In really nice condition in the box, these are VERY desirable collectors items.
Check to see if the Alcoa Aluminum sticker is still on the bottom of the box.
Last time I actually checked one in 98% original condition started around $600 and it's been a few years since I looked.
I'd imagine that due to everything like this becoming collectible a good one would bring significantly more especially in the box.
Early versions will have the "Wolverine" name on them, newer versions will not.
When the company was told that the Wolverine name was copyrighted by a reloader company, in a gentleman's agreement the Whitney company just stopped using it. Today there'd be lawsuits all over the place.
The gun was made from 1955 to 1962 with only about 13,000 made.
To make a long story short, the only reason it went out of production is because they made the mistake of contracting with J.L. Galef to act as the sold distributor.
He simply wouldn't advertise it and refused to allow Whitney to do so.
Since the outside "frame" is nothing more than a way to hold the working parts together, the outside of the gun could have looked very differently.
Whitney was planning on making special versions with different looks for companies like Sears, Wards, Western Auto, etc.
However, Galef refused to allow them to go forward since he had the exclusive rights to the gun.
Galef wanted to rename the gun as the "Lightning" because of it's extremely fast operation.
With no advertising and no sales as store brands for other companies, manufacture was ended.
These were made in blue, a limited number in nickel.
Usually the blue had brown grips, the nickel with white.
However, Whitney bought the plastic grip material from a plastics company as scraps from their production.
Since they took pretty much what the plastics company was selling them grips in blue, red, and other colors exist.
