Reading of Daniel's plight with his recent purchase of three HL's that arrived severely damaged, once again renewed my interest in how many older pieces still exist with out damage.

You know what I mean. Back in 1991, Harbour Lights releases a limited edition of 5500 pieces, they are spread throughout the country through dealers, and people purchase them. Some buyers are somewhat serious collectors, while others are casual buyers.

Along the way, these HL's are forgotten, damaged, thrown out as no-longer-needed novelty item, etc. These pieces may end up forgotten in boxes in attics and cellars only to later emerge during a move or house cleaning. Maybe some make it to a yard sale or possibly on to eBay by a computer-savy seller. Some may have established residency in the local landfill.

I had a dealer once tell me a story about a couple who had the arduous task of cleaning out an elderly relative's residence after her death. The dealer claimed he had sold many great HL's to this elderly woman. He further added that the relatives cleaning the woman's house threw everything in trash bags and took those bags to the dump. Was this story the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I cannot confirm or deny its authenticity, other than it was told directly to me by the dealer.

Let's face it, the older the HL, the more likely it could have been damaged or destroyed in handling by someone who has no idea if it is really worth anything. People who don't share a sincere interest in collectibles might form the opinion that an old HL is unattractive and a dust collector that needs to be thrown away. After all, HL collectors are few and far between. Most people never heard of Harbour Lights and could care less about these statuettes of lighthouses.

I wonder if Harbour Lights ever kept up-to-date records of all the people who sent in registration cards for individual purchases? I wonder how many people actually took the time to register their collections? I know I never registered my whole collection. Did you?

If we knew that an original release of 5500 LE's has actually been reduced to maybe 3000 existing pieces of that model, would the worth of an individual piece increase? You're guess is as good as mine.

I would estimate that if we pooled our resources amongst our fellow collectors we would not be able to account for much more than 10-15% of any model released by Harbour Lights. We would be lucky to account for that many.

Just imagine if we actually knew how many pieces of a particular HL existed, and that information revealed low numbers. Would that increase the worth of the ones in our collections?

What do you think?

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Yep

A gentleman once told me of a couple who put some David Winter cottages in a dishwasher to clean them. Because of the material the cottages are made from, they promptly dissolved.

Reminds me of Dishwasher Jupiter which Rip bought at the 2001 Reunion. :rolleyes:

Read the Dishwasher Jupiter thread a few minutes ago and can barely see the monitor through my tears--JC, scientist extraordinare.

Sandy

I ditto that Sandy!
HCS