HL697 Racine Reef WI Regional Event Piece

The Racine Reef lighthouse that once stood in Lake Michigan off the shore of Wisconsin will be the Regional Event Exclusive for 2007. Suggested Retail is $65.

Expect more information on the two planned regional events not later than Monday.

A list of participating dealers will carry this beautiful replica:

Awesome looking piece! I look forward to it-seeing that it's no longer in existance.
Will you also be releasing the list of dealers?

Great news!!!!!

I lived in Racine in the 50's - on to Kenosha in the 60's. Must say, I LOVE FLORIDA.

Terry The Bronze Lady of Orlando www.bronzelady.com

Terry,

I also lived in Racine from the 40's through the 50's and early 60's. Went to high school at St. Catherine's I am anxiously looking forward to this piece.

bobo

Now that's a very different and unique looking HL. It should be a great seller!

Bob

I love different and unique! The more that I look at this piece the more that I want it!!
This is definitely a "must have"!!!!

Great job-Harbour Lights!!

Debbie,

You got that right. In fact, I think I'll get two -- one for me and one for my brother. I've asked for Racine Reef for a long time.

bobo

Nice replica !!! Due to a tight budget and that I don't collect lighthouses from this area, I may have to pass.

But I'm glad those in the Great Lakes are happy. Just hope there's some mid-Atlantic lighthouse due this summer.

Always happy to see another Great Lakes light and the fact that is a "Lost Lighthouse" makes it even more special. It will be in the curio ASAP.
Roger

Looks great!

Looking forward to purchasing this! I think it is quite interesting, unique, and "nifty".

I hope to put this alongside the Port Washington, WI Old or New) light some day! ..hint hint

Information about the 2007 Regional Events has been posted. CLICK HERE

John,

Thanks for the post concerning the 2007 Regional Events. We were all anxiously waiting for it. Patience is NOT our strong point. Please keep it as current as possible. I guess we can call off the vigilantes.

bobo

Wow!!! There's currently only 9 dealers for the regional piece.

What's amazing is my local dealer(Magical Carousel Shop) is on the list (10 minutes from my house) and my non-local dealer (Cape Annie's) is on the list.

I might just have to buy this one!!!

My dealer in Oregon is not on the list so far. I will be patient to see if they join the group. I'm definitely interested in obtaining this fine looking HL for my collection.

Bob

My dealer (Cape Annies) is on the list. Jim you will be hearing from me.

Has anyone gotten the Racine Piece yet? When I was at the St. Augustine Lighthouse Festival they hadn't received them yet. Was wonderering when they were coming out.


Jim

If you intend to purchase the Racine Reef WI Regional Event piece, you won't want to wait too long.

The initial order was for 750. It is very unlikely that HL will place a reorder even if these 750 are sold out.

Only a limited number of dealers are able to order this piece. Check at www.harbourlights.com/events/regional.htm and place your order.

Jim, as of today I have not received my Racine Reef from the St. Augustine event.

Sean Thompson

I have reserved one of these form my local HL dealer.

Other then those going to the Indy regional event, you won't get the Racine Reef piece until early July. Of course there may be an update to it's shipment status.

I put my order in at the ST Augustine lighthouse. Rosemarie wasn’t there today so we will have to see later if they can get me one.
Here is a little inside news that should make the Racine Reef special to Forum members. Especially to the forum lighthouse exclusive team. The Racine Reef was the front-runner for being picked as the Forum exclusive. The reason it was not picked was that it was believed that HL could not do it justice for the price range and low production amount we were seeking. It would have to have been smaller with out all the metal work, which would have taken away its attractiveness.
I hope it was okay that I shared this with everyone. I feel that since it is being offered by HL that it would make it even more special and desirable if the forum members knew this.

Very nice touch Daniel. Thanks for sharing that with us. I trust that theis pice will be ENJOYED by many. I know I will.... and only 750 edition size to boot!!

I love Wisconsin lights. I have been "pushing" for a Port Washington, WI 2-piece set (Breakwater and Old light on hill) for years.... Perhaps some day

OK, well its is the last day in June and the HL website states that the Racine Reef should received by dealers sometime in June.

Anybody have information as to whether or not they are available yet?

