What does this do the value of the piece?
Good Question. I was sorely tempted to hire Ed McMahon personally to deliver the winning reply. "Congratulations Mr/Mrs/Ms Beckman - your Spectacle Reef is simply spectacular."
Alas, Ed's not gonna make it.
(Sound of bubbles bursting) But cheer up, you're well on the way to a fabulous lighthouse collection. And we do have the answer to your query...
The Short Answer: Not much. (shucks)
The Long Answer: Intro'd in 1995 as part of The Stamp Set, Spectacle Reef was originally destined to be an Open Edition piece. As such it was assigned an edition number (#410) outside the standard LE range. Two other members of this set had already been issued as LEs (Split Rock and Marblehead) and HL decided all five pieces were to be Open Editions. If I recall correctly, the original numbering for the pieces began with A1, the next year the numbering started with B1.
If this decision had stood, it would be the first time HL issued Open Edition pieces without first releasing the model as a Limited Edition and awaiting its retirement. This proved a very unpopular idea. Collectors howled, HL listened and to their credit, recanted. The three members of the Stamp Set (along with several other GLOW pieces already released or in the works) that had not had a previously matching LE were retrofitted with new numbers and declared to be Limited Editions in perpetuity. (Stamp Set models Split Rock and Marble Head remain as OEs.)
Spectacle Reef was renumbered so its designation fell in line with others in the LE line up. As you correctly note, its new number is #182. After a hearty 584 days on the market the little dear retired. To this day members of the Stamp Set, collectively or individually, have not exactly flourished on the secondary market, but the pieces muddle along and continue to hold their value. I have no current figures but the guessometer is confident that none have yet breached triple digits.
Fwiw, the Stamp Set Two Step has dizzied most of us at one time or another. Once St.John stops eating and gets his links back up to snuff (g,d&r) you can read all about the OEs that became LEs in The Catalog.
Kudos for your interest in the value of your piece.
Rgds,
__
/im
