Now that we have seen them, what do you think ?
http://harbourlights.com/guardians/index.htm

Not !!!

Personally I was looking forward to this new series, hoping they would be more like Dept 56 pieces (made out of porcelin), but after seeing the pictures, I am very disappointed and will have to pass.I don't think that these are going to be around for very long as I can't see the buying public shelling out $48 a piece for these. They just don't make it in my book. I would rather see more GLOWS than these.

For what they are and the market that they target, I think that they look very nice.

That said, I won't be buying any, as I'm sure most us on the forums won't. I don't believe that we are the target market.

No Mike I'm not crazy about the "Guardians". Will pass on them.

Will have to wait and see on these.
John & Mary

I like them! And although I won't be buying all of them I will be buying the southern ones.

Stephanie

My theory: If the wackos here don't like them, then Harbour Lights has probably hit the target it was aiming for with this line. I predict they will be a success.

See my post in the General Forum.

John can I throw a GLOW at that Target?

I will be sticking to the LE's and some glows for now hoping for more good ones. Bill O'Brien aka oseabee

For what they are, I like them, I think. No telling for sure from photos.

I could see buying one and making a lamp base for it. The lamps on the Lighthouse Depot website are nice looking, but are IMO way over-priced. There are kits available that would let you build a similar lamp for < $100, although probably not with as nice a shade.

I was at Lighthouse Depot last Friday; if they had the the pieces or the lamps in stock, I missed them.

Since I collect all things associated with Ponce De Leon, I will be buying that one but will pass on the others.

I wish all the best to Harbour Lights on their new adventure. By the picture they look a little bit nicer then Leftons, but, I have NO Leftons and I won't have any of these either. They are too big and are open editions.

I think it was John that said these could be the "cash cow" to allow us LE collectors to have the prices kept low and with lower addition sizes. If this truly is the case then BRING THEM ON.

Rich

Hummm....

At first, I said, "No way", "Forget it", howevery now that I look at them in more detail (photos on the HL website), I do like the Currituck and Bodie island, NC lights.

I may purchase 1 or both of these but will most likely pass on all the rest of them. No room to collect this line. Where is everyone getting all their money these days to collect everthing that HL is producing? :rolleyes:

As commented by others, everthough the detail is better than those that Lefton made in the past, it is still too similiar to Leftons and believe HL is filling in that niche of the market since Lefton is going on a "roller coaster ride". I wish HL well in this line but I will pass as my heart lies with the original LE and GLOW lines. (Now dont go getting upset because I said "GLOW"). LE's rule though!

I do look forward to seeing a Currituck in person though..... I may have my $50 ready!

Christopher

JC in the General Forum writes:
Occasionally someone rationalizes the GLOW line as a subsidy to underwrite the production of the Limited Editions, and it appears a similar claim is being made for these Harbour Leftons.

I'll speculate that a need for GLOWS and Guardians to subsidize LEs is in fact caused by the very existence of these open editions. Twisted circular reasoning where a cause results from an effect? Perhaps - but read on.

I've adopted the assumption that over time - say in any given month or year - there are only so many dollars people are willing to spend on lighthouse stuff and those dollars remain relatively constant. Buying three GLOWs for hubby's birthday this month means one can't buy that LE next month. Factoring in spur-of-the-moment purchases, onesy-twosy tourist purchases, and general irrational exhuberance, there comes a point when even the most ardent wacko with a high credit card limit will opt for groceries and new reeboks for junior over yet another purchase of lighthouse stuff. Momma's gonna put her foot down if she spys one more Lighthouse Depot box hidden in your trunk.

If you accept that, then the argument becomes simple: the more successful lines of lighthouse stuff there are, the fewer dollars spent on any one line. In other words a dollar spent on a Guardian is a dollar not spent on a LE. A relatively fixed number of dollars gets spread over more kinds of stuff with the result that what goes to one is taken from the other. When all the dollars are added up, only so much money is spent on lighthouse stuff - and much to Seve's dismay, those dollars can't be everywhere at once.

Bearing down on a conclusion - because, for example, people buy GLOWs, they cannot buy as many LEs. Because of GLOWs there are fewer dollars to spend on LEs, and to continue making both means greater profits in one area go into underwriting fewer profits in another. So the existence of GLOWs requires them to underwrite the production of LEs whose reduced purchase they cause. Quod erat demonstrandum. :-)

I'm not yet accepting of the notion that the folks who will buy the Guardians are not the same people who will buy other lighthouse stuff, such as LEs and GLOWs. Beating the GLOW pony some more - often we hear the rationalization that GLOWs are necessary to lead people eventually to purchase LEs. Granted the Guardians are not the same overt knock-offs - street corner Rolexes - of LEs, and that is to their credit. I suppose one might suggest that the "kind of people" who would buy a Guardian would never buy a Limited Edition - but that seems like a stretch to me. Even if you collect mostly LEs I bet you've bought other lighthouse stuff at some time or another. Everyone falls prey to tacky junk now and then.

Think of it this way: if Harbour Lights only sold LEs, they wouldn't need Glows or Guardians. rofl!

Moo,
Tim

"Even if you collect mostly LEs I bet you've bought other lighthouse stuff at some time or another. Everyone falls prey to tacky junk now and then."

Timoteo - You mean like my lighthouse coasters, the lighthouse mouse pad in my office, or the lighthouse suncatchers in my kitchen window?

I guess I'm one of those that didn't come from the mold. I only collect LEs, no GLOWs, no Guardians. I do have a Lefton Bodie Island that was given to me as a gift. I wasn't crazy about it when I received, but I displayed it in my office with it's light on occasionally, especially since the gift givers (my in-laws) live just an hour and a half from us. Honestly, the Guardian series reminds me too much of the lighted Leftons.

Different strokes...

Tim - Keeping the flame lit...

Hopefully, this new line will be just what some collectors wanted. I have several friends who collected Lefton and are very happy that since they are gone, HL has come out with "Guardians".
They are not for me...then I did not like the Leftons either...but just like the LLOM I hope the targeted market just loves them!
Derith