German Nutcrackers

German Nutcrackers – Finding a Deal

Paul — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:06:48 +0000

If I am am trying to buy a German nutcracker I hate to pay retail. Limiting my search to those auctions where the seller knows the item is a German nutcracker is unlikely to get me the best deal. Unfortunately, searching for just "Nutcracker" returns 3,233 auctions. That's a little to much to browse through.

Ebay helpfully provides categories that break these down into smaller groups. I selected "Holiday & Seasonal" which brought the total down to 719. Quickly I see that use of the word "German" in the search string has eliminated a lot of auctions I didn't mean to. I see a lot of Steinbach and Ulbricht nutcrackers for sale. Sellers obviously find the name of the maker more valuable in the title than the German designation. Adding Steinbach and Ulbricht as negative keywords drops the remaining auctions to 470.

At this point the problem is many of the sellers fail to mention any markings or labels and don't include them in the pictures. I'm sure that in many cases that is wise since they come from China or other modern and cheap source. In other cases it's not se easy to tell. I found one where the photo of the bottom might have caused me to bid if it hadn't been so blurred I couldn't read it.

At this point in our search for a "Sleeper" I am going to include the title and description in the seach and add some of the key terms which an uninformed seller might put in the description instead of the title where they belong.

The first term I tried adding was "Expertic". From collecting these nutcrackers I know this is the stamp used by the East German Government (DDR GDR) to mark items made for export. It means the item was made in DDR times ( DDRZeit) as our German exchange student used to say. These are the German Nutcrackers we collect.

There were three items in the listing. Two had the word Expertic in the title, one had it only in the body of the description. That one has a starting price of $18.99 plus $11.46 shipping and handling. It's from an 8,000+ feedback company. That's a little high for us to think we could profit from reselling it. The auction establishes this seller knows nothing about the item. It is described as a "Palace Guard" when it looks like a typical miner to me. There is no information about size except in the shipping details where the seller indicated it will be shipped in an 18" box. So I assume it is large.

I just lost an opportunity in the five minutes it took me to check out the nutcracker mentioned above!!! One of the Expertic titled nutcrackers mentioned above was for sale with a starting price of $4.95 and a Buy it Now of $9.95. The seller included many nice pictures and there was no doubt this was the real thing. I decided to think about it while I wrote about the other one and when I came back to it, it had sold for the BIN price. Someone got a deal.

The third result, which also has "Expertic" in the title has only a single picture and a one line description. From that and experience I would say he is also the real thing. Of course his starting price is $22 with $8 for shipping which only points out what a killer deal the one that got away was.

Fortunately, there is always another deal.

German Nutcrackers on Ebay – The state of the market

Paul — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:03:42 +0000

A search for German Nutcracker on Aug 16, 2009 brings up 39 listings, but only 23 are actual auctions. The rest are store listings. Six of them have bids.

The most popular item is from an estate sale in is one of the more old time looking items offered. There are seven Steinbach's and 1 Christian Ulbricht.

A seller from Texas is offering two German Nutcracker barstools. That is not something I have seen before. Since his starting bid is $1,000 I am guessing they will not sell.

In other words, the market at this time is slow and prices are on the low end. There are always a few optimists who put on a very high BIN price of course.

I will return and post in a few weeks since it will be interesting to see how things change, if they do, in the weeks after Labor Day.

Expertic – GDR – DDR – Nutcrackers

Paul — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:33:31 +0000

These terms all apply to German Nutcrackers made in East Germany before the wall came down. They are of particular interest to those of us who like the old style handwork.

We have elected to display some of collections of these special kinds of nutcrackers and other items on display at

Antique Nutcrackers

DDR Zeit

Expertic

It will take some time for us to get these sites updated with good pictures and configured to be a good reference for visitors looking to identiy and value old German Nutcrackers.

Richard Glasser

Paul — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:24:22 +0000

Richard Glasser nutcrackers are mostly new, although they have been in business for many years. Like Steinbach, and Ulbricht they cater to the modern collectors market and are always introducing new lines.

