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This blog page provides a place for my comments and
insights on a selection of the multitude of items listed on Ebay. I
have no financial interest in any of the items mentioned on this
page, as I do this for fun as well as to educate. Feel free to
check back often, as it is my intent to update this page at least
weekly depending on the time of the year. If you have a question on an item I haven't
mentioned below, always feel free to contact me through the site. MBL
Sellers Who Receive
MBL's Vintage Halloween Stamp of Approval
55audrey,
devilwoman,
djdutch48,
dragonflydesignstudio.com,
freshest1,
fritzyfinds,
goaliegod30,
goofus999,
halloween824,
holidays2you,
jazz4jols,
jawboy71,
member666734,
mmccall,
ms.dennistle,
mysweetjanene,
northcane,
nyleos,
scarlettssister,
sellmestuff,
shiverbones,
stnick22,
strega3338rby,
walpurgis1031,
whirlwind27,
zizsdream
Sellers With Whom MBL Chooses Not To Do
Business
1027-97th,
1falls,
aboveindustry,
cold-angel07,
curiousimp,
dreamcatchers*,
fallsmist52,
landerstoys,
ronscollection,
rwb9,
shadowtown,
warbond321,
yevdokcem
COMMENTS ON COMPLETED AUCTIONS
200754412770 8 DENNISON HALLOWEEN PLACE CARDS IN
ORIGINAL BOX
Ended 05/11 Wow, the buyer got a true bargain scooping these
up for a scant $61. I'm not sure why they went for such a cheap
price.
150808389488 VINTAGE HALLOWEEN SKELETON
HORN-SKELETON BODY GOING
Ended 05/09 Although I am happy for the seller, the buyer made
an error paying so much for this horn. Many of these have surfaced
over the last year, the horn has poor graphics and I question how
old it actually is. (My guess is that it is no earlier than the late
1950s.) All in all, the horn should bring less than $30, so the sale
price was a shocker.
390413103149 U.S. Metal Tin Toy HALLOWEEN Scary
Witch Jack-o-Lantern Bat CLICKER
Ended 05/04 Since 2007, the market for many tin litho items
has been cold. Prices for common clangers, ratchets and shakers have
not fared well. Two sub-categories have done well: tambourines and
clickers. I can understand the reasons for tambourines maintaining
value because they so easily make a great wall display. The case for
clickers is more problematic as they can easily get lost in a
cabinet display. Be that as it may, more power to them!
120794775575 VINTAGE 50'S HALLOWEEN SCARECROW& OWL
DECORATION RARE
Ended 05/04 Are you as floored as I am that a remnant from a
Beistle 3-D decoration actually sold for $25?
180874357961 Paper Mache Halloween Devil Lantern
Ended 05/02 An obvious POS...
221005871762 ANTIQUE CARD GAME-WITCH CAT FORTUNE
CARDS-ALL ORIGINAL!1900s
Ended 04/26 I suspect this scarce game, probably made by
Whitney, didn't bring many dollars due to the dearth of
Halloween imagery beyond the cover of the damaged box. I was going
to bid, but when I looked closely at the overall contents, I lost
interest. For a game or decorating set to have compelling value in
our field, it has to have Halloween imagery through and through, not
just relegated to a cover or to a few stray items.
120898253831 VINTAGE UNUSUAL HALLOWEEN WITCH CAT OWL
NOISEMAKER RACKET
Ended 04/25 Given that the garish plastic handle is an
after-market add-on, I'm surprised that this ratchet actually
brought $21.49.
270963348987 vintage Halloween 1920s Scary
Invitation, Beistle Skeleton behind clock
Ended 04/25 This Beistle mechanical invitation has been on my
"Holy Grail" list for over two decades. I've long wondered why
certain Beistle items are so scarce. Take a gander at Lavin's book,
Timeless Halloween Collectibles. From pages 11 through 17,
virtually none of those items have ever been seen outside of the
samples Beistle kept rather haphazardly through the years. Why is
that? I suspect that some items simply never went into production or
were produced but with a very limited distribution. The clock
invitation, made in 1932, is something that I've actually seen
exactly once, in a collection owned by two dear friends. (I have
tried distracting them ever-so-often so as to spirit the invitation
out of their collection and into mine, but they are simply too smart
for me.)
330716936930 4 Vintage Halloween Lg JOL Lantern
SIDES ONLY with Paper Inserts 1930's
Ended 04/19 I find it very odd that someone would bid over
$200 on four sides to a lantern, devoid of any method to bind them
together. I'll be keeping any eye out to see if any 12" Beistle
lanterns are offered for sale in the next year with these faces from
this auction. Won't it be interesting to see if the restoration is
disclosed if they do surface?
