If 'the look' and quality of the Harbour Lights produced today was similar to what they started with back in the early 90s - and you had never seen a model with today's machine like lines and detailing, would you be attracted? Would you buy them?

Are you still looking to add Cape Blanco to your collection? Why or why not?

T

My first HL was Southeast Light Block Island (Summer '94). I bought it because I liked it. I had no intentions of collecting lighthouses. I didn't buy another until September of '97 when I purchased Brant Point. It was all down hill from there.

I was never truly excited but some of the early HLs. As a matter of fact I didn't buy any of them until I got hooked on HLs and wanted to get the whole collection. Compared to the HLs of today, they weren't much to behold. I did hunt them down and buy them but hardly ever displayed them. Most remained in their boxes and were stored in my cellar.

Times change and so does collecting. Think of cars from the past that were less than desireable thirty years ago that you wish you had now because they would be a definite classic.

Some old cars have appreciated in price, and some old HLs have done the same. Others just fall by the wayside. Who knows what lies ahead in the future. Some HLs will always be worth more than retail while others will be purchased for far less. Everything depends on "driven" collectors. Time will tell.

Bob

P.S. In reference to Cape Blanco, I still buy duplicates of the older HLs everytime I see a deal. I just can't resist. I always think, "Sooner or later someone will be looking for one of these."

Don't know how to answer this one. If I say yes I guess that would mean I'd be watching B&W TV, listening to 8 track and taking photos with the Brownie????

The way I figure is this. Since I didn't really start to collect these things until early in '99 and I didn't/don't have the inclination to play "catch up" at inflated prices I am simply satified with the lights I have. If I ran across a "real deal" on one of the earlier pieces I could go for it but, starting later gets one spoiled for the detail.

For those who have them, want them, fine. Enjoy them and have fun searching for them.

Mombo - does that mean you don't like 'the look' or style of the early pieces? What if you'd never seen a 'modern' piece - would you still be attracted, still buy them today?

T

Tim, the answer is most definitely YES! As much as the gold pcs. have probably helped develope some more interest in the HL line, I wish some of these event drawings were giving away some of the early California or Canadian pieces. The only quest I still have in the Harbour Lights line is in finding those rare and in perfect shape Calif. gems.

I would buy the "early ugly pieces" in a split second. As far as I'm concerned the early pieces have it hands down over the new refined pieces. They have a aura of being primitive and that is what originally made me interested in collecting the HL line over the other lines that existed back then in 1994. I feel about the early editions exactly the way I feel about a 1957 Black Chevy 2 door hardtop with red seats and that is "there ain't nothing better on the market today".

Rich

Sorry but NO. I don't have any piece made before 1995, cause I think the first few years figures are just plane ugly.

Hey Rich, ...I had three '57 Chevys. A two-door sedan (color black), a two-door hardtop (color black), and a four-door hardtop (no post, color red with a white roof). One was "souped-up" and the other two were stock.

Sorry about straying from the subject matter. I promise to try to behave myself from this point on.

Bob

Started my collection with Beavertail, RI. Had been fishing off the rocks in and around Beavertail for many years. Went to see the Light with the wife August 9, 1997 and on the way back stopped and picked up the Light at a local mall where I'd seen it on display. Been at it since.

I did buy the early pieces from the New England Area, as I really like them. Got them for what I think were reasonable prices, considering what I'd seen some of them go for. When I look at them and compare them to what's being made today, I appreciate them even more as they're like the pioneers who founded this country. They are the pioneers of HL's. You've just got to love them!

Bert

I would be attracted to them if they were just starting now and looked like they did then and there were not others that had the detail that we are used to now.

I think that the Original ones were the best available then and HL has continued to be the best ones available since then and continue to be the best.

As for adding Cape blanco to my collevtion- no I'm not looking to add it to my collection- it's already in it.

Dennis

Difficult question only because some of the earlier pieces were very plain and some of the newer pieces are just too detailed for me. I would definitely collect if the new pieces had the simplicity of the older models. In fact, I don't have too many of the newer releases because I think they're too intricate. I think my favorite years were 97-99.

Joanne

Only if the prices were similar to the early '90s too!

Definitely NO. I started collecting them, in 1998, because of their realism. Some of the older HLs look very little like the actual lighthouses. Grosse Point for example. Now I'm not saying I'd pass up a good price on a piece I don't have, but I wouldn't spend a mint to get one either. I'd just go out and buy the GLOW. And smile in the general direction of a certain Floridian.

The early models didn't appeal to me then, so I don't expect that they would appeal to me now. In my view, those issues aren't significantly superior to other current lines, and may actually be inferior to the best that Lefton put out.

Thomas Point was the one that really attracted me to the line. That one, and its contemporaries, blew away everything else that was around. And they haven't stopped since.

One thing puzzles me. I believe that the precision and level of detail that David Winter was executing in his cottage line at the time was closer to today's Harbour Lights than it was to the early '90's models. I also believe I read that Bill Younger worked with John Hines and the DW Cottages line before founding Harbour Lights. So why were't the early HL's "better"? Was the "primitive" look a choice, not a limitation of the state of the art? One would think that at least the flaking paint was not a conscious choice, but I have David Winter cottages from the '80's that are like new.

This is not intended as criticism. I believe that Younger and Associates represent one of the most quality-minded outfits around today, not just with respect to their product, but with everything they do. All the more puzzling that the quality, although achievable, was not present in their products in the early years . . .

Bruce

No Tim, I guess I don't care for the look/quality of the older pieces. But that's now, today. Ten years ago, who knows? Ten years ago I wasn't into lighthouses or collecting anything.

If I ran across a line of 50-200 lighthouse sculptures today that had the quality of the 1991 issues, I would not be a collector.

There are several Floridians that feel about GLOWs the same as we do about snow. We can take it or leave it, but, we prefer to ignore it just like we do the GLOWs. If GLOWs are preferred over the early editions then that leaves the good deals to them that appreciate "ugly trucks and ugly lighthouses".

Rich

Heh, heh, heh, heh.