HL102 on Ebay for $610.00 !!

Did anyone see the HL 102 Hatteras that sold yesterday on Ebay for $610.00? It was a Malaysian mold, # in the 3800's with box and papers. I cant remember the last time I saw one go this high, especially a Malaysian piece. This, along with other recent successful ventures by HL, could be signaling an upward swing in Harbour lights? What do you think?

#3867 to be exact. Someone must have really wanted that piece. I would have figured that auction for the mid 400's. I'm sure the seller was quite happy.

Bob

Same seller has a Coquille, #111 up for auction, with a flag #698, White Castle Studios, Inc box included...
#111Coquille

There is also another Hatteras 102R in progress, but no box...
Hatteras 102R

Judy

The #111 Coquille is now up to $531.01 -- Glad I purchased mine a couple of years ago. Couldn't afford it now.

bobo

Since we were talking about the Cape Hatteras value. I thought I would list 13 of them that I talked about over the 2 1/2 yeras on The Top Ten On Ebay.

13 Cape Hatteras on ebay for the past 2.5 years

Thanks for the info, Daniel. Seems like all the 102R's that went in the $500-600.00 range were Canadian molds with Castle Studios boxes. There hasnt been a Malaysian mold go this high for quite awhile. I picked up a Malaysian mold last fall in perfect shape with box, papers, and even the foam "ring" to protect the rod for $177.00!! Anyways, I'm glad to see the value returning to the old stalwarts of the collection. Hopefully we're on an upward swing!

Daniel, how do we determine that this 102R, flag#3867 is a Malaysian piece, rather than a Canadian piece?

You noted this: And the HL Official Collector's Guide says:
What do we look for in the antiquing? And, do we know what flag numbers started with the Malaysian made?

Thanks for your help. Actually, I look to your information often for determining range of value, SO, really...Thank you.

Judy
(The seller notes that the box indicates the piece went out in 1991. Is this a clue? Also, the photos don't show the felt bottom, but it looks like a good guess from the other photos that the felt is all the way to the edge and is dark green.)

Harbour lights use to Antique their early lights. (Try to make them look authentic) It eventually was stopped because collectors wanted a lighthouse that look new. The very early antiquing that was done on the California made and the very early Canadians. The process was a splashing of black paint and is very popular with collectors of today. Another type of Antiquing was using a coat of shellac. This would give the lighthouse a yellowish look. I haven’t logged all the lights that have used this type of antiquing but since I own a Malaysian Hatteras with the yellow shellac coating on it I particularly watch the Hatteras.
In my observance of following the Hatteras on ebay I have only noticed that type of antiquing on the Malaysian. It is not on all but some.

So when I saw the yellow cast on the Cape Hatteras I new that there was a good chance it was Malaysian made.


The second reason is that I have logged in over fifty 102’s on a spreadsheet and have pinpointed the change in production from Canada to Malaysia at a production number before this one. Yes it is possible to have some overlapping but I have not found a Canadian Hatteras with a number this high.

If you were looking for the Shellac Antiquing for the Hatteras, I would look around the numbers 3800 to 4400.

Daniel, you are 'da man!

Another interesting sidelight on the shellac.

The early pieces in California and Canada were made of a plaster based product and the paints just soaked into them. Pre-coating them before painting with shellac kept the paint from soaking into the porous castings. But it also meant that the pieces had to dry well before they could be shellaced and again dry before painting.

When production was shifted to Malaysia, the material used was different and which did not soak up the paint and didn't need the shellac coating.

The resin used in China is different from the material used in Malaysia resulting in improvements in color brightness as well.

And which WAS the first Harbour Lights product made in China? Newbies only, please...

I know
I know

It also was the first one to have the smaller box with the styrene inserts.

OK guys, I'm going to throw a kink in your theory. I have a Canadian Made(sticker)Hatteras, S/N 2163, with the shellac finish on the paint. When I first bought it on the secondary market I thought it had been placed in a kitchen where grease discolored the paint. I was really upset until I talked to Kim and she told me it had been antiqued with a shellac finish. If you want to see it Daniel the next time we're in Jax I'll bring it along.

I believe you Rich.
As I said before I really wasn't making a study on this and have only noticed it on a few of the Malaysians.
However.
I went through some of my notes and I did find where I have written down that a Canadian #2341/5500 had the shellack finish.
I retrack my statement about only Malyasians having the shellack finish. Since this seems to be an interest I need to start tracking them.

The Coquille mentioned above is at 985.00 with 6 hours to go. It is good to see the secondary market picking up again on HLs.

Randall,

I agree with you. Now I'm really happy that I purchased my Coquille when I did.

bobo

Final price on that Coquille...$1,539.32 !!

Judy

I guess most of us can no longer afford a Coquille. That's good for the seller -- not so good for the buyer.

bobo

I think I shall be content with my Coquille GLOW and LLOM and admire the LE from afar.

Judy

Wow!!! Glad that one's not on my secondary market wishlist. I don't think I've spent that much on all my HL's combined.

Judy,

Our thoughts also. Be content with the GLOW and LLOM lights in our collection. At one time owning a HL111 Coquille was in the plan, but definitely not at that price.

Yes, its a bunch of money especially when you conider it was a DAMAGED piece. I put a $300 bid on it just so I could say I bid on one once and was the high bidder!!! For about 15 minutes.