This was started in the Forum on WWW. Harbour Lights.Com Forum.
I don't think that too many people have seen it there.
This fall Harbour Lights is coming out with a new series of ceramic "lighted" lighthouses. Sounds like something similar to Dept 56.
They will be called "Guardians Of The Night"
The first in this series will include:
Alcatraz, Bodie Island,Cape Hatteras, Cape May,
Cape Neddick, Currituck, Key West,Ponce de Leon,
Portland Head, St. Augustine, Sea Pines and Tybee.
These will sell for $48.00.
I for one am looking forward to these as I like lighted houses and if done nicely as I expect Harbour Lights will do, they will make a great collection.
What is your opinion about this new line???

The Lightkeeper
Mike

Any idea if these lights will be a limited editions?? Suspect that they won't be.

Dan

They are NOT limited editions. They are not battery-operated; they plug into a standard wall outlet.

They will not be numbered.

As ceramic pieces, they cannot have the detail possible with cold cast resin. But I personally expect they will have more detail than the Lefton products did.

Available this Fall. More information and photos in the next Legacy coming in September. A brochure should be available in October.

That's all the facts that are known at this point.

I expect not to buy any but then I have all I can do to keep up with the LE lights and Anchor Bays. I think it's a great idea though because a lot of people like the lighted houses and if it attracts more people to Harbour Lights then it is a good thing for the company. Maybe HL will delete the GLOW line(I just had to slip that in) if these become sucessful.

Rich

I see Harbour Lights still thinks that Sea Pines, SC is a lighthouse.

I look forward to seeing what these will look like. I am swiftly running out of room and do enjoy the Forma Vitrum stained glass lights I have. It would take a very special piece to tempt me to replace the Forma Vitrum.

I'm "old school" I guess, but it seems to me that there's an overload already! NOT that HL doesn't or wouldn't or couldn't do a great job...and not to say that there's nota a market, but..with the number of new issues - limited, open, LOL, ornaments, and on and on and on....they're losing the "uniqueness" that made me want to start collecting HL back in 1991 (yup 1991). I'm down to just getting a few each year - picking and choosing, and every time I get a new one, I "get" to agonize over who's going in the closet!

I kind of agree with Anniemac. Ive been agonizing a lot lately too. Trying to decide what to collect. orniments? LE's Ive visited?, Christmas?, LLOM from the kids for birthdays, christmas of course. but You have to be richer than me to collect them all.

Maybe these will attract more people to the LE's as Rich pointed out. That would sure help the secondary market. I am for anything that will help keep Harbour Lights in business and if this helps, more power to them. I doubt if I would buy any though.

Dale

Ah, an opening to vent my real frustration! GLOWS!!!!!! If Harbour lights would only discontinue their GLOW line, the secondary market on limited editions would take care of itself. Let's take an unofficial poll if we can. I'm willing to take a SWAG that right now 50% of the so called avid Harbour Lights LE collectors have at least 15% of their collection made up of GLOWS. The only reason they have bought these GLOWS is they did not want to or could not afford to get the real thing. If they could not afford to get the real thing, then bless them for at least buying a GLOW to fill in the hole. But, if they did not want to for whatever reason, then shame on them for even having the GLOW and not buying the real thing. I've sat an read many posts where a collecto is excited about buying a new GLOW when the "Real Thing" is out there at maybe $10-$20 dollars over retail price on the Marketplace.(Example: I have a fifth Order, 3rd order and 3 1/2 Order lens set that I asking retail price of $255.00 + 20.00 UPS shipping and I haven't had one responce on it.) I'll bet you Krispies Kremes on Monday morning that is they brought out A GLOW Fifth Order Lens tommorrow a collector would buy this GLOW rather then pay the $20.00 shipping. We are our own worst enemies buying these Glows and then complaining about the Secondary Market. I hope this new line meets with high success because at least Harbour Lights will be making a buck off something that is not destoying the secondary market.

An old retired Coasties fantacy at 0047 hrs.

Rich

The only GLOW that I have is Montauk Point. I also have the LE, but to be honest the GLOW is better than the LE.

The Lightkeeper
Mike

I have 5 GLOW's Rich. 3 were gifts, 1 I bought before I knew the difference and 1 I bought just because I liked it.

Someone who doesn't have the lenses, wants them, and doesn't bite on your lens sale, imo, is missing out. Perhaps you just haven't reached the right audience yet.