I talked to my dealer on Wednesday, and according to him, Racine Reef is NOT yet available.

bobo

I posted a while back that I heard that they will be arriving in early July.

The folks at HL were able to get some ready for the Indy regional last weekend, but most would be arriving at HL dealers in July.

Let's hear from some of those who attended the Indianapolis Regional... Did they have them for sale? Did you buy one? What's your rating on this piece?

It is a very nice lighthouse, I will attach some close-ups this weekend... They had around 40 or 50 at the Regional and sold all but one..

Even though both Harry and Tony sent separate letters to the factory not to number them, they got numbered once again.. So the Regional lighthouses will all be numbered again this year.. Numbers 11 through 50 or 60 are now in the hands of lucky collectors that came to Indy and had a great time at the Regional..

I'm happy to hear the Racine piece is numbered. I'd prefer if all pieces are numbered. To me it make them more special.

Numbering event pieces is a challenge because they really don't know how many might be sold, but also because it makes it difficult for a person to obtain a number to match their autoship numbers. Essentially creates more issues than good.

For the Indianapolis regional 48 pieces were flown in. No one at HL knew they were numbered until they arrived at the warehouse. Because they were numbered, pieces 1-10 were held back and 11-48 were sent to the event. So, there were 38 pieces at the regional, 37 of them now residing in someone's collection.

One thing to pay attention to when you receive your Racine Reef: As with many HL pieces, be very careful taking this one out of the box. There are a couple of appendages that could be bent or broken by a careless removal. Just pay attention to how you grasp the piece to remove it from the packing and you will be fine.

This is a really nice piece, probably my favorite of all the regional pieces. The light is very unique in its design. Real shame that it was destroyed, but that happened in the past. There are some images of the light being torn down at www.terrypepper.com .

Dave,

I tried several times to take a look at your posted link to Racine Reef, and all I get is this message:

You are not authorized to view this page

Did I do something wrong?

Bob

There's an extra 'dot' at the end of Dave's link. Here's a direct one to Racine Reef

http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/racine-reef/racine-reef.htm

Have no idea why the hot link does not work - I got the same response. However, if you will copy the address and paste it into a window it does work. Here is the link to the specific page: http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/racine-reef/racine-reef.htm .

Terry's site is a great resource for those looking for information on lights in the western GL area.

Actually, the extra "dot" is the period at the end of the sentence that the software took upon itself to include as part of the link. Sometimes artificial intelligence really isn't too intelligent when it makes assumptions . . . .

Nice story on Terry's website.

Too bad it couldn't have been saved.

It would be cool if Harbour Lights could make the current skelton tower sitting on the original base. We would have a before and after set, similar to the Round Island, MS set.

Very sad that such a beautiful light of such unusual architectural design was lost forever. Once again for cost efficiency...did they ask for public help?
Such a shame!

I got to see this piece on display Saturday.
Very nicely done! Can't wait to get mine!!!

A few more days and they should be at HL dealers.

Another week has gone by and no call that my Racine Reef has come in.

Another has gone by, but I got the call this weekend. Picked it up this afternoon.



Great looking piece !!! More comments later !!!

Mine should be arriving today!

Can someone post a picture of this piece's flag? I was wondering if indeed the rumor was true that this piece is indeed numbered.

Obviously, I didn't received mine or even received a call from the dealer that I order mine from yet. In a week or two, I will be looking for a new "regional participate dealer", since the dealer that I order mine from won't even return my phone calls.

Christopher,

It is not a rumor. The regional piece was mistakenly numbered again this year. There is an edition size of 1500 (/1500 on the flag) with the number of that piece. The actual number of pieces sold may be somewhat smaller than 1500.

Jim

A quick pic



Jim

Thanks for clearing that up Jim! I was wondering why the flag said /1500 when I keep seeing 750 as the projected number.
I received mine yesterday...love it!!!

I love quoting myself.. I posted the above in this thread on June 30th after the Regional.. I don't think I said rumored to be numbered but that they all will be numbered..

#94 Purchased at Top of the Lighthouse this past weekend at Harbor Town, Hilton Head Island.

I am still waiting on the one I purchased at the St. Augustine event. Harry told me the pieces purchased there were in Bills hands for signing and would be mailing to the buyers soon.

