1. 1993 Harbour Lights Hilton Head (Harbour Town), $456.20
SC #364/5500. In original white box, Certificate of Authenticity and all original labels. Piece has no cracks, chips or faded paint. Never been on display and stored in box. Lighthouse in excellent condition.

This is tied with the highest price that I have tracked on ebay. This is what I feel the going price should be for a Canadian Hilton Head. Last year was when the Canadian Hilton head bottomed out with a $67 for one with no-original box and one for $85 with original white box. Not counting last year, in general it runs above $400

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6168255983&rd=1


2. 1991 Harbour Lights #108 Burrows Island, WA $455
# 292/5500. In original white box, Certificate of Authenticity and all original labels. Piece has no cracks, chips or faded paint. Never been on display and stored in box. Lighthouse in excellent condition.

With a number lower than 500, I assume this is the rare Burrows, OR. This is the second one on Ebay (not counting group lighthouse bids) The one back in January of this year went for $387. As you can see it has climbed in ebay value.
I consider the $455 a bargain and feel its rightful value is from $600 to $800. Even though there are 500 of the Burrows OR it is extremely hard to find. Many collectors are still missing this one and I expect it to climb in value. The reason it is so hard to find, is like many of the other early Harbour Lights, it is well absorb into hands of many people that aren’t real avid collectors and probably don’t know what they got.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6168257156&rd=1

3. Hilton Head Lighthouse #136. $400
It is number 1937/5500 and is made in Malaysia. Perfect condition.

This is on the high side. The going price last year was around $150.
I feel that the high price was influenced by the earlier bid of the Canadian Hilton Head. Sometimes bids will set a trend for a while. Since the Canadian Hilton Head went for $456 the collector that bided on the Malaysian might have felt that it was also worth that amount. Mr. Bidder don’t feel bad. I paid $450 for my Malaysian back in 97 and I am expecting the Malaysian Hilton to start climbing back up this year.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6170258648&rd=1

4. 1991 Harbour Lights Old Mackinac Point, MI #118 $382
- Original Box and Certificate of Authenticity. Number 812/5500

This is the highest price on ebay or probably anywhere for a Canadian Old-Mack
The next highest that I know of on ebay was a number 190 Canadian back in 1998 that went for $242.50 In the past two years at ebay two Double digits went for $228.50 and $225. There is definitely a demand for the Canadian made. There are many new names out there on the bidding list and they are anxious to collect Canadian made.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6167333830&rd=1

5. 1991 Harbour Lights #131 Minot's Lodge, MA # 436/5500. $282.50

In original white box, Certificate of Authenticity and all original labels. Residue from original price sticker makes label slightly hard to read. Piece has no cracks, chips or faded paint. Never been on display and stored in box. Lighthouse in excellent condition.

This is the going price for a Canadian Green water Minots.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6168258274&rd=1


6. 1993 Harbour Lights Old Key West, FL #134 Number 281/5500. $275.00
Original Box and Certificate of Authenticity. Label on bottom has remains of original price sticker - slightly hard to read.

It is on the low side of the going price for a Canadian Key West with original box. It goes on ebay from $275 to $400.
According to Jim Rutherford the oil shed door on the Canadian made are blue and the Malaysian made are green. I am not sure were he got that information but every Key west I have seen either Canadian or Malaysian had a teal (bluesish-green door on the shed. The only other thing could be that some of the Malaysians have green doors and Mr. Rutherford assumed they all had green doors. Or some collectors are calling the teal green and others are calling it blue. Does anyone have a Key West that they can say has a green shed door? How about A Canadian made with a blue door and not teal. Better yet how about someone with both a Canadian Key West and a Malaysian. Can you see any difference in color on the oil-shed door?


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6167339103&rd=1

7. St. Simons Island Georgia, #137. $204.49
This light has been displayed in a smoke-free home and is number 1932 of 5500.

This is the going price for this one for the 2005 collecting season. It is up from last year about 50 bucks.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6170778337&rd=1

8. Harbour Lights St Augustine # 138 Limited $201.50
This is number 1082 of 5000.
The Malaysian southern Bells are going for about $50 to $100 more than they did last year. Still I feel that the going price should be around $300 to $350

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6168024703&rd=1

9. CAPE NEDDICK ME#141 $168.50
This piece is in excellent condition and includes original packaging and paperwork. Excellent Condition #3710/5500. The piece is signed on the base by B. Younger.

