In medieval times Guild Members often developed their own words or terminology to shield the art of their craft from spreading to outsiders. Thanks to the military and computer consultants a variant of this practice is kept alive today with the ever popular TLA. What better way to dazzle your friends and signal your fellow collectors you're "really in the know" than to sprinkle your chatter with a few well placed Harbour Lights specific acronyms.

The successful acronym is one folks pick up on and actually use so it should be meaningful and easy to remember. Its about time we evolve off the oral tradition and the FATF needs a ratings boost, so use this thread to make your suggestions.

Here's a start on the list of acronyms and terminology. [Many of these are well entrenched but some I'm just making up as I type ]

ABNR - Announced But Not Released. A piece HL officially states they will release but which is not available for purchase yet.

AP - Artist Proof

ARF - At Retail Forever. A piece with doggy sales that takes a long time to retire. Round Island is starting to bark.

BY - Bill Younger

BYOC - Bill Younger's Own Comments. As opposed to officially sanctioned Harbour Lights information. Sometimes Bill says stuff that should be taken with a grain of sea salt.

CH1 - the first mold version of the Cape Hatteras LE.

CH2 - the second mold version of the Cape Hatteras LE.

HL - Harbour Lights. The company.

HLCIC - Harbour Lights Collectors Information Center. Then name of John Chidester's web site before it became the official HL site.

LE - Limited Edition.

LH - Lighthouse

Mini - Miniature. The size of the smaller Reunion pieces. Smaller than an LE, bigger than a Thumbnail. Not the same as an ornament.

NADA - Not At Dealers Anymore. A retired piece no longer available at retail price from a dealer. Short form of SONADA.

NPL - New Point Loma. Refers to the 'full size' '97 Reunion model of that lighthouse.

OE - Open Edition

OTC - Off The Catwalk. The HL collector's equivalent of 'off the wagon'. "I promised the wife I'd stop buying every new release but I fell off the catwalk."

R@R - Retired at Retail. The proper name of a list showing models that are retired but can still be found at a dealer for retail. The list is available only on the HL web site.

Retired - See SOHL.

RBIT - Retired Before Its Time. A piece intentionally retired before HL sells its planned edition size to dealers. Can turn frogs into princes. EG. Burrows Island

REXA - Reunion Exclusive for Attendees. The full size model of Rose Island available for purchase only by actual attendees of the '98 Reunion.

REXM - Reunion Exclusive for Members. The full size model of Rose Island available for purchase by Society Members.

Shelf Life - the amount time from when a model is available to dealers until it can no longer be purchased from a dealer. Often difficult to measure.

SOAR - Sold Out At Retail. Only available on the secondary market. Thomas Point SOAR'd off dealers shelves.

SOBR - Sold Out Before Release. When the entire allotment of a model is sold to dealers before its actually in a store. When measuring the age of a piece at retirement, the age of a SOBR model is a negative number. EG. Sanibel Island -92 days old at retirement.

SOHL - Sold Out by Harbour Lights. Retired. This means Harbour Lights has no more of model 'X' to sell to its dealers. Dealers may or may not have X's to sell.

SOSAD - Sold Out Still At Dealer. The piece is retired (HL has no more to sell dealers) but dealers still have pieces to sell.

SONADA - Sold Out Not At Dealers Anymore. Not available at retail. Only available on the secondary market.

SMD - Secondary Market Dealer.

SMO - Secondary Market Only. SMO = NADA.

SMP - Secondary Market Price.

Dave. Stop Dave.

OK. Thats enuf for now. I'm sure there are common shorthands already in use I've left out. Feel free to append your own favorites.

Rgds,
__
/im

[This message has been edited by JTimothyA.]