The day has finally arrived we finally ran out of room storing the boxes with the inserts intact, so today Sue and I are attacking the mountain of boxes and removing the foam inserts..

After flattening the boxes and putting them in numerical order, they will be put in a few big boxes for storage freeing up one whole wall of the garage, where they are now under huge plastic drops..

Next will be putting up the some for sale the 50 extra lighthouses that we have acquired over the years and freeing up a closet in the computer room.. Those will appear in the New Marketplace soon..

After that we will attack the six cabinets for cleaning (a 3 to 4 week job) and re-arranging to make space for the rest of this years releases.. Next year will bring on the problem of no more cabinet space or space for more cabinets in the Great Room... We do have an idea on how to rebuild the half wall dividers between the Dining Room and the Great Room into cabinet dividers... stay tuned!

Work will never end,HA!HA!

Paul
If I were you I would not throw out the inserts.
I would number all the inserts and put them in big garbage bags. I would tag the garbage bags with the number that goes with the inserts that are in the bag. Then I would find a cheap non-climate control rent-a-storage and put them in. Or buy an 8x8 shed. You should find a rent a storage for around $20 a month for a 5x5.

Paul,

You could let some other collector help store them for you !

Perhaps, some collectors may take certain ones off you hands. You never now..... There may be a few collectors that tossed out their inserts also to save space in the past and now wished they hadn't and are looking for the inserts again since you can't get them directly from HL. Just a thought.......

Sorry guys, but over half of them are already done.. I figure that if I ever need to transport or ship them, I will go back to the peanuts. I already have 4 extra large garbage bags full of them stored away.. When a lighthouse is properly packed in them and the box is properly protected, the lighthouse is as safe as when in the foam, it's just messy when you unpack them...

We are also double checking the inventory list as we go which makes it slow going but I did buy a few lighthouses without boxes during the first year I started collecting and I want to make sure I have those all marked correctly on the list..

I am keeping a few foam inserts, like the AP's, which only came in a foam insert and the AB"s ship inserts to protect ship's masts etc.

We are recycling the foam inserts that are marked but have found that a lot of them aren't marked.. I am going to check with Harry at HL's before I throw any in the trash to see if they are also able to be recycled..

And Daniel, $240 a year can pay for 3 or 4 lighthouses a year, which since I buy them all, is more important to me than having inserts stored away somewhere for some possible future convenience ..

Amen to that Paul. $240 for 3-4 lighthouses is a lot more important to me also then a storage shed to put foam inserts in. I don't plan on selling and if I ever did then peanuts are just as good and a whole lot easier to store or buy. If I ever have to sell I don't think a foam insert would keep anyone from buying a lighthouse and if it did keep someone from buying then it will be their loss. I've never saved foam insert or peanuts because of the storage problem and have never regretted throwing them away.

Paul
Do you have the insert for the 1995 legacy lighthouse.
Most came with peaunuts but a few of the more recent produced had inserts.
I would be interested in obtaining one.

I have several Legacy Lighthouses and they all came with peanuts..

We did manage to find two items that weren't on the inventory... the HL628 & HL630 Beckoning Beacons. I wonder what HL629 was going to be?

Also the Days Gone By are now on the inventory list, some how they hadn't made it before..

Another number I have wondered about is there is no 128 the Little Lights..

Paul,

Off the topic of foam inserts....however you mentioned about HL numbers with no associated products.

Well, I was wondering this too. Below are the numbers that I have in my HL Product List which are missing information. Do you have any information? (Which can be announced)

Collectors Society
HL510 - HL518
HL522
HL525
HL526
HL529
HL539
HL543 - HL547

Special Editions
HL629
HL654
HL664 (I presume this is has not be released yet)

Pharos Collection
PC106

[Little Light of Mine[/B]
LL128
LL249 (I presume this is has not be released yet)

Guardians of the Night
GN013 (I presume this is has not be released yet)
GN014 (I presume this is has not be released yet)
GN016 (I presume this is has not be released yet)


What are the HL numbers for the following HL Calendars?
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2003

Let's start with the 500's...
I have the same list as you in the 500's not being used plus HL523
HL510 - HL518
HL522
HL523
HL525
HL526
HL529
HL539
HL543 - HL547

next the 600's...

There are a lot of 600's not yet used like..
HL608-HL611
HL617-HL621
HL623-HL626
HL643-HL644
HL647-HL649
HL653
The Mark Twain Lighthouse is HL654 on the labels on my lighthouse and box, not HL653 as is listed at the website, which I will mention to John..

You didn't mention HL645 which isn't on the website invetory and the number isn't on the label but is in fact the Dinner at Seven Foot Knoll Mini given away at the Baltimore Reunion..

There are 2 PC missing numbers PC102 & PC106 they were probably in the works as the next Pharos lighthouses when they stopped the line..

You are right on the Guardians and Little lights...

Paul,

I have the following information for the 600's numbers you indicated as being not assigned to a product. Are these not correct than?

