Since I started that Facebook thread, let me comment here on "Harbour Lights Watching".

There are certain expectations we have about what to expect from Harbour Lights based on the company's history under the Younger's from 1991-2006 and under Don's management from 2006 to the present.

When certain expectations don't happen, "HL Watchers" take this as a sign that things aren't going well at our favorite collectibles company.

Everything is NOT Don's fault. The economy was already bad when he took over and it clearly has gotten worse. That he has been able to keep the company going for the past years is, frankly, amazing, a tribute to his business experience and acumen.

Harbour Lights has actually been profitable for the past several years.

That is, they made more money than they spent on product development, overhead and staff. Not so for the collectibles retailers including HL's number 1 reseller - Lighthouse Depot.

LHD's overhead must be higher than HL's. The one advantage that LHD enjoys over the other retailers is that they don't need to carry an inventory of Harbour Lights. If they get an order for 2 of a particular piece, they can purchase those pieces from HL as needed and ship them out the same day.

If there isn't much business for the retailers, then there isn't much future for Harbour Lights.

A reliable source told me that NO products are presently in development for 2012. (Maybe items have been chosen, but they are not being sculpted.) LHD hasn't published a catalog in several months and doesn't have one ready for this year according to my source.

The Alaska Cruise provided an income stream to Harbour Lights because of the exclusives sold at increased prices directly from HL to collectors.

Probably a majority of those who attended the reunion were no longer actually collectors.

The number of "auto-ships" to dealers has dropped into double-digits (under 100). In the past it was in the thousands.

What might be the future of Harbour Lights?

The company might be sold -- assuming an interested buyer could be found. Or it might be turned into a direct-to-collector subscription program similar to Franklin Mint.

All this is speculation on my part -- based on my experience at "watching" Harbour Lights.

Harbour Lights could surprise me. I've heard the death bells tolling for them before and they made it through those times. They could do it again.