Thought those not in attendance might like to hear about some of the pricier items up for bid at the 2001 Reunion.

While it may suit the internal clocks of many, having an auction right after breakfast and right before everyone is leaving seemed a bit odd to me. I prefer it as after dinner entertainment a la the first reunion. A good meal, a nice dessert, a comfy chair - put the lights down a little - a cognac or two - and see the wallets open up.

While not topping the excitement nor the $10,000+ Cape Vicente auction at reunion numero uno, nonetheless there was some serious tax deductible coin shelled out. The proceeds were split between the Red Cross New York Relief Fund and lighthouse preservation through HL Collector Clubs.

In order of highest bid...

A 'Revised Production Master' of Cape Hatteras went for $6500. This was an unpainted CH1. Not particularly pretty to look at - the piece was grey without a full vent ball. A true Collector's rarity.

A one-of-a-kind Macquarie paint master. This piece portrayed the full light station with additional keepers buildings - sort of an 'L' shaped layout. Presumably the only one in existence. Many thought this would be the top item in the auction. It almost was at $6000.

How nice to see a rare (1 of 30) gold-plated Cape St. George net a tidy $5000. :-)

Donated to the auction by a collector in memory of her mother, a 1997 Reunion Exclusive of New Point Loma. Oddly - the Youngers did not keep the first 10 of the NPLs as they normally do with every model. This piece was #2 and it went for $3000.

A rare all white (unpainted) Burrows Island Oregon (flag error) was nabbed for $2500. I thought this was the 'steal' of the entire auction.

And lastly, what was perhaps the oddest item - a one-of-a-kind prototype 'master' of Bolivar, hand cast by Harry Hine in a clear (orange tinted) resin. Very unusual looking - it was auctioned for $2000.

Bill tried to auction a set of paint master thumbnails from the first reunion. The bid was up to $450 when he dropped one and broke it. Bill does tend to be rather 'loose' with pieces when he is on stage - this isn't the first time he's broken a model he was about to award to someone. He then gave them to the high bidder who graciously volunteered $300 to the charity donation.

Other auction items included the last remaining Harour Lights watches (which never made it to mass production). Items from the Cape Hatteras move were auctioned as part of a special arrangement with money going to the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society. These included a piece of the diamond cable saw used to cut the lighthouse from its base, coins crushed by the rollers on the moving track, and several hard hats worn and signed by workers.

The money went to a good cause and each winning bidder came away with something rare or unusual. Over $25,000 was raised through the auction alone.

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/im
[This message has been edited by JTimothyA (edited 10-12-2001).]

Tim, the thumbnails didn't get broken. It was a larger piece, a West Quoddy spyglass I think, one of a set of four pieces. What were they again, counter masters?

Kim did a nice job explaining what was what and what made some of these auction items so rare. Interesting but I can't quite remember all the various types of models. Maybe someone who does can post them and tell how many of each type are generally made along with their purpose?

To my mind, the most interesting and rare piece had to be the Cape Hatteras.

After the first 250 or so of each of the original 17 were cast in Southern California, the master molds were shipped to Castle Studios where production continued. During the course of production in Canada, all of the molds were modified. Most had their doors and windows cleaned up. Most also had the hand-sculpted ventilator ball replaced with a ball-bearing.

This piece showed evidence of having been modified, but to my knowledge, no castings were made of it. So it is truly one of a kind. Rarest of the rare, in my opinion.

While the white Burrows was also unique, it was of the California mold with the OR error. About 250 of these pieces were cast in California and another 250 were cast in Canada still with the OR error. The fact that it was unpainted made it also one of a kind -- but with the modifications to the Original Hatteras, in my opinion it was the rarer of the two.