Grande Giant colors

[Jon]

What sorts of color combinations did grandes and giants have ?  Since i only recently got into this maybe like 7 months ago..  All im familier with are what is for sale..  I cant find much info on prior colo combos and so forth ?  Just curious

[Galaxy_9]

Here is the way I remember it, anyone else feel free to chime in...

The Giants started were released in 1994 (I think but maybe a tad earlier). They first only had a black base and had a plastic cap and the 3 globe colors were as follows. I remember vividly being in spencers in 1995 as a teenager and thinking, how am I going to save up for $250?!!! Yes that was the retail then!

White / Blue

Red / Clear

Pink / Pink

Then around 99 or 2000 they added these globe colors with a choice of silver base / cap:

Yellow / Blue

Yellow / Purple

Pink / Purple

Shortly after that, production moved to China in early 2000s and it was the "Grande". It was only Silver bases.

Cap material went to metal and plastic was dropped. The seal also changed to metal w/ rubber stopper. Colors were then:

Yellow / Blue

Yellow / Purple

Pink / Purple

Red / Clear - a few small batches around late 2000s

Black / Clear - a few small batches around late 2000s

There was an anniversary Grande as Yellow / Purple that had the stamped / raised Lava Logo with 50th anniversary and base was gold.

Several years ago, Heritage series was limited production, had Black Base / perforated base never done before.

Colors was Pink / Clear and Green / Clear (lime green, not the hunter green).

And as of now we have the Custom Cool Mix n Match Grandes. Gold, Silver, or Black Base.

Red / Yellow

plus the tri colored Ambre effect

Not really loving the Gold color they used, it is a metallic paint, and it's more greeny gold, not like the rich gold / brushed brass look of all the classic lava lamps.

The Giants are of course more valued since they were USA made, glass was much heavier too, and of course not to mention the wax / liquid better. But the glass sometimes can have more tiny air bubbles like much of the 70's globes. This was due to the hand blown process used. Pink / Pink for the Giants seems to be more rare combo, it was my personal favorite. The pink liquid color was originally a very vibrant, but over time tends to fade. But it typically appeared orange when running.

If you do a search under pictures here for Giant, you will see lots of examples. Anyway hope that all helps! Happy Collecting

[Michael]

That is all correct. There was also a Bob Marley Grande in the late 2000s when they did the whole Bob Marley series. It had the Bob Marley logo cut out of the top cone of the silver base and a Bob Marley circular decal on the globe. The globe itself was red lava/yellow liquid. There were also very limited runs of a white/blue and white/lilac grande (potentially UK only) in the mid 2000s. With regards to the US Giants, I know the earlier silver versions had plastic silver caps, which eventually became metal towards the end of US production. Giants were discontinued in 2003 and the Grandes were initially released only in yellow/green and pink/purple in 2005. At that time glitter Grandes were also released. The glitters used 60 watt bulbs and of course the lava counterpart used 100. They were recalled shortly after release because of cracking globes (lava only). The glitters were not because of the lower wattage bulbs. The glitter Grandes were available in clear/silver, red/silver and teal/silver. 

[Jon]

How long were the rainbow grandes made for the painted ones??  I keep seeing them on google.. but i guess they arent being made anymore.  I think you can get the 52oz ones in rainbow but not grande... Lol seems i came into collecting lamps too late all the good stuff is gone.. and right now its just bleh lol

Id really like one of those rainbow ones.

[Michael]

The rainbow Grandes came out around the same time as the heritage series Grandes. They stuck around for a few years and are still present on eBay periodically.