Scaasis Lighthouses?

I received a Scaasis model of Harbor of Refuge from a neighbor with a number of SC231B. Now I know nothing at all about this brand.

I checked the web and it appears that SC231 retails for around $30 (their larger version). In checking Ebay it seems that the larger versions of their lights have been selling for $5 to $10. (The ones that actually received bids.)

Besides thanking my neighbor for her lovely gift I also have to figure out what to do with this thing. It's so poorly made and painted compared to any HL that I have....I think there may be a total of 4 colors used. No offense to anyone out there who may also collect this brand, but there is simply no comparison to HL...

Just wondered about the 231B as opposed to the 231 (no B), if anyone knows what this signifies?

Apparently the B stands for Bad!

Looking at the site I was just on, the explanation is they usually have been known for their small, $12 - $15 lights and they decided to give people the opportunity to collect the "B"ig-ger version, which is more detailed and more comparable to Harbour Lights at less than 1/2 the price; so 231S would be one of the small, less detailed, plain-ol'-ugly ones and the 231B would be the greater detailed Big'un!


Steve

I have seen them being sold at Cracker barrel.
They are from a family owned business in New Jersey.
Here is their website.


http://www.scaasis.com/

I have some non-harbour lighthouses, and Yes Harbour Lights are the best, however, in some cases Harbour Lights does not offer the lighthouse where Scassis or other companies do.
I have their big size Price's Creek the way it looks now and that was before Harbour Lights made the current one as it looked new.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I only collect Harbour Lights. I'm sure we have people here at the CF that have other than Harbour Lights in their lighthouse related collections. There is nothing wrong with that. If you didn't have anything to compare with Harbour Lights, how would you know that HL's are the best?

Bob

Looks like Scaasi is branching out into crap as well as lighthouses.

(Sorry, couldn't resist after seeing this.)

I have their Prices Creek & Middle Bay and both look fairly good, I have the large ones. They may not be as detailed as HL but for someone w/o the money to purchase them, Scassis is a fair alternative. I personally don't have any HL Collector Pieces, I have 5 leftons, 2 scassis, and 2 Little Lights.

Unbelievable John! If you continue on their site you can find the Harbor of Refuge shown only as 231.

http://www.scaasis.com/description.asp?ProductID=188&ProdCat_ID=4

Imo it really is a dog. I certainly hope she didn't have to pay retail for it, especially as she is on a very limited income.

I saw one of those animals at a party - a gag gift - I think it was a donkey. The poop in the Scaasis link looks like M & M's. The one at the party used jellybeans. Hey, guys, remember that we are on the list of lighthouse references online. One of my friends read my posts when he was trying to help me identify a Chinese light for Margret. When he searched for an answer, Google brought him to the forums where Margret posted the question and several of us responded to her. We are not the only ones reading these posts.

Grace Said:When he searched for an answer, Google brought him to the forums where Margret posted the question and several of us responded to her. We are not the only ones reading these posts.

In other words, thank the lady, put it in a window facing her house so she can see it, and tell her you've no more space for lighthouses and leave it alone. :rolleyes:

Steve

Scaasis does make lighthouses that HL does not have, but they are not very well made and when purchasing one, you need to look at several to find one that isn't painted too badly. There doesn't seem to be any quality control. I don't think their numbers mean much of anything, at least not as far as being a limited edition or anything.

Thanks to those who have offered info/opinions.

Grace I wasn't sure if you were cautioning me from discussing the Scaasis or my neighbor! I did a search for something once and came up with a post that I'd made in the chat room so I am aware that we can be quite public here. But I appreciate your concern.

As for the piece itself I'll keep an eye out for the Scaasis enforcer in case he decides to pay me a visit.

As for my neighbor, she's a very nice person who has in the past given me other lighthouse items like magnets, inexpensive windchimes, once a lighthouse trivet. I was just kind of shocked to have received what may have been a more expensive gift this year. She's retired and her only income is Social Security. She does not have a pc.

I have many of the Scaasis small lighthouses in my collection, and they are very similar to Harbour Lights' "This Little Light of Mine" series. These lighthouses are about 3 to 4 inches high and those from both companies appear to be the same in quality. Most of the Scaasis large lighthouses are virtually the same as the smaller ones except for the size, and they cost a little more. The Scaasis miniatures that I own seem to be of fairly decent quality, although the larger Harbour Lights have more detail. I would think that Harbour Lights would put as much quality and effort into their smaller pieces as their large lighthouses. There are some Michigan lighthouses that are made by Scaasis but not Harbour Lights.

