Are some blowmolds valuable?

R

RRohn

New member
I have a few blowmolds in my show from last year and now i purchased 6 old blowmolds from a thrift store. Upon getting them home, i found out that they were made in a period from 1968 to 1972. Not knowing what the value of them was, I went to ebay to see if similar blowmolds were for sale. The prices were an eye-opener! My "Frosty" was going for $80! Checking out the ones I just bought, I could only find a price on one of them. Checking Google on the others said that they were rare but no other info. Anyone know where I could find out some more info on them? Empire Plastics Corp is the manufacturer. To see them:
http://timbertownchristmas.blogspot.com/2011/05/peace-of-history.html
 
I don't know if this will help or not but when we lived in Wymore, NE there was a shop down there that sold a bunch of old blowmolds on ebay... some of the stuff was really neat like the 3 foot lamps from old cities etc. I don't think that they were way off base for pricing from current blowmolds. I'm sure theres a collectors market on them somewhere.... it would be finding that market. What was neat about them is they new just about everywhere the different blowmolds were used.
 
It seems over the years that Empire set the standard for blowmolds. And many decorators prefer Empire, but since Emprie is no longer in business it seems the value of there stuff will go up atleast somewhat just due to the fact that some would rather seek out the Empire over the remakes from Genral Foam who bought a good majority of Empires molds.
 
RRohn said:
I have a few blowmolds in my show from last year and now i purchased 6 old blowmolds from a thrift store. Upon getting them home, i found out that they were made in a period from 1968 to 1972. Not knowing what the value of them was, I went to ebay to see if similar blowmolds were for sale. The prices were an eye-opener! My "Frosty" was going for $80! Checking out the ones I just bought, I could only find a price on one of them. Checking Google on the others said that they were rare but no other info. Anyone know where I could find out some more info on them? Empire Plastics Corp is the manufacturer. To see them:
http://timbertownchristmas.blogspot.com/2011/05/peace-of-history.html
Click to expand...

You would do well do go over to Planet Christmas if you are not a member join. There are several people over there who can give you a value by make/model/condition etc. And yes. Some are very pricey, but also realize, ebay prices are not the norm.
 
Ebay over prices them but yes they can be worth something, if you cut holes in them, repaint them, sun fade them, modify the cords in them then the real answer is no they are pretty much worthless, although there is always some inexperienced person on ebay that will buy them and think they are a gold mine anyways.
 
The "worth" of the blowmolds is more in the eyes of the owner pretty much but I do not believe that they are not valuable as some would believe. Also for someone to say that if a mold has been modified, repaired, repainted, or whatever that it is no longer worth anything is pretty foolish. I have repaired broken molds and use them for display as well as some that I had to touch up with paint.
I have over 150 blowmolds now and I have worked on a lot of them to make them a better part of my display as well as make them more evenly lite up by adding more lights or changing the lights around in them for even dispersion. So have I "ruined the mold" or make it in fact more useful for display?
Since a lot of the molds we see will never be made again I would think that they will only appreciate in value as the years go by as long as they are taken care of with a little TLC. I have 24 of the TPI trumpet angels that I was able to find brand new and never displayed. I added lights to each so that they now have 3 bulbs in each one and shine very nicely. I wouldn't sell them for twice what they cost me.
My molds are a part of the display and make it what it is for others to enjoy. Granted they are "just a piece of plastic" but I think that they can be a very important part of telling a story for a display if you want to use them too.
Bill
 
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