These companies all work hard to develop a "look" that distinguishes their nutcrackers from everyone elses.

Below are example(s) of Glassers nutcrackers.

R GLASSER HANDMADE THE NUTCRACKER PRINCE NUTCRACKER

US $75.00

2d 1h 33m

Excellent Richard Glasser Bavarian Nutcracker

0 Bid

US $29.99

4d 20h 30m

Christian Ulbricht – German Nutcrackers

Paul — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:20:06 +0000

Ulbricht is a modern manufacturer of nutcrackers much like Steinbach. They both produce very nice items with very high prices. They are aimed at the collectibles market.

As with Steinbach, they are significantly cheaper on the aftermarket. Below are a couple of examples to give you a feel for their "look".

Christian Ulbricht Wood Carver Nutcracker

US $94.99

33m

15 Christian Ulbricht Christmas Nutcracker Santa Claus

US $76.99

12h 35m

Christian Ulbricht Bavarian Volksmarch Nutcracker

US $174.99

16h 51m

Carved German Nutcrackers

Paul — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:15:02 +0000

Carved German Nutcrackers are much less common than the painted ones we normally think of. In addition many of the carved nutcrackers were made in other parts of Eastern Europe and it may not be easy to be sure a particular item is German made.

They are worth looking for, especially if you like older items. Below are carved German nutcrackers, if there are any, for sale now.

VTG GERMAN HAND CARVED STAG NUTCRACKER TREEN WOODEN

0 Bid

US $20.00

1d 2h 1m

Antique German Granny Carved Wood Nutcracker

US $94.89

2d 14h 36m

Vintage German Nutcrackers

Paul — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:08:21 +0000

Vintage is a VERY slippery term. One persons almost new is someone elses almost antique. Unfortunately, it's the word used by the majority of nutcracker sellers who don't have a signed Steinbach or other major "name" to brag about.

It is, however, a great term for finding "sleepers" . A great many of these German nutcrackers came to the USA with German War Brides. That generation is getting old so more and more of the old and antique nutcrackers show up at estate sales. They are purchased by sellers who frequently know little about them. If you take the time to educate yourself there are bargains to be found.

An additional issue is the spelling of "Erzgebirge". It's not an easy word for a native English speaker to get right. For example, I found this spelling in the title of an auction "ERZABIRGE" although the seller got it right in the item description. Since most buyers search by keyword and don't include the item description in their search, this item will probably sell for less than it should.

Below is a small sample of the vintage German nutcrackers for sale now.

Lot Erzgebirge Wood Nutcracker Vintage German 4 Bells

US $22.99

21h 16m

2 Vintage ERZGEBIRGE Soldier Nutcrackers German Repub

0 Bid

US $26.99

1d 41m

VTG GERMAN HAND CARVED STAG NUTCRACKER TREEN WOODEN

0 Bid

US $20.00

1d 2h 1m

Vintage 1985 German Nutcracker Erzgebirge GDR Knight

US $24.44

1d 14h 47m

Vintage German Nutcracker

0 Bid

US $20.99

3d 23h 23m

German Nutcrackers – Steinbach

Paul — Thu, 07 May 2009 02:41:47 +0000

Steinback is one of the famous names in German nutcrackers. They have been in business for many years and are still active. In fact, they have taken a lesson from Hummel and some of the other collectibles manufacturers and produce nutcrackers in series, with certificate of authenticity. Of course the prices are in keeping with their exclusivity and rarity.

Most of the Steinbach nutcrackers which you will see for sale will be new, in the box, and in perfect condition.

Our experience has been that Americans don't value nutcrackers as much as Germans, so prices from American sellers will be lower. Between the shipping charges from Europe, the rise of the Euro, and the value given to them, we have had very little luck buying from German sellers.

Below are two examples of auctions for new Steinbach Nutcrackers.

Steinbach Mini Nutcracker S251 INDOOR SCROOGE New

US $79.00

47m

Steinbach Mini Nutcracker S261 GERMAN SNOWMAN New

US $79.00

48m