The designation of the letter indicates the size. 231 is Harbor of Refuge's #, where the "B" means that it is the large, or big size. The "S" designation would mean it is, of course, small, whereas a "MIN" refers to a miniature size, "F" refers to a lamp finial, "PC" refers to a fan pull chain, "PO" means it's an ornament, "M" is a magnet, and "LU" means it's a "light-up".
True, the detail of the Scaasis is nowhere near the intracacies of the Harbour Lights, especially when comparing the large pieces, but neither is the price. Collectors who purchase the Scaasis lighthouses aren't buying them as investments, hoping to sell them at a higher price when the lighthouse is retired. Scaasis collectors are usually just looking for momentos of lighthouses they have visited or grew up around. They find that they usually get decent quality for the price.
As many of the collectors here are not familiar with the Scaasis line, many Scaasis collectors are not familiar with Harbour Lights. Sometimes when we introduce our Scaasis customers to the Harbour Lights line, they are hooked by the quality and detail, especially on the larger size lighthouses. We also have numerous customers who purchase both Scaasis small and LLOM's, as there are many which one company makes that the other doesn't, or that HL has a LLOM version of a light which has been retired by Scaasis.

In early 2002, I visited the Outer Banks, NC with my son, and photographed Bodie and Cape Hatteras lighthouses. My son, also a HL collector, visited a HL dealer there, and purchased his Thomas Point, MD LE. I, not familiar with Harbour Lights at the time, purchased small Scaasis Bodie and Cape Hatteras pieces as mementos of our visit. After returning home, I became interested in Harbour Lights, joined the HL Collectors Sosiety and now have more than 250 HL pieces in my collection. True, Scaasis pieces cannot compare to the quality and detail of Harbour Lights, but not for my purchase of those two small pieces, I probably never would have become a HL collector.

I too first became interested in Lighthouses because of a visit to the Outer Banks. For me it was in 2000. While looking through Gift Shops we decided to get a little lighthouse as memento of our visit. Not wanting to spend much money on such things, we bought a few no-name bran replicas. Then we saw the Scaasis Lighthouses sometime later and thought how much better these where from what we had. So we bought the Scaasis to replace them with and were very happy with our new collection. By now our Love of Lighthouses had grown, and over a period of about two years we had seen about 20 lights. So our Scaasis collection was gowning. At many of the shops where we where buying the Scaasis we would see the Harbour Lights and just drool over the details. But still wouldn't spend the money to buy them! Finally I couldn't stand it any longer..... I had to have at least one Harbour Light in my collection. Now 6 years later, I have over 400 Harbour Lights!

I have used the Scaasis as gifts and give-away's over the years. But I do still have a few.

If Harbour Lights would make their "This Little Light of Mine" series in a six to eight size instead of the three to four inch replicas that they currently offer the lighthouses would be about the same in quality as the Scaasis large lighthouses. Scaasis, Lefton, Spoontiques, and Harbour Lights have all made the little lights. The advantage is that they are inexpensive and take up very little space. Scaasis and Lefton offered some lower cost large (6-8 inch) replicas, but Lefton's are now apparently very hard to find. The really large size (6-9 inch) made by Lefton is great, but it's hard to find space for those lighthouses if you live in a small house. Most of the Michigan lights have been made in the 3-4 inch size, so it is a good choice if I want to collect as many as possible from my own state.

A Harbour Lights 6" to 8" sized LLOM is a regular sized LE.

In my opinion, Scassis doesn't come close to Harbour Lights in detail. Scassis models are cheaper in price because they are cheaper in quality.

I started out colecting Scassis and Lefton lighthouses. I have now switched all of them to HL's, except for a couple that HL doesn't make yet.

But of course Harbour Lights also makes the "This Little Light Of Mine" miniatures, which measure only three to four inches in size and cost much less than than their larger lighthouses. I was not aware that there was any other size for that series. The larger ones are usually listed as a different series in the catalogs (such as Lighthouse Depot) and on websites. But has Harbour Lights sacrificed on quality in making the smaller miniatures? Probably not a whole lot. On the whole, I don't see much difference between them and the other well known companies in the little size. The small size is well worth having in your collection if you don't have much space and don't wish to spend a fortune. Scaasis once had more Michigan lights in this size than HL, but HL has recently released more little ones from my state.

Harbour Lights would never make a poor quality lighthouse if they want to protect their company's reputation. So the Scaasis lighthouses (both large and small) must be at least as good as HL's "This Little Light of Mine" series since they are so much like them. Good quality comes in all sizes-- large and small.