The Cape Romain, SC I purchased from eBay came today. It came in the dark blue Collector's Society box, the box sticker reads:
CAPE ROMAIN
South Carolina
#283
Harbour Lights
2002
Exclusively for
Younger & Associates
Bar Code
There is no indication on HL's site that this piece was a Collector's Society piece. The styrofoam insert fits both the lighthouse and the box it was shipped in.
Anybody have information to help me understand what gives with this piece?
Thanks,
Sandy

No
The Cape Romain was not a Society Piece.
I do remember limited edition lighthouses coming in the society colored box back then.
I believe my 66 Cape Romain did come in the Society box.

There were a couple of lighthouses that were completed on time for release but the box wasn't done yet so the factory used some extra Society boxes which was the same size.. I would imagine they probably switch over to the light blue box either when they ran out of extra dark blue or when the light blue ones were ready to go.. It was like when they used blue AB felt on the start of the American Shoal lights production until the green felt arrived..

So does the box now belong in the "collectibles" section? The more involved I get with this "hobby," the more certain I am that this is most definitely a frick and frack operation. I've even begun displaying the mistakes in a curio cabinet entitled "Mistakes" because there are so many. I'm waiting for my dealer to get me a Rondout II, NY with the correct 1913 tower date so I can put the 1919 tower in with the other mistakes.

What's happened to quality control? Does anybody care? We all make mistakes, but this is just too foolish.

If my memory serves me correctly, they put a sticker on the dark blue collector's society box stating that the piece enclosed was not a collector society piece.

Bob

Sandy I first heard that the Rondout piece was going to be corrected. I called HL about it and was told that it was not going to be corrected. I wanted to buy this one but not with the wrong date. Is your information recent that it's going to be changed?

It seems that opinions on "variations" may be changing. Earlier "mistakes" were coveted but these days, it seems most folks want their HL's to be as accurate as possible. At least I do.

The only "mistake" I knowingly purchased was the Beavertail with the wrong color tower. Thought maybe it would turn out to be worth more. Yeah, right. I also have the Hudson Athens with the faulty fence because I didn't know it was faulty until the mistake was pointed out. Buying one of a lighthouse is costly enough without having to buy two to get the mistake free version.

Bob,
No sticker on my box indicating contents are not Collector's Society.

Sue,
My source (dealer) contacted HL after I pointed out to him that there was a mistake. HL rep told him the correction would occur on the "next" run of the piece which would take place when the initial production run was depleted. He contacted them at my request a few weeks ago and was advised that they still haven't sold out of the initial production run. Don't know how many were produced for the IPR, and won't know at what number they'll retire the piece. If it's retired when the 5,500th piece is made, there'll be some with the correct 1913 date on the tower. If it's retired when the IPR is reached, there won't be any 1913 pieces, and the edition run number will reflect the actual number made.

And remember that every Harbour Lights has at least one mistake done on purpose for copyright purposes..

WHY would anyone copyright a mistake?

Other companies have been known to take a piece and cast a mold of it, then produce it as their own. Maybe use much lower quality materials and craftsmen. Not only steal the product itself, but then undercut price wise and ruin your reputation for quality. Intentional error included in the casting would help you to prove that the product was exact copied when the case goes to court.

Which Harbour Lights has done on at least one occasion and won their case in court.. In this particular case the other company copied the error of not enough sides on the HL Coquille LE which was an accidental error by HL and a win in court by HL..

And some guy named Sherlock gets all the glory for super sleuthing. . . .

At this time I have not heard of anyone paying more money for any of the lighthouses because that they came with a society box instead of the standard one. Maybe sometime down the future, but I doubt it. The main reason is that most collectors don’t know about this box change and I forgot all about it until you brought up the subject. If I were to buy a Cape Romain, I would only buy the one with the society box. Why. Because it is different and sets you out from the regular collector. Depending on how many came with the society box, I think that $5 or $ 10 bucks more, would be reasonable for one. But don’t expect it. My guess would be that the first 2000 or so of the Cape Romain had society boxes. Back then that was around the amount for the first shipment. Of course if it was only the first couple of hundred it would be more interesting.

The boxes that can make a lighthouse more valuable are the brown (plain and Castle Studios) and white (castle studios). Expect more for your lighthouse if you have these boxes for them.

So if you have one or more of these mismatched sets (lighthouse and box) Sandy I guess you should display the box/boxes along with the lighthouses in your mistake curio!

Thanks for that info on Rondout. So it seems that both answers I got may be right.....

Paul, Dave, so the intentional errors would/should be of the type that would not be noticible to the general collector, not be of the type that would compromise the integrity of the piece? Or would something like a missing fence part or an incorrect date qualify?

Mombo,

Ain't plannin' on displaying boxes, but that dark blue box certainly does look out-of-place with all the other powder-blue and white boxes!!

Speaking of Copyright...is that how the Seahorses got started? and why they are hard to find?

I would think the intentional error would be something minor and not something significant in the model. The date has to be a goof probably based on some information that HL had and possibly a lack of a good picture of that part of the light.