Coquille River on EBay

Well Folks,

Here's one that I will watch. Coquille River, LE #111, Flag #54, on EBay with a starting bid of $23.95.

Coquille River

Anyone want to guess what the final bid will be? I don't have the background to make an intelligent estimate, but if I had to throw a dart, I would say $1500.

bobo

Wow, flag#54! Now that's a real prize to win!

Seller is smart starting the auction really low. Everybody and their brother and sister should bid on it. That will last up to just below a grand, then the serious bidders will take over.

With a super low flag# like #54, I would think the bids may exceed $1500, and maybe go as high as $1800. Serious collectors will be watching this one.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

A NUMBER 34 COQUILLE WENT FOR $2500 ABOUT A YEAR AND ½ AGO ON EBAY,
And it didn’t even have a box.

I'd really like the piece but I don't think I can go that high.
I will watch it closely!!
One other question that causes me to wonder what makes a piece desirable. Coquille is HL#111 yet regularly commands high 3 and 4 digit bids yet Admiralty Head the 1st HL available(#101) seldom goes for much higher than $100 and even the various Hatteress' seldom get that high. What drives Coquille???
Just an inquiring mind as I've seen posted here!!!
Rick

Good Question, Rick...

When Harbour Lights decided to can the 102 Cape Hatteras piece after about 250 were released, they came out with another version - fatter and stronger. So between the two pieces, they did produce the expected 5,500 Cape Hatteras. (Speculation is that only 100 of the originals survived unbroken.)

With Coquille River, they decided to stop production after 1,138 and NOT bring out a replacement for the balance of the production run.

Changing the Cape Hatteras wasn't so much an 'ethical' question as it was a production one. Cape Hatteras was/is one of the best known lighthouses in the USA. They HAD to come out with a replacement. Coquille River up in 'lonely' Oregon probably wasn't selling nearly as well and the cost of redoing the sculpture may not have seemed worth the cost at the time.

As years went by without a 'replacement' for Coquille River, the mystique grew and deciding to can production because of an error in the accuracy of the sculpture put it into a different category, demonstrating ethics by the new company.

It was also in these years starting about 1995-96 that some serious collectors got into Harbour Lights. Back in those years, it was possible to put together a 'complete collection' of every release. Perhaps a half-dozen pieces were 'rare' and could present a challenge to the marriage, the budget, or one's card limit -- but it was do-able. For some of us having a "102" in our collection "almost" made it complete, whether it was 102 or 102R.

But you couldn't have a complete collection without a "111" there weren't any replacements.

Coquille River enjoyed a long run with values rising to almost $3,000 BEB (Before EBay.)In fact it took 8 years before Coquille River was released as a GLOW version. Even with Ebay making every owner a potential 'secondary market dealer,' it has stayed strong over the past AEB years.

The decision to stop making Burrows Island after 2,563 was apparently an economic decision -- it simply wasn't selling well enough. It probably peaked at $275. What's it go for now on ebay, Daniel?

If there is to be a renaissance for Harbour Lights on the secondary market, these early year pieces and the variations may be looked upon as the 'must have' pieces.

Keep in mind that for every person who says "I could never afford Coquille River at $1,300," there are a bunch of us who wish we had bought it when it was available for $1,000.

Just to add to John's comment:

Coquille River was erroneously released as a six-sided sculpture. It, however, is actually eight-sided. I understand that Bill Younger himself destroyed the mold. Can’t you just imagine him lifting the sculpture above his head and thrusting it to the ground breaking it into a thousand pieces?

Or as the story is told about Samson and Dalila, “..after his hair has grown again he is brought forth on the occasion of the feast of the god Dagon to be exhibited for the amusement of the populace. The spectators, among whom are the princes of the Philistines, number more than three thousand, and they are congregated in, and upon, a great edifice which is mainly supported by two pillars. These are seized by Samson whose strength has returned; he pulls them down, causing the house to collapse..”

