For this middle tier, it is a great time to be a buyer. Given the reality that Halloween decorations, by and large, were not treasured, near-mint and better examples of virtually anything made prior to 1960 remain hard to find. With prices soft like this for middle tier items, open your purses and wallets wide when you see such items. As a collector you'll be able to get solid items for a good price, enabling you to form the basis of a respectable collection more cheaply than in the recent past. As a dealer. when these economic storms dry up, you will see a good return on your investment.

For top tier items, the market remains very, very hot. I believe this to be true across all collecting genres as the very best stuff routinely brings eye-popping results. Pre-1940 German candy container, nodders and figurals; 1920-1931 Beistle paper, pre-1940 Dennison boxed products and diecuts as well as mint examples of 1930s Chein tambourines continue to lead the market.

Now, bear in mind that the overall trend line for prices is up over the last 25 years - perhaps way up - while the trend line for the availability of premium items is decidedly down. As a collector this is frustrating, but as a sometimes dealer it brings a smile to my face! I would say that 2010 is shaping up to be another year where I think the supply of quality items continues to be thin.)

The acceptance and use of on-line auction venues have certainly contributed to the relative steadiness in the vintage Halloween collecting hobby, even in an uneven economy. As in any hobby, rising prices flushed out long-held collections. One blockbuster collection was sold in 1997 through Dunbar Gallery, with another cleverly pieced out over several years through individual telephone auctions. Lesser collections have also come onto the market, with all material quickly absorbed. The most recent notable collection dispersal happened in May of 2003 when the Dan and Pauline Campanelli collection was sold through Noel Barrett's auction house. Pauline had passed away, so Dan felt it was time to allow other collectors to enjoy the items shown in their 1995 Halloween book. The prices realized were quite uneven owing to several factors: the general lack of "mintness" of the items, the illogical grouping of items and the high fees associated with doing on-line business with the auction house. Morphy Auctions conducted a sale of numerous mid-to-high grade Halloween items during the first few days of September 2005, bringing very strong prices overall. (Frankly, based on the numerous auction house catalogues profiling solid quantities of vintage Halloween material I have reviewed, Morphy is the most professional of these purveyors today hands down.) 

The dark side to this overall rise in prices is the reproduced and fantasy items being brazenly hawked as vintage―especially through the on-line venues. Newer collectors, the life blood of any continuing hobby, are unsuspectingly buying these poorly made and soulless items, happily stuffing them into display cases unprepared for the disappointment due when, with further experience and knowledge, the realization hits they have purchased items with decorative value only. I used to worry more about the cynicism creeping into the vintage Halloween collecting hobby due to this avalanche of reproductions and fantasy items, which may have driven off the newer collectors at one time. However, with the strong sales of my book and the high number of unique visitors to this web site each and every day, my fears have been largely allayed. Keep in mind two rules of thumb: Be very skeptical of anything hawked as being "found" in the old East Germany. Many of these so-called vintage German lanterns, candy containers and figural horns have been recently made and are essentially decorative items only, with no vintage value. Also, have the same skepticism about dealers claiming to have brought back vintage items from any recent trips to Germany. At the time true vintage items were being made, they were ALL destined for export, as the Germans did not celebrate Halloween. I cannot emphasize these points enough!

Some genres have seemed to gain more strength than others: unusual German diecuts, American candy boxes, Beistle party sets and Beistle table top decorations have all seen very sharp price increases in 2010. The Halloween hard plastic genre, long ridiculously overpriced, has cooled considerably, although prices remain laughably high for what has to be the most readily available of all vintage Halloween material. Unless you just love the stuff, I'd allocate your scarce collecting dollars to items which are truly hard to come by!

Don't ever lose sight of this reality: Vintage, display-quality Halloween items are truly scarce. Because Halloween is an annual occasion creating new memories, this “renewable” aspect of the holiday will serve to keep interest in the old imagery strong in the coming years, attracting new collectors - all pursuing a dwindling supply of quality material.