150792722657 Vintage German Pressed Die Cut Halloween Cat
Decoration
Ended 04/12 Wow, if I needed any more evidence that the market
for near-mint-plus German diecuts is sizzling, I need look no
further than this auction result. This is the most elusive of the
four "window pane" diecuts. I've looked for one for many years and
felt comfortable that my bid of $1,300 would prevail. Imagine my
chagrin upon realizing that I lost out by quite a wide margin. (It
sold for nearly $1,900.) Kudos to the deep-pocketed high bidder. It
is a show piece! ****************************************************************************************************************
Item Number and Description
270973542558 Vintage Halloween Beistle Skeleton
Ends 05/15 Check out the one I have listed elsewhere on this
site. The one I have for sale is in better condition and is just
$18!
221015675050 Old Vintage Halloween Paper Diecut Black Cat
Decoration Die Cut Out Dennison
Ends 05/10 This is a small diecut made prior to 1920 in
Germany, Saxony. Typically, these are marked. These were typically
sold in sets of 4 or 6 in a glassine envelope.
110871712401 Vintage Halloween Large Minnie Mouse
Jack o Lantern Band Member Diecut
Ends 05/09 It's nice to see some rarer diecuts finally being
offered for sale. This is a doozy in that it is large, has a lot of
energy to it (I can almost hear the clang of the cymbals!) and is in
very nice condition. The topper is that it is being offered by a
seller we all know is one of the most reputable on Ebay. Don't let
this one pass you by!
261014141780 German Cardboard JOL Face Candy
Container
Ends 05/06 This is an unusual candy container being offered by
a long-time collector who has been on the hunt for vintage Halloween
nearly as long as I have. I haven't seen this particular form
before, so don't let an opportunity to buy something from jolfarmer
pass you by. He doesn't sell on Ebay much. (I am sure there is an
error in his listing on postage. There isn't any way he'd actually
charge ~$31 for shipping such a small item. Check with him...)
320895747456 Rare Halloween Fortune Teller Witch
Black Cat Owl Brownie figure Mint w bag
Ends 05/04 This is probably the second most coveted Halloween
game ever made. I give my detailed views of this game where it
appears in my book's Inner Sanctum chapter on page 109. It is
rare to see this complete game at all, much less with an envelope,
but to see three of these mint games surface at the same time is
unprecedented. I question the wisdom of this seller's decision to
list them all at once, as I suspect this will lessen the dollars
these bring. They all appear to be US made, rather than the
even-more-rare German version that was arguably made for one season,
1920. Trust me, I will be watching these, and may even bid if I feel
a bargain can be had. (The seller truly made a
costly decision to sell these three gems all at once. After my blog
entry, the seller added to his listing to clarify several things,
one of which was that all three of these games were marked as being
made in Germany. That important fact makes his decision to list all
at once even more of a shame for his pocketbook. These should have
brought no less than $2500 each. One did considerably better, while
the other two brought much, much less. Let's hope these all went to
end-user collectors rather than flippers. These are so hard-to-find
that any other result would be a real shame.)
(Update as of 05/11: I traded emails with a
dealer who was present at the auction where these games were sold in
western Kentucky. He passed along the information that ~8 of these
games were sold - all to the dealer who posted these three games.
From this guy, my email correspondent bought three games that he
still owns. I know that the Ebay listing dealer sold one game
privately to some friends of mine, so that means there are perhaps
4-5 games still to hit the market. Naturally, this will dramatically
reduce the value of this game for the medium-term. My email
correspondent offered me two of the games for $6,000, too rich for
my blood. If anyone is interested in acquiring these games, I'll be
happy to act as the intermediary.) 270973542558
150803164706 WONDERFUL EARLY 1940'S HALLOWEEN
CARDBOARD CUTOUTS BOX
Ends 05/03 Virtually all of the collectible value for this lot
resides in the box alone. The decorations today are ubiquitous,
which keeps the value down. (The design of the decorations keeps the
value way down!) The box is worth about $50.
280869600487 vintage Halloween German Diecut
embossed black BAT 5"
Ends 05/01 Don't be fooled by the plainness of this German bat
diecut - it is a difficult one to snag. I went into my book to see
what I had written about it and couldn't find it listed. I then went
into my main gallery to ensure I actually had one, and found one to
my relief. These don't come up all that often and certainly not in
this condition. Don't let this one go by!
