2006 Models Shipping?

Anyone seen (other than a picture) any of the new editions yet? I was at my Dealer's yesterday and they didn't know when they would be receiving the new HLs. They also said their rep didn't know.

Am I too early, or is this just a delay due to the move to Maine?

It is probably a little early especially considering the move from the West coast..

Speaking of the move, I wonder what the East Coast location of HL will do to the price of shipping? As it stands now, the lights come into Long Beach, go to San Diego and are shipped to dealers. In the future they will have to go from the Port to Maine to be shipped out. Almost seems like a West coast warehouse would make sense for Lighthouse Depot.

Start saving your money. Kathy says it should be the end of February when the first of the 2006 pieces are shipped to dealers.

Speaking of 2006 pieces, have you ordered your Erie Land Light PA - Collectors Forum Exclusive ?

We'll be shipping that one direct to you in March.

Can't wait to get my two!!

It will be great to finally see ELL and found out what numbers I got.

There has been quite a lapse between the last new release of 2005 and the first new release of 2006. I think peoples' interests start to travel in different directions if there is nothing new to get excited about for a lengthy period of time.

Hopefully, the new operators of Harbour Lights will work it so that at least one new release will be forthcoming each and every month. This allows for something to look forward to each month and avoids the large tab that comes with receiving multiple lights in one month and nothing for the next two.

They really need to establish a pattern that makes collecting HL's affordable to those who have monthly budgets. Multiple purchase incentives could also increase sales. I have great hopes for the future of HL collecting. I hope there are others who feel the same way.

Bob

It would be so much better if releases were spaced out. When several lights come out at once, it makes it harder to buy. I am not on autoship because I do not buy all of them. However, there have been times when I wanted to buy several but had to wait (and, consequently, get higher numbers) because I could not afford them all at one time. If you put several on layaway, the dealers expect you to pay for all of the models before you can pick them up. So, sometimes, it can take four months or five months before you can get them home. Can't wait to see what Don decides to do next year.

I am just speculating but I think the reason Harbour Lights shipped three or four at a time was to keep the shipping costs to the dealers down..

It would probably be a lot more expensive to ship one lighthouse at a time to the dealers instead of three or four at a time...

That would end up adding to the cost of the lights..

Oh, shucks, Paul. You are just too logical and probably very right!

If you have a regular dealer, they may be willing to set up a 'layaway' program for you so they can hold the pieces and ship them to you one a month.

I no longer have a dealer. Even my favorite one would not let me take a light one at a time. The whole layaway package had to be paid for before I could get them. Maybe some day I will find one who will do it. Right now, I just need to find a dealer. Although I have had several offers from out of town, I really would prefer one in town where I could go and browse and look at everything like I could some years ago.

I spoke to a dealer this weekend. Still no word on when the new lights will be shipping

Shucks

Jeff

You can't let collectors sit on their hands too long. Their interests may go elsewhere.

I'm sure the new proprietors of HL products are as anxious to get the ball rolling as we collectors are to add some new pieces to our collections.

Bob

New releases are expected in the Harbour Lights warehouse on Friday, so standing orders will be shipped to the dealers next week. Most likely releases includes Mystic Seaport and Port Clinton.

Thanks for the good news, Jim!

Bob

Good to hear! Thanks, Jim.

Spoke to my dealer on Tuesday and he told me they expect to get four of the releases in March.

I have been shooting the 2006 releases for the HL website and I just had to post a sneak peek of the Owl's Head Lighthouse..

Paul,

Beautiful photo of Owl's Head. Thank you.

bobo

All I see is a pic of a red "X". Something must have happend to the link.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Magic?

Yesterday I saw the photo -- today I don't.

bobo

John moved it's location, I will upload the normal way.. I even uploaded a bigger version of the image..

My bad; sorry Paul. Paul transfers the images by FTP'ing them and normally I delete the folders when I've downloaded them. Didn't realize he had posted from the FTP site.

It's happened enough times to ask the question--how is "my bad" translated to something meaningful?

Thanks,
Sandy

Teen-speak for "My error" or "I'm at fault", etc.

Although this May, my son will turn 21.

I spent this past weekend shooting and formatting the images of the 2006 HL releases.. John has them up on the Harbour Lights website..

2006 Releases

HL did a really nice job on the HL470 Portland Breakwater Maine lighthouse.. It should win the award for creative placement of the flag on the lighthouse. Some collectors probably won't like it's location but I think it works!!

Just arrived today! Port Clinton, Mystic Seaport, Graves and Owls head. Standing orders should be arriving at all New England dealers today, later for the rest of the country.

Thanks, Jim. The "arrival alert" network has been reconstructed - where we used to always get the first reports from our western members, the flow of HL will now go the opposite direction. Be interesting to see how long it takes to make it to the west coast.

Apparently it's payback time, Dave... After years of going West to East now we have role reversal..

West Coast dealers will have their standing orders next Wednesday (5 working UPS days to go coast to coast).

It's a shame that my autoship has to go from the East Coast to the West Coast, then back to my home on the East Coast. I really don't want to give up my low flag# so I guess that's the way it has to be. My HL's will probably travel more miles than any other collector's HL's, not including the miles from China to Maine.

