What do you all do with all the HL boxes we keep? I store mine in the attic of my home but a recent one minute inspection trip showed me the Southern summer heat were taking their toll. What do y'all do?

Lamar

Lamar,
Read your message about storing your light house boxes. Good timing, I was in the process of putting them in the attic, but Lafayette has extremely high summer heat.

Hope someone out there has a reasonable answer. One question....did you have your HL boxes inside larger boxes??

Later
Bob St.Clair

If there's a headache associated with collecting Harbour Lights (or any limited-edition collectible that comes in box, for that matter) it's gotta be storing those boxes---particularly those associated with the newer pieces that have the form-fitting foam inserts.

I literally have no choice but to keep them in the attic (I first put them into large lawn bags for protection). Although Maine isn't oven-like very often, I can certainly sympathize with your situation.

Aside from stacking up the boxes to create a new room in your home (I've always wanted a den), you might think about friends or family who may have an appropriate storage area nearby with some extra room. Apart from that or renting a climate-controlled storage unit, that's about all I can think of.

Good luck.

The old style boxes I collapse and store inside a larger box - holds about 60 of them. The peanuts go in large trash bags, both of which get stored in the garage - hot in the summer.

The new boxes with fitted inserts I store on upper shelves in closets, all neatly turned with the labels facing out. 0 :>)

I've heard of a few people who throw away the styrofoam inserts and collapse those newer boxes. (Oh-oh) :>{

This is going to be interesting to hear the replys to this...I hope John C. will read this and reply.

I have over 72 lighthouses, both the old type and the new. I do not have the room to store a ton of open boxes. The boxes are only important because someone said they were.
Yes, they have the sticker and number on them, and that is the reason we all keep them. I do not feel the keeping the bubble rap from the old Lighthouses is important nor
do I think keeping the fitted inserts are either. I keep the boxes folded and in the bottom of one of my display cabinets. I have sold and traded several and have never have anyone refuse to accept how I ship the Lighthouses to them. They ship better covered in bubble rap and peanuts put around that, then put into another box and peanuts put around the org. box again. If I have to keep all of the above I would not be able to collect these Lighthouses. I say as long as you have the Lighthouse, the org. box, and all the paper work, then you should have nothing to worry about.

I really would like to hear how eveyone fills about this, because if I am wrong, then I have a $7,000 collection that is not worth anything..............

[This message has been edited by Richard.]

Well since you asked... I too think boxes are highly over-rated. Jim R. in his "Harbour Lights Survival Guide" 4th Edition, 1998 says:

It may just be that the boxes are 'important' because some of us have said they were. I look in my garage at the stacked empty boxes with styrofoam inserts and the collapsed boxes and bags of peanuts and bubble wrap and wonder why do I have these? How likely am I to sell my personal collection? (Yea, right!).

Perhaps the boxes wouldn't be so important if it weren't for the design on them or that lighthouse boxes come in different sizes. If there were just 2-3 standard sizes and plastic peanuts and ID labels were used in them all, you could buy all the replacement packaging from HL if you really wanted it.

We've had only a few pieces that Lighthouse Keepers purchased to resell that didn't come with boxes. Primarily they were artist's proofs. They probably didn't come with a box originally - and the buyers could care less if it came with a box.

If you as a buyer had your choice of one with or another without a box, you'd choose the boxed one. But if the unboxed one were a 2 digit serial number and the boxed one were a 4 digit - would you hestiate a second to buy the lower # at the same price even though it came without a box?

If it doesn't come with a box and you want to buy it for your personal collection - just buy it. If you don't have room to store boxes and boxes, make the decision. Do you plan to sell them someday? Do you think a Castle Hill will someday be worth what a Portland Head is today? [No.] So keep the boxes of the ones that are likely to have long term value - a dozen or so. And send the other boxes to me!! (Just kidding). Maybe there can be an active secondary market in used boxes... hmmmm.

Some designs are more fragile than others - keep the boxes for those.

[This message has been edited by JChidester.]

As a relatively new collector I would like to make a few personal observations. At this point in time we don't have a very large area to display our collection so many of our pieces remain stored away. I really like having the original packing to store them in since it is far superior to what I could come up with using generic packing materials. Also when we decide to move, having the original packing will elliminate the worry of moving our collection.

