So Dissapointed with the Chinas

[Kongar]

I used to have a Lava Lamp back in the early 90s, and I loved that lamp. I was mesmerized by the motion, and spent many hours studying by the warm yellow glow. Such a mix of science, natural forces, and pure beauty - it's truly amazing how a man made device can compete with things of natural wonder like my fishtank, fire, clouds, etc.

Anyway, this old lamp of mine was abused as far as lamps go. I was in college and well, you know how that goes :) It was shaken, dropped, left on for days on end, and I think even frozen solid at one point. No worries - all I had to do was turn it off, let the goo settle, and it was good as new again.

Life moves on and that lamp got boxed during a move. A couple of months ago, I decided to dig it out and put it on display again. It's been over a decade since I've used it. My 6 year old daughter saw one, and instantly fell in love with the lamp. But, much to my dissapointment, I cannot locate my old yellow lamp, and I could not share my wonder for that yellow light with my child. I figure "no worries," I'll just get another one. (kinda wanted something besides yellow anyways). So I buy a blue/white lamp on amazon...

I open it up - and the globe was... well... ok, but not great. Little bubble-like spots inside the glass. And what's that? All those little white thingies floating around? I don't remember anything besides perfect glass, and clear liquid. Oh well, turn it on and we'll see. Starts off fine, just like I remember, but then - it heats up, the goo unattaches from the coil, and I get a huge lump of lava just sitting there near the bottom. Damn, broke lamp. Return.

Replacement lamp shows up. Same thing. WTF. Maybe it's this color combination and it doesn't do as good as the others. Return again - pick a new color. New lamp shows up - same thing AGAIN. Three busted lamps? How can this be? Maybe it's Amazon. Let's go to Spencer and get one there - maybe there's a difference.

Bring the Spencer lamp home. Plug it in, great motion! YAY! Finally! Works great for 2 weeks. Oh - wait - why's it not moving? Darnit, another lamp goes boom...

Sigh.

Then I find this site, and I do some reading and I come to realize that I'm not going to get a new lamp that works. I can travel to the UK and get a Mathmos, but I'm not doing that anytime soon. I can buy used on ebay - but there aren't many there at the moment (patience I suppose). I can do Lava Louie - I like the clear goo effect - but the globe I have... well it sucks with all those imperfections in the glass. What a bummer! What a dissapointment...

Talk about ruining something fun. Talk about wrecking a silly little thing that has given a simple pleasure to countless individuals over the decades. What a shame.

Kongar

[☆VixenGypsy☆]

Patiently watch eBay, it's worth it! I know about your disappointment, we all feel it harshly, here at OG. But at least you've known the joys of a good flowing lamp. Some of the folks here got on the Goo train too late to know the pleasures of a terrific flow, bubble-less glass & colors that didn't quit!