This will really show how much of a novice I am in regard to Harbour Lights collecting. What exactly is the big deal over double digits and triple digits versus higher serial numbers? Is it simply "one-upmanship" or is there a direct relationship between quality and low serial numbers? I figured, perhaps wrongly, that several different molds were made from the master mold, and when the products coming out of one mold started to show loss of detail then that mold was scrapped and further items were cast from the next mold and so on until the numerical limit was reached. So I go back to my basic question - - why the hysteria (and higher price in secondary market) if your Pemaquid, or whatever, has serial number 999, but the other poor guy has to live with number 1,001 or - horrors - 9,499!! What exactly makes 44 better than 286, and 286 better than 3,772?

Your thinking along the right lines in both cases.

Originally in cast collectibles (not HLs), the first pieces out of molds were the sharpest. But HL only makes from 6-18 pieces from a mold before using another mold.

It's mostly one-upsmanship. Perhaps it might be thought that "...since I have a low number piece, I was smart to get in earlier on these."

Anyway some people like to collect 2 digit pieces because they are harder-to-find, others want to collect numbers ending in zero, etc. Just something to make one's collection that much more unique.

Nothing wrong with it, of course. (How could I say otherwise since I fell into a situation while visiting dealers in Oregon in Jan 97 that enables me to get #26 in each new issue -- and A26 in each new open edition.)

I think it's unique to have all matched 2-digit numbers.