Where have all the rare lights gone?

Speaking of the secondary market, where have all the rare HL's gone? You know what I mean, the CH's, Coquilles, lightning rod pieces, Canadian pieces, southern belles, etc.

The holidays are over and so is the offerings of great HL's on eBay. Why do you think this has happend?

Bob

If I had to guess, I would say there are a couple of possiblities.

1. Serious collectors are acquiring them and not letting them go.
2. Breakage. To be realistic, the early ones are 13 years old. Many of them have been handled, dusted, moved, etc. over and over again. I would guess there are less than 5000 left of several of the 5500s. With Hatteras, Coquille and some of the rarest ones, there are a small number left and even a smaller number in good condition.

Probably a case of people who have them are collectors, or the owners know what the pieces were worth 2 or 3 years ago and refuse to let them go at todays prices. Anyway I always thought that Jan – Mar was a slow time for picking up older pieces. Maybe it’s just me, but I seem to find them more often in the spring (spring cleaning aka get that stuff out of here) and near the holidays.

Eric nailed it as far as I'm concerned. I have duplicates of all the earliest ones sitting in my attic and am waiting for the market to pick up again. Don't think I'll recapture my out of pocket expenses, but am in no hurry to take a bigger loss than I've already taken.

Bob,

I think that there are several factors for the scaresness of the earlier editions now than just a while ago. First off I think that late last year there was economic problems that caused some colelctors to sell off all or part of their collections. I noticed many entire collections of older pieces, and specifically Canadian pieces, were being sold. If fact I took the opportunity to purchase a dozen or so of them to upgrade my collection. I think that as these collections have been sold, and with the economy getting better, it has slowed the sale of unique pieces that command a higher price, and we are back to the dealer dumping of newer pieces.

Secondly, I think that the holiday season is a time when people think they can command a higher price because of the "gift" factor. The gift factor is where a person is willing pay a little more to get something special for that special person. Holiday seasons are notorious for this, as evidenced by the big reductions after the season for many items.

Lastly, I think there are some people that see the prices falling and make the decision to sell before they think it will fall lower. It is kind of like the stock market where you buy a stock to hold for appreciation, and when it is above what you paid and the market is falling you panic and try to sell before you lose anymore, or maximize your profit. It is a boom time for those that wait for this situation, and have the funds stockpiled.

I wish that the preChristmas market would have lasted a little longer this year and I would have had another $1000 or 2 to bid on some of the pieces I just missed. It was a good time to upgrade the collection, and I hope it returns in the future.

Are there any secondary dealers left?

Hi Dick, ...Like you, I miss seeing those rare pieces coming up for auction. Those that were offered sold for prices that we could consider reasonable for such valuable pieces. I know I got a few but wished I would have purchased more. There was a lot of last minute, and I do mean a sixty second period, where I got beat out for a few dollars, and it wasn't a proxy bid either.

I also purchased or traded for some great pieces at the CF's own New Marketplace. I would much rather deal with connected collectors here at the CF. There is a certain feeling of comfort when you are dealing with someone who has been around the CF for awhile.

Here's hoping some more great pieces come up for sale or bid soon. It keeps the collecting juices flowing during the slow times.

Bob