Who determines when a HL retires and how often do they normally retire? I was reading a post months ago and someone metioned several that were suppose to retire. I went to my local dealer and they had not heard of these certain lights retiring. I am trying so hard to collect as many as I can. I sure dont want to miss a retired piece.

Amber

Traditionally for Harbour Lights Limited Edition lighthouses, 'Retirement' takes place when the full edition size has been sold to dealers. 'Retirement' does NOT mean there is no availability to collectors.

Typically retired items are found at retail stores from 1 year to 3 years after retirement.

It is the 'Master Mold' that is being retired -- not to be used again. It could be that the full production has not been made when a piece retires.

In a very few cases, there is no edition size, but the count is determined by the number ordered. For example Baltimore Harbor, the 1999-2000 Collectors Society gift piece. One to each member. So far over 20,000 Baltimores have been given to members.

Christmas pieces don't have an edition size printed on them; they are numbered on the bottom label (except for Big Bay Point 1995).

Some items go to retirement quickly - usually because of speculation by collectors.

Once the full edition has been made and shipped to dealers, the master mold is broken up with a hammer.

What determines when? How popular a particular new issue is with collectors.

In the past, Harbour Lights would give area reps a 'heads up' that a particular piece was down to 1000 or less left. But more recently, they have not notified reps or stores of pending retirements.

Only pay attention to Harbour Lights, when it comes to a lighthouse retiring. When Harbour Lights retires a lighthouse, it is listed in the Legacy and on the Harbour Lights web site:
http://www.HarbourLights.com/default.htm

I can understand your confusion with all these cute Topic titles that sometimes couldn't be further from reality.

They are done, I guess, to get a person’s attention. It is my opinion that the Topic title and the actual topic should be one and the same, ie, what the subject matter is.

I am as guilty as the next person sometimes not realizing that something said 'tongue in cheek' can confuse people who are trying to get the straight answer to their question.

You need to remember that the retirement of a lighthouse means that all of lighthouses of a particular model have been ordered and or delivered to the stores. This doesn’t mean you won’t be able to buy them, it will take some time until they are all sold out.

Also if you have any question about whether a piece is retired or about to be retired call Harbour Lights 1-800-365-1219

SaintWackoPaul '
Keep the Flame

>>'Retirement' does NOT mean there is no availability to collectors. <<

This is true. Its also worth noting that once a piece is retired your dealer cannot order any more from Harbour Lights. If they have no orders for a retired piece which they are still waiting to receive, then the dealer can no longer get that piece for you from Harbour Lights.

As the boys noted, its often the case retired pieces are still available for months and sometimes years after their retirement date. However, retirement should be a flag for you that the model will become increasingly scarce. In the case of pieces that are extremely popular or have a low edition size (Miraflores/Gatun Locks for example) retirement is a signal to start looking.

The key is to get some sense of how popular a piece is or likely it is to be gone as its retirement date approaches. Thats where reading the fora can help. Its also worthwhile to be aware of announcements about pieces not yet released. We heard about the Panama set before it came out and knew it would have a small edition size of 4,000. That was a tip-off to reserve one at your local dealer asap to ensure it would be easy to acquire.

For the most part, the lower the edition size the quicker the piece will become unavailable, though there are exceptions to this. If you're trying to collect as many as you can, my suggestion is to buy the oldest pieces first. If I was just starting out - the first place I'd go looking is Retired @ Retail and then regularly keep an eye on the list maintained there. (thanx Rick!) That's where you'll find models that are scarce but still can be had at dealer prices.

If you want to see which non-retired pieces are the oldest, and how long its been since a retired piece was no longer available, check the free spreadsheet available in the By The Numbers forum.

Good hunting,
__
/im