Well this is the third round for the founder’s collection. There still are some good lights left, but how can we get them. Will HL have another random pick of the founder’s collection for next year? Do they think they can keep selling just numbers and not lighthouses?

This is what should be done. A list of all the latest lights available from the founder’s collection should be issued each month to whoever wants one. A collector that is interested in a light that is on the list would contact his dealer and tell the dealer which lights he wants with an alternate for each light he orders. The dealer will send the order into Harbour Lights and HL will take each order in the sequence that they received them. The last day or days of the month will be the day that someone goes to the warehouse and fills the orders by order of date received.

I am not sure how well the founder’s collection sales did but if you used the Forum for an example, you would have to say that some other type of distribution should be done. As many collectors on this forum have said all ready, they want certain lighthouses with low numbers not just any lighthouse with a low number.

Here! Here! I totally agree Daniel. It only makes sense to know what your choice(s) are and alternate choices. I'd seriously think I'd be in on The Founders Collection if this were to occur.

Daniel, I like your idea. Dave has said that it would be hard for HL to find any particular lighthouse because they are all stacked on pallets in no particular order.

But they could inventory one pallet and make the list from that pallet. When the pallet is empty.... make a new list from the next pallet. And continue the process until the Founder's Collection is gone!

And does the money to pay that inventory-taker/maker/watcher/mailer of list(s) come from the sale(s) of the piece(s) or do they raise the membership fee so that those of us who comprise the royal "we" all absorb that cost?

Harbour Lights is a business people--it's not some fly by the seat of your pants Mom and Pop operation. They have to have some justification for paying someone to accomplish the tasks you're listing here. Never has been, never will be a free lunch.

Sandy

This "pallet thing" is a crock. Do it once and you have your inventory list. Do members of the CF know what's in their inventory? I bet they do.
If HLs doesn't know what's in their inventory, they are worse than a "mom and pop " business. Let's stop making excuses for them and maybe, just maybe they'll get their act together and get rid of the Founder's Collection. They must be paying for warehouse space. What it sounds like is they are in no hurry to sell-off these lights.

Get it together and get it out the door. No more whinning. They're still a business.

My understanding is that the founder’s collection is all Bills and that HL was helping him out to sell it.
It was also said that all money made from the sales were to be donated to lighthouse restorations. So what ever it cost to sell the founder’s collection should come out of the profits, which in turn would mean fewer donations. That’s the business world.
Does anyone really expect Harbour Lights/Bill to be able to sell from the founder’s collection again next year unless something different is done? According to my Poll I was the only forum member that bought both last year and this. I don’t plan on buying next year unless there are some changes. The collectors for the majority have been saying that they want to pick the lighthouses. If HL&Bill doesn’t listen and come up with a better solution they may as well plow them under with a dozer as Dave has mentioned in the past.

To me it looks like the founders collection was sold this year by sight unseen as a way to sell as many of the unpopular lights as possible, with the least effort (or cost). In a business sense this probably was the best way to sell. But I think HL and Bill have exhausted all the easy ways of selling the founder’s collection. Sandy I know you heard of the term you have to spend money to make money. While the founder’s collection is at the point were all the easy and cheap ways of selling are exhausted.

Sandy To answers your question: the added expenses will not be any of HL's responsibility since HL is just helping Bill. The added expenses would be solely Bills responsibility since it is his collection and the cost would come out of the profits. When it comes down to that no profits can be made either Bill will be stuck with a storage bill or he will have to haul the rest of the founder’s collection to a garbage dump. For the collectors sake I hope that Bill can put some of the profits into finding good homes for his collection.

The pallet issue or lack of a good inventory is not a crock. Lighthouse Marketing, I believe, agreed to take and store the lights and attempt to sell them as a courtesy to Bill. The lights were palletized in San Diego and shipped to Maine. There was not an accurate inventory of product included, much less what was on each individual pallet. There was a real time crunch to get everything done and shipped and I am sure that there was not adequate time to update the inventory. Those of us familiar with the generosity of the Youngers know that often times a light from this group was grabbed off the shelves and sent out to someone for a prize or fund raiser or whatever. And, I imagine the master inventory may not have always been updated when this happened.

I believe the pallets are stored somewhere other than the main Lighthouse Depot / Harbour Lights facility - from what I recall, there is not a lot of spare room there. If there is no shelving where the lights are stored, braking down all the pallets to create a good inventory would involve having to just lay them out on the floor if there is room to do so. If there was adequate shelving I would bet they would have been taken off the pallets and placed on shelves in an organized manner early on.

Educated guess is that this is the end of the line for the FC. It has to be a great inconvenience to the people in Maine to try to track down and find specific lights without a really good "map" to find them. Even if they did somehow inventory each pallet somewhere along the line, I would venture a guess that there could be 100 or more lights on a pallet and having to break one down to look for a specific item would be costly in terms of manpower. After the piece was found, the pallet would have to be re-packed with what was left.

The interest in the FC has not been overwhelming based upon feedback here in the forums and the fact that it has again been offered. That simply reflects the situation many are in, with funds being tight. I just can't see how HL could justify continuing to sell the collection when you look at it from a cost to benefit ratio. Wish it was otherwise, but that is probably closer to reality.

Daniel, I don't believe it has ever been stated that part of the proceeds of the sales of FC pieces would go to preservation groups. Any proceeds are Bill's. However, as we begin the 4th year of these pieces being in a storage location the return has to be negative. I have to believe it is now more expensive to continue to try to sell the pieces than it would be to dump them. Sucks, but that is just the way it is.

If any concept was even partially workable it would be Stephanie's suggestion that a pallet be inventoried, the list distributed and if that pallet sold out, move to the next. However, I believe that you would also have to charge more than original retail to simply pay the ongoing bill. You already had to pay shipping this time. To me that would indicate cost has overtaken return.

If you can't or won't inventory these pallets than you might as well take them to the dump. I run a business with two 8000 foot warehouses, with pallet racks to the ceiling and I can put my hands on a pallet, know what's on it and how many. This pallet thing is an excuse and a double crock. If there are ,lets say 1000 HLs on these pallets @ $60.00 average retail cost, that equals $60,000. Business must be good to just let them sit around. Take them to the dump. Were there a fire,how would the worth of this inventory be based.

If you want to really sell this collection , you would take the necessary steps to do so. I don't by waterfront property at low tide why would I buy sight unseen. From what I've read of those who did buy the "FC", there have been more disappointments than hip, hip, hoorays.

Now that all is said and done for this year, there is a way to make collectors happy and to help Bill get rid of his FC and also to help HLs get their storage area back.

This years way of doing things really sucked. Who, other then a few collectors that really live by the low numbers, would want to donate money for a "pig in a poke". Last year was a real disappointment to me to buy a FC piece and find out instead of a Canadian Minot's ledge I ended up getting a Malaysian piece with a low number. But at least last year I had a choice. This year you were just throwing your money away unless it didn't matter to you what you got as long as it was a low number. And you paid full retail for the pleasure of getting "whatever".

A way to get rid of these pieces is to compromise on both HLs/Bill's end and the collector's end. To finally get rid of these pieces, sell them to the collectors at "dealer costs"(half of retail) and make it a "pig in a polk". At least this way the collector feels he/she is getting somewhat of a deal for pieces that will go begging at HLs end. I know I would give this a shot at half price and wouldn't complain at what I received. I also wouldn't wait until Christmas time when everyone has other ways to spend their money. I would give it a shot during mid year at the latest.

wickywacky, I assume that I may be one of those that you refer to in this statement. As I posted in another forum that I am getting Assateaque and not yet knowing if it is a first mold or second mold. Hopeing for a 1st as I already have a 2nd. Also getting a Bodie, that I already have.

However you are mistaken if you think that I am disappointed. How could I ever be disappointed with having a #6 of any Harbour Light? I am happy as a peach! Yes, I am still hoping for a 1st mold, would be even HAPPYER with a 1st mold... but will not be disappointed if it turns out to be a 2nd.

Yes, we are buying a pig in a poke here. And when you have (all but a handful of missing pieces to complete a collection) it's hard to expect that you will get any of those missing pieces. I for one knew that when I ordered. But I ordered anyway... with my fingers crossed and praying. Because I knew that no matter what I got... it would be a single digit. And that I do not have!

Some are hoping for variations (as was I), and they may or may not get it. But they will get a single digit. Again I repeat how can you be disappointed with that?

I still think the pallet by pallet list will work if HL ever dose this again.

I'm not refering to your "#6". Good for you. I'm not that excited with low numbers like some. I reason that my kids won't care either. You know what...it's Bill's collection and he can do what he wants. As long as everyone knows what the rules of the game are fine. It's your money. Always remember when you assume.........

Rich, I don't believe the pallets are stored in a facility owned by LHD or HL. If this is the case, they are having to rent the space. Factor in that they already had to pay for the pieces to be made; shipped from China; then shipped again to Maine; stored for 3 years; as well the manpower someone has had to pay to dig thru the pile. Oh, yeah, don't forget they paid the shipping on the first two rounds and that your dealer has been given a "commission" from each sale. At this point, it would be make more fiscal sense to load them up, take them to the dump and run the bull dozer over them. (I do believe precedent has been set for this.)

Had the pallets arrived with an accurate inventory, I would agree there is no excuse. However, I believe this was not the case.

A lot of people were bummed that they were planning on getting a rare Canadian or California light - maybe the much sought after Split Rock, MI or one of the very few Canadian Saint Augustine models. Can't blame the Maine gang for that not happening, and in fairness you can't blame the Youngers either. Early in the history of the company they did what they needed to do to get the product out to dealers. Sometimes that meant taking from the group that was to be numbered 1-10 and using them for regular numbering. Way back when that was done who would have known people would have desired those pieces based on where they were manufactured? Gee, if I could go back and make decisions based on what I know now there are a few lottery number choices I might have made differently . . .

Everything you said is true Dave. What I was bringing up is in this case, because it's Bill's personal collection,if they destroy these pieces they can't claim anything on their taxes as a write off. Or at least I don't think they can so if this is the case, give their dedicated collectors a chance to buy these pieces at what the dealers would buy them for. The dealers sure arn't reaking their necks to buy them or they would have been gone. Give the collectors, that have hung in there over the years a chance to make a good deal. Seems a shame, and a little bit bizare, to bulldoze/destroy/break instead of giving your collectors a break.

Well Dave and Rich it seems as though the Younger's collection has reached what business people call - the point of diminishing returns. The Youngers can no longer afford to keep them , sell them or destroy them. The cost of warehousing even in self-storage is high, bringing them ,to the dump would incur dump charges, and having someone come in and inventory and place them in numerical order would cost money. Looks like everyone looses unless someone bends and that someone is obviously the seller.

The answer may be simple. Announce the location of the pallets, ask for 3 or 4 volunteers to go in and put them in order and make a list, and give them first shot at 4 or 5 lights in return. I suspect there are a few folks around here who would go for that duty.

Sign me up! As long as I don't have to go to Maine in the winter. I don't think my Floridaized bones could take the cold again.

Cathy

JJ
I was going to post that very same idea this morning. We have all these people on the forum that volunteer for lighthouse restoration why can a few volunteers be found to help out on this. If we don’t do something we as collectors we will be letting a piece Harbour Light history pass by.

I will volunteer one week of my time for this mission but it would have to be in the summer and I would need somebody’s couch to sleep on at night. Don’t have enough frequent flyer miles so throw in a round trip airfare. I can send my resume in today if need to.

Okay back to what I originally said. One or two times a month one or two people go to the storage and fill the orders. It sounds like that pallets are in some kind of order since HL didn’t make a big deal out of selling the lighthouses in order of oldest to newer. There is an inventory list; I have one right in front of me. They were offered to all interested parties for the first selling of the Founders collection. Of course the inventory has dwindled since then and I am sure that Bill/HL have kept up with the latest inventory. I think sometimes some of you just look for ways for something not to work. I have an excellent idea, it is practical and I don’t see it to be that expensive to enact.

No, Daniel, some of us factor common sense into the equation. The collection has been offered at least 3 times, in various manners. Those that were interested bought. It is pretty much a dead horse at this point. There is minimal interest shown by collectors or dealers in obtaining additional pieces.

What you ask is that Bill continue to pay to store a product that you personally seem to want, but most collectors do not. And, that Lighthouse Marketing continue to provide the support needed to dig thru the pallets to find the light you want, be sure it has the characteristics you want and then ship it to you.

Yes, there is an inventory. That inventory was flawed coming in the door and has never been accurate. Pieces that were supposed to be there were no where to be found. Pieces not listed on the inventory were on the pallets. That's just the way it is. I am sure they know exactly what has come off the pallets and where it went, but that doesn't make the original inventory any more accurate.

Quite honestly, if someone was all that interested in being sure the pieces ended up in a collectors hands they should put together some type of offer to buy the remainder of the collection and then sell it out piecemeal after they take an accurate inventory. I would bet that the powers that be would accept a reasonable offer to take the pieces. For those so interested in values, I would think that destroying the remaining lights would increase the value of those in a collector's possession.

If, in fact, you have such an excellent idea, put it into action. Put together a consortium of some type. Buy the inventory and execute your plan. If it works out, you will make lots and lots of money and be able to tell all of us nay-sayers "I told you so". If not, such is life.

Is it possible to find out the total number of pieces, or at least an approximate number to know the size of what we're talking about?

What if one person took this on:
- All the remaining pieces are shipping to this person.
- The cost of shipping is the responsibility of this person.
- He or she must have the space to manage these pieces, thats why I'm asking the approximate size of the collection.
- He or she takes inventory and reports back to Harbour Lights.
- This person then is responsible for the sale of these pieces. Via the CF, Craigslist, or however possible.
- The profits from the sales are then split between HL and this person to whatever percentage split HL dictates.

*** The total number of pieces would also need to be known for someone to make an offer to buy the entire remaining pieces outright.

Dear Harbour Lights,

Will work for Lighthouses. I am cheap, but not free! I would give you one (maybe two) weeks of my time as an inventory control personal, for the purpose of organizing and inventory recording of the Founder’s Collection.

My expenses for such an offer would include gasoline for my car to drive from Mobile, AL to Maine and back to Mobile after my duty was done. This I would be happy to pay out of pocket, with full reimbursement of money value in Harbour Light Lighthouses from said Founder’s Collection.

Another expense would be accommodations. And the amount of the expense would depend on the time of year that you would want to use my services. Should you require my time during the cold months of the year, then I would need indoor facilities. Such as a nice warm bed or couch of a local employee. A motel room would be nice, but not a requirement, any warm place to lay my head would do. Should my services be needed during the warm summer months. I would be happy with a small piece of real-estate on which I could put up a tent. This real-estate could be at a local campground or just a grassy area out back of your establishment, as long as I had access to bathroom facilities.

As for wages for my time of service. Again I would be willing to accept Lighthouses from said Founder’s Collection (and/or future pieces not yet made) as pay.

Thank you for considering my application for temporary non-employee services!

Sincerely,
Stephanie Dingler


Yes, I know…. I should have posted this in the Laughs From The Lantern Room Forum! But my thoughts are sincere and true!!!

Stephanie
I think that is a great offer. If I had time I would do it with you. There must be many how would be willing to do it. It sounds like it could be done if the Youngers want it.
Fran

Good Tuesday Afternoon!

For the record the Founders' collection is not property of Harbour Lights. It is a private collection.

The Collection is well protected and secured.

Each of the three offerings of the Founders' Collection was made in agreementand with respect to the wishes of the Younger Family.

What will be the future desposition of the Founders' collection? I am not sure.

This past offerinf sold more than 100 Replicas and as of today, I have not received a single complaint other than one Replica was received broken and the replacement was shipped out this morning.

I have read your issues and will take them into account at the next offering.

At the present time , our energies are focused on the 2009 Winter Release - The Collectors' Choice!

A. J. Constantino
Director of Sales and Marketing

Dave remember when you said that somethings you say things on the forum you shouldn’t, this is one of those cases. Not very professional.


First of all I assumed Bill was going to keep storing the founders collection anyway and it was just your idea to dump them in the Garbage. What I read from the post was that collectors still wanted from the Founders Collection but they wanted to choose which ones. I was offering a way that seemed practical and somewhat financially sensible to clean out more of the founder’s collection. I am not offering any solutions to further my collecting desires and I resent any accusation of that. I am looking out for all Harbour Light collectors. Yes we may be the minority now, but we still exist. I love Harbour lights and I just want all the rare founders collection to find good homes and nothing more. As you said all the previous ways of selling the founders collection has been exhausted and this was just an idea I had for what I thought was a helpful suggestion. As usual, as Rich and I make suggestion out of love of collecting to make exciting topics to talk about, you have to bull dozer them under just like you think should be done to the founders collection.

First off let me say that whatever happens to the FC is going to happen regardless of what we say or do. While it's been enjoyable reading all of the ideas and suggestions, it will ultimately be Bill's decision. As I can see through the various writings, people seem to think that HLs is involved in the decision making. They may be to an extent but it still rests with the Younger Family as I see it. Any of the suggestions that have been put forth here would or could work but it is not our place to tell Bill or HLs what to do with the remaining FC. I can see where the selling of the FC has been dragged on for 3 years and if everyone was truly interested in buying the FCs to try and save them or to resell them, I'm sure that Bill would consider a serious offer for all or part of what is left. I personally washed my hands of the whole situation after the Minot's Ledge I bought last years was not Canadian. Why would I want to have a low number if it didn't fit into the low number format since numbers do not really mean a thing to me. I really have to go along with Dave's idea of getting together a group of collectors and as a group offer to buy all or some part of the FC. Also, in Dave's defense, he has insight into happenings that we don't have and whether we like to hear his input or not, we need to listen to him whether he agrees or disagrees.

And in a parting word not related to the FC, I wish that all concerned with what happens to the FC would at least have half the concern with what is going to happen if we don't sell out the WP Exclusive and we can't fund the Forums.

Daniel, I am a realist. The ideas you have presented are generally not practical or workable. I pointed that out. You don't like that. Sorry that you feel it was not professional to bring reality into the discussion.

I believe it is Bill's desire to try to get the lights in the Founder's Collection into the hands of collectors. However, he is also a businessman and there will come a point where he has to call it quits. Collectors that are interested have generally purchased. The second round of sales was the ideal one - you could request the piece you wanted IF it was available (and that was sometimes difficult to determine until they tried to find what was SUPPOSED to be in the collection).

You want the crew at HL to continue to create opportunities to purchase parts of the FC, that's fine. But, let me ask a question of all that have purchased one or more of these lights: Have you called HL or sent a note to thank Tony, the customer service folks or the warehouse folks for all the work they have done to try to get these lights into your hands? It really is a major undertaking to try to get those orders and get the prodict located, picked, packed and shipped to you. A thank you would let them know that their efforts are appreciated. And, this work is in addition to what they need to do to sell new product.

Dave you have good valid points and where you lack professionalism is not in the substance of your ideas, it is how you percent your ideas. You come on as a Forum Bully trying to belittle and undermine the topic presenters thinking this helps your debate. Debate the topic not me. I don’t like being accused of having no common sense and I specially don’t like the accusations that my ideas on selling the founders collection is for my best interest only. I think you need to work on how to respect other people’s ideas. But I bet this is not the first time you heard that before.


Dave the other problem is we don’t know what is your opinion or what actually comes from inside info. With me we all know it is all my ideas and opinion. I think most people on the forum think that what every you say comes from inside info and they believe it to be the final word. Is this your opinion of what’s left of the founders collection should be bulldozer under or is this from inside info?

After the first founder’s collection announcement, I also had much opposition when I presented my ideas on how the founder’s collection should be sold. I was told that it was Bills collection and Bill can sell it how he wants to. Later on at the second selling of the founders collection Many of my ideas where used. I don’t think my idea on how to sell the founders the next turn around is unpractical I think it is the only way. As for someone or a group buying the whole collection they would have to be out of their right mind. Don’t forget there is also a load of around 700 GLOWs in the founder’s collection, not mentioning the Anchor bay. Would someone buy a pallet? Maybe that would be possible. Could Bill find volunteers to help in inventory, most likely?

The options left for Bill is.
1. Do nothing and just keep paying storage.
2. Keep paying storage but keep trying to sell off as much as possible.
3. Haul them off to the dump.
4. Find a large buyer.

Which of these seem like the most practical?

Are there any other options? Would more collectors volunteer to buy more of the founder’s collection if it was offered again just to make sure they salvage a little more of Harbour Light History?

Dave if the founders collection is offered again and any of my ideas are used I will be sure to bring it to your attention.

I've said all the above in one sentence; " the FC has reached the point of diminishing returns."

Being in business, there are times, unfortunately so, that you have to sell things
in a manner you don't want to just to keep the inventory flowing. This could be why we see HL dealers doing their thing on ebay, to keep the money coming-in. I'm not saying Bill should put them on ebay but...

As we have agreed, "It's Bill's collection." Bill
will make the decision. As far as buying a pallet, well that brings me back to what I said back when, "I don't buy something without knowing what it is." IT NEEDS TO BE INVENTORIED.
No one works for "free."

Now lets talk about the dump. Let me know where and when they'll be dumped.

There are other choices for the FC. Donate them to the Lighthouse Museums, take the tax break and let the lighthouses that have had editions made in their likeness sell them and the profits go to the lighthouses for upkeep. BUT THEY NEED AN INVENTORY. Most lighthouses have sites and could be emailed and the FC might find a home. Can you imagine walking into a lighthouse store/museum and finding a #3 or #1?

One word would solve the problem--INVENTORY. Give the FC a quarterly sale and let people know what's available. They can run-off a copy and fax it to whoever handles the sale. The faxes are time stamped and therefore the first come first served rule would apply.

Daniel, you are the one who made this about you. Look back thru the posts and you will see lots of "I" in what you have written. You offer suggestions that have emotional appeal but lack business sense. You presume there is no cost attached to any kind of work performed. I pointed this out. You took offense and turned it towards me. You need to rethink your perspective.

I have not bullied you, you have bullied you.

I should take offense that you implied I am speaking for HL. I am not, I do not. I speak my ideas. Yes, I probably have more insight and information than most do. However, I respect the confidence of that information and do not repeat it. What I base my comments on is information that has been conveyed in a public setting. I choose not to put a disclaimer on every post I make, should not be needed. Tony has his own membership and is able to post the official HL line when he needs to or wants to. He does do that, and has done so in this thread.

You make a lot of assumptions that are just that. And, you present yourself as the spokesman for everyone, and presume to speak for them. Let me assure you that you were not the first to present the idea of selling off the FC in small increments. I am not so insecure that I need to go public with what I suggest, even if it comes to be implemented.

As I have pointed out, there is some potential workability in some of the ideas presented. I hope that the Founder's Collection is able to find its way into collector's homes, as is the stated desire of Bill. However, I also factor common sense into my thinking and realize that sometimes things just don't work out as we hope they will.

I'd say this is a good place for this topic. The FC is in the "fog."

YIKES!

All this talk about the dump, bulldozing, and bashing Bill Younger's sacred collection of HLs..... That's Blaspheme!

You all are NUTS!!

I'm with Stephanie (Shortcake) on this. Sign me up, I already have a place to stay in Maine and I will not cost you NOTHING! .....Well, except maybe one or two steamed hot dogs from Flo's (hee hee)

It is too bad that this topic has become personal to some people. First and foremost, the collection is the Youngers and they have the right to do with it as they please.

I got three pieces from this sale round and it was the first time I bought any from the collection. For me it was a great surprise to open the box and see what was there. Would any HL collector truely pass up a single digit piece if they saw it in a store? I dont't think so. It seems like people have forgotten about the joy of the hunt. Yes, you don't know what you may get, but at one time wasn't that part of the fun of visiting dealers. You never knew what you would find on their shelves.

I think folks should step back and review the certificates that came with their Founder Collection pieces. Reading that certificate makes owning a small part of the collection something very special to me. Bill has always made us collectors feel like a part of his family and his efforts to share the Founders Collection with us should be applauded. Ditto for Ligthouse Marketing for helping in making this possible.

I don't post often because I got caught in this kind of disagreement once before in the forums and decided it wasn't worth it to me to get bullied here. Everyone's opinions is just that, theirs. How it is presented is also up to the person who posts. How it is interpeted and taken is up to the person reading the posts. You can read and take the opinion for what it says or you can be offended by it. That is up to the reader. Some people speak plainly and don't strive to be "politically correct". Others are carefull to state their thoughts in unoffensive terms. In other words, everyone is different in how they do things and each of us as posters and readers in these forums need to respect how each person presents their ideas or opinions. regardless of how the words are used to do it.

Well, that is my two cents worth. It may be awhile till I post again depending on the reactions to what I have said.

True statement, Randall. Unfortunately, the joy of the hunt is much diminished when the collection is completed. People with incomplete collections will derive more enjoyment when finding a piece they didn't have but wanted.

I would never pass up a single-digit or two-digit piece in a store in the past, but now I probably would have second thoughts of buying it unless it was a light that I really liked. There are many less desireable lights out there that I wouldn't purchase even if they were a single-digit. That is why I didn't participate in purchasing more FC pieces blindly. I bought 9 in the first round, didn't get my first choice, and receive one that wasn't even on my wanted list. If another FC sales comes up in the future where we can choose what we purchase, I will participate. If they are offered as a "luck-of-the-draw" sale, I will abstain.

My advice to people with small collections is to buy as many of these low flag pieces whenever they become available. You will be buying a piece of Harbour Lights history.

Bob

I suggest the topic be closed. We have entered places where Captain Kirk wouldn't go. Amen to the FC. May they rest in peace to be born again at some time in the future.

Wickywacky - And this is exactly what the FSB is all about. Those of you with faint hearts or that blush easily should not venture in. Didn't you see the sign over the door? Just kidding on the faint hearts or blushing but this is where the differences of opinions can all hang out and be heard.

I think the FC collection will be offered again, just how it is offered will have to wait and see.

I am just hoping that if/when the FC is offered again, I have money to buy some. I do not have any of the early pieces and would be happy to recieve any of them. I just have not had the money to buy any when they have been offered. My earliest piece is HL 164 Pemaquid ME. And that is a 4-digit in the 8000s. So I would be happy with anything, but I can see how most collector that have been collecting since the beginning would be wanting that one single piece that is missing from thier collection.
I am with Stephanie. I would do inventory to get paid in HLs.

The FC must be offered in such a way that the collectors know what they are buying. "Pot luck" doesn't cut the mustard. Neither does 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices etc, especially when you end up with something you didn't ask for and didn't get what you did ask for (personal experience).

My advice is to take 50 HL's right off a palate, list what they are with the flag# and surely most of them will sell. When you go HL shopping at a dealer you don't expect to be handed a plain brown paper bag with a mystery HL in it. You want to know what you are spending your hard-earned money on.

If they are serious about selling off the FC, then this must be done.

Bob

True Bob. Many would agree that this may or may not be the solution. If they were mine, it would be the way to go. Do it quarterly. That way those that didn't sell, can be added in the second round and can accompany the 2nd quarter and so on throughout the year.

Looking at the polls so far I would say that the Founder’s collection is still marketable it just needs to be marketed differently.

There have been good ideas listed so far on what should be done. WickyWacky supports an inventory list so that Bill can properly and knowingly sells the founders collection. Bob and others have talked about a pallet at a time. These are such good ideas; we would have to ask why Bill didn’t think of it. Most likely Bill thought of it and probably about any other idea we can come up with. I am sure he wakes up many mornings thinking about what in the world am I going to do with those thousands of lighthouses. We all have had similar problems when you wake up to a beautiful morning and ready for a nice day and all of a sudden you remember your nagging problem that is there and won’t go away.

I feel that so far Bill has tackled this problem by cheapest quickest way first. Many of the senior collectors on these forums like Dave, Rich and yours truly have helped collectors sell their collections can relate in a small way of what Bill is going through. We help the seller with cleaning out the easy popular ones first and then tackling the very common lighthouses last. Some are even a waste of time to sell and giving them away or even disposing of them becomes the only option.

This very dilemma of having un-sellable lighthouses will eventually face Bill. Because of the economy and many other reasons there will come a point when the founders collection market becomes saturated. I personally don’t feel that Bill has reached that point yet but he has reached the point of no more easy sales. Using the last Founders collections and the poll as an example we would have to unanimously agree that Bill has to sell by lighthouse name or don’t sell at all.

Bill will have to make a decision on what route he will go. At this time if Bill wants to sell anymore founders collection he will have to identify the lighthouses for sale, by means of either an inventory or even just selling 50 at a time. If not he will be stuck with storage or eventually the dump.

The decision ahead of Bill is, should he put any more money into the selling of the founders and hope to get the money back or give up and destroy them all. In my personal opinion is that Bill will not take the easy way out but will utilize some of methods mentioned for selling.

Bill told me that for the second selling of the founder’s collection, He and a college kid located all the lighthouses to fill the orders. He said it was a lot of work and the person helping him made many mistakes. Probably one obviously mistake was giving Bob a #5 Heceta Head when he didn’t even ask for one.

Now for this go around of selling the founders collection, it sounds like Bill didn’t get as involved and hired someone to go to the Warehouse and grab the lights from the pile starting with the older lighthouse. This way the founders could still be offered with out all the headaches and Bill being involved. Since what Bill went thru this summer with health problems this was the best route to go.

Dave as usual has many good points about all the problems associated with selling anymore of the founder’s. The fact that Inventory should be done is a no-brainer but as Dave has said is there even room to lay out the lights? And then after they are inventoried, how are they stacked for easy access? Not counting the expense of the inventory. And because of the negative review for the past selling of the founders collection is it all worth it?

According to the Poll I did the Founders collection is still popular. It is the way it was just sold that was unpopular.
If us collectors just sit and wait around for the next Founders collection to come it may not happen. For the same reason that lighthouse lovers volunteer for lighthouse restorations is the same reason that collectors (Harbour Light Lovers) should support and volunteer if possible for saving the founders collection. It is important to us and we want to save as much of it as possible. The Selling of the founder’s collection may be considered a business but to us collectors it is considered a valuable part of HL history. Remember; “Once its gone it is really gone”.

This is what we need to do. Email Tony in your own words the following:

1. Thank Bill Younger and Harbour Lights for offering the founder’s collection.
2. Tell them you are still interested in purchasing from the founders collection again.
3. Would like if possible for collectors to purchase the founders by the Lighthouse name. An Alternate light would be acceptable.
4. Let them know if you would like to volunteer and if expenses would need to be paid or not.

Anybody think the Founders Collection will be offered again this year?

Probably around November or December again?

Will Harbour Lights be "around in November or December?" I usually buy all of the Limited Edition Releases. This year it was a push to buy three. It's become a "no brainer decision." Pay for your prescriptions (which have increased). Skip the dentist appointment to save money. Really shop the specials, plan a menu so you buy only what you need. I'm waiting for the day to come when our government puts our needs before some other country's.

I agree this year will be tough. I've worked very little in the last few months. But if we give up every enjoyment in hopes of survival, we won't survive. It will be a sad time if HL doesn't survive these economic times. Lets hope they do survive.

Just got an e-mail from Lighthouse Depot offering remaining founders collection pieces for sale!

Did your e-mail have a list of what was available?

I wonder why we all didn't get an email?

You need to be on Lighthouse depot's emailing list.. Sue gets a monthly email from Depot as she purchases from Lighthouse Depot quite often..

The LHD email indicated that you can only order pieces from the Founders Collection by 2 ways :

1) requesting a specific flag number (ex. No. 4-10)

2) or the lowest available Replica Number.

However, as before, no orders are being accepted of a specific lighthouse piece (ex. HL125 Portland Head, ME).

As stated in the email, "Inquiries concerning the offering of The Founders Collection must be made by Wednesday April 15, 2009."

Also, it states, "Want to learn more?

Simply email Patti Sampson [psampson@lhdepot.com] with the following information and a Lighthouse Depot Representative will contact you, answer your questions and take your order!

Name:
Email Address:
Phone No:
What is the most convenient time for us to contact you, during Lighthouse Depot business hours 8:00AM-4:30PM(EDT)?"

So .... now you know the story and by the way, "The Founders Collection dreams can come true!"

You forgot one thing, they are all at list price..

Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for the info !!!

I might take another shot at these.

Thanks for the information!

I wish you could give them a list, and say I take the first one, two, three, etc that you come across..... because I would love to have a single digit or two for my collection, but the random piece thing doesn't work for me.

If anybody orders, could they share their order experience. I'm on the fence about ordering another FC piece. Might sway me either way.

I bought and still buy HLs to keep the numeric run complete. But I cannot justify paying for something that I might not like. The bottom line is new priorities and I'm happy with the numbers I have. Random NO. A list, maybe, maybe not.

Update:

Interesting...... Patti is very nice and informative. Worthwhile sending her an email before April 15th! (This is sorta like getting your taxes in by the 15th)

HURRY, RUN.......

The offer has been extend to the end of April.
Contact Patti if you are interested. I was VERY pleased with the pieces I was able to acquire.
She had an inventory list when I communicated with her.

If you get a hold of Patti, can you pick from the list? If yes, How do I get contact her?? :-)

800-365-1219

I think probably the easiest thing for all is to Email Patti and ask for the lights available for the state or sates you are interested in. She will send you the list available at that time than you can call and make the purchase.

Email her at

psampson@lhdepot.com