What's the deal with the lava company and future?

[KS]

Good evening all,

I wanted to discuss these repetitive lamp colors that have been prominently on the market since like 2012. To elaborate more, it seems wherever you look you get the standard 20 oz lamps with green wax with blue fluid as well as the yellow wax and purple fluid. Unless you go to Spencer's where they have a very sweet and unique collection of their own and is far different than the lava company's current website offers, which even some of those (such as the 20 oz black with clear, or the red with blue fluid) are even sometimes difficult to find. It's been almost 10 years since that something more exciting was released such as the Heritage line, which was a very creative approach to the market and great way to pump up us collectors. Now, why is it that we don't have such an beautiful variety of lamp color combos and models today like there was in the 90s, 80s, etc. with the midnights and silver streaks and stuff. I feel that it was more exciting back then with all the colors but it's sad the way the new quality of most of these lamps are consistently crap, with the exception of a few hits now and then if you're lucky. I remember hearing somewhere about the lava company to release solid color waxes with clear liquids? I just hope that within the next few years we could see an exciting jump in lamp creation maybe even under a different management. Can anyone relate or share thoughts?

[Modulo '70]

There have been some wonderful Lava Lite lamps over the years but for me the golden age was 1960’s to 70’s with quirky designs such as Aladdin’s Lamp, Saturna and pedestal, planter and wall mounted models of various designs and shapes. Meditation series was really amazing too as were the Kaleidolite Pedestal model and Silver Spinner variant and other ‘fancy flashers’. Even as a UK enthusiast and collector I am proud to say I have a small number of these LL ‘heyday’ models. Closer to today there have been some good line ups and in particular I loved the Silver Streaks (especially the packaging) and of course, the Electriks. Heritage line up and 50th anniversary showed a return to good form in my opinion. There is certainly a huge variety in the design of the lamp casing finish available today.

[Chris Slames]

My best guess to this is Property Rights/Licensing. I could imagine them having some sort of contract with Spencer's that gives them an advantage in the market. I am new to the lava community and need to learn more. But to me it seems like Lava and Mathows are the only companies producing still. And i would guess the lava lamp market slowly gotten smaller over time due to what younger people want or are involved in.   

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

I suspect Lava simply doesn't see the collectors' market as worth playing to, sadly. Lava lamps have been reduced to a status wherein the public expects little, thus quality can be low and sales still roll along. Lower-quality knockoffs altered the market until Lava was able to reduce quality to their level and retain reasonable sales figures. A few ownership changes helped.