I just received my Legacy from Harbour Lights today. I must admit I was quite surprised when I looked at page 2 and saw the piece HL made to commemorate the New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge. It is the Autumn version of the new Hereford LE (HL315). It has an edition size of only 3,000 and measures out as 7"x4". It certainly looks great in the picture. Retail is $75.

Did I miss the announcement some where along the line?

Bob

Bob,

If you missed it you're in good company- I don't remember seeing anything about this one either.

I know last year they had a set of Little Lights of NJ Lighthouses involved in the Challenge- not as formally as this year's MD set, though.

Dennis

Thanks for the response, Dennis. I thought my mind was slipping when I saw the announcement in the Legacy and hadn't heard a thing about the Autumn Hereford LE.

It certainly looks great in the picture, and I'm definitely going to order it from my dealer. It was quite a surprise to have a late-in-the-year new release. I figure for an early retirement on this one at an edition size of 3000, especially since New Jersey has more members of the Collector's Society than any other State.

Bob

Lighthouse depot is calling it an event piece.
Why would there be an edition size?


http://www.lighthousedepot.com/Order.cfm?orderitem=42315

I don't think anyone missed any notices or announcements, this one came out of the blue.

Daniel, I wonder if you could consider it an event piece in the same line as our Bailey's Harbor pieces were, and they were numbered. With HL showing support for the various lighthouse challenges, I wonder if we will see something for each challend. Last ear it was early introduction of NJ Little Lights. This year, introduction of MD LLs and the special grouping available and now this full size piece for NJ. Opens some interesting possibilities, but I would think they would move more product if they kept the special pieces to the size of LLs, similar to what was done with Bailey's.

Good point Dave
I would like to see a production number on the event Pieces.
3,000 sounds like a reasonable number.

This is not technically an 'event piece' but one in honor of the New Jersey Challenge. It has a limited edition product number and a stated edition size.

Past event pieces were limited to sales in a particular year.

HL315 Hereford Inlet NJ Fall Colorway $75 3,000

This version shows Hereford in the present paint scheme of the lighthouse vs. the Christmas piece a few years ago which showed it in white.

Looks nice to me

Well Folks,

This one came as a total surprise to me. The picture looks pretty good, so I imagine I'll get it.

Bob

My dealer called today to find out if they had to special order this piece and they were told by HL that any auto ship dealer would get them automatically. Didn't count on this but if it's a limited edition I will have to add to my collection.

Just checked the Harbour Lights Web Site. Hereford is listed in 2004, but no picture. I must have missed it.

Bob

Doesn't seem too Autum-ee to me. Where are the fall colors? Looks more like Spring.

Mike

That's one good looking HL. And if I just said that about something Hereford-related, than it's good.

The yellow color looks better on the HL than it does on the real lighthouse! A great amount of detail, too...just one thing: if you want a fall lighthouse, than you would usually put colored leaves on the trees. What would Bob Younger say about this?

Maybe it's the early fall version! I'm just not sure I'm such a great fan of Harbour Lights re-doing versions of lighthouses they've done before, especially so soon after the first version. They did a very nice version of Hereford Inlet with the Christmas piece, not sure it needed to be re-done. There are just so many other lights that are out there to do, to re make another version, I just don't know...

Mike

Mike,

I must agree with you on the multiple version concept. There is no reason to issue the same lighthouse in a modified seasonal version.

The best (worst) one that I can think of off hand is Fort Tompkins, NY -- WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL? That's the only piece for which I did not accept my autoship number.

Bob

I have to agree. I like the looks of the piece, but it doesn't look a whole lot different than the one I've already got. Don't think this one is in the works for me.

I've never been to that particular lighthouse but I thought it looked rather "autumny" to me.

Steve

Okay, I now digress!! I went to the HL site while picking up a Old MI City Christmas piece from the web to get a better picture of it and the picture there of Hereford looks kinda like spring as someone said earlier; not like the sorta autumn-like picture looked in the Legacy.

Steve

I haven't received my Legacy yet but I will agree with everyone it doesn't look very Autumn-like to me. Why another release of Hereford?

Boo to this idea!

imho

When are they going to get the message? Light sales are way off and they are producing two lights that are already in the collection. Hereford for Autumn and Bodie for Christmas. I'll bet I will not be the only one not to get either of them.
Jake

Well Folks,

It might seem tremendously cost effective to the “powers that be” at Harbour Lights to produce a remake of a previously released lighthouse. All the research has already been completed. All necessary documentation has been submitted and projected business plans have already been cast in concrete. Unfortunately, for them and for us, I firmly believe that in the long term this concept will only reflect poor business practices now and negative cash flows in the future. WHY?

• Dramatically reduced interest by the diehard collectors
• No interest from the casual collector because the light had already been purchased
• Small interest from the newer collectors only because they don’t know about the previous issue
• Reservations on the part of all collectors because of the perception that “if they did it before, what’s to stop them from doing it again.”

I will buy Hereford for Autumn and the Christmas Bodie when they are released. But maybe because my mindset still evolves around the fact the Harbour Lights has always been the family company totally concerned about its devoted customers. Hopefully this idea will not be lost with me or with Harbour Lights. OR WILL IT?

