My definition of "secondary market" would have to be limited to those retired pieces that are a) no longer available from retail dealers, and b) are so in demand that they fetch an above-retail price.

With the exception of certain event, reunion, Christmas and "variation" pieces, the secondary market as I see it centers around the period 1991 to 1994. Anything later is hit or miss. 1997-2002 is virtually void of upward price movement (thank you very much, GLOWs and 9,500-10,000 edition sizes), and I doubt we'll see any secondary market action for at least 10 years, if ever.

Just for fun, I created a list of secondary market players in terms of their performance potential*. If you were strictly in it to make money, these would be your bread 'n butter. The majority of the rest would be losers. See if you agree. On the bright side, there are over 70 pieces listed here that collectors seem to be willing to pay above retail for. That ain't bad, in my opinion.

Outstanding Potential (over 3 times original retail price)
Cape Hatteras mold 1 (1991)
Cape Hatteras mold 2 (1991)
Coquille River (1991)
Sandy Hook (1991)
Split Rock “MI” (1992)
Portland Head Light (1992)
Southeast Block (1992)
Ocracoke (1993)
Hilton Head (1993)
St. Augustine (1993)
Key West (1993)
Assateague, mold 1 (1994)
Mu“l”kilteo (1996)
New Point Loma (1997)
New Point Loma "Mini" (1997)
Rose Island "Mini" (1998)


Very Good Potential (more than double, up to 3 times original retail price)
Burrows Island (1991)
Admiralty Head (1991)
Boston Harbor (1991)
New London (1992)
Minot’s Ledge (1992)
Nauset Beach (1992)
Old Mackinac Point (1992)
Ponce DeLeon (1993)
Tybee (1993)
St. Simon’s (1993)
Holland (1994)
Barnegat (1994)
Montauk (1994)
Cape Neddick (1994)
Big Bay Point (1995)
Rose Isl. (Reunion) (1998)
Hooper St. (Reunion) (2001)


Good Potential (double the original retail price)
Admiral“i”ty Head (1991)
West Quoddy (1991)
Old Point Loma (1991)
Castle Hill (1991)
Fort Niagara (1991)
Diamond Head (1994)
Assateague, mold 2 (1994)
Point Arena (1995)
Jupiter Inlet (1995)
New Canal (1995)
Point Fermin (1995)
Red Legacy (1995)
Sunken Rock (1996)
Edgartown (1997)
5th Order Fresnel lens (2000)

Fair Potential (above, but less than double, original retail price)
North Head (1991)
Umpqua River (1991)
Cape Blanco (1991)
Yaquina Head (1991)
Great Capt. Island (1991)
Sand Island (1991)
St. George’s Reef (1991)
Cana Island (1992)
Marblehead (1992)
Michigan City (1992)
Buffalo (1992)
Split Rock (1992)
Whaleback (1992)
Portland Breakwater (1992)
Heceta Head (1994)
Bolivar (1995)
Biloxi (1995)
Port Isabel (1995)
Pensacola (1995)
Cape Canaveral (1996)
Alcatraz (1996)
Thomas Point (1996)
Cape Lookout (1996)
Roosevelt Island (1998)

*To make my lists, I used a combination of Ebay bids, marketplace forum prices and over 6 years of fairly regular activity (buying and selling) on the secondary market---i.e. outside the retail channel. This is my personal perception of the market. Yours may differ. In fact, please let us know how you would edit this. It would be nice to have a collector-approved list.