Christmas pieces arrive

Got home from work today and had a message that the Stratford Point, CT christmas piece had arrived, along with the Fresnel lens ornaments. I guess I'll be making a trip back into town tonight to pick them up, and my wife will be happy since I'll use the excuse I'm taking her to dinner.

9:30 Picked up the pieces and just got home. Stratford Point is a great example of a unique limited edition. Not only does the tower flash, but the house and the tree in front are lite up too. I also really like the ornaments, and my only change would have been to make them hollow instead of solid plastic so that you could have put a miniture light in them and they would have been lit.

I saw both pieces you speak of at the Regional in Long Island. Nice stuff!

If you position a light directly behind the ornaments on your Christmas tree, you may achieve the same effect of having a light within.

Bob

The Christmas piece arrived today and Nantucket came in yesterday. I believe that is all there is for 2003. This gives about 5 months before any 2004 pieces start and a chance for the plastic to recoup.

Nice to hear that they arrived Rich. I hope that the Nantucket comes sailing in to New England soon and brings Stratford along with it.

Bert

I got the call last night... My Stratford Point pieces (one for me, one as a gift) came in. I'll be making that trip TONIGHT to pick them up.
I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

Jeff,

Thanks for letting us know that Stratford has arrived in Connecticut. Can't be too far behind in getting to Massachusetts. HOpefully the Nantucket will come sailing in with it. Wife has already mentioned that I can't have it till Christmas.

OH BOY!!!

Bert

My Stratford Point was shipped to me this morning, along with the Christmas ornaments! I thought I was going to have to wait a couple of weeks to pick it up. Nice surprise!

Judy

Waiting on Nantucket!

Judy

My dealer mentioned this morning that she plans to use the Fresnel lenses ornaments as ceiling fan pulls!

She also raved about the detail...they'll go on my tree at Christmas. But I might just have to see what they look like as pulls. Who'd ever would've thought!

Judy

Got my Christmas pieces in today. I really like the Stradford Point.

Received mine today too! Love Stratford Point and the detail on those tiny Fresnel lenses is incredible!

One problem though. My deal with myself was that I could look at Stratford Point and then it was to go back into the box until after Thanksgiving.

I can't get this one back into the foam insert! It's driving me batty!

Judy

Mixed feelings on my part...I really like the lighthouse and quarters. I like the snowman and the Christmas Tree. I think it looks really nice when its lit up (with batteries hidden inside it). BUT I really dislike the openly visible adapter hole. I'll display it in my curio year-round on the shelf with the other Christmas pieces. I have the habit of rotating the pieces periodically to get different views, but Stratford Point will just have to stay in one position with that darned hole facing to the back.

I agree about the hole. I don't know why they put it on the side which gives the best view for displaying the lighthouse. Otherwise they did a fantastic job.

The Lightkeeper
Mike

The lens ornaments are totally cool...I like 'em better than the large replicas...no bulbs, no batteries, no cords, and no tipping-over to worry about!

I also do not like the adapter plug being on the side.An easy design change would have the plug on the bottom using an angled 90 degree plug.As the distance from table to bottom has already been increased with this years Christmas piece as well as the 2nd order Fresnel a little more distance would accomadate the change.In addition to being able to purchase an adapter from the local Radio Shack and the like for a fair price you can also purchase an angled plug adapter turning the standard strait plug in one with a 90 degree angle.

Stratford Point is the greatest accomplishment in the history of Harbour Lights to-date! The electrification of the piece is magnificent, and while I agree that the plug hole is somewhat annoying on the side, the beauty of this piece far exceeds the drawback.

As a CT resident, I cringed when an in-state piece was finally announced and it deviated from the norm for LE's with this new innovation. Figured it would be hokey, and almost didn't buy it. Called HL the day I planned to pick it up to make sure it didn't have a bulb that could burn out as well.

I think all Christmas pieces should have this technology. What makes this piece special is not just the tower lit, but the house and the Christmas tree. The blue light on the tower is really nice!

I think the rumor that HL will be making new GLOWs with this technology will certainly energize sluggish sales - provided the dealers light up the pieces in the first place.

My dealer in Milford, Connecticut (next town to Stratford) just had the piece sitting on an open shelf with no electrification, high up on top where someone wouldn't even see it. It was the gem of the whole collectible shop.

Ctlights, you're making my mouth water with your description. I'm happy to announce that I got the call tonight and my Stratford and the lens ornaments are in and I will pick them up tomorrow. I'm looking forward to this one, even though I've been told I can't get it till Christmas. SHUCKS!

Bert

Well I went in to pick Stratford up today and find that every description of it here on the forums are right on target. It's a wonderful piece and I love the new technology of lighting up the tower, keepers house and that tree is something else. WELL DONE HL! Also got my Nantucket that sailed in a few days ago and I wasn't aware of it. Posted the news on the Anchor Bay forum.

