This blog page was created to provide a place for my comments and
insights on a selection of the multitude of items listed in the
Vintage Halloween category of Ebay. I'd like to point out that I
have no financial interest in any of the items mentioned on this
page. I am doing this for fun as well as to educate. Feel free to
check back often, as it is my intent to update this page several
times per week depending on the time of the year. If you have a question on an item I haven't
mentioned below, always feel free to send me an email. Best, MBL
MARTHA STEWART
APPEARANCE

I hope many of you tuned in to
the Martha Stewart show on October 10, 2008 to see my segment
on vintage Halloween collectibles. All of the experiences around the
filming were fun and interesting. I was pleased to have been given an
opportunity to chat with Martha, who has done so much to promote her
love for the Halloween season and its traditions! If you weren't
able to view the piece when it was first aired, or would like to see
it again, just click
here. Be sure to
select the "Halloween Collectibles" box on the bottom right of her page and
you'll be good to go. Just for fun, count the number of times Martha
taps her oh-so-perfect nails on my precious objects.
Sellers Who Receive
MBL's Vintage Halloween Stamp of Approval
What this means is that I
would be wholly comfortable buying vintage Halloween items from them
because not only do I I feel they are knowledgeable
dealers/collectors but they are honest, genuinely nice people as
well!
55audrey,
brendasasawa,
connersgrammie,
devilwoman,
djdutch48,
dragonflydesignstudio.com,
freshest1,
fritzyfinds,
ghoul55,
goofus999,
halloween824,
jawboy71,
kimberleeedgar,
luckygibbon,
member666734,
mmccall,
ms.dennistle,
mysweetjanene,
northcane,
nyleos, sandye17,
scarlettssister,
sellmestuff,
shiverbones,
snickles,
stnick22,
whirlwind27,
zizsdream
Sellers With Whom MBL Chooses Not To Do
Business
1falls,
curiousimp,
fallsmist52,
landerstoys,
ronscollection,
shadowtown,
sylvatis,
warbond321
SURPRISING PRICES
290325666416 3 Vintage Halloween
Paper Item 3 Dimensional Owl Moon
(Ended 06/27) I was watching this lot interested in what it would
bring. I see that it ended well within my guide value. These 3-D
decorations simply don't surface much in collectible condition.
350214928232 OLD EMBOSSED PAPER
JACK-O-LANTERN HALLOWEEN GERMANY
(Ended 06/24) WOW!!
150352025786 Vintage Halloween Beistle
Party Book ~ Ex. Condition!!
(Ended 06/21) WOW! This is a very good price for the seller to have
obtained. These books come up often enough that I thought a fairly
solid baseline of $400 had been established. To overshoot guide
value by nearly 20% is interesting.
270408918254 Vintage Halloween Tin
Bell Blk Cat Witches 20s USA Exc!
(Ended 06/21) I have noticed that prices for tin noisemakers have
solidified somewhat. Does this presage a market shift toward finally
valuing tin at higher prices than what they've been lingering at for
5 years?
220435084015 Vintage Halloween
Decoration Gobolink Cut-out
(Ended 06/21) $76 for this Dennison Gobolink is a solid example of a
buyer significantly overpaying. Restrain yourselves and spend your
money on truly scarce items.
310148088111 Unusual Vintage
Halloween Fold Out Witch Stirring Brew
(Ended 06/18) The buyer of this superb Beistle item got a tremendous
bargain of $129!
300321567138 RARE! HALLOWEEN BLACK
CAT IN DRESS CARDBOARD GERMANY
(Ended 06/16) The buyer was too exuberant here. The guide value is
$85. If you look at the bidding history it boiled down to only two
determined bidders. Wow...
290321613726 OLD HALLOWEEN MICKEY
MOUSE JOL GERMANY STORE DISPLAY
(Ended 06/09) I was quite happy this superb, uber-rare diecut ended
up with one of my favorite collectors. The price was quite in line
with my book value and it will make a stellar addition to their
collection. Bravo!
