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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.

HTF Vtg 1930's HALLOWEEN DIECUT Witch pulling hair of Crescent Moon Centerpiece

Beistle made a plethora of hats - some quite forgettable. This hat falls into the unforgettable category. There are two sets of Beistle hats that are devilishly difficult to complete. One is the fairy hat series of four shown on pages 240-241. The other is the oddly-named New Moon series of four, two of which are shown on page 239. I’ve been collecting seemingly since the dawn of time and I’m still missing one of the four designs. The one up for auction is rough, but most of these designs are found rough. Even so, with over a day to go the bidding is at $137.50. Two of the hats show new moons while the other two show crescent moons. I’m eager to see the ending price.

Vintage Halloween cardboard/crepe paper fold out decorations -Beistle

The buyer received a true bargain here. This roly-poly was produced by Beistle in 1930-31. Beistle produced four designs of nearly the same size and four designs that were about two inches taller. (Turn to pages 226-227 to see some examples.) Of the smaller designs, the witch is arguably the best one - although I am more partial to the welcoming scarecrow. (The owl is forgettable.) These trade WELL above the BIN price of $20 the seller placed on his lot of two items. This was a true score. Congratulations to Matt and Sabrina.

NEAR MINT PLUS NEVER USED Antique Vintage Halloween Stunt Game, Beistle, 1930s!

This seller has gotten so many results of late that are so far out of line with long-established values that she has become the subject of much conversation. This game is not uncommon. (I see that another eBay seller immediately listed this game in a similar condition for a BIN of $625 once this listing ended. It’ll be interesting to see if it sells.) I would be thrilled to sell any item I have as part of the collection for the price this seller has recently obtained! So, ASK. I have never seen anything like this. In a recent email exchange with the seller, she states that she starts everything at $9.99 and lets the market decide. Fair enough. I’ve heard a number of theories as to how she is getting these prices. My theory is simple: she has taken the time to build a brand and is reaping the reward - with a high percentage of her sales surely from deep-pocketed newer collectors who trust her and choose to overpay with a trusted source. I don’t subscribe to any of the nefarious theories being bandied about.

08/30 Update: The other game listed, referred to in my post, sold for $500, significantly less yet in the same condition.

Interest has been strong in these non-embossed thin-paper-stock diecuts Beistle produced during the early 1920s.Beistle produced a handful of designs, then varied their offerings by size. This is the larger version of the broomed witch diecut. These diecuts bend and crease easily. The typical example is riddled with pinholes. This particular example seems quite crisp, so I’m not surprised the prevailing bidder paid $77. I do hope the bidder objected to it being sent Priority Mail. There isn’t any reason to send something that weighs an ounce or two via Priority Mail. On another note, I dislike when sellers cram a series of disjointed words into the title line hoping the search function will highlight the listing.

Vintage Halloween 1930’s Beistle Hallowe’en Tango Cat & Orig. Glassine Envelope

Wow! How many times have you seen a near-mint Beistle Tango Cat with its original glassine envelope? Answer: Maybe never! This is one of the best listings gracing eBay in 2025. Beistle produced two Tango designs - this cat and a scary witch - for only a season or two beginning in 1930. I suspect they were not brisk sellers. Here is what I write on page 225: “The construction of this Tango figure did not lend itself well to survival over the decades. Opening and closing the honeycomb stresses the main body and degrades the honeycomb. The points along the border typically are creased and bumped. Because he cannot stand and must be hung, there are invariably creases or repairs at the feet. The severity of these nearly always present condition issues has a direct correlation to value.” This listing deserves the attention of all collectors who understandably treasure the Beistle aesthetic. I hope it does well.

04/18 Update: This brought $1,303.99. I thought it would bring several hundred dollars more.

Vintage Halloween Hat with Plume, Flying Witch and Black Cat; Beistle, 1920-21

What a magnificent early Beistle hat. (Boy, does that witch need a shave!) The Beistle script mark was used only on their earliest products, so this hat might actually be from 1918-1919. It seems to be made from an onion skin paper grade like the many more common German hats from this same era. The image of the cat is also so well rendered. The fact it has survived over a century with its jaunty plume attached is a marvel. It’ll be fun to see what this fetches.

04/11 Update: This great hat brought nearly $160.

Vintage Halloween 1920s Beistle Mechanical Jointed Bat

This is an astonishing result. This mechanical bat was produced by Beistle. It was sold in an envelope with a mechanical owl during the 1920s. (Beistle used at least two different colored envelopes. Some envelopes were tissue thin while others were of a medium-gauge card stock.) These bats typically bring about half of what this brought. I attribute it to the confluence of these factors: condition, the great photos, the clear description and the paucity of quality items on eBay right now.

Very Rare Antique Vintage Halloween 1930s Beistle Honeycomb Witch and Moon Hat

This exceedingly rare hat was produced by Beistle from 1933-1937. It is one of the four designs that comprise the full set of what Beistle called New Moon Hats. After all my years of collecting, I have found only three of the four. The one that’s missing is this very design, but the condition was too compromised for me to even consider acquiring it. Even with its condition and the time of the year, it did fetch an astounding $212.51.

Vintage Halloween 1930 Beistle Black Cat Jack-o-Lantern Bat Nut Cup

It’s not every day that you see this Beistle nut cup come available. As I write on page 221, I suspect this design was issued for a single season, in either 1930 or 1931. They were sold in envelopes of four with a stock number of 760N. This seller is stellar. I have had many thoroughly positive interactions with him over the years, so I don’t understand the feedback left on a transaction involving a Kokomold item. You can deal with him with confidence.

Beistle Beistle’s Halloween Party Helps Fortune Telling Game Antique Rare HTF

Beistle enveloped items are having their well-deserved moment in the sun. Beistle was clever in that they very often used the same concept and items but wrapped everything in new packaging. They issued this game in both enveloped and boxed sets. The envelopes are more common. This listing is appealing in that there is double collateral and three extra JOLs. What’s not to like?

Very Rare Beistle Vintage Halloween Party Centerpiece -Owl, Scarecrow, Black Cat

Beistle produced only two table top centerpiece designs in 1955. Both are quite coveted and typically bring far more than this one brought. Condition certainly contributed to the ending price, but time of year may have played a part as well. As I write on page 233 about these centerpieces, “It, for me, represents the last gasp of the best of Beistle’s iconic imagery before the blandness and silliness of their later designs ran rampant.”

Vintage Halloween Singing Moon Beistle Diecut 1935 SAMPLE Look

I’ve never understood the attraction of this diecut. (Another design from the same set is a donut and cup. That, too, leaves me cold.) Great companies like Beistle can’t always hit home runs. No organization does. However, sometimes the strike-out is so spectacular that I wonder if the Art Director at the time was sacked for poor judgement. This design rivals the Dennison frog diecut for having little logical tie-in to Halloween iconography.