What's it worth?

I found an Anchor Bay 110, the 44' USCG Life Boat that is an Artist Proof, according to the current owner. The brass tag does not have AP on it but just lists the edition size as " /4000".

Does anyone know anything about Artist's Proofs of the AB line? AB110 comes with the base and the glass case.

The AB line isn't that popular so I don't know what I should be willing to pay for the piece. I did not take it out of the case to look at the bottom of the boat. Since flag#'s are usually hand printed on the paper label, one would assume this one has "AP" printed on it.

Has anybody seen one of these before? In the current market, what do you feel would be a fair price to pay?

Bob

Bob
I have never seen an AB Artist proof and I can’t say I know anything special about the AB Artist proofs.
I can’t even say I know of anybody that has an Anchor Bay Artist Proof.
But I have stayed at Days inn.

First of all when I was at the first regional event at Atlanta Most of Harbour lights were displayed, even an artists proof Coquille. One thing that I thought was strange was that none of the anchor Bays that was displayed was Artist proofs. All of the new limited edition of lighthouses was Artist proofs. I don’t know quite what that means, except for one thing there aren’t many if any AB-AP ‘s sitting around.

I think that it is a good sign that the brass tag is blank. Not all Artist proofs have an AP on the tag. Even the recent ones. My Anclote AP does not have the AP on the tag but does have an Artist proof Sticker under it. I would think most of the AB Artist proofs but not all would have a case.
Probably the ones that are given to sales reps for selling purposes had a case. Of course Artist proofs for paint samples and checking metal work would not have a case.

Bob I think the most important selling point on an AP is what is underneath.
I would not buy it with out knowing what is written or stuck to it on the felt.
When I buy an Artist proof the first think I look for is the AP on the tag. If it is blank, I then look for the Artist proof sticker on the felt. If it has neither of those then I have to ask how do I know it is an artist Proof. The next thing I look at is how old is it and what is written underneath it and make a decision accordingly.

I think the most important thing to do before you buy is to look underneath it and tell us what it says if anything.

The next thing is the price. Anchor Bays are not popular and you will not have a lot of competition that would drive the price up. But this is the AB that production was change part way to an other production number. As times goes on, I am positive that The Early Anchor Bays that nobody wants will some day become the hottest Harbour lights on the market.
Assuming it is an Artist Proof I would look at a price at between $150 to $250.

Hi Daniel, ...Thank you for the informative reply. Like you, I have never heard of an Artist Proof, Anchor Bay boat. I'm still not quite sure what to do regarding this available piece.

I'm currently waiting for an email from the owner in regards to other pieces I'm interested in. When I do hear from her I will ask her to check the bottom of the piece and tell me what is written there.

Does anyone who frequents the CF have an Artist Proof of an AB? Has anyone ever seen one? If AP's of AB's exist, are they extremely rare?

I really need to know more facts about an AP of an AB before I cough up the cash for it. If it is truly a rare "find" I'll buy it but otherwise I really don't need any doubles of an AB at this time.

Bob

I'm not totally sure what brass tag is being referred to in this case. I thought the brass tags were on the base of the pieces that came with a case, and if I remember right the 110' cutter was one of the pieces that did not have a case. My piece has the number of the piece on the bottom, and it does not have an edition size on. However, I can't easily get to the box to check and could be out in left field.

In regards to this AP of an AB, here's the info from the base of the boat:

4000 Limited Edition
44 ft USCG Lifeboat
Washington
#110s
Anchor Bay
Artist's Proof

The above information is on a plain white label and not on the standard Harbour Lights label. Now the question is, "What's it worth?"

Bob

I have paid 2X's the issue price...Frank Carbone

Dick,
The the 44' USCG Life Boat that you have is the open edition and it's number is 113. The one Bob is looking at is the limited edition 110.

Limited edition
http://www.harbourlights.com/catalog/anchor_bay/ab_lifeboat.htm

open edition
http://www.harbourlights.com/catalog/anchor_bay/ab_lifeboat_rev.htm

OOPs. I guess I better slow down when I read and reply to these before the second glass of wine. My apologies.

I was hoping there would be more feedback on the AP of an AB. Well anyways, I agreed to purchase it. Hopefully, I'll have it by next weekend.

Have I found a "rare" find? I guess time will tell.

Bob

Bob, I will ask Bill this weekend when I see him, but I assume that there were/are the same amount of AP's for the Limited Edition AB Ships as the Limited Edition Lighthouses since the reps use them to make sales to stores..

Thank you in advance for checking on the matter for me, Paul. We hear about LE AP's quite often but I don't recall much discussion at AB AP's.

Bob

I finally got a chance to take a couple of pictures of the Anchor Bay Artist Proof. The pics show the labels on the box and the bottom of the boat, and also the brass tag on the case.





Now that you all know what it looks like, have any of you seen one of these before? I bought it and it's now a part of my collection of AB's.

Bob

Bob, that's the same type of label that's on the A.P. Kenosha that my Daughter won for me at last years Grand Rapids MI. event, so I'd say it's authentic.

Mike

Those are the real deal, Bob. Nice addition to your AB collection!

It looks authentic to me...and since there is no production number assigned to it (on the brass plate)my guess is that its "for real".

Bob
I think you got yourself a great find.
Looks like the real thing to me.