Bob

It's no secret that I buy all the limited editions through autoship. This will be the case with the Autumn Hereford and the Christmas Bodie. I like the new look of the new Hereford and I collect all the Christmas pieces. Hereford's edition size of 3000 could be a key factor in it's success. As far as the new Christmas piece goes, I wish HL stayed with their old way of making them and not put a light and an adapter port sticking out of the base. I like the older style way of making Christmas pieces.

Bob

I agree that the small edition size will help with the new Hereford. They'll probably sell quite a few at the challenge. But I do think that remaking pieces will not help with the "borderline" collectors. By that I mean, collectors like myself that have between 100-150 pieces, and not a lot of room to store or display more. I Have become a "buy the ones I've seen, see the ones I've previously bought and have stored" type collector because I have to draw the line somewhere on room. I can't justify having two of the same lighthouse sitting next to each other in my already full and getting fuller cabinets. (I already have that with Hooper Straits, but at least there drastically different.) As for buying them to store, I guess I have the room in my crawlspace, but the frugal Irishman in me just won't let me shell out $80.00 for a lighthouse to store and not display. And believe me thats tough, 'cause there's quite a few I'd like to just "have".

I'll buy the Christmas Bodie, although admitedly I don't care for it, but I have all of the other Christmas pieces so I'll keep the string intact.

Mike

As Arte Johnson used to say on Laugh-In Verrrrrry interesting; all of these opinions on why or why not to buy these two most recent seasonal pieces. My opinion is that I liked the Stratford Point piece in part due to the lit tree, and having a small apartment and no kids/family at home, that was pretty much my Christmas decoration last year. The Bodie piece (which has to look considerably different than the LE) I like due to the fact that most companies that sell light-ups, that's about their only selling point, as they look cheap/ceramic, etc., where I like the part that they took the notice to black out some of the windows to make it look more life-like and realistic (ie. how often do you drive by a light- house and see every light in the house on...unless they're having a Christmas party perhaps ). On the other hand, except for those truly addicted and with unlimited free space, I can see the frustration; especially as far as collecting. I myself think that the older, original HL's are some of the uuugggliest things sold for such high prices; but I collect for the admirability aspect first, the aftermarket second.

Steve

I was at my dealer today buying this year's ornaments when she unwrapped her 1 and only Hereford Inlet Fall piece and it is a beauty...although I wish they would've made it the same size as the Xmas piece, I still couldn't pass it up...a definite WOW!

You have me curious now. I assume the new piece is larger, but how much larger as compared to the Christmas version?

Bob

Here's a bit more news for the mix. In speaking with Kim last week, we discussed the "Hereford Inlet Seasonal Colorway" and Kim stated that there could be another 'colorway' made from the same mold -- perhaps a spring or summer version. Of course a winter version wouldn't be possible from the same mold as it would need mounds of snow added to the sculpture.

Kim confirmed that there was a Portland Head in the snow limited edition of 3,000 coming. I believe it will be an early 2005 introduction.

From the discussion, I believe it's fair to assume we may see other introductions of "Seasonal Colorways" pieces with possibilities of the same mold being used with different paint schemes to represent at least 3 of the four seasons.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Nice to hear that we will have a Portland Head with snow coming out possibly in early 2005. I like the edition size of 3000. Some may not agree with seasonal pieces made from the same mold and I can understand that. But I can also understand where HL is cocming from. I would imagine that the biggest expense of making HL's is in making the mold. Once that is done, it's just a matter of turning out the pieces. If they can get more out of a mold, the profit for the company is better.

So it all comes down to wether or not we want to buy the pieces in more than one season. I for one will definitely buy the Portland Head because it's a New England light. As for the others, I will have to decide on a piece by piece basis. I imagine this will bring out many comments from the forum members and I am anxiously waiting to see what is said.

Bert

Hereford Fall is about the same size as East Brother but the footprint isn't as big.

I'm not thrilled with HL redoing lights over & over but I don't have a problem w/this one because it's gorgeous and I can display it year-round...the Xmas Hereford (& the others) only comes out of the closet during the holiday season.

What I don't understand is why HL wants to issue Portland Head w/snow early next year...why not wait until Xmas 2005?

You'd think they'd do it at the BEGINNING of winter. By the end, no one will want to see anything with snow!

Nooooooooooo....it's Fort Tompkins all over again! How will they change the trees (if only good ol' Bob could lend his expertise)? I mean, a fall tree has no leaves, and a summer one does, and spring doesn't look much different from summer.

Interesting: just noticed that the pic of the new Hereford Inlet on Lighthouse Depot's website (and HL's) shows what appears to be a spring or summer version (the trees are green)...on my Fall piece, they are a brilliant orange/yellow/red/gold and very much accentuate the paint job on the house itself...no wonder reaction to this so far has been somewhat lackluster...I suggest you see this one "live" at a dealer and then decide.

Grrrrrrr!!!! I really have mixed feelings about duplicating the same light to accommodate the four seasons. I bought the four Fort Tompkins because it was a novelty, so to speak. As an autoship customer, am I going to be forced into buying four of every piece they decide to "four-seasonize"?

Vivaldi had the four seasons, but Harbour Lights shouldn't do it.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Bob,

I must agree with you. And you don't have to accept your auto-ship. I refused the four Fort Tompkins and there was no problem. I did eventually purchase all four, signed by Bill Younger, for $10 each. The seller didn't like the idea either and has since stopped collecting.

bobo