Nine and a half inches. That's the rumored size of the AABNR 1999 Hillsboro, Florida model.
To give you an idea, thats about the height of HL#132, Ponce de Leon, which lists at 9"x6". That'd make Hillsboro the tallest HL model in the entire line-up.
Hillsboro is a metal tower similar to Sanibel. The actual light is 145 feet tall (1740 inches). Assuming roughly ½ inch for the model's base, that gives us a scale of ~1:193. I haven't been able to find enough info on the real light to get the dimensions of the tower structure - specifically, how far apart are its legs where they meet the ground. If we knew this we could get an approximation of the size of the new model.
The Sanibel model is ~6¼" tall, the real light is 102 feet high. That gives us a scale of ~1:212. Smaller in scale, but kinda close to the same as we're guessing for Hillsboro.
Even though HL has been known to take liberties with relative scale, I'm thinking Hillsboro should be pretty darn big, especially if, as rumored, outbuildings are included. A base as large as 10-12 inches at its widest - larger? If I'm anywhere close, it'll be big.
If you think about it, HL probably has no where to go but larger. Those pesky GLOWs are almost the same size as LE's. While I suppose HL could make a model smaller than a GLOW and call it a Special Edition, it wouldn't be eye-catcher that Hillsborozilla surely will be. On the other hand, a smaller scale with more outbuildings, water, etc. could be done in the same area (length/width) as a GLOW or LE.
Personally I'd prefer a line of models about 1½-2 times the size of a mini (And think thats where GLOWs - if we must have them - should have been all along.) HL has obviously demonstrated their ability to do tremendous detailing of smaller models - so a smaller scale model would still be very attractive. The mini's, ornaments, spyglass, and thumbnails attest to that. (A smaller scale could also mean less money spent on display cabinets leaving more for models - for dealers and collectors alike. lol) But introducing models larger than minis but smaller than GLOWs at this point in time could possibly confuse collectors (and dealers) even further and also not warrant a higher price tag.
No doubt Hillsboro will be a treat - never underestimate HL - they goof up occasionally on the periphery (700 people in a lobster pot) - but the models are always spot on - and keeping getting beter.
So whattya think? A few bigguns in the display case cause any problems? (Remember we're also looking at ~40% higher price as well.) What if they introduce 1 or 2 'Special Editions' each year. Should they be larger? Is a bigger model a bigger happiness?
Rgds,
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/im