Sean

Like many auto ship customers who collect a specific flag#, I'm not pleased that my auto ship number of this piece is probably now in the hands of some "lucky collector". This is "strike 2" for Harbour Lights for not taking the time to fulfill their obligation to those consumers who buy one of every new LE, AB, Lens, and special pieces because we collect that flag#.

I spend a lot of money supporting Harbour Lights by purchasing their wares. It would certainly be a lot cheaper for me to buy what I like and not every new piece that's introduced. Then my support for my dealer goes in the "can" and I can further save money by shopping eBay for bargain prices.

I hope the folks from Harbour Lights read this because they have, for a second time, put a pin in my balloon of my interest in maintaining my auto ship.

What are they doing to sanction the "factory" for ignoring two letters from the most important people they deal with?

Extremely disappointed and on the edge of dropping my auto ship...

Bob M.

Bob,

This isn't really the right place for this discussion, but you need to look at the "big" picture. HL told the factory not to number the pieces. Not once, but twice. They did not know they were numbered until they showed up in Maine just before the Indianapolis regional.

By the time they arrived, a dealer had been asked to come to the regional to sell the pieces to collectors, and had committed to sending people from their store to allow collectors to buy the piece. Prety much had to go forward with things even though the pieces were not exactly as ordered. The first 48 were flown in. At the same time they left by air, the balance of the shipment had been containerized and was on a ship headed for the US. Had HL forced the factory to redo the entire run, the pieces would not have been available until fall sometime. Not exactly what they wanted.

I am quite sure that words have flowed towards the factory. However, it is not our position to know what has been said or whether they have imposed any "sanctions" on the factory. What has happened has happened, and HL had to make a decision they knew would cause some grief but was in the best interest of all concerned.

The Racine Reef piece is wonderfully detailed and very good looking, as well as being reasonably priced. As I mentioned earlier, I think it is my favorite regional piece.

Short of a HL staffer moving to China to live at the factory things like this will happen from time to time. Sometimes we have to accept the hand that was dealt to us. I don't think it is fair to blame HL for the factory goof on this one, or for HL making a business decision to accept the pieces even though they were numbered.

Even though you feel this is not the thread to discuss this, it looks like we are. I'll wrap it up quickly. When they (HL) discovered the pieces were numbered, they should have taken immediate action by not selling the auto ship (reserved) numbered pieces. They should have seen to it that those flag#'s that are normally auto shipped should have been put aside and sent to the appropriate dealers for later delivery to their customers. Instead they let them go making a small group of people happy because they got a low number for a change. Maybe the person who got my #23 may be interested in a 2-digit auto ship, but you have to buy all of them, no picking and choosing. You could get them all, or should I say most of them, with the special #23.

If you can't already tell, I'm not happy about this. This is the second time this has happend, and I personally find that unacceptable. Some people may feel it's a small thing, but I look at it differently. Dropping the buy-them-all auto ship could be a small thing that would probably cut my HL/AB/Lens budget by more than 2/3's. I also feel there may be a few others who have similar feelings but may not express them. I'm not shy. I like the CF and enjoy the varied discussions that take place. You can even be a member here even if you don't collect HL's.

Bob

Bob,

Regional event pieces are not included in normal store autoship shipments. Not all stores who take autoship allotments choose to be regional supporting dealers, so their customers would not receive their matching numbered pieces.

I feel better knowing #94 was not your number Bob. It's a good thing they didn't have these available at the St. Augustine Event or your number might have even been higher. What numbers are reserved for the next regional?

Maybe an option for this happening in the future would be to just ink out the number with a black permanent marker. Then there are no "Lucky" ones, and all of us, even the auto ship people have a black blotch piece . Maybe the pieces were already finished before the letters arrived. Who knows . I don't have an answer that wants to be heard by those who are really offended by this mistake but I thinks its time to move on with life okay?

I received my Racine Reef pieces yesterday, thanks to Jim!

This piece is absolutely awesome and is ALL and PLUS SOME that I expected from HL after looking at Paul's earlier images. This is a must have piece if you collect lighthouses from the Great Lakes....

I just love the "tarnished" looking green roof!! (I hope and trust that it is not made with lead paint)