Bert

Okay, here's my question:

When you turn it on, is the light confined to JUST the windows and the bulbs on the trees...or does the light "leak" and light up other parts of the sculpture like so many competitor products do?

I can't stand "lighted" lighthouse model makers who just stick a bulb inside and it lights up the whole thing---the roof, the walls, the bushes, the chimney. Gimme a break.

So...?

I think you will be happy with the electification. The tower light is flashing blue, (slowly, just like a real lighthouse), the small windows light up white, the windows in the house are lit, a few of the bulbs on the tree are lit orange and blue. There is no light leakage anywhere. THIS IS REALLY A WELL DONE PIECE.

I agree...no leakage. It is extremely well done (except for the hole).

No leakage on mine either. It is very well done, hole or no hole.

Bert

WOW!
After reading that, I'm scratching my plans for waiting until the holidays to bring this one out to the shelves.

I've got to have this one out...NOW!

Kim had lots to say about this piece when we talked in Maryland...but I kinda chalked all the "hoopla" up to marketing strategy. Sounds like it's all true, and now I can't wait to see!

Thanks, ctlights, and everyone else here for the great reviews!

Judy

Yes, you should get it out Judy. You can't enjoy it very much if its in the box I keep my Christmas pieces out and enjoy them all year round.

I still haven't received my Christmas piece and ornaments from my dealer in Oregon. They were supposed to be shipped a week ago yesterday.

I hope delivery is just a little slow. I hate to think something happend to them.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Hopefully today, Bob. They're beautiful. I may even get the ornaments.

Bert

I commented on Stratford Point but not on the ornaments. The ornaments are very well done..but not very "Christmassy" either. Alot of the prior ornaments have snow on them to give that Christmas feel. Of course it wouldn't make alot of sense to put snow on the lenses, now would it? If you have a lighthouse-themed Christmas tree they will fit in especially nicely with the other ornaments. Because they are not particularly seasonal in and of themselves they can have other uses...I like the fan pull idea...and I would consider that a plus.

The four new lens ornaments will also allow a collector, with a small display space and a limited budget, to own a smaller version of the limited edition lenses.

I feel this year's choice for Christmas Ornaments was an excellent choice which will allow people to display them year-round if they choose to do so.

Good thinking, Harbour Lights!

Bob

I received the Christmas piece and ornies for this year. They are extremely well done. I haven't put any batteries in the Stratford Pt. yet, nor have I looked what size it takes. I'll probably save that for the Christmas season.

It could be interesting to put the piece in the curio and let non-HL people try to figure out why that one appears to be lighted. I'll just tell them it must be their imagination.

Bob

I have not been overly impressed with this year's sculptures (this may be the first year a GLOW wins "Best in Show," fer cryin' out loud). But I stopped by my dealer today and he had finally installed batteries into his Stratford Point display model.

I snatched it up.

Leave it to Harbour Lights to get it right.

What convinced me was this: If I turn it on in a darkened room, it looks like what a lighthouse would look like from a distance at night---a few houselights, the tower windows lit, and the lantern room flash. Like the sculpture itself, the lighting is...accurate. Thus, in my opinion, Harbour Lights has not compromised its integrity (with the exception of the hole where the AC adaptor goes...).

I look forward to future editions. Stratford Point, at least, is a keeper.

I picked mine up today and I really like it! Although the door to the light tower is in the rear (where the hole is) the other side is the front door of the keeper's house so I think it looks fine as the front also affords the best view of the tree. And I don't think the light in the tower is really blue. It may be just the windows that make it appear blue? The characteristic of the real lighthouse is flashing white.

I had asked the dealer to order the adapters for both the lens and the Xmas piece. When I picked up my pieces today both of the adapters said "for the lens" on their boxes. So it seems that I have a 3 volt for both. The 3 volt seems to work ok in the Xmas piece. I.O. said it's probably better as when the lights go out on this piece there's no way to replace them??? I wonder how long we can expect this piece to stay lit?

That's an extremely interesting point! I'm surprised that no one had thought of that until now. What do you do if the internal lights cease to function in the future?

Bob

If the lights in Stratford are of the diode type they should last a very long time! as in you may never have an outage. However diode lighting is very sensitive to static electricity and grounding so follow this hint ..... plug the adapter cord into the lighthouse first before plugging into the wall.

I know I'm a Jonny come lately on this one, but I just got my Cove Point and Christmas piece last weekend, (don't know why it took my dealer so long to get her autoships) and I have to say the Christmas piece is unbelievable! The lighting is perfect, and when viewed in a dark room, actually looks like you're veiwing the real thing. The way the windows cast the light out over the snow, AWSOME! Hope we see an occasional lighted L.E.

Mike