I Was at Sanders for the Bill & Nancy Younger signing event. There was a basket full of H.L. buttons for the collectors. I notice two variations on the 1998 Sea Girth button. One had Red brick on the building with a navy blue back ground. The other had a light brown building with a sky blue background.

Daniel

Maybe some were left out in the sun too long?

Daniel, You are correct about the two buttons. I have known about the variation for quite a while. In fact I traded a signed set of the two about 6 months ago.

I can't recall which is the harder to find.

mombo:
That was my first thought too. However, the lighter colored button is the more correct color of Sea Girth. The darker button has Sea Girth as fire engine red. There were at least three of them in the basket of each type. I believe that it happened at the factory as different batches.

Daniel

I also noticed the different variations Daniel. Though I believe you are correct in saying that it's a factory blemmish rather than an actual Sea Girt variation.

Sorry I missed seeing you there.

---

digitalman

Actually, it is a variation. The top lettering on the two buttons are different sizes slightly (the "Harbour Lights"), and the other lettering is located in slightly different locations compared to the background picture (the "1998" and "Collectors Society").

When you hold the 2 buttons together and compare, you can notice the different layout and sizes. The lighter shaded buttons are the slightly harder ones to find. Maureen seemed to remember that the faded ones were the first version, and HL didn't like the color, so The button company then revised the scan/layout to produce the darker version. Both versions have been around since '98, when it was released. The lighter version still shows up occasionally. Sometime I'll try and post a picture of the two together.

A real rarity is the completely "Black & White" version of the button. I only know of one in existance (and guess who has it!). I think it came from a prototype/proof, or a major screw up in the color printing.

-from the HLmmmGOOD archives
[This message has been edited by Rod Watson (edited 05-30-2000).]