Are the 50th Anniversary Lava Lites any good?

[Chris]

I don't know what it is about the winter months that make me want to buy more lava lamps, but today I found myself ordering a 50th Anniversary model from Spencer Gifts. I wanted to see what you all think of this model and if any of you have any direct experience with it:

http://www.spencersonline.com/product/home-dorm/lava-lamps/17-50th-...

I do realize there's a good chance that this lamp will be crap. I know they usually arrive cloudy and usually don't flow after the first couple of uses. But I did feel like maybe this one would be different. If it works out, I'm going to give my kitted one to my son, and keep the new one for my desk.

It takes a lot for a lamp to earn its rightful place by my side at my desk. At this point I have gotten rid of almost all my non-working lamps that I didn't feel like kitting, and I just have the one 1997 Lava Lite model that I goo kitted last year. The thing is, I just don't like the goo from the goo kits. It's not the same look as Lava Lite lava, even if they don't use the same stuff anymore. I want to see if I can get lucky again and get a good working un-messed with Lava Lite.

So have any of you seen this lamp in action or owned this model? Anyone have any luck with these? There's only one review on Spencer's site, and it's a good on, but I don't trust that for a second. Lava Lite's stuff just really sucks these days.

[Claude J]

My first two were the same.

The one I kept wasn't much better
At least you could SEE he lava.

LL said they will replace it but that was over a week ago.
So far there has been no responses to their original email that replied to

Looks like it is time for a phone call

Chris said:

Yep--this lamp is going back. I thought having it sit for a couple of days would at least partially fix the cloudiness, but I think it might actually be getting worse. It's so cloudy you can barely see the lava.

I am going to take it to a store and inspect boxes until I find a good one. I know they probably won't have the 50th models, but whatever. It will be a shame to give up this globe though--it was a really nice one--almost completely flawless.

[Claude J]

Hey Critter!

LL is out of stock

Amazon and Spencers are the only ones that I can find with them still in stock

Although last time I was on the phone with Amazon for the third return, they said they were now out of stock

Not sure if they got more

Critter said:

The 50 Anniversary Grande is AMAZING. I have had mine since last summer and is is just perfect I recommended it to several members here who are also thrilled with theirs after receiving them. I think that they are available through Amazon.com still. I don't know why but they seem to be gone from lavalite.com now.

[Critter]

Claude. Maybe that is it for the Grande version then. I hope all who would like one can get one.

[Claude J]

yes it's the grande size we are discussing

getting a decent one has been a task and a dissappointment

[Critter]

Yeah with shipping it is always a gamble because of damage and clouding. I was fortunate to be able to pick mine up in person and was able to check it before I left. I suggested to Kirk that he should get one too and he did, his shipped fine as far as I know.

[Kirk]

Yes, mine shipped fine from Spencer's around December 1st.  It got here pretty quickly, too -- 2 or 3 days.  It sounds like Chris's package took longer than that.  Sorry Chris.  

I guess I've been pretty lucky with my Amazon and Spencer purchases.  No cloudy ones - crappy flowing ones, but no cloudiness.

I run my 50th Ann Grande every weekend.  It remains flawless, and one of my favorite lamps.

[Critter]

Kirk. I run mine a lot too. It is running right now actually and is just perfect. Purple yellow happens to be my favorite color combo too so I especially love this lamp. Glad you like yours so much.

[Chris]

I went over to Spencers today and exchanged my mail order 50th Anniversary model for a purple wax/blue liquid "Premier". If they had a Grande in stock I probably would have sprung for one, but I just did an even exchange. The blue liquid is crystal clear and the lava flows very nicely--I get long stretchy blobs and globe like balls. It's actually very nice to look at. The globe, unfortunately, has the "specks of light" problem. I know Lava Lite says this is normal, but I have never bought that. They are clearly able to manufacture these globes without the little air bubbles in them, because the more specialty models never seem to have them. 

I am going to keep this new one I got today just for a change of pace. I'm bored with my goo kitted '97 model, and it has developed some scum on the inside of the globe, so I'm going to let my son run it in his room for awhile. I gave up trying to get a China lamp without problems a year or two ago, so I have no hopes of ever getting a new one that I'm totally happy with.

[Bran Sparcs]

I have 3 of the 50th grande anniversaries  and all have 2 coils. All arrived crystal clear with zero flecks in the globes. 1 did have gunk in the coils when it arrived  2 of the 3 flow amazing the other is much slower and is the 1 that had the gunk coil. Along with those grandes I also ordered a grande heritage pink that was pea shooter defective from the 1st run on. I contacted Lava LIte directly and they sent replacements for both after sending them the defective pictures and a copy of my shipping list. Currently have the 2 defective ones opened up and am working on them. On the pink one I used a good coil out of my giant that had clouded up we will see if that fixes the problem. If not I can always go kit them both. All in all these grandes seem to be flow amazing!I f

[Bran Sparcs]

Guess I should add I bout all of mine around Thanksgiving. But it has taken lava until today to send out my replacement globe on the 50th Grande. They do still have the globes in stock JUST not the 50th bases. Mine arrived today with a normal silver base set, which is fine as I just stuck the replacement 50 globe on my original 50th base so far for the 1st run I'm really happy with it. Also LL can be really really slow to deal with on their customer service end. my pink replacement arrived 2 weeks ago, my 50th Grande globe just arrived today so be patient sometimes they just show up with no warning on your doorstep. Also mine didn't have to ship far straight from their factory in  IL  straight over to MO. I was told by LL directly winter shipping is better 90% of them arrive clear due to lack of excessive heat that occurs when shipping in summer.

[Claude J]

looks like we all have an extra grande out of the deal, cloudy or not

good candidate for a glitter or goo conversion

'going to try some experimentation on filtering fluid and if not successful, it get glitter

[Chris]

I don't think I'm ever going to have one shipped again unless it's an older pre-China one. I'm 0 for 3 so far on getting working China lamps through the mail. The one I have that was made in 97 that I got on eBay showed up in decent condition, but the lava was pretty much shot by my standards and I ended up goo kitting it. 

As I said earlier, I've kind of given up on ever getting one I'm super happy with. This is just another product that's not made nearly as well as it used to be. I actually have no problem with things being made in China. What I have a problem with is that Lava Lite has moved things to China ONLY to save money. There is high quality manufacturing in China just like there is here, but Lava Lite didn't seem to bother with that. They just sold the production to the lowest bidder who could pump these things out the fastest. The alternative is buying an older one on ebay or somewhere like that, but I've found that what the seller considers "good working condition" is usually not what I consider to be acceptable. 

This one I got at Spencer the other day is actually a decent lamp. The flow is ok, and the colors look nice. I discovered the other day that there is a tiny ding in the base. I could probably return it because of that and get a different one if I wanted to, and I'm considering it. Also, the little pinpoints of light in the globe drive me crazy sometimes, but they also kind of look appropriate against the midnight blue liquid/purple wax combination. Kind of like a night sky.

So my alternatives now are: 1) Keep it, get used to the speckles in the globe, roll out the dent with a spoon. 2) Return it and take a gamble. I'm thinking the first option is probably better, because who knows what I'm going to get next time.

Sad state of affairs for lava lamp fanatics in 2016. I still haven't learned my lesson.