Good review, Dan! Thanks for taking the time to gather and post that information.

I think you may be refering to seller "easydropoff". He flooded the ebay scene with hundreds of desireable pieces and originally advertised them as being in excellent condition. I bought two pieces from him. One piece cost me more to ship than I bid for it. The second piece came through damaged and even if it wasn't damaged, the condition should have been described as extremely poor. I contacted him and asked for a refund. He told me to ship it back and he would refund my money. I shipped it back with the confirmed delivery option. I haven't been notified that he got it yet. If you look at the pictures in his auctions, the pieces look like they are dusty. The reason they look that way is because they are dusty. The two pieces I received looked like they were displayed for years without any protection from the elements. I'm hoping I receive my refund soon. I've yet to be burned on eBay and I don't want to start now.

Give this some thought...We know that everyone who purchased one of these paid the retail price of $250. These pieces were very limited and offered the rare opportunity to buy a "gold piece". Someone was hard up enough to sell it for half what he or she paid? I guess they didn't like what they bought and just wanted to get rid of it. I did not buy this item. I collect lighthouses, not spin-offs like bridges. I don't consider the Golden Gate Bridge a true representation of a Harbour Lights meant for a lighthouse collection. I would define it as a somewhat rare novelty brought to you by the people who also offer hot-air balloon replicas.

Isn't it amazing how many of the Southern Belles are appearing at eBay. Where were these pieces when I originally needed them! Another amazing fact is most of them are described as "never displayed". How can people buy these great pieces and never display them? Could it be that Pinnocchio's nose is growing, just a little? Could someone call Bill Clinton to get a true definiton of the phrase "never displayed"?

Boxes, boxes, who's got the boxes? It amazes me that a collector finds a desired piece at a desired price and doesn't desire to purchase it because it doesn't have the original box. Wake up, folks! These great pieces won't be available forever at this kind of pricing. Buy that piece for the lesser price and shop for one at a highly inflated price at a later date. More than likely you would be able to resell it later when you find your boxed piece, and you will have derived the pleasure of having it in your collection until that time.

Dan, please keep these eBay HL Top 10's coming every week or so. They make a great topic of conversation.

Bob