Size of Your Collection

As the proud owner of three Harbour Lights Lighthouses ( Marshall Point, Race Rock and Hendricks Head ) and two mini Harbour Lights ( Jeffrey's Hook and Seven Foot Knoll) I'm wondering how many Harbour Lights Lighthouses other people have that post here.

Mark

238 Harbour Lights Limited Editions, 1 GLOW Open Edition, 5 Lefton. Avid collector since 2001.

326 Limited Edition Lighthouses, 10 GLOWS, 6 Lens, 17 Anchor Bays and numerous misc. items such as Bill Dolls, ornaments, lifesaving stations, LLOMs and Skybound balloons. Collecting since 1994.

Well, there are 321 on the spread sheet, which includes LEs, GLOWs, Minis, ABs, Pharos, one HB, and some extras. Then there are probably 30 or 40 more extras which never made it to the spreadsheet. That does not include ornies or LLs, or the odd stuff like the whiteware from the reunion and the Bill dolls and Bob Trees. Anybody need some extras, my closets are full! And those numbers place me as a beginner compared to some of the folks around here.

Now don't get discouraged, Mark... All these folks started off with just a few before the bug bit them.

They hang around these Collector Forums just so they can reassure themselves that being a Harbour Lights WACKO is a malady that many others share as well.

400 LE's, 64 OE's, 17 LE AB's, 12 Regular Edition AB's, 175 LL's (all of them), set of the Pharos, all of the Guardian's of Light, all of the thumbnails, all of the spyglass and 3 sets of all of the HL Ornaments that they have produced...

Way to many!!! Wash your hands throughly after touching them, Mark... Bill put's a magic dust on them making you want to buy them all!!

1 LE (the Wacko Baileys Harbor Range set), 2 ornaments (Sea Girt and 7 Foot Knoll), 7 LLOM (2 signed by Kim), 1 Mark Sherman print (Boca Grande.)

Not a big LE collector, I'm more of a "pseudo-collector".

51 LE's and 3 GLOW's (the original 404 Portland Head, Assateague and Tybee Island of the Signature Series - which I'm in the midst of packing up for moving).

The thing is, I only had 3 before last January

Steve

I remember the wife saying, "Go ahead, buy those 2 that you like." That was 236 LE's , 4 Lenses,4 Anchor Bay Lightships, and 2 Glows ago. Pre-ordered 3 for 2005. Display them all and enjoy them daily. Find something I didn't see each time I re-arrange them. I've tried by region , by state,by structural likeness , just get a big kick out my collection.

Where is Harbour Lights Anonymous when you need it! I can't resist buying "just one more" everytime I turn around!!
Judy

Rough count, approximatelty 350 are left in my collection. I would seriously like to reduce that amount to around 250 this year if possible. I've run out of room to store all these pieces, and I still buy one of every new LE that's released.

If you're looking for a particular piece, I may have it in stock.

Bob

87 LE's 14 GLOWS' 57 LLOM's

I concentrate on New ENgland and those special lights I like.

Bert

I collected Harbour Lights for about 5 years but gave it up when they started mass producing and couldn't afford to keep up with the amount of new ones they put out each year. All of the lighthouses I have are retired and most have the original packaging. In fact, some of the loghthouses have never been out of the box.

104 LE's, 10 GLOWS(got these before I got addicted) 1AB and 1 lens.
I've managed to control my purchases to those I've actually seen.
Thank god my dealer is to small to offer autoship or I'd be like some of the other WACKO's here and only have room for a bed and a fridge and would probably be advertising the fridge!
Rick

Over 300 L.E.
8 A.B.
4 GLOW
COLLECTED SINCE 1996

43 LEs..1 lens and one beautiful set of Pharos that arrived today! No LLOM's or GLOWS My collection is small, but it is growing by leaps and bounds lately!

I know THAT "problem" well!
It's also, Okay, where am I going to put this one!?

A "shop-po-holic" I am, and I LOVE my Harbour Lights!

Judy

12 LE's
12 LLOM
1 skybound Balloon
Bill Doll
8 ornaments

Let's see.... how many.... let me count them.... need to take off my shoes to use my toes.... ran out of fingers.... oh.... too many past my toes. Guess I better find a calculator.

Mark, not quite sure how many we have, but we started like you, my first purchase was a favorite lighthouse, then another favorite, then the decision to just buy the lights we have seen and/or climbed. Collection growing, so far we have visited 125 lights, and the list should explode this year with the reunion and a 2-week trip to visit as many lights as we can in that area.

We only collect LE's, oh, and the Christmas pieces. We have only 1 LLOM, and that's Navasink since we really didn't care for the large piece.

Joyce

I've been collecting since 1998. I have 93 total -- a few of them are duplicates. 5/98 are GLOWs. 1 lens (technically this is Randy's. He won it in Door County.) 7 ornaments. I just started collecting ornaments after Lorie Roe gave me the one she won on the boat tour to Isle Royale in August.

We started collecting in 1998 and have about160 pieces, all limited editions, lenses, event pieces, Reunion pieces and Anchor Bays. We don't have any G.L.O.W.'s and that number doesn't count the 20 or so LLOM'S our Daughter has.

Mike

We have a little over 80 pieces, mostly LE. We were on auto ship for a while with a two digit, but I got tired of all the new stuff, so now I'm focusing on trying to get the original 17. We also have a gold Mark Twain that I'm willing to let go of.

My HL spread sheet shows 282 total

We should never lose sight of the fact that the larger sized collections being discussed here were not built in a day.

I still remember buying my first HL, Southeast Block Island, at Shelias on Block Island. I didn't buy it because it was made by HL. I bought it because I liked it.

I didn't buy another HL until September 1997 when I purchased Brant Point. I still remember getting involved in the old Harbour Lights bulletin board on AOL. I remember buying four more HL's that October bringing my total to six HL's. I remember my fellow AOL board members telling me it was a good start.

Through the years that followed, I eventually went on to own at least one of every LE every made with the exception of the "skinny tower" HL 102. I own the HL102R, the revised one. There was nothing better than finding a rare piece in some obscure dealer's stock room or on their display. Great finds and real deals were often the topic of conversation amongst the collectors on the Net. The quests were challenging and very satisfying to those who scored.

My collecting eventually lead to autoship to obtain the prized lower numbered pieces. Unfortunately, being on autoship took some of the fun out of hunting down pieces at area dealers near and far. Visits to dealers continued but often the results were less satisfying.

The urge to buy more HL's seems to never go completely away. You keep a dealer list in your car for your state and the neighboring states. You go out of your way to visit these dealers just in case they may have one of those rare older pieces that might have a better flag# or could be more pristine than the one you now own. Just a couple of months ago I scored 2 Sandy Hook LEs. Point Fermin LE, and a Round Island MI LE at a dealer closing. You have to love new old stock! It was the same dealer I scored the AP of the USCG 44' Lifeboat from. I was sorry to see that dealer go.

It's highly unlikely that the new collectors of today will accomplish what has been done in the past regarding collecting them all. You really need extreme interest, a lot of free time, a lot of money, and plenty of storage and display space. Many collectors have some of those requirements, but not all of them.

I recently made the difficult decision of partially reducing my complete collection. My goal is to reduce my collection by about one-third. Selling pieces I have multiples of is very easy. Selling rare and prized HL's is far more difficult.

Every piece I have came with a memory. In most cases it was where I bought it or from whom I got the piece. I just hope as the new owners receive my former pieces they will experience the same excitement I did when I added that piece to my collection. It is a great feeling to share with fellow HL collectors.

My advice to any new collector, or a collector with a small collection wishing to expand, is buy what you like and like what you buy. There is a lot of satisfaction of owning these treasures. You don't have to have HL boxes stored from the floor to the ceiling in all your storage areas and closets to enjoy collecting. Half the fun is just buying what you can afford and getting involved with your fellow collectors at the CF, the chats, lighthouse clubs, regionals, reunions, signing events, etc. It's fun. It can become a way of life. You're someone special when you're a collector of Harbour Lights!

Bob

Kudos Bob!!!
Your response expressed many of my feelings since I got the "HL bug" as well as answering some questions that come to me from time to time as I wrestle with the questions as to what to buy and why I do it.
Just wish I could be as fortunate when I visit stores in my travels as you have been!
Oh well the thrill is in "the hunt"!
Rick

Very well said, Bob! Thanks for sharing your colllecting story. We've been collecting buddies since the AOL Board days and I well remember sharing the latest 'finds' at backwater location dealers.

I agree with Bob and Rick. The "thrill is in the hunt" as much as owning something that is full of wonderful lighthouse memories. Bill Younger told us years ago to buy what we like and what means something to us. In other words one doesn't have to own everyone although it is addictive!! Besides we really appreciate the replicas once we have seen the real thing. I can't imagine how anyone can enjoy their collection packed away in boxes. It's so much fun to look at them and remember special times.
Judy

My Collection?

• LE’s -- 371 -- which includes at least one of every release, 47 AP’s, 9 accidental duplicates, and a number of Variations
• GLOW’s – 100 – includes 7 AP’s and some Variations
• Days Gone By – all 5
• Collector’s Society – 32
• Special Editions – 78 – includes 1 AP
• British Pharos Collection – all 8
• Christmas Lighthouses – all 21 (sets of 4 ornaments counted as one)
• Anchor Bay’s – 21 – includes regular and special editions
• LL’s – 187 – includes 12 from MD Challenge and 3 Variations
• British LL’s – all 12
• Exclusives – all 5 – Including Bill Doll
• Knights of the Not-So-Round Table – all 12

Totals include four that have been purchased but not yet received. All are on display in a variety of curios, bookcases, china cabinet, dining room table, coffee table, fireplace mantle and some glass shelves mounted on the wall.

My first purchase in 1995 was Wind Point – only because I lived a couple of miles from there in Racine, Wisconsin and immediately recognized the lighthouse. How did I collect? And why? That will be another post.

bobo

Spurred on by the previous posts I just did a spreadsheet count and found 788 listed items including the Limited Editions, GLOW's, Christmas issues and ornaments, Historic Buildings, Scenic Views, Days Gone By, Thumbnails, Regional, Reunion, & Event pieces and exclusives, a Pharos set, most of the Little Lights of Mine, a few of the Guardians of the Night, a few artist proofs, some of the variations, a Bill doll, a few trees and one balloon (but no Knights). And lest I forget I also have my office display of 7 L.E. pieces that fall into the "cannot be displayed unless they originally cost less than $12 each" category. These are the "nicks and dings" purchases that look new after a little touching up and that can't be lessened in value by the cleaning crew.

However, even though all good things may not come to an actual complete end, they certainly do slow down drastically. Our collection has reached that point and is fairly close to being as complete as its going to get. Similar to the situation being faced by more and more collectors, we're now out of space. I won't buy a bigger home and I won't store pieces offsite. We've only picked up a few pieces in the past year and a half and I really don't expect to get many more in the future. It's really unfortunate that at a time when the scultures have become so ornate and detailed that we find ourselves totally out of room to even display all of the ones that we already own. I've already started the process of throwing away the packing materials and flattening boxes to retrieve some of my basement real estate (I can hear the purists gasping, but that's okay - we didn't buy the scultures to resell them.). Hopefully, that will at least let me unbox the final few that haven't yet seen the light of day.

I will mention one disadvantage to having a larger number of pieces on display. We're currently painting the house and every piece and associated curio cabinet has to be moved - at least twice. Oh well, into every life . . . .

My HL collection will go to my son and grandson.

My grandson, soon to be five, has his very own collection LLOM's (which Grandma started) and treats them as collectibles, not toys. At the age of 1 1/2, we were able to take him to the top of Currituck Beach Lighthouse, and he's been a "lighthouse" kid ever since. He tells everyone I'm his "lighthouse Grandma".

My collection is well documented, and my son is aware of values.

Judy