Here are the new releases for 2006

Finally ---- Owls Head!!!!!

http://www.harbourlights.com/catalog/2006/index.htm2006

By State

Connecticut
►Mystic Seaport 336
Florida
►Fowey Rocks 331
Maine
►Owl's Head 337
►Portland Breakwater OE470
Massachusetts
►Edgartown OE471
►Graves 335
Michigan
►Old Presque Isle 332
New York
►Staten Island 330
Ohio
►Port Clinton 333
South Carolina
►Morris Island OE472

My only two guesses were right - yea!!!
Old Presque Isle as an LE and Morris Island GLOW.

Harbour LIghts has once again come up with some very nice lights for Early 2006.

I would rate the following as really Great (Spectacular):

Staten Island, NY Might buy this one.
Owl's Head, Maine (Finally) Will definitely buy.
Graves, MA Will definitely buy.
Fowey Rocks, FL
Old Presque Isle, MI

Followed by well done but not spectacular:

Port CLinton, OH
Mystic Seaport, CT Wiil buy
Portland Breakwater, ME Will buy
Edgartown, MA Will buy
Morris Island, SC

Would love to hear what you think? So let's hear it for these 10.

Possible Keepers (means I'm excited about them but it all depends on their size):

Staten Island, NY (saw this about 5 years ago on a USLS tour and it was a mess, and the neighbor lady was very MEAN to our group)

Fowey Rocks, FL (seen earlier this year on the Florida USLS tour)

Graves, MA (appears to be a perfect companion piece for Halfway Rock, ME)

They are all nice, however the only one I plan on buying is Fowey Rocks, FL. With the choice of lighthouses that are being made this upcoming year it will help me in my quest to keep my purchases down.

I just viewed the pics of the pending releases. They are looking great! It's a nice way to start the first half of 2006 in the world of collecting HL's.

Bob

I think they are all well done. The Owls Head isn't quite what I expected, so I am a little down on that. But will buy just because it is a Maine lighthouse.

Of all the pieces introduced so far, I really like the Mystic Seaport CT, Graves, MA and the Staten Island, NY pieces. I don't really collect NY pieces, but I think the the Staten Island has been done really well and looks neat!

Of the 10 pieces introduced, I plan on buying 5 of them.

HL330 Staten Island Range, NY
HL335 Graves, MA
HL336 Mystic Seaport, CT
HL337 Owl's Head, ME
HL470 Portland Breakwater, ME

When is the Cape Forchu lighthouse (w/ rocks) in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia coming out?

Well, I wish I could see them but I have been unable to access the HL website. I have made several attempts and don't know if it's my computer or what! After all the waiting and then I can't see them!

Same here Grace!

MIke

The Harbour Lights website is down. I talked to the webhosting company about 10 minutes ago. The server on which the site runs is out. They hope to have it up and running within 60 minutes.

That's like having a power outage in the middle of a World Series game!!!

Back Up and Running!

Batter Up!


BTW If you go to the main page for each light and click on the image, you can view an even larger image to see more of the details.

I looked at the releases, yesterday, and I have looked at them again, today, just to make sure of my reactions. With apologies, since I seem to have been chomped on and shaken by the Cranky Bug, I'm pleased only with the Staten Island piece, the Fowey Rocks and, to a lesser extent, The Graves. In general, the releases are beginning to look more and more like plastic productions to me... especially Owl's Head, which seems to have everything outlined, like a coloring book. And I'm getting very, very, VERY weary of overbearing boats with easily bendable masts and snaggable rigging [and I can assure you that one or two will arrive at the dealer with just such damage, as well as bent struts and cracked paint in the Fowey Rocks piece]. I know that Bill Younger likes boats, but I'm beginning to feel a little imposed upon by this enthusiasm: that's why Anchor Bay was created. The waves in the Port Clinton piece look like they were generated by the New Madrid earthquake. Paint them green and you will have the conventional Harbour Lights shrubbery! The configuration of the waves and land in the Morris Island piece are disconcertingly mounded up in order to accommodate the power source, way too heavily outlined and demarcated, and simply look bizarre. In fact, this is one of the reasons that I could never like the CSC pieces...the water always looked as though it had been formed over an inverted bowl.

Okay...I've had my fit of negativity, so I'll retire to my cave and gnaw on a bone, or my own leg.

Danny

Don't sweat it, Danny, you're not the only one who's been bitten and shaken by that bug...I think I've got a few years on you there when it comes to HL...

Hey, Rock, I just realized you made it to Super Wacko - congratulations!!

Just noticed the information on Edgartown - Open Edition. Maybe it's a mistake but it has an edition size of "4500". Can this be right John?

Thanks for noticing, Grace, much appreciated!

Owl's head completes the land-based Rockland-area trio, along with Rockland Breakwater and Marshall Point. A keeper.

Portland Breakwater: Excellent.

Congradulations Rock on making super wacko

Rock...first of all, kudos for your accomplishment! [NO...I DON'T actually know what a "kudo" is, exactly, but it sounds good ].

Actually, although this isn't a competition, I suspect that we might have started registering our reservations about the same time. Kim Andrews could probably tell you about some of the letters that I have sent her over the past several years, expressing confusion and dismay over those occasional, glaring errors in the pieces. Kim was always unfailingly gracious and a good sport about my observations and obsessions with details, and generous in her responses. I haven't written her in more recent years, because I easily understood that she had more than enough to do, and more than enough other collectors to respond to...but when I finally met her here in Wichita, she remembered [with good humor]. I also had the good sense to comprehend that Harbour Lights had no obligation to tailor their product to my particular tastes and obsessions, even though I am finding more and more to "push my buttons" as the years go by. I guess that it is up to me to recognize when the product strays too far from my demands in aesthetics and accuracy, and when the investment becomes one of diminishing returns. The very latest developments with the Company may serve as a turning point. We'll see.

Danny

Webster states: "A statement of praise or approval; accolade; compliment."

Bob

Can't be right. Thanks for catching that. I'll fix it this evening.

Bill good to see you posting again. We miss your reviews!

Dan, just glad I've found someone I can relate to around here...

Bill your reviews were awesome, and we need your expertise in creating them again.

Isn't it kinda dumb to have Morris Island "now" as a lighted piece? Just an observation.

Mike

Maybe the thought was that after it is saved (we hope) it will be re-lighted.

It would be great to see this beautiful lighthouse saved. It's a shame that it has continued to be waterbound for so long.

With only one Michigan and one Ohio release in the first half to buy I can spend the rest of my allotment on filling in older pieces that I want to get yet. Really like the Old Presque Isle piece but the tower looks a little too tall compared to the height of the actual tower and the keepers house. The Port Clinton piece is okay I guess and I will get it only because it is an Ohio piece. I can't really understand why this piece was made unless it is because of the area being a big tourist destination because of the islands.

Tom