New lamps

[Ian]

I've been thinking about this recently, but I think the reason we buy the new, crappy china lamps is because of a couple reasons. It is so much better, to go on ebay and only get lamps from there (vintage), however they are used. It is very satisfying to buy a brand spanking new lamp fresh in the box, and to unpack it and fire it up for the very first time ourselves. And it's not expensive. Nothing like it, and we can't get that satisfaction with vintage unless you manage to find one NIB. The other reason, is I think deep down inside, we hope that we will open the box and the lamp issues will be all gone, that the old flow (or something similar) will be back and we can breathe a sign of relief. It's like a 1 in 1000 chance, but it's still there.
That's just some thoughts on new lamps, crappy as they are I will keep buying the new interesting ones, like the printed bases, clearviews, metallics, neons, ect. I will not, however, buy the overused, silver base ones. Anyways... Anyone else have any thoughts? No point to this thread, just some interesting thoughts. :)

[MileHigh]

The problem is that the vast majority of new lava products that are made these days are very low quality.

That is why they do not cost much and can be found in places like Wal Mart.

Most items are no longer made with pride or any type of quality control like they were years ago.

I feel the best chance of finding a nice lamp that you can be proud of is to buy a vintage one.

The 32 oz lamps that were made in the 90's are soooooo much better than the crap made Today.

Vintage may not be brand new ( NOS is hard and expensive to find ),  but finding a good rare vintage lamp that is no longer made can be much more satisfying than buying a new crappy one - which anyone can do.

I prefer quality over quantity.

I would rather spend $200.00 on 1 high quality vintage lamp than the same amount for 10 new crappy ones.

As long as there are consumers still willing to buy cheap crappy lamps manufacturers will continue to produce them that way!

I am sure that everyone's opinion on this subject is probably different but that is mine.

[Carol]

Humm.......Ya know Ian, I'm still a sucker for a new lamp myself!!!  I do however follow some ground rules. 

 

1)  I NEVER order new online!!!  Big no no for me.  I cannot stand something faulty that I cannot jump in the car and run back to the store!!  I follow this rule with clothes, shoes, whatever.  Well, I will order shoes online if I already have a pair and know the size, lol!!

 

2)  If I can't open the tube, inspect, and have it lighted for me, I won't buy.  I also do not buy lamps at Walmart, Target, or Kmart.  Ok, Ok, there was the classic black for 8.79 which I totally wrecked trying to achieve some decent flow....now it's a gookit.  I'm still in the 90's mode when my trip to Spencer's was the highlight of my year!!!

 

Now, as far as Vintage.  I did purchase 2 vintage lamps off of ebay and the thrill of the win, the anticipation high waiting for the lamp to arrive was also nice too!!!  The only thing with vintage that I worry about is how long will the lava last before it is totally fried??  Like my Enchantress lava is still really white, but yet my blue swirl looks to be a tad yellow as if it has been cooked.  And the Enchantress is an older lamp, so obviously the swirl was ran more then the Enchantress.  If you are lucky, the seller will post very little use, or only ran so many times, but with some of the vintage lamps, they have probably been passed around or estate sales or things like that, so it's anybody's guess. 

 

My most recent goo purchase was my red clearview a few weeks ago.  Gotta tell ya, digging the clearview!!!  The ONE problem.....takes a good 5 hours to start up, but i'm ordering a 30 watt bulb for it instead of the 25 stock bulb.  This should help.  AND the a/c is constantly on, so maybe the heat in the house during the winter will also change it's habit.  I do think the flow in the clearview's has improved somewhat over some of the china flows in the classics and what not.  Also, I have a 52 oz pink fluid/white lava that is pretty decent.  Not bad flow either.  I did pull both lamps out of their tubes at spencer's and insisted that they be put on a lighted base.  They have their displays up and running so it's not hard to pull the globe and stick it on a lighted base.  Oh, the pink does flip coil at every start up. 

