Well HL is finally going to do it. I have been suggesting this for years and I guest I always thought I was alone on this idea. We have no information if this variation is intentional or if it just happened by mistake, but one of the new releases has or will have a variation. We do not know what release and we do not know which numbers. We don’t even know what the variation is. Tony has released this information for us collectors to go to our dealers and do the hunt.

Oh Ya;
We do know the production amount of the variation.

That was a post of mine from March of 2002.

This was part of one reply posted below my post from 2002.

Over 6 years later I still think that intentional variations are a good idea. HL needs to add more excitement to keep collective juices flowing. Too many collectors are losing interest. The line will die unless something is done.

You were not alone in your thinking, Dan. Yes, great minds think a like.

:rolleyes: Bob

I don't think all variations are mistakes.
I personally never felt the green waters were mistakes; they are just how the water looks after the algae moves in. I have seen pictures of the same lighthouse where the water was blue and the same lighthouse with green water.

Lightning rods were just a design change where HL felt that the lighthouses were better off not to have the wire rods. Even though we all like the lightning rods better, it only makes sense that figurines should not have a wire sticking out of their tops.

Many variations where caused by manufacturer change. It was not a mistake; it was just changes created by using a different company.

I guess we could call the miss-spelled versions a mistake, but I doubt that HL would do a willfully variation like that.

We were told one other thing about the variation.
I was leaving that for a question.
But nobody has asked the first question that was always asked about a variation.

name

I would be wishing for a rod for my 1st choice, a mispelling for a 2nd choice and green water for my 3rd choice. I LOVE variations and feel half the fun of collecting is finding all the variations. Now that everything is so quality orientated and variations do not happen, collecting things get boring.

Well a name is important so we can find the lighthouse. but to me I don't even look at a variation unless one factor comes into play.

How Many?

So, Daniel, are you going to tell us what that "factor" is, or has Dave been coaching you on messing with everyone's minds by giving one word responses?

Sandy

The factor and the question is "How Many?"... Tony told us how many had been made with the error..

From what I know the minimal run is 500.

Sorry, Went fishing for the day.

Of course one of the most important things of a variation is the amount produced.
Variations like the Beavertail with its color change and Highland with its spelling variation didn’t draw much attention. They did at first but when it was realized that either variation was obtainable, the value for both variation equaled out.


The other scenario is also true, the variation could be so rare the collectors feel that it is next to impossible to find one, so they lose interest. They lose interest they forget which variations exist. We see this on ebay quite often, very rare lighthouses going for a song. Most likely because many collectors don’t know what they are.


The next important factor of the variation is its popularity. Collectors need to know what the variation is and like it. I have no idea what the variation is, but HL will have to make it popular. We know what variations in the past are popular. Is it one of those or something different?


Oh ya
How many.

I heard 550

Just heard from Terry at the Bronze Lady and he indicated that the first 550 of the Bishop and Clerks piece have the name mis-spelled. It this the variation we are looking for?

Jim

Tony
Didn't say what it was, but Dave H did bring to my attention that it was a factory mistake and not intentional. Tony said there were 550, so I think you found it. Congratulations on being the first one on the forum to find it. Should have known that Terry with the Bronze Lady would know the variation.

Now we need someone with a number below 550 and someone with one above 550 to confirm it and what the spelling variation is.

Could this be what your talking about?

Well that's one that will stick out like a "sore thumb". It will be interesting to track it in the future to see if in fact it turns out to be more valuable than the correct spelling. The incorrect spelling may make up approximatley 20% of the total run. Is that rare enough to make it worth more?

Bob

I thought I would also post the wide shot image of this most interesting lighthouse..



Bishops and Clerks Catalog Page

I think Tony was hoping that this lighthouse would stir interest in going to the dealers, that collectors would go their dealers and try to uncover this mystery with looking and checking out each Lighthouse trying to determine which one had the variation.

Well!!
We wrapped this mystery up in a couple of hours. Whats next?

After looking at the photo above, it reminds me of
"Lewis and Clark" !

Hummmm, Bishops and Clerks vs Lewis and Clark....