Do I hear 4,500? :-)

Won't disagree that HL makes the best darn lighthouse models in the world. (They do!)
I suspect the fact that Navesink marks the 5th anniversary of the company has far more meaning to Y&A than to most collectors. I pay tribute to them with every purchase.

But why not place the focus on lighthouses rather than the manufacturer? The best way for HL to make its mark is to produce a really high quality model of an engaging lighthouse. No need to conjure up an association with some non-lighthouse event to justify or market the piece. (Reader's note: the humming sound you hear is only the wind extraction equipment cranking up - do not be alarmed.)

I challenge Wackos World Wide - look for a light having its 100, 200, or 300 year anniversary next year. Celebrate that light with a model - but do it for a good Lighthouse Reason not some other reason. (HL coulda done this all along if they wanted to draw attention to maritime or navigational history.) Y&A business success is not such a reason.

As for SoL - its a significant edifice and its a lighthouse, but its not a significant lighthouse. Plenty of homage paid to Lady Liberty in many forms - no need for HL to get in this line. Their attention is better directed elsewhere.

The old mariner straining for the sound of a fog signal so he can keep his cargo safe, the tiny pierhead that guides a family home, the keeper standing vigil at 3:00am on Lake Huron, the wind-tossed barque shedding rocks because it was warned by a beacon that found it in the night - these images are the associates of lighthouses. They have their own special virtue and human dimension. Draw upon them when considering models to make. I'd rather see lighthouse history brought to life with Whitlock Mill, or Barcelona, or Lydia Ann. Give tribute to where it is deserved yet seldom found.

The history and magnificence of the Statue of Liberty is in no danger of getting lost in time - sadly thats not true for many work-a-day lighthouses. They deserve sculpting more than SoL.

Becalmed in the FSB,
__
/im


[This message has been edited by JTimothyA (edited 01-23-99).]