370210012992 Vintage Halloween
RARE BEISTLE Bag Held Silhouettes 20s
(Ended 06/08) The buyer got an exceptional deal!
200348422498 BLACK CAT HALLOWEEN
MINI DIECUT - GERMANY
(Ended 06/08) My friends got an exceptional deal on this rare
diecut. I overlooked this gem, only realizing now that I don't own
an example. Congrats!
220426122737 Halloween Party
Helps, Beistle 1920's, sealed
(Ended 06/06) Aren't you surprised this lot didn't bring many more
dollars?
******************************************************************************************************
(Check out my web site-only pricing for the second edition of my
book. I am selling signed copies for only $13.49 including media
rate shipping!)
Item Number Description
270416011055 Vintage Heavily
Embossed Halloween Black Scaredy Cat
(End date: 07/03) These black cat German diecuts are often
overlooked, probably due to their ubiquity. I've seen a lot of
these, but haven't seen one in such nice shape as this for a looong
time. If you need an upgrade, don't let this clean and compelling
diecut go by. The seller's "educated" guess is pretty far off the
mark. The diecut was made no later than 1935.
170349868429 Vtg.WITCHES~Embossed
Diecuts~GERMANY~38pc~Original~L@@K
(End date: 07/01) These are being reproduced by an importer called
Blumchens. Thanks to a faithful reader, Matt, I can provide you a
link so you can see for yourself what is being newly reproduced.
Here is it:
http://www.blumchen.com/halloween_shop_ha27.html
370220217265 Tiny JOL Possibly
German Composite Material
(End date: 07/01) The seller states that he isn't sure if it is a
candy holder or decoration. I'm only sure of one thing relative to
this item: It is a POS. Avoid...
270414472067 VIntage Halloween
Noisemaker Chein 1906 Spooks Children
(End date: 06/30) Although the imagery of this noisemaker is quite
common, this particular form isn't. The patent date of 1906 doesn't
refer to the graphics but to the shape of the noisemaker. (The shape
was used for many things, only a few of which were related to
Halloween.) The noisemaker itself is from the 1920s.
260434594325 Halloween Paper Mache
Basket Deco Vintage ?
(End date: 06/30) This seller should know better than to list this
garbage. This is a reindeer lantern made by Department 56 perhaps as
recently as yesterday. It isn't old, it isn't Halloween and it
hopefully isn't indicative of this seller's gullibility. I encourage
him to pull this listing now.
180372743600 Vintage Halloween
Haunted Tree - Paper Mache - Very Old
(End date: 06/30) What is this grotesquerie and why is it listed in
the vintage category? The seller claims to have had it since the
1980s. This looks as if it was made off-shore, meant to be sold at a
Dollar Tree or Family Dollar store. I have an idea...put it on a
dirt ridge out in the Alabama wilds and see how many pistol shots it
takes to utterly destroy it. The world will be a better place.
380132431808 Vintage FLYING WITCH
CAT JOL Halloween Paper DOILY
(End date: 06/29) This auction still has some time to go before it
closes and this item is already up to $84! What gives? Looking at
the bidding history, there is one bidder possessing more
determination than sense driving up the price of this 5" doily to
what the seller, a wonderful and knowledgeable person who must be
doing hand stands with joy at this unexpected good fortune, could
never have imagined. I sometimes sit back and scratch my head at
what some items bring, while other, much rarer and valuable items
languish then sell at very low levels. I am thinking of the Beistle
cauldron that sold for a steal at $129 right now as I type.
390060963690 6 Vintage Beistle
Halloween Place Cards w/Envelope
(End date: 06/28) It's good to see early Beistle items being offered
for sale. Of the American made items from this period, their imagery
simply cannot be beaten. This swell assemblage is being offered for
sale by one of my favorite sellers - hands down.
