In another forum, JC asks an excellent question - Are their Secondary Market \'Dealers\'??? - and asks for factual information from people.

So as to not to distract that thread, I'm posting a follow-up question here in the FSB.

What is the Secondary Market? Is it composed of all post-retail sales, or is it really post-retail for profit sales?

My sense is that the answer to this question in conjunction with the answer to John's may answer a third question 'Are Harbour Lights Limited Editions' still a viable Collectible?'

Back in the early 90's, Harbour Lights created its line of Limited Edition models as Collectibles - that is, intentionally manufactured and marketed for sale at a higher price with limited availability. A fundamental key to their acceptance as such was the parallel development of a post-retail market where this rarity validated itself through the expression of demand exceeding avaiability. When the market placed a higher value on some pieces over others and people were willing to pay more than retail, this line of models succeeded as a Collectible.

As differentiated from things that you can acquire several of, (that is a collection) are Harbour Lights still a Collectible? It would seem there remain some models that retain a higher value post-retail (as evidenced by eBay). The numbers of these appear to be dwindling rather than growing. If this is true we would lilkewise expect the number of secondary dealers to be dwindling rather than growing. When there are no more secondary dealers, is that the end of the line (not just a handful of models) as a Collectible?

In the fog, senses heighten,
Tim