5500's..going once...going twice...gone?

I've visited a few HL dealers lately and noticed the conspicuous absence of any of the 5500 limited editions. Could it be these "moldy-oldies" are finally gone from the shelves?

I would be curious to hear from other collectors who often stop by HL dealers. Are the 5500's gone from your area also? If they have truly disappeared from the dealer's shelves, can we expect an increase in their value?

Inquiring minds on the East Coast, where it's 52 degrees and clearing, would like to know.

Bob

I see some around occasionally, but they are definitely dwindling. The ones I most often see are:

Cape Blanco
Port Isabel
St. George's Reef
and once in awhile Yaquina Head

Not meaning to give them a plug, but if you're looking for 5500s and you're not real picky which ones they are, Lighthouse Depot in Wells still has some.

I have no doubt that in years to come the 5500s will be viewed much the same way that the earliest Hummels were: Extremely rare collectors items. The edition size, when you think about it, is truly tiny. Eventually, they'll end up in the hands of people who have no intention of re-selling, and values will go up accordingly. I don't think it'll take too long for that to happen.

[This message has been edited by Bill Harnsberger (edited 09-23-99).]

Bob, I agree with your findings. 5500 LE's are a scarce commodity, at least in this area.
I'm not sure what that will do to the value, but I'm glad I have what I need, except for one, and that's Nauset.

I'll continue to look though as I enjoy just going in and seeing the HL's wherever I can.

By the way I'll send you a sepearte e-mail as we've met before on a number of occasions and never once discussed lighthouses.

Bert

We have been to over 125 stores this year, probably closer to 150 stores in 14 different states. The ‘‘5500’’ lighthouses are not only disappearing but they are totally gone in most stores. During one stretch we went to 5 straight stores without finding one lighthouse on my retired@retail check list, which includes more than just the ‘‘5500’’ lighthouses.

At one signing this year two or three early arriving collectors headed straight to the stores Harbour Lights display and bought all the ‘‘5500’’ lighthouses the store had, before they did anything else.

Another signing we were at was a Northport, MI, we arrived in the area the afternoon before the signing and before we checked into our motel in Traverse City, we stopped to chat with the owner and check out the lighthouses before the signing for retired@retail.

They had 8 or 9 of the ‘‘5500’’ lighthouses on the shelves. The next morning when we arrived for the signing (an hour before they were to open officially) I noticed that none of them were out on the shelves. I asked the owner and he said someone had called and bought all of them and wanted them signed by Bill. I then changed my list of retired@retail for their store.

Two stores in the Indianapolis area had some of the early Northwestern United States ‘‘5500’’ lighthouses, until I checked a month ago and they had been sold when they displayed them prominently, instead of hiding them on the bottom shelf.



SaintWackoPaul'
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