280360963332 Vintage Asian Wood
Noisemaker
(End date: 06/27) What is this piece of garbage doing in the Vintage
Halloween category? I am baffled as to why Ebay doesn't better
patrol their site! This is one of the many reasons I typically refuse to sell
any of my many duplicate vintage Halloween items on the site. Don't
forget to check out my For Sale section on this site.
250448214830 Vintage Halloween
Beistle DieCut Bat Decoration 1950s
(End date: 06/26) How many times will this high-priced seller list
this item (and others from this set) at the same head-shaking price
of $45 before he actually realizes he has no hope of a sale unless
one of the denizens P.T. Barnum reputedly spoke about is born? He
throws in free shipping! How about doing the same with a BIN price
of $7.99? (Well, another sucker was, in fact,
born. This seller actually unloaded one of these common items for
$45. Unbelievable!)
230349288855 Rare Early Halloween
Tally & Pick Set 1920s Graphics
(End date: 06/24) Although I disagree with Susan's assertion that
these two disparate items were actually sold together, they are both
quite cool and were undoubtedly made by Whitney.
310149490999 19th C Figural DEVIL
Porcelain CREAM PITCHER
(End date: 06/24) It is exciting to see this item being offered for
sale, having seen it only a handful of times. What you have here is
a porcelain devil creamer made in the 1920s by Schafer & Vater. An
identical example appears in my second edition on page 90 with a
guide value of $275. This looks to be in super condition. It will be
interesting to see what this brings.
140327569381 HALLOWEEN PAPER MACHE
DECO VINTAGE BASKET?
(End date: 06/23) This was made by Department 56 a few years ago. It
has essentially no value.
270410086802 Vintage Halloween
Conn Rare Dumbbell Tin Dbl Noisemaker
(End date: 06/23) This is a super noisemaker - so hard-to-find in
collectible condition that I've never been able to acquire one. This
seller is actually quite a knowledgeable person, her misspelling of
the maker here non-withstanding. (It should be T. Cohn.) Bid
high!
120435939160 PACKAGE OF 5 VINTAGE
HALLOWEEN FORTUNE TELLER PLACECARD
(End date: 06/21) Reading the breathless verbiage around how the
package being sold has never been opened made me chuckle. I don't
feel that an unopened package has much impact on value for the same
thing in an opened package - all else being equal. Whoever buys this
lot, open it and examine things closely for heaven's sake. Why else
buy something unless you can fully enjoy it? The collecting
mentality first fostered in the 1970s sometimes makes no sense.
150352025786 Vintage Halloween
Beistle Party Book ~ Ex. Condition!!
(End date: 06/21) This is in quite nice condition. The only quibble
I have is with the assertion that these with white pages are scarcer
than the ones with orange pages. I no longer feel this is a true
statement, therefore the verbiage has been changed accordingly in my
second edition. (For those without a copy of the second edition, I
am running a super "web site only" pricing deal right now.)
190314074007 Unusual Old Metal &
Wood Halloween Noisemaker Vintage
(End date: 06/21) This is certainly an unusual noisemaker both
graphically and as to form. It is surely either German of Japanese,
with a tip to the former. I've never seen it before!
110402590132 Vintage Halloween
Large Cat Head Transparency, RARE
(End date: 06/21) This seller quotes my book price of $350 in the
verbiage of the auction. Bear in mind that prices typically are for
items in perfect condition. Given the condition issues with this
offering I wouldn't expect the price to escalate to anywhere close
to guide value.
380130712065 OLD MINI HALLOWEEN
DIE CUT-PIRATE PUMPKIN GERMANY
(End date: 06/18) This is the best of the lot of diecuts this seller
is currently offering. This small JOL pirate figure doesn't surface
regularly. I love how the dealer references the pirates "epilates."
200350274119 1930'S "BEISTLE"
HALLOWEEN BLACK CAT DIE CUT-- N MINT
(End date: 06/16) These were most often sold attached to a Beistle
band hat.