I like buying things that are new and being the first to open the box. When I buy a piece, whether it is from a retailer or a secondary dealer, I appreciate getting it in its original box and packing. That tells me that the person selling the piece has some of same appreciation for the value of the piece and wanted to keeping it looking as new as possible. The "MIB" that many people like to use gives me the impression they are trying to say their piece is like new and still in its original packing. I realize the term is used very loosely and can't be relied on for accurate information since it means different things to different people.

I have bought some extra pieces to resell in an effort to help finance part of my collecting obsession. I can not imagine trying to pack some of the newer fragile pieces for shipping without the syrofoam blocks that have been carefully engineered to protect them. I am thinking about pieces like Cape Florida, Execution Rock, and Grand Haven.

Lastly I have noticed that pieces advertised on the secondary market seem to have less value or don't sell as well if it is noted that the box is not original.

As for storing the boxes, that is my wife's job. :>) She does a good job of finding nooks and cranies around the house to store them.

Yes I would hesitate. Only if I was one of the folks who thrive on low numbers would I consider taking it without the box when offered a higher numbered piece with the box.

Boxes are a pita - no doubt about it. Idle speculation: The fact that someone has the box, packing material, and associated papers indicates to me they may be more likely to be someone who has taken good care of the piece and understands collectibles than not. It may be more likely that someone who has tossed the box and packing materials is less aware of what they have and perhaps (only perhaps) are they less likely to have taken pristine care of it. Iow, No Box = Heathen Goon. ;->

Its not clear to me about the value of low numbered pieces, though I acknowledge some folks seem to prefer them. Molds are changed frequently enough that low numbers aren't more likely to be better castings - though they may be more likely to carry a valued variation. However, faced as I am with the prospect of moving in about a year I definitely have a idea on the value of having the box. Imagine moving 100+ HL models *without* boxes and packing materials.

Rgds,
__
/im

Individual boxes for individual lighthouses are a must for collectibles sakes, but aren't worth a tinkers d--- if you ever have to evacuate your collection in a hurry! Living in a hurricane prone area, I always have to keep in mind that I may have to move my collection in a very short period of time and maximize what I can take and how I can transport them.
Foe general storage I break down all my boxes and stack them in issue numerical order on a closet shelf. The packing material goes into the trash.
For evacuation purposes, I could not possibly move my collection if I had to repack every piece in its own box. For this purpose I keep several (6) liquor boxes with compartments for 12 1/2 gallon bottles. Wrapped in bubble pack and slipped into these compartments, I can transport 12 lighthouses per box safely and at one time.

Deb - get those liquor boxes signed by Bill next time he's in the area. Then maybe you can toss the others. LOL.

What a good discussion going on here! I live in a teeny-tiny, itty-bitty, miniscule, lilliputian house and to this point, I have saved ALL the dern boxes AND the styrofoam, but I'm starting to rethink it. I agree with St. John that it would be important to save the styro packing on the complex, easy damaged expensive pieces...i.e. my NPL will stay snug in it's styro packaging, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of the newer pieces packed in popcorn from a reputable dealer... (say, Lighthouse Keepers, plug intended :-) )
>*<
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I found one of the crown jewels of my collection---an original St. Augustine with a 3-digit number---at a fantastic price. Why? Because the secondary market dealer said the original owner had thrown away the box. I was astonished at the discount I got because of a carboard box---$100 off!! Unbelievable but true.

(Thanks for the plug Lorraine.)

I'm happy for Bill's Excellent Adventure (I mean purchase.) I would say that that secondary dealer (not LHK) was very generous. A missing box, although rare with us, isn't worth such a big discount IMHO.

When I purchase a Harbour Light, I purchase it for the love of the lighthouse, not for the box. I don't feel the box should have any monatary value. It is not the collectable.

The box does have a value to me though. For me it is important for storage of lighthouses not on display, for the transport of lighthouses, and for the reason Tim stated earlier, the HL bought with box included, in most instances, was probably better taken care of.

They are a pain to store, I haven't a lot of space to store them, but I will continue to keep then all whole and with original packing materials. It is probably pretty stupid, considering I will probably never sell any of my collection, but then again my wife tells me that I am........well anyway....