 

Will I continue to buy new lamps?  I guess the answer is yes.  But ya know time will tell also if they will improve, get worse, stay the same subpar quality, it's a crapshoot, but yes, I do like taking the trip up to Spencer's and looking at the new lamps that they have to offer.  I think also, it's a blast from the past for me.  Kind of like walking down memory lane when I first walk into Spencer's and my hubbie and I enjoy the hour drive to our mall. 

[Ian]

See I too would rather spend the $200 on a good vintage (I spent $100 on a century once!) than buy the new ones for cheaper, but that satisfaction of a new lamp, even if it gets returned the next day, is still pretty gripping, at least for me. The quality sucks but I like the new lamp feel. I wasn't around to get brand new USA lamps, I was only 9 when they stopped making them here. I had one brand new USA, which was my first ever lamp, so I never got the satisfaction of brand new good quality lamps. As of right now, I guess I have to make do with the low quality ones. I dunno.. If everyone stopped buying the new ones, the company would just go out of business and there would be no lava.
On second thought, maybe if everyone stopped buying them, lava lite would go out of business, and in would come Mathmos!! That would be so awesome. If it would be realistic.

[Carol]

I don't think people would stop buying new lamps because unfortunately, if you aren't a collector, or have ever had an older lamp, one wouldn't know the difference.  People buy lava lamps today and are like "wow, this is awesome, how mesmerizing"!!!  Imagine if you have never really saw a lava lamp up close and personal in your house because you just never were interested.  Than you go visit your friend and you see her new albeit "china" metallic red clearview??  You would probably think that was pretty awesome because you never knew what the old school lamps performed like.  It's kind of like if you've never had a filet migon steak, you'd probably be perfectly happy with a sirloin.......Also, let's not forget that a lot of us "baby boomers" like myself (i'm 51 and proud of it, lol) are now turning their kids onto lava!!!  It's funny, my son is 16 years old and tells his friends about how his mom has this many lava lamps and they show him a pic of the one in their room and it's a dollar store lamp.  Then he shows them pics of mine and he has a 52 oz green neon and one that I revamped for him!!!  Now these kids were perfectly happy with their dollar store lamp UNTIL......lol!!!  I told him, you better not show your lamps off!!  So I guess it's just as I said......people will still continue to buy the cheaper version of stuff because they never had the better quality stuff!!!

[Ian]

Exactly!! It's unrealistic to think that everyone would stop buying new lamps, because they don't know. And a lot of people just assume that everything is made in china tees days, so they aren't surprised and don't really care. I have even shown friends the china lamps and the vintage lamps and they either can't tell the difference or they think the china lamps are better. *facepalm*. I've only had a couple think the vintage ones are better. Once I explain the differences to them, then they like the vintage better. But until then, they have no clue. A lava lamp is a lava lamp to everyone else. China, vintage, new or old.
So I will keep buying certain new ones because there is no point to being completely against them. And some of the newer ones do have their charms, such as the clearviews, the colormax, ect.

[Carol]

This is what I say Ian........It's your money, you work hard for it.  It's your own specific taste and if it makes you happy then that's what you buy.  If at the end of the day, you can sit back, look at a lamp, and say, damn that's one fine looking lamp, look at that flow, instead of, OMG I hate that lamp, look at that crappy flow.....then that's what it's all about!!!!  LOL!!  But if there is just too many flaws and it is something that bugs you or gets your OCD going, then it's just not worth it because then it's not enjoyable anymore.....and I think that's what's going on with a lot of collectors and the newer lamps.  Also, the hassle of having to return it, especially if it's through the mail....ughhh...

[Ian]

True, true. All good food for thought, and since the quality is improving I don't mind buying the occasional lamp here and there, but I keep it vintage most of the time. But ya know... Whatever floats your boat ;) I will rarely buy new china lamps via online. I only got my Heratige grande as a gift for Xmas from my parents, and that of course had to be bought online and it is crystal clear and my favorite lava lamp. But other than that..