140325983364 VINTAGE HALLOWEEN LOT JOL
WITCH CANDY LANTERN RATTLES
(End date: 06/16) The single best item in the lot is the 8 panel
Beistle lantern. It may be worth bidding on this lot just to get it
alone. I've not seen this lantern offered too often.
380129552278 Vintage Halloween
Witch Die Cuts &Cool Squeaker Germany
(End date: 06/13) The witch squeaker is not old. It is a fantasy
item imported into the United States beginning in the mid-1990s as
part of a set, primarily by Blumchens. (This
clueless seller has relisted this junky lot for an entire month with
a laughable price of $98.)
220426919062 HUGE HALLOWEEN
BEISTLE DIE CUT VINTAGE 1942 - RARE!
(End date: 06/09) This IS a seldom-seen, eye-catching, humongous
Beistle item. These were sold folded so it is not possible to find
an example without folding creases. As usual, Mrs. Lavin has vastly
overstated what these items bring. Even in perfect condition, these
seldom break the $70 mark, far, far below her "valuation" of $225.
(As projected, this sold for less than $70.)
380123830802 Vintage CAT Pulling
JOL Halloween CANDY Or NUT CUP Exc
(End date: 06/07) This great candy container is a variant to the
more commonly seen example shown in my book on page 55. Don't let
this little treasure escape your grasp. The seller is one of the
best out there, too!
350208741821 rare BISQUE HALLOWEEN
VEGETABLE MAN people FIGURE 1930
(End date 06/07) I don't see this item as being meant for Halloween.
Comments?
260417777481 Rare Form Chalk
Halloween Jack-o-lantern 1930s-50s NICE
(End date: 06/07) I'm simply not as impressed with this item as is
the seller. (I suppose that's not altogether unnatural.) I'm not a
fan of items with no mark, little way of discovering the maker and
made at a time less determinate than three decades. For all we know,
it could be the result of a ceramics art class project. I'd skip and
allocate scarce collecting dollars to something with more of a "wow"
factor. (I'm heartened to see the market
assigned virtually no value to this forgettable item.)
260417784935 Turn of Century Tin
Parade Jack-o-lantern FANTASTIC
(End date: 06/07) This is a fine example of these not-too-common tin
parade lanterns. This seller generally fully values all of his
offerings, so there probably will be small chance of a bargain. This
lot is still definitely worth a look. (It
didn't meet its reserve, even at nearly $900. This dealer needs to
better understand the Ebay market.)
250435925398 Vintage Halloween
Mache/Pulp Pumpkin Jack O Lantern EXC
(End date: 06/06) This seller would win first place in the MBL
Hall-Of-Shame. I have been told by two sources that this seller
(either using this handle or another, fallsmist52) routinely
purchases damaged pulp JOLs on Ebay and then starts a selling
campaign using the same verbiage about cleaning out a retired
schoolteacher's home which is recycled for several years on end. I
wrote an email to the seller asking a simple question, "Has this
pulp item been repainted or repaired in any way?" Here is her
verbatim reply:
"PLEASE
DO NOT BID ON IT! I AM THE CEO OF NIAGARA MAID INC.,A MULTI BILLION
DOLLAR COMPANY,NOT AN ARTIST OF ANY SORT. I BOUGHT THIS HOME FROM
THE ESTATE AND AM CLEARING IT OUT IN MY SPARE TIME IN PREPARATION TO
LIVE IN IT. I SAID IN THE TEXT OF THE AUCTION IF YOU READ IT THAT I
AM NOT KNOWLEDGABLE OF THIS SORT OF HALLOWEEN TRINKET. IT WAS FOUND
IN A CABINET OF THE ESTATE. AGAIN...THERE ARE MANY OTHER PUMPKINS ON
EBAY...PLEASE BID ELSEWHERE BECAUSE YOU SOUND LIKE YOU ARE NOT GOING
TO BE HAPPY WITH A PURCHASE.
