A Newbie Addiction

Hey gang...I'm a newbie to this forum and this is my very first post. Just started exploring this wonderful world of lighthouses. Visited many this year in NC, NJ and MD. Started collecting HL Little Light of Mine Series of the lighthouses of the ones that I've seen so far.
First dumb questions...are these Little Lights numbered and limited and do they also possess the hidden seahorse?

BB

Welcome BeaconBob. The LLOM series is not limited or are they numbered. They also do not have the seahorse as the LE pieces do. They are highly detailed and fall into the giftware category whereas the limited editions are also highly detailed but fall into the collectible category. They are an excellent choice to collect if you have limited display space or do not want to sink a lot of money into your collection. Hope you enjoy the website and feel free to ask all the questions that you want.

I agree with what Rich posted, Bob. The LLOM are extremely well done and much more affordable than the limited editions. I think it's a nice option to have when shopping for a personal collection or for a gift for a friend or loved one. A person is likely to spend $15 or so for a casual gift rather than $75-$80 for a more serious gift. Either one would bring a smile to the receivers face but for $15 you can do it five more times rather than just once.

Bob

Thanks Rich and Bob. I do have one LE piece of Piney Point MD which I got while on the Maryland Lighthouse Challenge this year. that was one of my stops and Harry Hine from Harbour Lights signed it for me. Makes it kind of special as my first LE piece.
But I can see that I will either blow through alot of cash (not a bad thing being that part of Harbour Lights proceeds go to lighthouse preservation) or run out of space to keep them. Any advise there?

BB

I have my pieces in a curio cabinet. I have to purchase some more shelves...so that I can continue. You can get 6-8 LEs on a shelf...depending on their size and shape.
I did display them on my entertainment center and mantle, but got tired of dusting them all the time. Plus I didn't want them to yellow from cooking, etc.

5lights,
How many LE's do you have? Are there any that are special to you and why? There just seems to be soo many that it is hard to choose!
Are you a HL Society Member?

They sure are AWESOME in their grandure and beauty with special notice to details.

BB

I have 32 LEs and about 20 LLs. I would have to sat that Sturgeon Bay Light, Eagle Bluff, White Fish Point are are the most special to me. The first because it was the first light that I visited. Eagle Bluff because it was the first light that I actually climbed. White Fish Point because my husband has such a passion for the Fitz and we had such an awesome experience there.
All my pieces are special to me and all have meaning. I started out by trying to collect every piece that I thought was gorgeous. Well...they all are! So then, I narrowed it down to Great Lakes and lights I have actually visited. I also collect the Christmas editions.
It is definitely hard to control one's slef when it comes to collecting these!!!!!!

You cook your HLs!! What do they taste like?

Good one, Bob (G.)! Man, we have a lot of guys named Bob!

BeaconBob, some of the members have been around since the very first HLs were made, and they have collected every one of them. A few of those actually display all of them. John C. has tons but displays only some (in beautiful cabinets - very different from some others I've seen); Paul B. displays them all in handmade curios, Rich F. also has beautiful curios. If you do a search, you can probably come up with pictures since many of these have been posted many times in the past.

I have less than 200 but that includes mostly LEs, a few GLOWs, minis, ornaments, LLOM, spyglass sets, thumbnails, and a couple of accessories. All of mine are out in the open collecting dust - but I have them grouped by region, along with other mementoes of my travels. I thoroughly enjoy having them out where I can look at them and pick them up to admire - and DUST!! Well, from time to time, I dust them. :rolleyes:

Grace,

Now I understand the term Wacko and Super Wacko.
Almost 200 HL collectables? WOW!!! And mostly LE's?
I don't know if I will ever reach that many...but I do have quite a few LLOM series already...probably around 30 of those.
I will most likely be very selective on which LE's I get due to space and $$$ restrictions!

And Bob is such a great name to have...spells backward very easily!

BB

BB, I am far from being a "real" collector, but I have been collecting for nine years, so, after a while, my collection has grown although I don't purchase a lot. It's no where near what the collections of some of the diehard collectors have. Some of the CF members have every single light made by HL - and, sometimes, 2 or 3 of each! Believe me, I know what you mean about space and $$$ restrictions!!

Bob(G)-kind of dry and crunchy! :p The leftovers clean up real well in the dishwasher, though.
Boy, did I leave myself wide open on that one!!!

BeaconBob, Before April I had only two HL limited editions. I've passed 50 the last time I counted. I always thought I couldn't afford to collect HL lighthouses, but if you look for some bargain, plus throw a few higher priced ones in now and then, you can build a nice collection in no time.

