The "brown" version of Round Island was the original version with incorrect colors. I think there was approximately 3000+ made, which would make it the rarer version. It was later changed to the more accurate "Red" version for the remainder of the 9500 after some collectors complained that it was an incorrect color. Secondary prices may never be drastically different, but the "brown" version does command a higher price.
Alcatraz does have the black railing on all the pieces. I am not for sure if it was actually the first one to have the metal railing on it (others will answer that, John?). Some photos you may see of various lights in brochures and publicity stills are sometimes artist proofs or very early renditions of the lights, and may not have the final railings on it yet from the production schedule. All of the production lights would have the railing though.
Some examples of this in recent brochures are Nobska, Chicago Harbor and Grays Harbor which don't show the rail, but are on all the released lights. The original Thomas Point ornament publicity shots showed it as having a "solid" bottom area. But when released, it was made of open metalwork. The new Christmas piece for this year shows a "leafless" tree on all the publicity photos, but when released it will be changed to a pine tree due to packing or production problems (not for sure of the details). So you can't always trust the publicity photos or brochures as comparisons to the final product.
Only a few of the lighthouses were originally made without metal railings on the earlier pieces, and then later changed to the metal railing on the remainder of the production run (Scituate, Concord Point, etc). Those were changed because production was shifted from Malasia to China in the middle of the production run.
I would assume that eventually the "variations" page will be updated and added into the Harbourlights.com site. On it you can read about and see pictures of those changes. John has spent a tremendous amount of time breaking down the info of all the variations (along with Paul's photo magic) in that section, and is very helpful identifying the changes. Jim Rutherford's annual book "The Harbour Lights Survival Guide" (770)754-9060 is also very helpful identifying the variations.
I think I got most of this info right. If not, correct me guys! Hope this helps.
-RodW
[This message has been edited by Rod Watson.]
