I think a collector's biggest fear is damaging a valuable and often unreplaceable HL piece. We all know there will me microchips and some paint flaking. It's probably next to impossible to prevent that from happening.

Then there is the "ventilator ball removal". This happens quite often in stores when the pieces are mishandled by store personnel or the general public when they are allowed to reach into displays and handle the merchandise.

Now comes the very detailed pieces of recent years with free-standing trees, flag posts, sailboat masts, and antennas. It doesn't take much to snap one of these fragile little items from its base.

We all know that careful handling, packaging, displaying, and storing of our HL's can eliminate damage on our end. You really need to concentrate and be extremely careful when you handle your HL's.

Then comes the little surprises when you buy from the secondary market or eBay. My first surprise was my original West Quoddy (purchased in 1997). It had a small section of paint missing from the ventilator ball. It wasn't chipped. It wasn't a flaking thing. It looked like it slipped by quality control. Then there was my Sandy Hook with the paint flaking problem. Not much I could do about that one. There is no cure for paint flaking but repainting. I chose to leave it alone.

Another little surprise was a Point Arena I purchased from eBay a short time ago. I bought two extra Point Arenas within a couple of weeks. One came from a reliable member of this forum and is a mint piece. The other came from an auction house that uses eBay and was described as being in excellent condition. Needless to say, surprise, surprise! The pieces, except for the two chips, was in excellent condition. There was no mention of the damage in the auction description, and there were no little broken pieces in the package it was shipped in.

I have never personally damaged any of my HL's. I try to be extremely careful. When I unpackage new arrivals with those little breakable items protruding from their bases, I must admit, I cringe. Slowly and carefully, I pull those little pieces of foam from around them thinking, "Will this delicate protrusion stay in place?"

What are you feelings about flag poles, trees, antennas, etc.? Have you ever accidently broken one off or received a piece that had one broken off? What about ventilator balls being severed from their base?

I'm beginning to think that maybe HL should eliminate the flag poles. They are a nice touch but I'm not a big fan of the little plastic flag. Sail boat masts? I guess you cannot eliminate them without eliminating the sail boat. Antennas on Anchor Bay boats? Once again you cannot eliminate the antennas with out eliminating the boat. Freestanding trees? Has the time come to cut back on trees?

What do you think?

Bob

I accidently broke the "pipe" on the back of the White River lighthouse pulling it out of the box. Just put my finger on it an exerted too much pressure.

The sailboats on Misapillion and Ludington really make me nervous.

Well, Bob, unlike maybe a lot of others, I love the masts, the sails, the trees, the flags and all the other extras that Harbour Lights has seen fit to incorporate into the workmanship of their wonderful products.

I never handle a piece without wearing surgical/medical gloves. It is not unusual for 15 minutes to pass just during the time it takes me to remove the piece from its container. That is NOT to say that I haven't had a couple of problems. My Alki Point, Washington, arrived with every protruding extra broken. I immediately notified my dealer, who in turn contacted Harbour Lights, and the piece was replaced immediately. They even provided the original Flag Number.

I don't allow anyone to even open any of my curio cabinets - much less handle the pieces. My brother came very close a couple of years ago to losing his life for picking up a piece and touching the lightning rod. (Just Kidding!)

Maybe I'm in the minority.

Well Bob, if I ever get up your way in Jersey, remind me to keep my hands in my pockets while looking at your collection. I want to be alive to enjoy my retirement years. The most catastophic thing that's happened to me is when I didn't remove some pieces on the bottom shelf while I was cleaning the shelf above and the shelf slipped out of my hands and broke two lightning balls off two of my Stamp Set. Two extremely clean breaks and some super glue and who's to be the wiser.

I would be curious as to how many pieces are returned to HL as being damaged when received at a dealer. It is my understanding that the dealer is required to "cut" the flag# out and send it back to receive a new replacement. Does anyone know how many pieces are returned? Does HL replace the broken one with the exact flag#? If this does occur, how many "replacement spares" does HL keep in stock?

Inquiring minds on the East Coast, where my new bathroom is almost completed, my remodeled living room is completed, my youngest grandson's christening was yesterday at our house, my boat is urgently awaiting to be readied for launching, my obligation to a post card exchange may soon be completed, and it's raining very hard but not snowing, would like to know.

Bob

Ahhh the ventilator ball removal! I learned that lesson first-hand...on my Kilauea event piece. Yes, that was a solid 5 minutes of being paralyzed with shock and devastation. But I did find the ventilator ball, and always keep it with the piece, so it's still complete...in a way.

Bob. If you have an autoship or special number, HL will do a "same-number replacement". My Ship John Shoal came in damaged and was replaced with the same number. I suspect that higher number may be replaced with another number if any are in stock at the warehouse. Since my dealer had to send my "flag" in for the replacement piece, I had the task of cutting it off the lighthouse. It actually took a good hit with a hammer and chisel to break the base through. I must say it was a very strange feeling to destroy one of my HL's.

Bob
I have returned half of every society piece that I have purchased I didn’t have any problems for the last two years and that is when I started getting my auto shipment number on them. For some reason the Society, pieces that I have purchased had spots of paint missing. Never had that problem with my auto shipment number. The Sanilac had the railing around the light lifted up on one side. Boca Raton had paint missing on the roof. I also noticed this problem with other low number Boca Grande. Seven Foot knoll had paint missing on the base. So did my Coney Island.
Harbour Lights will replace your low number with the same number. However, when I returned my low number three digit I got a different low number three digit.

I adhere to the advice of handling the pieces as little as possible, and when I have to be very, very, very, very careful. My only problems to date have been the 110' Coast Guard ship that had some of the metal loose when I received it from the Ebay seller, a rod on a Fort Niagara from another Ebay seller, and the crane on Rock of Ages. The Coast Guarad ship was damaged when I recieved it and I am just living with it. The Fort Niagara even though very well packed had the rod break off in shipment, but the seller bent over backwards to make the sale right. The crane was totally my fault. I was in a hurry to grab the piece and broke it off at the base, and this is where I put the emphasis on the last three verys in the first sentence.

I have always been careful in handling the pieces, but when I look at how much I have invested in the collection, and my one experience with the fragile nature of the pieces, it makes me add another very to my handling techniques every time I reach for a piece. However, even though I think that I am overly cautious when I handle the pieces there is an occasional click against another piece that just makes me cringe and pull out the magnifying glass to check for damage. My best piece of advice from experience is leave lots of room between the earlier pieces when displaying, and handle every piece very, very, very, very, very carefully when you have to handle them. I find that the earlier pieces even though not as detailed in design, were made of less bump resiliant material that tends to chip easily. If I didn't feel the need to look at some pieces more closely once and awhile, or clean the pieces occasionally, I would put them in a case, never touch them, and admire them from afar. I really do like the idea of surgical gloves and may pick up a box to add a little more protection when handling.

Also, I have learned to protect the top of the light with one hand when I pick it up because of the fragile nature of the top bulb. I learned the hard way too.