Bob

Thanks Jim, for giving us the good news. Eagerly awaiting arrivals!

This evening I picked up four new LEs, Graves, Port Clinton, Mystic Seaport, and Owls Head. I like them all very much. Super job with Owls Head and I like the detail in Graves. Port Clinton is cute and Mystic (Brant Point replica) looks good with the boat docked next to it. I'm happy to be getting more Harbour Lights...it seems like it has been a long time since the last new release. Keep up the good work.

Ron
(CT Keeper)

I notice all the GLOWS have feet this year.
Owl's Head was worth the wait!

I received a call from my HL Dealer in Oregon yesterday. She advised me three of the first four releases are in and ready to ship. They are expecting the missing piece this week.

This is good news because it's been too long since the last new release was shipped. It's a sign that the transition of HL ownership has been completed and the product flow has started again.

Hopefully, we will not experience such a long period with no new releases again. I believe a steady flow of new LE's contributes to creating more interest in the product. It is better to have something coming in each month rather than nothing for three months, then a large group of pieces all at once.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to receiving the new releases.

Bob

Bob as I stated in an earlier thread and have found out that it is the reason they come in groups to dealers, it is to hold down shipping costs to the dealers.. and therfore it is done to hold down the costs of the product..

Not to dispute your word Paul, as I know you are far more in-the-know then I am.

But personally I don't think it's so much to hold down the shipping costs to the dealers. Dealer Shipping cost should be so much per pound. And that per pound charge isn't going to change much whether they get a large shipment or a small shipment. Per pound is per pound.

I think it is more the shipping cost from China to the US. As it would be much cheeper to send a whole container full in one shipment, then to send several partial containers to the US. So they can save some big bucks by holding the container until they've made several different modals and therefore filling it. And when that container arrives here in the US they could hold them up and only ship out one modal at a time to dealers. But that would mean having to have the storage warehouse to hold them in. And that too would be more added expense. So the best solution to the shipping expense is to ship out all modals to dealers as they arrive from a full container.

So ultimately, you are correct, it is a shipping expense issue and a way to keep the product cost down. I just don't agree with it being a way to hold down shipping costs to the dealer.

IMHO right or wrong.

The cost of shipping is not just a per pound cost only, if you shipped 20 little light individually and shipped another box with 20 LL's in it you would find a huge difference in the costs with similar weights (in total) UPS has curve in costs where a mid size box with ideal weight can much cheaper that 2 boxes with the same cargo, HL's box's are sized to hold like 6-9 pieces per box. Box size gets to big - shipping fee goes way up, weight gets to high - shipping fee goes way up. Carriers like mid size ideal weight boxes so they can be handled easily and quickly (cost effective)

Got the call from my dealer last Friday and picked them up Saturday afternoon. Nice pieces.

In reference to the discussion about shipping costs, it is BOTH the costs from China, and the UPS costs to the dealers. It all has to do with Harbour Lights cutting costs or they'll be out of business.

We're guessing that all sets of new releases from now on, will come from China in 2 containers, spaced 1-2 months apart. Containers MUST be full to save money, and Harbour Lights cannot afford to bring in new releases in the large quantities that they used to, so you must have SEVERAL new releases at once.

UPS shipping rates to the dealers is far more complicated, with several factors not mentioned yet. The biggest variation is geography. Now that Harbour Lights is located in Maine, shipping the same size package to a dealer, would cost $22.00 to Oregon, and $6.50 to Massachusetts. Weight is not that big a factor. The initial charge (for a 1-lb package) depends on where you are located geographically (from $5.25 to $8.75). After that, for each additional pound, the shipping costs will increase 20 cents to 50 cents, again depending on the geographical location of the destination. When a large package reaches a certain size (in dimensions, not weight), it is considered "Oversized," and is automatically assigned a weight of at least 30 lbs. This jumps the shipping costs up drastically, especially for the geographically-challenged locations.

So, yes, Harbour Lights will do the cost-effective thing. If they receive new releases from China in bunches, they will ship them to dealers in bunches. Most good dealers, though, will NOT make you buy them in bunches, rather allowing you to purchase them one or two at a time, whatever is finacially feasible for the customer.

This means there will be bigger gaps between new releases arriving, but if it keeps Harbour Lights in business, it's worth it.

Very interesting...

My dealer is in Oregon and they do not charge me shipping. Now their profit will be considerably less because they pay the high priced shipping from Maine to Oregon, and then from Oregon to Massachusetts. It seems a shame to ship cross country to the dealer and then have to ship cross country to my home.

I wonder if my dealer is going to be able to afford to maintain my free shipping status? If the shipping charges get passed on to me, will it be worth keeping my auto ship with the Oregon dealer.

I must admit I keep the auto ship because of my low flag#, and that's why I purchase one of every new LE release. If my dealer starts charging for shipping, the loss of that benefit could push me into just buying what I like instead of them all.

I've been on auto ship for approximately five years or so. I have purchased many HL's that I probably would have passed on if it wasn't for maintaining my auto ship committment. Keeping a complete collection is no longer a high priority to me. Like many of you, display and storage space are limited but I continue to buy. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens and weigh my options.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes: