Mystery Montauk on Ebay - Bid at your own risk!

I had a Montauk LE until I sold it a few years back. I saw this auction and was intrigued by it. It claims to be the GLOW from 1997, but is obviously a picture of the LE (note no small white building next to the tower as there is on the GLOW; also no railing at the top of the tower). The box appears to be one of the newer boxes with the styrofoam form instead of peanuts (the original LE came in the old peanuts).

When I asked the seller about it, he said he is selling the piece in the picture. He said it is #A1851 with a 1997 Copyright. I told him that is not what is in the picture, but he has not responded yet to that e-mail.

I liked the idea of getting a Montauk LE for the $24.99 Buy It Now price, but the whole thing seems a little fishy to me.

UPDATE -

He emailed a picture with the flag # visible. It is number A1851.

Were there any Montauk LE's numbered this way? The first one I owned was 792, so this sounds odd to me.

This appears to be the HL405 GLOW:

http://206.19.144.180/cgi-bin/search_pro...te=template.htm


There were some lighthouses that were introduced as GLOWs and then changed to Limited Editions. You can read about those here:

www.HarbourLights.com/modifications/pages/open2limited.htm

The giveaway that it's a GLOW is the alpha letter in the flag number. Although I do have a GLOW 420, Cape Canaveral with just the numbers 4509, GLOWs without an alpha letter are an anomoly. Most of the GLOWs pieces begin with a letter--A is the first year of production, B is the second, and so on.

Look at the picture of the lighthouse, though. The pictured lighthouse is an LE. There is no smaller white building and no open railing at the top of the tower.

The seller has been very busy on eBay. I just checked "seller's other items" and there were no other HL's listed.

The seller states it is HL #405, and that isn't the flag#. It's a GLOW. Is the picture a true and accurate representation of the actual piece? In a way but not the exact thing.

If you want a Montauk GLOW, keep bidding. If you want a Montauk limited edition, you had better look elsewhere. Caveat emptor, my friends!

Bob

Man, this guy is a jack of all trades...HLs, United States Line vintage cruise stickers (cool!!!), singing bird clocks, and...Barber Shop 2 promotional swizzle sticks??? Okkayyyy...

It looks like he owns some kind of resale store or something. Something where he sells people's stuff. Look at what people have bought, too:

"Love my orangutan book. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Okkay.

"Love the milk can, thanks! " Antiques dealer?

"God deal thanks for the mirror and bubble wrap POP POP POP" was the bubble wrap for AUCTION? Strange.

Basically, I think this is a guy who doesn't sell HLs as a specialty, got one from someone at his establishment, and is reselling it. He might have just gone to the HL site, seen the first Montauk he saw, and decided that was it.

This might help a little. It's the picture the seller sent me in e-mail. The picture does show a Montauk LE, but the # starts with an A, the /5500 is gone and the last digit of the copyright is difficult to read.



Do you think someone might have doctored the flag to match the box? If so, the box thing has gone completely out of control.

This picture looks like a #143 LE.

http://www.harbourlights.com/catalog/1994/hl_montauk.htm

It doesn't look like the GLOW.

http://206.19.144.180/cgi-bin/search_pro...te=template.htm

Can't explain the GLOW numbering unless this is one other that started as a GLOW and was limited in production. It's not referenced as such in the article referenced and authored by John.

I'm no expert here. Just looking at various photos and offering an opinion.

Could we get some input here? My Montauk LE is in storage. Please look at the flag on yours and check to see if the edition size appears.

On this one Lou says it does not. That is typical of those pieces that started out as as a GLOW (or were going to be released as a GLOW - such as Peggy's Cove).

If yours HAS the edition size, then this might be a rarity with a flag modification. It is an LE, not the GLOW as the GLOW has another white outbuilding on it.

I have #5279. It does show the 5500 edition size on the flag.

The biggest difference is the location of the flag. It is not on the corner as the picture shows above. My flag is located on the rocks and wall directly in front of the door by the lighthouse. Also, the writing is different. My piece has the entire name of Montauk Point, NY all on the same line.

The base of my piece is quite different from the one shown. Mine has a white brick retaining wall and rocks without any grass on the entire side where the flag is located.

In general, the overall appearance looks considerably different than my LE.

This is a weird one! Definately not a Montauk LE. The tower is GLOW. Look at the shape, the lantern room glass panes, the color of the brown stripe. Almost looks like the GLOW tower was placed on an LE base, but it's not correct either. Flag is in the wrong location, no smooth rim around the very bottom of the base. This should be a good one to figure out!

Dave

Impostor!

This is definately an interesting one... I have always wondered if there were any imposters (or significantly "doctored" pieces) out there on ebay.

Maybe one of the forum members should try to get this piece so we can get a closer look at it...assuming that it doesn't go for big bucks.

SOLD! $102.!! This is definitely an interesting piece. I seem to remember seeing somewhere that someone had a GLOW Montauk that was a AP that was very similar to this piece. If I remember correctly, it was scrapped in favor of the current GLOW before any were completed?? Does this ring any bells for anyone else?? The high # is a mystery, though.

It sounds like someone had and LE with a GLOW sticker on the bottom and a GLOW box with the A1851 number. My guess is that the number on the lighthouse was changed to match the box & sticker (which is sad since either could be easily replaced).

Of course, that's just my theory.

We will find out the answer in a week or so... and KEWEENAW, is correct about an earlier version of the OE that wasn't released except for some to the Rep stores and one that sold for a bunch of money at the Reunion Auction.. Maybe just maybe......

I also felt it was the Rare Glow that was never produced. I was going to bid on it but there was so many loose ends (like the high number)that I talked myself out of it. Wish I would have bid on it now.

How much did it go for at the reunion?
Was it $5,000 or was it more.

I don't think it was that much... I am going to go through my old images to see if I took a picture of the lighthouse and it's new owner at the Reunion...

I think I shot an image of just about everyone that won either in the drawing or the auction, for potential use on the website or in the Legacy..

At least it will be in good hands soon.

....EVEN THOUGH HE OUTBID ME BY 91 CENTS!! LOL

Time flies when you are having fun, so far I have figured out that it was at the Providence Reunion Auction.. I still haven't found a picture nor the amount!

I wasn't going to tell who finished second, Rod!!

It sounds like this piece may have a very interesting history. I hope there will be a follow up on exactly where this piece came from and how it finally ended up in the hands of the high bidder.

Inquiring minds on the East Coast, where it is sunny, clear, and cold (20 degrees), but the temps are headed for 40 degrees today, and yesterday's light snow will melt away because I didn't shovel because I was wallpapering my living room so the carpet guy can replace the carpet which will allow the furniture guy to bring in the new set and keep Lorna very happy which in turn makes me happy, would like to know.

Bob

It is the OE Montauk (center in the top image) that they decided not to produce!!

I am going to bring it to the Hoosier Lighthousing Club meeting this Saturday and the next weekend we will be at a Bill Event in MO and I will find out more about the piece from him when he signs it...

It looks like this thread was misnamed.

Dennis

Just think...any one of us could have had it for the "buy it now" price of $24.99.




When you have him sign it, ask where the flag # came from.

I plan on it, but I think I already know where it came from... since I have some Open Edition AB ships that were never released but have numbers in the same range in fact a little higher..

As for getting it for the Buy It Now price... I got there about an hour too late, but I do have the lighthouse at a great price!!!

...and $.91 higher than my bid.

Sorry, I have to keep bringing that up. LOL