HL608 Assateague- VA (Thumbnail) 1997 Reunion Gift
HL609 Cape Hatteras- NC (Thumbnail) 1997 Reunion Gift
HL610 St. Simons- GA (Thumbnail) 1997 Reunion Gift
HL611 Sandy Hook- NJ (Thumbnail) 1997 Reunion Gift
HL617 Reunion '98 Badge 1998 Reunion Gift
HL618 Beavertail- RI (Thumbnail) 1998 Reunion Gift
HL619 Point Judith- RI (Thumbnail) 1998 Reunion Gift
HL620 Southeast Block- RI (Thumbnail) 1998 Reunion Gift
HL621 Rose Island-RI (Thumbnail) 1998 Reunion Gift
HL623 Bob Younger Memorial Tree
HL624 Boston Figurines
HL625 Wood Lobster Floats (Bill's)
HL626 Wood Lobster Floats (Nancy's)
HL643 Reunion '01 Badge 2001 Reunion Gift
HL644 Hereford Inlet- NJ (Thumbnail) Gift w/ Hooper Strait HL642 (MEMBERS)
HL647 Craighill Chn U Front Range (Thumbnail) 2001 Reunion Gift
HL648 Sandy Pt. Shoal (Thumbnail) 2001 Reunion Gift
HL649 Hooper Strait- MD (Thumbnail) 2001 Reunion Gift

I also have two products for 646. Which correct?
HL646 Old Minot's Ledge- MA
HL646 Craighill Chn L Front Range (Thumbnail) 2001 Reunion Gift

You are probably correct on the thumbnail numbers, I just never added them to my list.... But I will now and will check on HL646, also..

I got your answer from HL on the HL646 issue..

So Old Minot's Ledge is HL646
and Craighill Lower Thumbnail is HL646A

I also got all of your thumbnail numbers confirmed to be correct, which are also now on my inventory list...

How does it feel to be out from under all those foam inserts?

I don't intend on ever selling any of my HL's but you just never know...the idea of parting with the innards of the boxes is a pretty scary thing to do. On the otherhand...it sure would be nice to reclaim all that space they're stored in that I'm paying real estate taxes on.

Man :rolleyes: ...I could gain a whole room back!

I applaud you and your wife for all that organization and hard work!!

Judy

For those who are updating their inventory lists... the new thumbnail... St Clair Thumbnail is HL664

Hey Paul, ...Any updates on the massive project you started a few months back? Like you, I have hundreds of boxes with foam inserts stored in my cellar. I have folded the boxes on every HL that came with styrofoam peanuts. The one's with styrofoam inserts remain intact. I probably have about seven or eight large trash bags filled with styrofoam peanuts stored in my attic. The rest of the peanuts were donated to a local shipper to be reused.

I also have many doubles and triples of certain pieces because I can't resist a bargain when I see one. Some of those will be offered for sale at a later date just to make room for the incoming new pieces.

Unfortunately, I haven't kept that great an inventory on my extra pieces. I do have a list that I was using to sell extras awhile back, but I've added many more since then without writing them down. Maybe on one of those cold and snowy days next winter, I'll pull out all the boxes, record the numbers, and maybe come up with a list of expendable extra pieces.

I am seriously considering starting a second collection and will probably concentrate on HL's from the old days and the 5500 series. It will give me a chance to get some better or lower flag numbers to add to the collection.

Bob

I would be careful of storing styrofoam in your attic as it can actually heat up and melt together... I don't believe it would get hot enough to ignite but I am not an expert in that area... I have seen the results of people storing some lighthouse in the styrofoam in a hot attic and it wasn't pretty sight...

Maybe an engineer can respond as to the igniting point of styrofoam. I do know that I couldn't find any company in the area that would recycle the styrofoam inserts..

BTW the project's done, I just have a hard time remembering to throw out the inserts and flatten the boxes of the one's that I have gotten since clearing out mountain of inserts..

One thing that I did after I got them all in 1997, Bob, was to get all of the early ones that came with lightning rods... that kept the search alive for a few more months.. I also collected variations, that can really keep the search going and fill up the cabinets..

Thanks for the reply, Paul. That was quite an undertaking for you and Sue.

As far as styrofoam inserts go, they are all in my cellar within their boxes. The only thing I have stored in my attic are the styrofoam peanuts. With two louvres and a vented rib running along the roof line, I doubt it would ever get hot enough to melt the peanuts. I would never put an actual HL in my attic though.

I'm sure the attic temperatures on a hot summer's day may reach well over one-hundred degrees, I doubt that it would ever reach a temperature to cause the styrofoam to ignite. My guess the flash point of styrofoam would be in excess of two-hundred degrees. Can any engineers or chemists give us an opinion of this subject?

Bob

Hey, gang,

I asked an engineer friend of mine, and he said that styrofoam would melt at around 170 degrees Farenheit, and its flashpoint is around 655. So I don't think we have to worry about these things spontaneously combusting! (I'm glad to hear that, because I also store mine in a very hot attic!)

is styrofoam environment friendly? If one was to decide not to keep the inserts, would throwing them away where they will be dumped hurt the environment? Would allowing them to go to a trash compacting site that many towns/cities use today create little bubblelets of styrofoam that would last forever?

I don't know and am asking out of wanting to learn.

I don't know about environmentally friendly, but, our garbage collectors will pick them up and throw them with the regular garbage going to the landfill. They are picky on what they will and will not pickup on other things so I have to assume that all is well with the foam inserts as they know they are picking them up because I stack them next to the garbage cans at the curb.