There has been some support for lessening the number of LE's issued each year brought up in the Voting Booth Thread. I voted to lessen the amount of LE's issued each year. I do like the "one-a-month" idea plus the usual specialty pieces Christmas, Society Gift, Society Exclusive, Regional Piece, and Christmas ornaments. Even an Anchor Bay release or two is fine.

Such an adjustment would be important to keep a larger grouper interested in a smaller amount of pieces rather than a smaller group interested in a larger amount of pieces.

I believe it's not the financial committment that's causing people to drop by the wayside. It's where do we display and store all these things?

Many of our collectors feel the need to downsize there collections because there is no longer any room to keep them all. At this point, people are torn between old and new, and what do they keep. Do you keep the older more valuable pieces? Do you keep the newer less valuable pieces because they are more attractive to look at? Do you sell off part of your collection? Do you pass your collection on to you heirs?

There are so many questions yet to be answered about the future of Harbour Light Collectors. As a matter of fact, there may be many questions regarding the future of Harbour Lights producing LE's.

If you read all the posts at the CF you will see a trend of less dealers carrying a good stock of LE's. Many dealers are being forced to drop them because the higher edition size pieces didn't sell. It may come to a point that some collectors may not be able to drive to a dealer to view new pieces in a reasonable amount of time.

There may come a time when all limited edition HL sales will be done by mail order through dealers. Everyone will have to order from a catalogue or maybe through the Internet.

We have all seen Younger & Associates branching out with other product lines to support the company. I believe the LLOM line is doing well and has the appeal of a reasonable price and an they are easy to display and store because of their size. The Skybound line of hot air balloons may or may not be doing well. I don't have anything to back up a view either way. The "Knights-of-the-not-so-round-table" crashed and burned. Did someone say GLOW's? They are better looking than ever, but I only purchased one of those this year. I just had to have Nauset Light because it is one of my favorites.

If you read back through the last papragraph, you will notice all things mentioned had one thing in common. They are not limited editions. All the design work, the sculpting work, and whatever is already done. The heavy expense is over with and they can mass produce these items very cheaply on demand. This can't be said about the limited edition line. Each new LE piece comes with the expense of development and production for a known limited profit. Non-limited editions may keep producing a profit forever as long as people keep buying them.

I'm sure many of you have some mixed emotions about where we collectors will be in the future. We will also be concerned with the value of our pieces in the years to come. I guess it boils down to what Kenny Rogers sang, "You got to know when to hold them, and when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run..."

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

P.S. I'm still buying older pieces at the right price if you have any to sell.

Having been a HL collector since 1992, I have a few comments:

• May I suggest that it's all those curios that take up the space. I don't do curios and don't plan to...mine are displayed on shelves where I can easily rotate them...and show them off to visitors with a hands-on. I don't have a problem with dust. They can get dust inside a closed curio, btw.
  
  I'm not overwhelmed by the quantity of Harbour Lights that I own, because, by choice, I'm not on autoship.
  
  GLOWS are definitely better looking than ever...but so are the LE'S...much more intricate detail on all the HL line.
  
  I'm all for more Anchor Bay! Bring 'em on!
  
  I'm also for more lighted sculptures.
  
  An important part of retailer's failure is not enough advertising and capitalizing on the product; and in many cases a lack of understanding of the product. Retailer's eliminating the Harbour Lights line can not be necessarily contributed to a supposed failure of HL.
  
  
  Quote:

  "You got to know when to hold them, and when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run..."
  
  I'm not into collecting HL LE's for the investment game. I will not sell them, and if my heirs do not appreciate them, than they're theirs to dispose of, and I won't know the difference. But since my son and grandson DO appreciate them, I have hopes that they will be a valued collection in their homes as well.

And so...some of my opinions, for what they may be worth.

Judy

My thought and feeling on the Future of Harbour Lights is very simple. I for one will display my entire collection as long as I have the room to do it. That time is close to the end as my den is full of curio cabinets and I estimate at the current production runs of 20-22 LE/Society/Christmas/Event/Regional pieces that are being brought out each year I will meet satuartion in 2-3 years. Shelving in my house is out of the question because of the style of the house and mainly because my wife says "no shelves". I will downsize to buying only Florida Pieces and Society/Christmas and special event pieces after 2 years when I retire at 62. Harbour Lights will continue and for all of you younger collectors with room to spare, it will be your responsibility to fill in the gaps of us that have reached saturation. I would prefer to do this rather then rotating my pieces as many of you do now. It's my collection and I want to see it all rather then say I'm rotating and you can't see that piece until the Fall when I bring it out of storage.

Ok...I don't collect HL's, but if I did, this would be my story.

I have a home with a HUGE finished basement underneath the entire house. If I had HL's, I would just put shelves down there with my whole collection on it. Then anyone who wanted to see could just come on down into the display area where it could easily be a small HL museum...

Bob...HL museum=$$$=MORE HL'S! You DO have a complete collection, after all!

Greg, You'll need to be careful when you marry someday. You'll need a wife who appreciates that huge collection that Mom & Dad will make you take with you!

Judy

I too hope for a smaller yearly number of new pieces. Because I am on an autoship and it is very hard on my pocketbook.

I don't have them all, but I do hope to someday say that I do. This is a goal that I have set for myself, not for any other reason but that, I want them! I love each and every one, and want to display them all. I can't do that just now for the lack of display cases and I do want them behind glass. So for now I display only the Southern Lights of which I have seen them all! And keep the others put away for safekeeping until a future date. If and when I get back home for any length of time I will utilize that nice new Woodworking Shop to build myself a wall to wall curio. It will be 26' long and 7' high. Then I will display ALL my HL's, all the time!

As for values; yes they are an investment for the future. As of now my only financial portfolio is my HL's. Not that I would ever want to sell them, but to know that the values are there if I ever have to. And when I'm dead and gone, my children and grandchildren will hopefully be able to benefit from my years collecting.


And that's the way I see it!

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((¸¸.·´ Stephanie -:¦:-..·´
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