Going price. $150 to $200 has been the going price since 1998. As with all Harbour Lights there was some bargins last year with Cape Neddick. Cape Neddick is very popular and is a good investment for around $150.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6170953199&rd=1

10. TYBEE ISLAND GA#133-SIGNED $163.70
It is in Excellent Condition and includes original packaging and paperwork. Excellent Condition #2885/5500

As with all Malaysian Southern Bells they are running a good $50 or more than they were last year.
I feel that this one sold on the low side of the going price and $50 to $80 more than it went last year.

Value $150 to $200


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6170953457&rd=1

My Malaysian-made Key West (#1059) has a teal-green door--the same color as the long handle lying on the ground to the right of the door.

It's nice to see that the Southern Bells are going back up in price. Maybe some of the other pieces will follow soon.

I'dsay it's nice to see quite a few going back up in price. Could it be people have a few extra bucks to spend suddenly?

Mike

Again, it's a fabulous report and I would also like to echo the enthusiam for the prices on some of the early pieces going up.

I hate to throw a wrench in the good news of prices going up but if you take a close look at each of these and other auctions over the past several months of older pieces not listed above in Daniels report you will find that perhaps the rise in price is not due to an increase in the market itself but rather bidding "wars" among the same two to three bidders who seem to compete with each other on a regular basis for older pieces.In particular one of them has won a high % of ebay auctions for the older pieces on a regular basis for several months now. It is my opinion that the rise in price on Ebay for the older pieces is due to a bidding war environment rather than the market itself or the same one or two bidders setting high maximum bids that others try to beat which drives up the price in almost all cases. Another way to express this, as Yoda would say it, Monopoly a true active market does not make. It is nice to see prices going up even if it is driven by the same two or three bidders.How many of us remember when prices were good among a much larger group of purchasers for the "classics"?

You didn’t throw in a wrench at all.
On the older collectables as the ones made in Canadian and California, there are usually about 5 to seven bidders. The first few drop out early and are just looking for a bargain, possibly to resell. Then you have the majority that want it but not ready to go to the ends of the earth for it. Then you have the one that wants it no matter what it cost. It is the runner up bidder that runs the bid up. This has been like this since ebay started. In theory, the next time the same similar L.E. is offered the bid should go lower each time, since each bidder would eventually get one and wouldn’t bid anymore. That did happen last year. The early Harbour lights were at record lows and even the Canadian made, was taken a beating. Yes, this is a simple course of economics, supply and demand.

I think what is Mikes concern is that once these two bidders are satisfied and have completed their collection that the price will go down. I think because of this forum and the diehard collectors on this forum are keeping the inspiration alive for collecting Harbour Lights. This Forum and John Childester is the main reason that the early Harbour Lights are still collectables. The second factor of most recent inspiration is this top ten. Since I have started this series of post almost all of the Lighthouses that I have talked about have gone up in value. I think as long as this forum is alive and we have dedicated collectors that inspire others to collect, the prices will stay afloat and in many cases increase.

I have been thinking of starting an other forum topic that would talk about which HL’s will hold their price and which ones are sleepers and discuss which harbour lights are the best to buy.
If you want to protect your investment the most important thing you do is to support this forum both financially and verbally.

Daniel,

I think your idea of a new forum on which HL's will hold price is a good one.

OK, I just got a North Head Wa. for 29.99. Of course it's a high number, but I don't have one and I want the original 17 in my collection. That can't be a bad deal for me, can it?? I suspect the real collectors already have one, and no one else must care about it. What thinketh thee??

It's def a buyer's market these days and most of the original 17 can be found/obtained pretty easily, specially the "homlier", less popular West Coast lights such as North Head, WA...in my opinion, HL needs to recreate another more accurate version of North Head (no doubt as a blinker) since it has stood as their logo since the company's inception...I remember back in '95, one dealer out west here was trying to get $200 for its last North Head!

Bud,

I think that you found a great deal. As long as it didn't arrive in about 12 pieces, it was a wonderful find. Ya done good.

bobo

Not a bad price.
$95 was the top bid for last week.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11132&item=6186628695&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW