Okay you new owners of the FC HL's, let's hear what you have to say about those rare pieces now in your collections. You can rate them individually, as a group, or both.

I'll start it off by saying the nine HL's I received are very obviously brand new. They are perfect. The boxes are very crisp and clean and would be considered mint. The older HL's have the green styrofoam peanuts you would expect with those older pieces. The newer pieces have the styrofoam mold you would expect with those pieces. On a scale of one to ten with ten being the best possible, I would rate the conditions of all pieces and boxes as a ten.
Now I will give you my personal opinion of each piece individually starting with the oldest:

HL 129 New London Ledge is one of my favorite HL's. Having flag #8 is definitely a thrill for me. I thought when I ordered a single digit HL 129 I would be receiving a Canadian green water variation with a lightning rod. Needless to say, this this is a brand spanking new Malaysian with blue water. :rolleyes:

HL 133 Tybee Island is a favorite southern belle of mine. Having flag #3 makes this piece the lowest flag number in my collection. When I ordered this piece I thought I would be getting a rare Canadian with the white Castle Studio Box. Needless to say, this piece is a brand new Malaysian. :rolleyes:

HL 144 Heceta Head is a piece I did not request. The packing slip listed it as flag #7 but it is actually flag #5. No surprises here because it is a brand new Malaysian mold with a blue HL box. My only disappointment is it took the place of other HL's I would rather have had instead.

HL 163 Cape Canaveral is a brand new Malaysian piece that I requested. My only disappointment is the flag number is listed with three digits "008". I would have preferred to have just the single digit "8". :rolleyes:

HL 164 Pemaquid Point is a favorite HL of mine. With the addition of the piece from the Founder's Collection, I now have five of them. Until I received the FC pieces, the lowest flag# in my collection was "012" on a Pemaquid Point. Once again, I was a little disappointed that it came through with the three digit "008" instead of the single digit "8". :rolleyes:

HL 173 Mantinicus Rock is a nice piece from a neighboring State in my neck of the woods. Once again, I would have preferred "8" instead of "008". :rolleyes:

HL 188 Beavertail is a great HL with the gold tower variation and a single digit flag #8. No surprises here. I got what I hoped for.

HL 280 Bullocks Point is a favorite lost light whose remains are close to the Marina where I keep my boat. I got flag #7 and I'm very pleased with it. Once again, no surprises with this piece.

HL 284 Clark's Point came through with flag #7. I'm grateful to own such a low number on a piece that is only about 40 minutes from my home. No surprises here. I got what I ordered.

Biggest disappointment was no Canadian pieces for me in the single digit flag numbers. Second biggest disappointment was that I received an inquiry from Harbour Lights about my ultimate first choice from tier 1 and I told them HL 128 Southeast Light. I was told that wouldn't be a problem. Apparently it was. Slight disappointment was receiving HL 144 Heceta Head, which I didn't order, instead of getting another piece from my wish list. Slight disappointment is the two extra zeros in some of my flag numbers. Other than the disappointments listed above, I feel fortunate to own these pieces from the Founder's Collection.

Bob M.

Wow, zero replies in this thread in the last nine hours. I thought people would like to discusss who got what and what they think of their new additions to their collections. I personally feel it's important to make your views known about the FC HL's you received. Maybe we need a couple more days for more of the pieces to be delivered around the country. Maybe then we'll get more feedback on the FC pieces.

Bob

Bob
As soon as I get mine I will rate it.

BOB, didn't you know that you and I are the only folks in the entire country to be visited by the UPS man on Friday with a box of "special" lights from Harbour Lights? ...just kidding

I'm sure more will be delivered early next week and we will see more posts here on the forums about the Founders Collection pieces.

KORY63 & KAIZ received theirs. One would think others in the New England/New York area received their packages too. I would think most people across the country will have their packages within the next couple of days. I'm somewhat anxious to see what people received and how they feel about the new additions to their collections.

After waiting almost too long for my dealer to respond, I finally had to do an "end around" to get my order in. If my dealer would have responded to my first request for ordering FC HL's, I may have got some of my first choices.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

I got mine Friday but haven't had a chance to open and examine them. Too much good football!
Billing says I got a 6,7,7,8, and a 9. I hope I didn't get any 000 although 007 might be cool?

Overall very happy with my 3 pieces(Minot's Ledge #9, Anclote Key #3 and Dry Tortugas #8) but very disappointed that Minot's Ledge was a run of the mill Malaysian Piece instead of a Canadian Piece. I don't quite understand how a #9 Minot's Ledge piece can be a Malaysian unless the #1-#9 numbers are reserved and then at some time during the run the numbers are then assigned instead of the beginning of the run. Can anybody spread some light on this?

I love my three pieces and I think this was an opportunity of a lifetime. Yes it came at a bad time, but for those that didn’t participate missed out on some real collectables. The good news that there are still some L.E.’s left but Of course the good ones are gone. My main regret is that I didn't buy any more than I did.

Yes, It was a little disappointing that my Key West was not the Canadian version, but I didn’t buy the founders collection for a Canadian made, I bought it for a low number and that is what I got:
Key West Florida- #3
Mayport Florida #3
Flowey Rocks #4
All three lighthouses are in excellant condition and original packing.

My personal opinion of why the Founders collection (is so far) made of Malaysian instead of Canadian is that the Younger family are artist not collectors. They struggled with the Canadian versions with the lack of quality control and had no real love for that version. That atmosphere was even past on to early collectors where many was to believe the Malaysian was a more quality piece than the Canadian. I feel that the youngers just trashed their Candian pieces and replaced them with the Malyasians as they came in.
Remember this is totally my opinion.

Bob
I think you need to contact Harbour Lights and confront them with this. The reason I made an email contact with Harbour Lights was to lock in what I had on paper incase someone down the line messed up. Maybe someone that was picked to get the Heceta Head got a Southeast Block instead. It was my understanding that if HL could not fill your order that they would contact you to get an alternate. Even If you cannot get the Southeast block there maybe something better you like, still available.

I sent an email to Tony a couple of days ago but didn't receive a reply. I'm sure he's a busy man or may have been away.

I was disappointed I didn't get my HL 128 as I thought was coming, but that's all part of life. I'm thankful for what I did receive and having the opportunity to purchase such low numbered HL's.

The Founder's Collection came with some surprises namely the Malaysian pieces when we thought we were shoe-ins for Canadian or California HL's. I wish I would have know that fact ahead of time, but once again that's all part of life.

Bob

Is there anyone who did not receive their Founder's Collection pieces yet? I'm surprised we haven't had a better response from those who have.

I'm sure there are a few members of the CF that would like to know what pieces and flag #'s you received. I found the whole process quite exciting. Opportunities like that don't come around very often.

Bob

Bob
As usual it is the same handful that takes the time to share their collecting experiences. I hope collectors on these forums don’t think it is bragging to tell us what they got or worst yet think we are bragging. The sale of the founder’s collection is history and learning what everyone else received helps the rest learn more about it. That’s why I asked collectors to tells us some descriptions on the pieces they received. We also tell what we received so all the collectors can share with our excitement or disappointments.

You speak the truth, Dan. I know I'm interested in what other people received. Without feedback from the fellow collectors who frequent the CF, we will never know exactly what was sold and is now in the hands of collectors.

I know I have many questions. Was a large or small percentage of the overall Founder's Collection scooped up by the faithful? Was anyone lucky enough to win a green water variation? Was anyone luck enough to score a lightning rod piece? Was anyone lucky enough to score a California or Canadian piece? Was the overall sale a boon or a bust for Harbour Lights considering all the work they went through? What remains of the Founder's Collection and what are the plans to sell the remaining stock?

There are many unanswered questions I would like the answers to. I'm curious and very interested. Does anyone feel I'm wrong to feel this way?

Bob

I beleive all the Founder's collection of the first 6 was California paint so Bill would have kept them.
Bill loved the paint style of the California made. Put a Ch-1 white tip and a CH-1 green tip side by side and you can see why Bill liked the California paint over the Canadian paint

We still need to here from all those that was lucky and got one of the first 17

Daniel I will check with Bill but I don't believe they saved out the 1 - 10 numbered lighthouses until after the first 17 were produced.. I talked to a dealer who stated that when she started selling HL's she had four single digit CH1's in her store for sale and always wished that she would have kept one of them for herself..

I think that the putting aside the 1 - 10 numbers started after the first year sometime and what Mike posted about they not necessarily being the first of of the line is the way it was done.
I have two #1 lighthouses. The #1 Rock of Ages which I won in an auction at Alpena and the other was a gift, It is a #1 Split Rock MN LE. Yes it is a MN not a MI #1 lighthouse..

I purchased three of the founders collection lights one of them is a #5 HL123 Michigan City, IN blue water Malaysian Pier Light which supports that the 1 - 10's were numbered later than the first production run of the lights.. BTW It is the nicest of the three HL123 that I now have in my collection, it has the best paint job of the three..

I guess because of what Kaiz received I am assuming that the first 17 of the California were part of the Founder's collection. What is odd to me is that the HL106 was not on the tier #1 list.

I will see if anybody (Bill or Harry) remembers when and how they started saving the numbers 1 thru 10 and post the response here, Daniel..

I would assume they came accross some North Heads when they opened the collection to distribute some of it. They originally stated there might be some percentage of errors,omissions,etc. in the original inventory.
Paul-great idea to check with original source!I was about to suggest that Tony C.,as the person handling the sale, check with the Younger's. This could be an answer to the missing Calif. and Canadian pieces we assumed would be in #1-10.

#9 North head brown box gray felt
#7 Hillsboro reg box
#6 Anclote Key reg box,this means a lot to me as
I was involved in the restoration and relight.
RIP