THANKS FOR YOU COMMENTS,NIAGARA MADE,INC. L.L.MEHARIAN
M.D"
Now, several things strike me as odd relative to her answer.
Firstly, she never answered my question. Secondly, her firm is
hardly a "multi billion dollar company." (Simply Google it and
follow the links. Her firm provides boat rides through the mists of
Niagara Falls, hardly the stuff of multi-billion dollar fortunes.
Even she is uncertain of her own company's name - read her message
carefully.) Lastly, I hope she is a better businessperson than a
writer. Now, apparently for good measure, a few minutes after
sending me this email, she wrote another, letting me know she is
good friends with Pam Russell, the self-styled Halloween Queen. That
additional fact supplied by Ms. Meharian M.D. (If the "M.D."
actually stands for Medical Doctor, I know I wouldn't want someone
with such a tenuous grasp of our written language advising me on
health matters.) certainly doesn't ease my mind as Pam is no scholar
of vintage Halloween memorabilia. In short, dear readers, view any
offerings from this seller (1falls or fallsmist52) with heightened
dubiousness. Just for fun, ask her lots of questions to see if you
get the pleasure of receiving such an elliptical reply as I did.
Don't forget to ask her precisely what the M.D. stands for!
(05/22 update: Thanks to all of my readers who wrote in to relate
their experiences with this shitty seller. These accounts all
highlighted the abject rudeness and vitriolic nature of Ms. Meharian,
M.D. It is too bad that Ebay allows such rubbish to be palmed off as
untouched, vintage items, especially when it's done by such a
plonker.)
310145932865 OLD CAST IRON HAUNTED
HOUSE GHOST HALLOWEEN DOORSTOP!
(End date: 06/05) This is a complete fabrication - a fantasy piece
made to deceive. Chinese factories have been cranking out these
frauds seemingly non-stop since 2005. I am tired of seeing them.
390055048135 Old HALLOWEEN Crepe
Paper Top Hat Decoration, Germany
(End date: 06/01) This is a really cool item. Most of these
thin-tissue German hats are mighty forgettable, but I like the
design of this hat. I'm sure it isn't worth $44.95 given the damage
listed, but somewhere in the very low $30s.
250426067100 Halloween Weeny Witch
Party Book Advertising 1951
(End date: 05/31) I've long been surprised at how little these
little gems bring. (I know that many copies were made by licensed
firms throughout the entire USA, but not all of these are intact.)
The art is often quite chilling, much more so than what other
contemporaneous firms were producing. This seems to be an excellent
value!
170335306186 VINTAGE 1917 DENNISON
BOGIE HALLOWEEN BOOK
(End date 05/31) Some Bogie Books are easier to find than others
period. Still others are harder to find in good condition. This
example satisfies both criteria. Although not in stellar shape, it
nonetheless is better than any copy I've seen in the last 3-5 years,
including my own. I'm glad to see the market is already recognizing
the rarity of this edition. The bidding is nearly at $200 with
several days to go. (Wow, I was as shocked as
you when this sold for ~$562!)
380125931985 Vintage Crepe paper
Witch + Jack-O-Lantern scaring chil
(End date 05/31) It is very difficult trying to understand what this
seller is selling. I wish that he would have put an equal amount of
effort into describing the item he's trying to peddle than he did
relating his work schedule to us all. Bizarre....
250431642086 Vintage Halloween
Mache/Pulp Pumpkin Jack O Lantern EXC
(End date: 05/30) More repainted shitola from one of the least
reputable sellers on Ebay. Avoid...
130307640818 VINTAGE HALLOWEEN
LANTERN JOL VERY OLD
(End date: 05/29) I sure wish this lantern, arguably the very best
ever designed and made by Beistle, was in better condition. It will
be interesting to see what this damaged example fetches.
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