Could it be that’s why Bill keeps his head shaved?

bobo

This piece looks to be in very nice shape, the only question I have is with the number. It might be a replacement pc. with the number being 54. The early pcs. had the green window panes in the latern room with a change being made to white later in the edition run. I know John has seen quite a few more than I have and might have more accurate info. on the color change. I for one hope it goes for a rather large amount. It is nice to see some larger $ numbers coming in once in awhile, reminds you of the good old days.

6 BIDS
$405.00
4 DAYS 5 HOURS LEFT

Not Bad!

bobo

Anyone know if its california or canadian?

With an edition number of 53, it should be California.

54 John -- 54

bobo

http://www.harbourlights.com/modifications/pages/var_coquille.htm

I have emailed the seller some questions.
After I receive the answers to my questions
I will give my opinion.

I have bought a piece from this seller before.The piece was niece and shipped fast.I bid on several others as well,but lost.He responded to questions on one item ,but unfortunately didn't respond to questions on a second.Probably was trying to answer many questions from buyers and couldn't get tome.He seems to be doing very well on the Harbour Lights and has sold many pieces.
I already have a california #45 coquille .This has a brown box.The one on ebay says white box.The piece looks the same from what I can see in photo.I know the numbers are suppose to be 250 and under california.I have a canadian # 34 Hl 109 Cape Blanco in white box and a California #43 Cape Blanco in brown box.Must have been started in California ?

I asked this seller about the white box also. He said that he got this piece from the factory with the white box. I thought that all the pieces that were numbered under 250 were made in California and came with a brown box except the ones that were close to the number 250 were shipped to Canada and finished there. With a # of 54 this piece should come with the brown box as far as I'm concerned.If it was a # like 230 or so then I would believe possibly a white box but more a brown castle studios box.

$610.77. 3d 3h. Looks like we got a Wacko as the high bidder right now.

The seller was asked a question about the # of panels that are on the door of his pc. and he stated that the door had 3 panels which should make it a California made Coquille.

$710.88
11 BIDS
2 DAYS 11 HOURS
bobo

$886.02
15 bids
2 days 4 hours

bobo

$1009.99
18 BIDS
1 DAY 4 HOURS

bobo

I just took a quick look and the high bid remains at $1009.99 as listed by Bob above this reply. There is just over 16 hours to go so the really serious bidders will be up late tonight watching this auction very closely.

Will the final bid exceed the $1500 predictions? Is there a collector out there that is willing to dig deep into his or her pockets to add this rare HL to their collection? Time will tell...

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Okay here is my opinion
1. It is definitely from a California mold. The 3-pnl door proves that and the low number reinforces it.
2. The uncompleted figurine was made in California and was sent to Canada where the Green flocking was added.
It then was shipped out in a white Castle Studios box. It must have sat around at the factory a long time to be packed in a White box.
3. As far as the painting part I think it was first painted in California and then touched-up in Canada.

See my ”Top Ten on ebay” this week where I will go thought an in-depth analization of this Coquille and other low numbered Coquilles.

$1045.00
19 BIDS
12 HOURS 30 MINUTES

bobo

$1095.00
20 BIDS
10 HOURS 50 MINUTES

bobo

$1120.00
21 BIDS
8 HOURS 12 MINUTES

$1145.00
22 BIDS
2 HOURS 50 MINUTES

bobo

$1250.00
15 Minutes
23 Bids

FINAL
$2259.57

JETS WIN 20-17

Two great games

bobo

Thanks, Bob, for the play-by-play on this exciting competition for one of the most desireable Harbour Lights!

Congratulations to the winner and thanks for renewing interest and 'raising the bar' for the Harbour Lights secondary market.

Bob
Great step-by-step report.
Do you have a bell that would go off
every time a bid was made?
It wouldn't surprise me if the high bidders
bidding on this already had a coquille but
wanted a two-digit or California mold to add to their
collection.

Anyone want to venture a guess what the piece would have sold for if it was a 3-digit instead of a 2-digit?

Bob

$1500 TO $1800 for a Coquille with numbers above 500. I think a Low three digit might be closer around $1800 to $2000. A low three digit could still be a California mold, which should bring the price up. Especially if the sellers knows it and states it on the description.