Priorities for a collection of Harbour Lights...

Is there a doubt in anyone's mind that the circle of friends at the CF are a rather varied group? Obviously we do have things in common but in our own little ways, we are different.

I'm just a little bit curious as to what each individual collector considers a priority for his or her collection. I'm also curious what you would advise a new collector to add to their collection.

I'm only looking for one suggestion per reply, and only one reply per person per day. Let's see what our group considers important for that ultimate HL Collection.

Bob

I repeat what Bill said, "Collect what you like."

My priorities are;
1) Michigan and Ohio lights
2) Anchor Bay boats
3) Society and Christmas lights
For the new collector I would suggest the pre 1995 lights.

I've followed Bill's advice of collecting what you like but also collect all of the Washington and Oregon lighthouses.
My children have started to send me the Christmas piece every year and that is a wonderful addition.
I have bought several of the early retired lights from forum members, including one from you Bob. Admiralty Head and it looks great next to the new Admiralty Head!

I also followed Bill's advise and collect what I want. I started out just collecting California, Maine and the Collector Society, but added the ones I have visited.

Started with all the sets. Once I had those, I added those I hoped to visit nearby and then moved on to those I have visited in the U.S. Have been to and photographed 449 lighthouses; my collection totals 321 LEs and it's growing annually.

We vacationed in Bermuda a number of years ago. Stan took the camera and climbed Gibbs Hill. He took a picture of me waving from the ground and a number of pictures of what he could see from the top of the light, but no picture of the lighthouse! I wasn't into lighthouses like I am now at that time. Already told him we have to return to Bermuda 'cause I've ordered Gibbs Hill! Can't take the RV on that trip, but that's what planes and ships are
for. . . .

I started with lighthouses that I had worked on, then on to lighthouses that I had seen, then to Florida lighthouses, and so on and so forth. I now own them all with the exception of a few variations. If I were to start today, I would have to start with the 5500 series and build from there or depending on budget and storage space I would also be interested in just the LLOMs.

Most of the lighthouses I collect are in certain areas of the US that interest me. Some because of the area, some because of a certain lighthouse in that area.

NJ, Long Island, the Delmava, Lake Superior, San Fran Bay, Lake Erie, and the Gulf Coast are the majority.

Most important is the detail of these lights. I actually prefer HL's 1998 or newer, but I do have a few earlier ones.

I don't ever plan on selling them, so market value is not that important.

ALL of them

Only those lighthouses my wife and I had visited. Well....that didn't last long. There were those that we knew we couldn't possibly visit without a time machine and then ther were those that we didn't have access to see. Needless to say, we didn't visit the 283 lighthouses in our collection but now have further reason to seek them out for our "we were there" photo album. What I do know is , that collecting and visiting these lighthouses is good times together.

Double income no kids = Buy whatever we liked.

Single income 2 kids = Only the ones we've seen.

Currently, I buy all of the Great Lakes pieces regardless of if we've seen them or not, and then the occasional other that we've seen as well.

The biggest problem I have now is I'm running out of display space.

Mike

By inclination I am with Bill: "Collect what you like."
But because of restrictions in my wallet and the fact that we have a small house, we stick mostly to LLOMs and now Thumbnails

Great Lakes pieces and Christmas are top priority.


I also buy what I like.

For me...as a very new collector as of July 2006, I started with the LLOM series of the lighthouses we have seen. Then I moved into the LE series of NJ lighthouses. Then I am moving into LSS stations as I discovered their history and fell in love with the whole nautical service of why lighthouses and LSS's were in existance in the first place. Recently, I've also included a few Anchor Bay pieces. I am currently trying to figure out what is the best way to display them as I will most likely keep these forever.
I do collect what I like and fortunately..unfortuanately...I like ALL of them!

What sold me on Harbour Lights specifically was the detail even on the small ones. I had a few Scaasis lights...small size and quickly turned to Harbour Lights and haven't turned back. And the fact that they donate a portion to preservation of lighthouses...this became a win-win for me!

Our lighthouse collection is primarily those lighthouses and lightvessels that we have visited and photographed. Although, we purchased some that we liked and will have to plan trips to see in the near future. The collection is made up of models from all HL product families and at this time totals about 125 pieces.

We started collecting lighthouse models, some Scaasis and Lefton, but quickly switched to Harbor Lights because of the very exacting detail, fine painting of the models and the little extra things added that made the HL lighthouse model attractive to collect and display. Also, I have replaced some of the competitors lighthouse models, that we purchased, with HL for the same reasons.

I did collect only the one's I liked . So now I have Auto ship for HL and AB.