(This brought a strong $107.50.)
280869597307 vintage Halloween German Diecut Jack o'
Lantern Man in Moon 5"
Ends 05/01 Kudos to the seller for pointing out the damage to
the top of this diecut. I suspect what happened is that some tape
tore away the surface paper long ago and someone along the way
colored it in with a Sharpie. I have noticed that an increasing
number of diecuts being sold have touch-ups made to them with
Sharpies. My advice is to take any German diecut you buy out into a
strong light and check it over - or place it under a black light.
290702287106 Antique Rare Halloween Doorstop Witch
and Cat
Ends: who knows This isn't an old item. Just look at the
cartoonish expression on the crone's face, and the overall lack of
compelling detailing overall. This newly made POS seems to be based
on a design issued by Midwest of Cannon Falls back in the early
1990s.
120900856130 Instant Vintage Halloween collection,
German, Beistle, Lanterns, etc
Ends 04/29 The nine pieces comprising this lot are well worth
the money the seller, Matthew Kirscht, is asking via Buy-It-Now. If
you don't know, Matthew is one of the top artists in the Halloween
field, creating dazzling lanterns, figurals, drawings and paintings
that hearken directly back to the Golden Age of Halloween imagery. I
am proud to call Matthew a friend, having had the fun of knowing him
since the late 1990s. My home is all the richer from the superb art
pieces I've acquired from him through the years!
110866027509 Vintage Halloween Fortune Wheel for
Hallowe'en Parties Game 1930s
Ends 04/28 As is so often the case with vintage Halloween,
when this iconic Beistle item is offered for sale it has
discouraging condition issues. Condition and scarcity are the
primary drivers for the dramatic increase in prices for vintage
Halloween beginning in the early-to-mid 1990s. I have been amazed at
the prices attained for near-mint/mint German diecuts in 2012. As
more and more collectors join the Halloween fray, I expect prices
for near-mint/mint items made prior to 1960 to continue their
escalation.
130683729911 Vintage HALLOWEEN Die Cut GRINNING
2-Dimensional JACK O'LANTERN
Ends 04/27 This is one from a smallish set of Beistle 3-D
diecuts that has never gotten the market respect and consideration
it deserves. Although by this point in the mid-1950s Beistle was at
the very tail end of its creative prowess, kudos are nonetheless
deserved for the cleverness shown in the construction of these cool
pieces. Two others from this set are shown on page 129.
190667276755 OLD GERMAN PAPER MACHE CANDY CONTAINER
DEVIL HEAD CHIMNEY
Ends 04/22 This is a newly made item with no collectible
value. Notice how the seller is located in Germany? This is one of
the best tip-offs that the Halloween item being sold in newly made.
The Germans did not then celebrate Halloween, so all their output
was strictly for export. (Sorry to see that
some poor sap dropped $116.99 on this POS.)
350554709754 Vintage Set Of Halloween Noise Makers
Germany
Ends 04/21 This seller has been peddling either fantasy or
reproduction Halloween items for years. This set is not old, but was
manufactured in the mid-1990s and imported into the US by Blumchens.
They have no collectible value. Notice how the seller uses the word
vintage in the header but doesn't indicate age in the
description? This is a very tired and unimaginative way to dodge
making a claim to actual age.
300695215840 VINTAGE HALLOWEEN RARE PARTY SIGN BLACK
CAT "HALLO INN"
Ends 04/17 Dennison had such a creative art team for a long
period of time, with their zenith being reached in the mid-1930s.
This door hanger was one design from at least four that Dennison
created as early as 1928. I have long loved the Deco feel to this
item. I don't see these surface too often anymore, and when I do the
condition is similar to this one, with pin holes and some scuffing.
300695571883 3 Vintage German Die Cut Halloween
Pumpkin Head Mickey Mouse Band
Ends 04/16 This trio looks to be in excellent condition. The
market for near-mint plus German diecuts is white-hot right now,
evidenced by a number of recent sales. (For one in particular, see
the section above.) These are from a set of six charming diecuts and
should do quite well. (The buyer got a very
good deal here, scooping this mint lot up for $146.50.)
380428018289 HALLOWEEN BISQUE JOL JACK O LANTERN
PUMPKIN VEGGIE HEAD
Ends NEVER SOON ENOUGH! I sure wish
this clueless seller would throw this POS up in the air and shoot it
out of the sky. She has listed and re-listed this forgettable hunk
of junk for nearly two years. NO ONE WANTS IT! Lord in heaven!
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