John, maybe you're right. I considered that possibility; that's why I posted it in THIS forum.

However . . . Have you observed the Dept 56 product line lately? They have a large Halloween subset in their Original Snow Village Series that includes haunted houses, ships, a LIGHTHOUSE (oh my!), and a large assortment of figures and other accessories. As Tim states above, Halloween provides a HUGE marketing opportunity.

Personally, I'd be very pleased with an occasional LE in an Autumn setting, just like the couple of winter LE's they've produced that weren't Christmas pieces. The ghost on Fall Ft. Tompkins is novel and cute, and the architecture of the lighthouse certainly lends itself to the "haunted" theme, but once is enough for me.

For Sue and BobM: As a long-time railroad modeler, I can say that autumn foliage is extremely difficult to model realistically in miniature. I think the main problem is that colors as intense as actual fall foliage can easily look gaudy and unrealistic when scaled down. On the other hand, if they're too subtle they don't convey the true beauty of autumn. Maybe Joyce Kilmer was thinking fall.

IMO, the coloration of the foliage on the Fall Ft. Tompkins was attractive and very realistic, while not being so intense as to overpower the light itself. For a first shot (was it the first?), I believe it scored a bulls-eye. Sales would appear to support my opinion.

Bruce