made item based loosely on the truly vintage German fireplace screen diecut made during the 1920s. (There was recently a cache of these truly vintage screens unearthed. They have been offered so frequently that the price has decidedly turned down. It may be several years before the prices for the vintage screens regain ground.) In any event, right now this reproduction or fake is at $381 with 4+ days to go. In this hobby, research is vital to avoid being taken in by such offerings. 

10/31 Update: This screen was made by Bethany Lowe in 2006. Another one sold for several hundred dollars. In both cases, buyers figuratively poured their money down the drain. 

Yellow Halloween Lantern Head Back Cat Confectionery Candy Bisque/Card Box c1930

This is a fantasy item I've not seen before, so prepare to see many more of them over the year. This abomination is being sold by a dealer in England who claims to have only a pair to sell. (Trust me, if this sells to an under-informed bidder for solid dollars, this seller will surely discover some more!) The claim in the listing's headline is that this item is from the 1930s - a claim not made in the body of the listing. This is not old and has zero collectible value.

03/21 Update: Two bidders got snookered by prevailing on these two lots with the exact same bid - $127.50. Prepare to see more of this fake. 

Vintage Halloween Pumpkin Man Candy Container c1920 Germany MINT

Here is another fantasy item offered by the same seller referenced immediately below. There is no record of this sloppy, unattractive and ill-formed candy container prior to 1995. As that year progressed, this POS began showing up on the holiday lists circulated by people like the late Paul Schofield and by Jenny Tarrant. The only value I can see with this hunk-o-junk is to toss it in the air when conducting a seance to contact Annie Oakley. This is truly one of the worst of the crapalanche that began in 1995 when German "artisans" began making things to fool collectors. 

Antique Beelzebub Krampus Devil candy container / rarity - Germany

This item, like all Halloween items being sold from Germany today, is a fantasy item meaning there is no vintage counterpart. If you scroll through the listings, you'll see this exact devil head being used as part of many items. The Germans have been working hard since ~1995 to flood the US market with these decorative objects in the hope they will fool collectors into thinking they are old. Unfortunately, they have succeeded to a large degree. I visit many collections throughout the US and see too many polluted with these kinds of items. One rule to keep uppermost in your mind as you consider buying things for your collection: if a Halloween item is being sold from Germany, it is merely decorative, not collectible. 

These light covers are offered periodically, often by the same seller. Another design frequently seen is a greenish cat face. These are not vintage items, unless you feel something first made around 1992 is vintage. These were sold in a set of eight and were made in Japan, although now they seem to be made in China. I bought a set in 1992 to decorate my then-new black Silvestri Halloween tree. 

I'm not sure what to make of this crude piece of junk. The same seller lists and relists this item, probably made in a middle school crafts class. The level of craftsmanship is laughably low, so few are being fooled by it. 

This is another fantasy item currently being produced in and imported from Germany. This has only the slightest decorative value. 

This item is being actively manufactured and sold by such German-based sellers like robodicki. The glaze or finish is wrong, the painted highlights are inconsistent with truly vintage items and the overall molding is more polished than virtually all truly vintage items. It may look nice in a display cabinet, but it doesn't belong with vintage pieces. 

This is a slightly more elaborate iteration of a pipe horn noisemaker, but that can't disguise the fact that this is a fantasy item. These are being actively manufactured in Germany and sold by such peddlers as robodicki. Unless you don't mind tossing money down the sewer, avoid buying these.  

This pipe design is one of four. Then others are a witch face, skull and a black cat face. They all began appearing at the October Atlantic City antiques show in 2003. A dealer who specializes in Christmas but dabbles in Halloween was adamant they were old, pointing to the old boxes each pipe came nestled in. He was half right. The boxes were old, but not the contents. This scam is still being pulled, so beware. This pipe, and its bogus brethren, has no vintage value. 

All of these cast iron items with bobble heads are of recent manufacture. I know of only two authentic Halloween cast iron items made prior to 1940. 

This is one of the first of the fantasy items to infiltrate widely into many collections. These first began surfacing at the Atlantic City antiques show in ~1995. This has no collectible value. Around 1995, I was fooled into buying one by an unscrupulous dealer who refused to refund my money when confronted with the fact that this was a fantasy item. Needless to say, I have never bought another item from her. 

This is one of the first of the fantasy items to infiltrate widely into many collections. These first began surfacing at the Atlantic City antiques show in ~1995. Most of the time they are peddled without bottoms. This has no collectible value. 

This fantasy item first began surfacing in the late 1990s.