>>I think Harbour Lights jumped the gun on increasing edition sizes as high as they did, as quick as they did ...<<

Righto - Todd. Citing from a crazed numerologist :

Quote:
I think we've only recently (and finally) moved into the Post Thomas Point Affair era where rapid retirements (and thus skewed value factors) are no longer happening as they did when a wild speculative binge gripped the market. Fwiw, I think HL themselves fell victim to those heady days. 10k edition sizes and full dealer store rooms are the after shocks we're living with today as they failed to sufficiently innoculate themselves against Faux Retirement Fever.


Sean - of course you're right - this is not as simple as it seems. The early forced retirement of Burrows Island set a precedent, but it had not become a practice. Until now?? I need to reflect on this issue some more, but my initial reaction is yes - HL should stick to the edition size they engrave on the flag. Discontinuing an edition early is the flip side of increasing the edition beyond its original size. ("Although we promised not to produce over 10,000 as a limited edition, we always reserve the right to retire a limited edition early." - Kim Andrews)

I can accept Kim's claim - however the question one needs to ask of any early retirment is 'why?'. I can accept discontinuance in the case of error (Coffin, Chatham) or production problems (Pt. Arena - though they coulda remolded) - but is lack of sales a good enough reason? Sure business is business, but collectibles aren't Japanese sports cars.

HL should just bite the ball vent and admit they made the wrong call with the 10k edition size. I'm more than happy to live with a variable edition size - just announce up front that only N are gonna be made - whether this is 10,000 or 6,500, or 'as many as we can sell in a month' - and then by golly stick to it.

I would be very interested in the factors that led HL to make this decision. (yoo hoo - Kimmer?) Is it simply the lack of sufficient sales after 4 years, or are there larger concerns of which these are but surface symptoms?

Rgds,
__
/im [just collect GLOWS - they never retire early]

[This message has been edited by JTimothyA (edited 02-07-99).]