As for the Wacko and Super Wacko titles, that relates more to how much we like to talk about lighthouses. I think we need to add a Ultra Super Wacko title for those who hit a 1000 or 1500 posts in the Collector Forums.

How about 5,000 posts?

Or 10,000?

Yea, Debbie! I told you that you would make it to Super Wacko today - congratulations!

Congrats Debbie.

Thanks guys!

Maybe Mega Ultra Super Wacko ???

But Deacon of the Beacon sounds better. Although your already a Saint .

I have only been collecting about three years. I have about 50 lighthouses, this includes LE, Society, Exclusive, and a couple of GLOW pieces. I have about 25 LLOM, plus other smaller pieces, such as the lobster floats, thumbnails, and spyglass just to name a few. My favorites would have to be Portland Head, the first light I visited and the first HL I recieved as a gift. St Augustine and Ponce De Leon, the first two lights I climbed. For sentimental reasons I would like to see HL do Wood Island, Maine. Anyone who is a Collector society member has probably seen my letter a couple years ago in the Lighthouse Legacy. I only wrote the letter to explain why I was requesting them to make that lighthouse. I never expected it to be published. I am glad to see it as a LLOM this year. My HL collection is kept in carios. I have books and a number of other lighthouse and ocean related items that I have recieved from family and friends that are kept on shelves. I even have a old sea captain.

Cyndi, 10 more posts and you will be an official Wacko! You can do that in no time.

Go, Cyndi, go! Do you have your avatar already picked out?

Bob

No, I don't have anything picked out yet. I am not real sure about how to set it up once I do pick one.

The choice of avatars is only limted by your imagination. Many people post a picture of their favorite lighthouse. I chose to put several different pictures of my boys, Cosmo a.k.a. "Mr. Mo", and Jesse James a.k.a. "Jesse Dawg". Originally we had planned on nicknaming Jesse James as "JJ", but for some reason we've been calling him "Jesse Dawg". I change the pic every month or so.

Well anyway, when the time comes choose your avatar and you will definitely receive help in getting on to the CF.

Bob

Come on Cyndi...you can do it.

I officially made it to "Wacko" status yesterday.
Toughest part was to size a pic down to 75 X 75 pixels for the avatar.

I am now trying to find someone to help me get my beacon to flash...don't know how to create an animated avatar.

BB

Go Cyndi! You are only short by a few posts. Hopefully by the end of the day you will have achieved WACKO status!!

That's simple, BB, plug it in or put a battery in it! (I couldn't resist!)

Bob

Bob I had a different thought on "getting my beacon to flash", but we might have minors amongst us.

BB those flashing beacons are done as animated gifs. You'll need a program that will let you create animated gifs.

A gif is "graphic interchange format" held over from Compuserve. It is a series of pictures each a bit different. Mine is 6 or 8 different images created from one picture of the lantern room and adding the 'flash' using PhotoShop and increasing the flare in increments. (Use PhotoShop filter "lens flare".) You set how long each image appears in the animation.

PhotoShop will let you create animated gifs as well the $99 version of PhotoShop.

How do you get you pictures loaded on this site. I several pictures but don't know how to post them.

Cyndi,

Start here.

Scroll down about 3/4 of the way i this thread and there is some more info about getting images ready to upload.

Ok I have tryed to upload some pictures and it says my files are to big. I have Adobe Photoshop and Kodak Easyshare programs. How do I change the size of my files to fit.

What version of photo shop do you have?

My photoshop is 3.0

I have that version, but couldn't figure out how to resize...there wasn't anything like that in edit. I ended up using photo shop 4.0.

I am going to try the 4.0
I tryed also to find a way to resize in 3.0, but couldn't find anything.

I know! I looked and looked, but couldn't find anything!! I downloaded a 30 day trial of the 4.0 and it was great! I plan on purchasing it. Right now I'm using the program from HP that came with digital camera. It allows me to control the size ,but not the compression and it doesn't have alot of the cool options that 4.0 has.

Cyndi, under the edit menu should be an option to resize the image. Go there and resize to a max of 600 pixels on the longest side (I usually stay at 550). By default, it normally has the box checked to keep the image proportional, which is what you do want. It should be set to 72 dpi, which is what your monitor displays. Save the image using the "Save As" option and give the resized image a new name. When it asks how much compression to use, take the middle choice (Adobe Elements uses a 1-12 scale, I use 5-6). Most of this is from memory, but I believe it should head you in the right direction.

If you are a Sams Club member this is usually a good place to buy Elements at a lesser cost.

I think that I figured out my latest issue...I just need to get a better pic or should I say a more clearer pic but at least I got the animation working.

BB