Chuck

I was only going to buy Maine Lights and Florida lights but then got a little carried away and
bought some that I liked. And of course, Christmas lights and Society lights, etc. Mainly I buy them because I like them. i love the detail and didn't buy any lighthouses until I
discovered Harbour Lights.

I collect Southeastern Lighthouses with all of them from my home state of NC, some VA,SC,GA and FL. I also collect some from Maine that I saw when visited in 2002 and any of them that have appeared on the show Ghost Hunters on SCI FI. Or just any that look good.

To add to my earlier comments, we (Susan and I) started with LLOM of the ones we visited, then started to add Florida LE's and then Virginia LE's (my home state/commonwealth), but then picked up a few a liked especially the gone but not forgotten (since we can not visit those). I am still missing some Florida ones and one Virginia one and have fallen behind on the LLOM (since we visited a lot last year), but I take it slow because some of my budget has got to go to restoring lighthouses.

My first HL was the Portland Head Guardian of the Night. This was a gift from our friends in Maine during our visit with them. They knew that I loved lighthouses and took me to Lighthouse Depot. That is where I feel in love with HL. But there was so many to chose from and limited vacation funds so I did not buy any at that time, but got a catalog. When I got home I joined the Collector Society and started buying Maine lighthouses I had visited and California lighthouses, because that is where I grewup. When we went for Florida and visited some of the lighthouses and I climbed two of them, I started collecting those HLs. I want to go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, so I started collecting those. Along the way I have also bought ones I liked and would like to visit. I have a little bit of everything but mostly LEs and LLOM.

Well, I can't add anything new. I'd always loved miniatures, history and the sea, so when I received a Lighthouse Depot catalog and saw the Harbour Lights section, I was hooked - all three interests combined! I've always lived on a limited budget, so I ordered Point Isabel (near where I grew up) and Bolivar Point (near where I have lived most of my life). They were GLOW's - didn't know the difference back then! (Eventually, I made up for that and bought the LE's). Then, I found a wonderful local dealer - on my way home from work - so I made it a point to stop several times a week. By the time Bill made his visit the following year, I was collecting those that, to me, were more esthetically beautiful, had wonderful histories (great children's stories as compiled by Cheryl Roberts, for example) and/or were HAUNTED! As I now know, many, if not most, are considered to be haunted - can't collect them all, though. Point Lookout (my avatar,in case you didn't know), is considered by some to be the most haunted light in America. Since then, I have also tried to collect those from each area I visit. Space and money are always issues for me - as they are for many of the rest of you.

I started out collecting lights from VA, NC & SC some were LEs and some GlOWs and LLOM. Once the HL bug bit I starting trying to find all the old ones especially the original 17. Still have lots of holes in my collection, but now space is a problem and I've narrowed down to ones I like whether I've seen them on not.

I still only collect the ones I've visited, except for Society pieces of course. When we moved to CO we got a "fire sale" bargain on a house before the boom hit. It had an office room that became, as my wife says, my "lighthouse shrine." I built wall shelves used lighthouse decor we'd gathered. The lights are displayed regionally. Space available or shelving added means it's time to take another trip. There's alot of area available for Great Lakes lights with only a few Lakes Erie and Ontario pieces.

I filled in some spaces with driftwood (northwest), colorful stone (northeast), shells (southeast), etc. Even put a few buckeyes in for the lakes. A small amusement park near here, The North Pole, has gift shops that carry small dinky little boats, 3-6 inches, that fit in well, e.g., shrimp trawlers with nets, sails, etc.

Any suggestions? If it snows one more time I'm going to look for something to put next to the Diamond Head Light. :p

Bob,

I'm totally with you on the snow! This is the most snow we have seen in one winter season in Colorado since we moved here in 1982!

I had a friend whose husband was a pilot for United. When they moved there I remember her saying that every holiday there was a blizzard, and she wasn't looking forward to any more holidays. Lately seems as though the theory has to be "it's Friday, it must be snowing"?

Interesting reading thru this and seeing those that say they only collect a certain state or region and have been able to hold to that plan. Then there are those who, like so many before and after them, planned to "only" collect a certain state or region and have long since expanded....

I intended to collect only the ones Ive been to in the LLOM series,and like many other collectors, have expanded my collection to ones that I like along with adding some special LE's. Trouble is I still don't,and probably never will, have all the ones I've been to. I guess the only way I could accomplish that would be to stop going to the lights. Yea right. I don't think so.

Snow again tonight and tomorrow then again wednesday and thursday. Nuke the global warming.

Bob, it's Friday - isn't that the scheduled snow day in Colorado?

Nope, this is the sixth weedend in row with measurable snow where I live.