http://search-completed.ebay.com/search/search.dll?GetResult&query=harbour+light%2A&from=R10&ht=1&currdisp=2&itemtimedisp=0&combine=y&st=2&SortProperty=MetaHighestPriceSort

I'm liking the numbers on the fifth order lenses as well. Makes me with I had extras.

Watching certain HL's sell for big bucks on eBay makes you feel good. We all hope that the pieces we purchase will increase in value through the years. Unfortunately, prices vary greatly on the same piece at different times. One week a piece sells for big bucks then another week it sells for average pricing.

I think it doesn't come down to the actual worth of the piece but rather a potential buyer having expendable cash and a strong desire to own a particular piece. Timing is everything when it comes to buying and selling collectibles.

Bob

Can anyone remember Ocracoke ever going for less than $300 on ebay? I think this one is proving to be one of Harbour lights most desirable lights.
As the collectables are taking a hit in the secondary market, it is great to see a few hold their stand in value.
Instead of collecting one of each. I wished I just collected Ocracokes. I paid $180 for mine in 1997 and a few people were still finding them in stores.

Ocracoke's strong secondary prices is the result of "St. John\'s Dispersion Corollary".

"The more dispersed an edition is among individual collectors, the faster it will rise in value."

Ocracoke was, of course, one of the seven "Southern Belles" introduced in 1993 -- the only pieces introduced in 1993.

Unlike it's sisters, Ocracoke is a pretty 'Plain Jane' looking gal. St. Augustine has the stripe and plenty of red rouge. St. Simons has the beautiful keeper's home. etc, etc. for the other 4 Belles.

And Ocracoke's "home" is a bit more remote and less visited that the locations for the other ladies.

So, Belle Ocracoke sold primarily to those looking to complete a collection and not to speculators who might have guessed that St. Augustine with her flashy dress would be in demand down the road. (And with a much larger population around her, St. Augustine also was probably a popular girl with the locals, too)

Only after she retired did some collectors realize that perhaps Ocracoke might be worth a second look -- but then it was too late.

Most of the edition run of 5,500 was disbursed to individual collectors and a few Outer Banks locals.

To get a collector to give up his or her ONLY Ocracoke takes more money than to get them to give up a spare St. Augustine (that they paid $50 for.)

And as a new wave of collectors who started buying in 1994-1996 first filled in their 'favorites', that meant the better known sisters got taken first -- leaving the 'spinster' Ocracoke to be 'filled in' to the collection later.

The seven Southern Belles represented Harbour Lights first level of improvement over the initial 17 and the second year (1992) pieces in terms of quality of sculpting, casting and painting.

Now Ocracoke is the ONLY Southern Belle which has not yet been released as a GLOW.

Long live the Southern Belles! And the 'Cinderella Sister' Ocracoke!

Well said, John. Well said.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Daniel:
[QB] Can anyone remember Ocracoke ever going for less than $300 on ebay?

I bought one for $285.00 on eBay this past December. I guess I got lucky.

Larry

I can see Ocracoke going for around $350.00, but for $511.08? All I have to say is, WOW! Someone really wanted it bad enough.

Tim

Can the popularity of this piece be because there is not a GLOW of Ocracoke, like John said.

I feel there is no doubt that the GLOWs have damaged the secondary market.

Anybody with me?

Ken

I'm with you Ken. No doubt in mind whatsoever. The economy is not doing much for it either.

Tim - GLOWless by choice

the assateague on daniels list at the top of the link. the number was 305 which is a second mold edition number but my second mold piece has a tree just behind the lighthouse tower. my first edition does not have a tree behind the tower.
could someone have gotten a first edition for $177.00 instead of a second edition missing a box

bruce

If the number on the Assateaque was #305, then it was a Mold 1. The Mold 2 pieces didn't start until #988. The only way that it could have been a Mold 2 is if HL replaced #305 with a Mold 2 because the Mold 1 was broken.

Corollary: Ah, yes ... another excellent observation from the Psycho-Collecto works sprinkled throughout the forum catacombs.

From JC's Corollary we'll refactor up the hierarchy from the specific to the general to find the Fogmeister's Axiom of Collecting #4: the fewer of a dear thing one has the dearer it is to them.

Such refactoring is valuable as it may unearth more theorems and corollarys.

For example, Corollary #2 might be: The more of a dear thing is had by one, the faster it will rise in value. Hmmmm? Is this legit? Let's explore.

If there is a fixed quantity of a desirable something (a dear thing), the more of it that is held by one person, the faster it will rise in value. Or put differently - if you have a monopoly on something people want, you can charge what you like. Or differently again, when there is demand, value is a function of supply - control the supply and you control the value.

Although, at an early age we're taught to share our toys, there is danger here that hoarding may cause a reduction in demand. A sort of mass Psycho-Collecto reversal of want. If you held all the Ponce Inlets, will members of the collecting community still want one? Perhaps not if you are perceived as acquiring all of the thing simply to drive up its value.

What say you?

T

I purchased my Ocracoke #135 on Ebay several weeks ago. She maybe is a plain Jane but I sure do love her. I now have her in my collection, so let the price go up and up.