Giftware, that's what I'd call these new items. Can't really see anyone wanting a whole collection of them. How you gonna plug them all in with those big honking plugs? Seems strange that with the lenses being battery operated these lights, as well as the Minots piece, are AC powered. Perhaps to get that sequential flash?

I have one (1) GLOW, but may get others.

Chuck

My collecting in mainly New England Harbour Lights of which I have all of the LE's. I have also purchased the GLOW's, (Not all of them) because they show improvements made since the LE's were issued. DO I prefer them to the LE's? NO! But I do have some of them mainly because they are a "different version" of the LE.

For some who can't get the LE's or don't want to pay the price, I can understand that for them a GLOW is better than not having the lighthouse. BUt for me the LE was and still is the "PRIZE".

Bert

Getting bac to the original subject.....

Here we go again!! More "Souvenirs" to clutter the "gift" shop shelves at tourist trap destinations!!!! The lighted lighthouses have been done to death by Lefton (just go to Macinaw, they're everywhere). Maybe we should call the new line....Harbour Lights Giftware. More on this later, time for coffee.

Sorry 'bout the spelling. My worc ceyboard quit worcing. The letter after "j" that is.

Well being a GLOW basher I don't really see the effects that the lighted Harbour Lights will have on the Limited Editions. I would much prefer these and the Little Lights over the GLOWs!

I haven't the foggiest idea in the world as to what to expect with these "Guardians of the Night" lights. I'm sure they'll be of good quality since HL is doing them, but I just don't like the sounds of them. I agree with Digger on this subject. Plus I'll add this: Bring on the GLOWs!

"My fellow HL collectors, it's with a heavy heart I come to you tonight." "I will not seek nor will I accept any more GLOWs into my collection."

The GLOWS ARE NECESSARY! I have stopped buying them because I've managed to get all the LEs except for Coquille River. When I was missing some "key" LEs in my collection, I was damn happy to have a representative GLOW of that light to display.

Serious collectors cannot have complete control over what their collectible supplier manufacturers. They can suggest what they want but are powerless to stop things they don't want. They have two options: Buy it or don't buy it.

Let's say you want to buy a Chevrolet. Will it be a Corvette? Will it be a Camaro? Will it be an Impala? Will it be the Suburban? Will it be the Tahoe? Will it be a Trail Blazer? Will it be a S-10 pickup? They are all Chevrolets. They all have different price ranges and available options.

Would a person who purchases a Corvette want to eliminate the Camaro because it is less expensive and there are a lot more of them? Would a person who bought a Suburban want to eliminate the S-10 pickup? No, they wouldn't.

Car manufacturers make different models with different options in different price ranges. They do this so they can compete with other car manufacturers at all levels. Shouldn't a collectible company be able to do the same.

Buy what you like, display what you like, and be damn happy that you have the freedom to chose to do what you want to do!

I'm thankful I got into collecting HL's and the fact I've met so many wonderful people from collecting this great collectible. How many things have you purchased in your life that you still have today and you can say you've met the people who own and operate the company that manufactured that item?

Bob

Mike asks:

He didn't ask what we think about GLOW's. Unless our replies mentioning GLOW's somehow relate to the GOTH's we shouldn't be discussing our love/hate relationship with GLOW's here.

Like 'em or not, Lefton sold a lot of their ceramic lighthouses with the interior lights. I don't think there are many Lefton 'fan-atics' who had to have them all, but a lot were sold.

Harbour Lights has chosen to fill a void in the lighthouse line by coming out with the Guardians of the Night line.

I don't expect that HL is anticipating having Lefton collectors picking up the Guardians line -- but rather that the kind of people for whom Lefton Lighthouses had an appeal will now be able to fill that desire.

The dozen they've chosen for this Fall undoubtedly are based on which Lefton models sold the best. Where would HL get that information? From dealers who handled both lines? Ya think?

I think for HL this is a smart move. But you all know I'm a bit biased.

Can't some of these accessories like Guardians Of The Night and LLL go under an other name instead of Harbour Lights. Ebay is already up to 10 pages of Harbour Lights. With the Guardian of the Night, ebay will probably go up to 15 pages. It is getting very hard to find the real H.L. collectables on ebay with all this extra clutter. I wish they would use an other name for the non-collectables. Like “Harbour Gift-ware”

Again, I say good for Harbour Lights and I hope this endevor meets with the amount of success that the LE line met with. These should be a real profit getter because the people that buy this line will be the vacationers, gift givers, etc. This line may help out the LE line by having some cross buying between the two lines but shouldn't distract from the LE line. The sooner the better is al I can say as people may buy this giftware and stop buying the GLOWS as gifts. This now gives us the LLOM line and Guardians of the Night line for giftgivers.

Rich

I wonder if we will also see all the accessories that go with lighted houses such as people(lightkeeper and his family), boats , docks, maybe even a fog horn that makes sound.

HL's should design them to be plugged directly into the wall. Then we could also have Harbour "Night"lights!!!

Doesn't wash with me Bob. Cars and collectibles? I do seem to remember that when Ford was going to produce the new Mustang and it was actually going to be the Ford Probe the Mustang collectors/owners went wild and the Probe was released as the Probe instead of the new Mustang. The engineers then came out with an all new design for the Mustang. Here is an example that a company can listen to it's consumer. A Mustang collector would not have had a Probe in the garage unless they wanted to settle and not have the real thing.

imho

At night, all cows are black.

...and in the dark you might purchase a Scassi versus a Harbour Light?

Gee, and I thought for sure that at least ONE of America's most beloved lights are on the Great Lakes.....

A new series from Y&A announced - so of course its it deserves the keen insightful analysis you'll read only here in the Fog Signal Building. LOL!

After a spin with flying santas and knights of the can't give 'em away, HL is taking another gamble - but one that plays to their strength. Bully for them - they take a folding and keep on molding! This time in a new medium - ceramic. Guardians of the Night, lighted and 10 - 14 inches talll - we'll dub 'em the GUNI series.

With AC lighting and a foot tall, one speculates about the girth of the base. Its gotta be wide enough to deal with the cord issue. Cords on small knick-knack type objects can make them a bit tippy and difficult to place. Course there's always the possibility of the ubiquitous transformer block which allows a smaller more manageable cord.

We shall see. Perhaps the GUNIs will tend toward that squaty look seen in many of the Leftons.

It will also be interesting to see the packaging and marketing literature. This is a pretty big venture for Y&A and I'll predict they make a strong effort to completely differentiate these from the HL line. I'm gonna go farther out on the limb and guess the logo posted on their web site is not the final branding. Looks a bit too corporately stylized and swooshy for my taste - almost like it belongs to an insurance company.

But hey - gotta give 'em credit for a sense of humor. The GUNI page is pretty funny with its "Left in the Dark?" headline. This is the polite version of "Lefton the Rocks?". LOL!

The most interesting aspect (to me anyway) is the lights they've picked to go out the door with this new line.

Alcatraz CA
Bodie Island NC
Cape Hatteras NC
Cape May NJ
Cape Neddick ME
Currituck NC
Key West FL
Ponce de Leon FL
Portland Head ME
St. Augustine FL
Sea Pines SC
Tybee GA

What you got here is a pretty good reno line for The Sweet Sixteen (minus four).

If you're a hard core HL collector, odds are you've got a strong collection if it sports these. Little surprised not to see Sandy Hook in there. But I'll bet everyone of the 12 has a strong gift shop near the real thing. This lineup tells me HL is serious about making the GUNIs a success - if they can't make 'em go with these 12, then trying a second round with different lights probably won't matter much.

We never had much indication that your basic Wacko also went for the Leftons in a big way. Of course the cord means a different venue - can't imagine cabinets full of these - although I'm sure there will be a few Wackos who will buy every one. Different target audience as lighted + ceramic + $48 suggest they may not have the same level of detail that HL lovers really go for. Though you never know.

No doubt Y&A is hoping for GUNI success, but it may not come in the form of 'award winning collectible lighthouses'. But hey - they've got the production thing down and distribution network. Don't know what the ramp-up is, but the GUNIs strike me as much less of a risk than some of their other spin-offs.

Interesting offering. Time will tell. I suppose we still aren't gonna get those lighted fog signal buildings. :-)

T

If it's gonna have a cord and light up I'd rather it be a ..... lamp! Various turns of the switch would light the lamp bulb, the lighthouse and even the FSB!

Careful there mombologic, the FSB is highly flammable. That reminds me - anyone care to donate to the Ignited Fosbi College Fund?

St. Sir Amic