MBL's Blog
(Updated 06/27/09)

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?

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(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.