My review of Lava Lite's new "Designer" 32 oz. lamp

[Erin]

Received my new 32 oz. "Designer" lamp from LL today. Shipping was fast and item was packed well. Customer service was good - I had to cancel and re-order to apply a discount. No problems there. 

 

Globe color: clear/redNumbers on lamp: H4200, 11032401 D (date assembled must be March 24th, 2011). Cap has white and red sticker. 

Price paid: $34 shipped (with 10% discount)

The globe, much to my disappointment, was slightly cloudy. However, it was warm today and I really do expect that it might clear up. The clouding isn't as horrible as some I've seen, for sure. What's a little unsettling (pun intended?) is the fuzzies floating around in globe.

 
Upon first run, I can see some of these little floaties moving around in the liquid. 

 The finish is fairly cheap-feeling, but OK. Nice to see something new, I guess. I haven't owned any of the 20 oz. globes, but Autumn tells me the finish looks to be the same. The holes arount the base are a nice touch, but are a tad higher than the image sown on Lava Lite's website. 

My verdict for now? Don't buy (yet).

 

Rating as of right now: 6

I am running the lamp now for the first time. Updates to follow.

 

VIDEO of said floaties: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPQyBXKaqVM 

Day two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSlLvW0MGBk 

 

[WeeboTech]

Don't let this deter you from enjoying the hobby or expanding the collection.
There are plenty of american made lamps available in the second hand market.

You can also spend a few more dollars for high quality mathmos lava lamps. There are plenty of other threads and even a couple of linked you tube videos. Look around and ask lots of questions before your next purchase.  

[Erin]

Welcome! Glad to have you here! Luckily for all of us, there is a lot of great used Lava Lite stuff on eBay, Craigslist and every now and again, here. I would not recommend buying anything new from Lava Lite unless you can see it in person first (like at Spencer's). Even so, if you manage to get one that's clear, the flow is nothing compared to their pre-2002 US-made stuff. In my opinion, the lamps are just not worth owning. Lava is going kinda cheap on eBay right now, so go get yourself another one! :)

 

Stick around. There are some great members here with a LOT of knowledge. :)

jonny said:

this is bad news indeed.

 i'm new here.  i own 1 lamp.  a Lava Lite Midnight series that i bought new in '96.  i just brought it out of storage a few weeks ago and thought i would like another lamp or two in the 32oz size.  but upon researching i realized that the Lava Lite company really let their product go to crap.  my research led me here.  this is a great site.  didn't know there was lava lamp collectors community. 

 

anyway, let the reviews continue.  i'm hoping for some quality 32 oz lamps in the future.  hopefully Lava Lite can get their act together. 

[jonny]

thanks for the welcomes.  actually i already bought another midnight series lamp on ebay the other day.  hopefully it works good on arrival.  i still like my original lamp here.  it is well made.  i had this thing running constantly for years and it still works pretty good.  i added a dimmer to it today.  a great idea i got from this site.  now i can keep that post warm up flow going.  the one where the lava climbs to the top as one giant pillar.  that's my favorite.  had that going for the last 3 hours.

[Dr. WHAT?!]

A little feedback from my lamp.

- I've run it everyday for 8+ hours a day and its still a tad hazy but slightly better then when i received it. In all honestly it's really not that bad. I've seen much much worse.

- The fuzzies are gone so I assume they've found their way into the wax.

- Has NOT overheated once, which is a good thing since these china lamps are known to do that.

- The flow is okay at times but for the most part it's just round blobs, not stretchy long wax like we see in the older LL globes.

- The base is definitely nice and I like the fact that these were made in the 32 oz. lamp size so I can swap out a globe to a older one if need be.

 

my score 6.5 / 10 and yes I'll be keeping mine.

 

 

[Erin]

Thanks for your input Shawn! Can you post pics of yours in here? My floaties never went away. Sometimes they hid under the wax, but they always reappeared.

I shipped mine back today. Refund pending.

Dr. WHAT?! said:

A little feedback from my lamp.

- I've run it everyday for 8+ hours a day and its still a tad hazy but slightly better then when i received it. In all honestly it's really not that bad. I've seen much much worse.

- The fuzzies are gone so I assume they've found their way into the wax.

- Has NOT overheated once, which is a good thing since these china lamps are known to do that.

- The flow is okay at times but for the most part it's just round blobs, not stretchy long wax like we see in the older LL globes.

- The base is definitely nice and I like the fact that these were made in the 32 oz. lamp size so I can swap out a globe to a older one if need be.

 

my score 6.5 / 10 and yes I'll be keeping mine.

 

 

[Dr. WHAT?!]

Anytime! and yes I'll do it this weekend. Well I hope they see these floaties and I'm sure they'll reimburse you for shipping unless of course it's stated somewhere where they won't. Did you ask them what the policy is?

[Erin]

I didn't. I'll post back what happens, either way.

Dr. WHAT?! said:

Anytime! and yes I'll do it this weekend. Well I hope they see these floaties and I'm sure they'll reimburse you for shipping unless of course it's stated somewhere where they won't. Did you ask them what the policy is?

[Erin]

I got an email from Stephanie today, offering a Century as a replacement. I had already sent back my "Designer" lamp and was told I could have a refund.

This was her email to me:

We regret that you were unhappy with your purchase of our Red/Clear Designer lava lamp. We’ve sold hundreds of these lamps to various resellers and other on-line customers, and have not received complaints. If you’d like us to send you a replacement lamp, perhaps the new 52oz Designer Premier in red/ yellow, we’d be happy to do so. In any case, please keep your comments on our Facebook page respectful. Please let me know if you’d like us to send you out a replacement lava lamp. We do appreciate your business and hope we can help you.

And this was my reply:

Thanks for writing Stephanie. I wrote Lava Lite a few days ago ([e-mail]) and received an email from customer service that offered a refund if I sent the lamp back, so that's what I did. It shipped out today. I have no further interest in new Lava Lite lamps, but thank you for the offer on the Century.

I have always kept my comments on your Facebook page respectful - is there something I've said on there that's not? I just posted my link to my YouTube video that showed the lamp I received. That link, and the comments along with it were removed. I don't see how posting an accurate product video is disrespectful at all. I have been civil and detailed. Granted, my video did now show your product to be what you had hoped it would be, but the truth is the truth.

I think you and I both know these lamps have problems, but that's a 10-year debate that Lava Lite is not going to acknowledge. And just because you've sold hundreds to resellers and online customers doesn't mean the product is great. Many people do not voice a complaint because sadly, these lamps are what people have come to expect from Lava Lite - slightly murky and with little fuzzies floating them. And the flow is not what it once was. But I digress as I know this debate will go nowhere. Even if you agreed with me, I know you would not be able to say anything due to your job. I completely understand that.

I like and respect you as a person Stephanie, and I was sad to see you leave Oozing Goo, but the fact is that Lava Lite does not produce a quality product and they are nowhere near as beautiful as the lamps that were made here in the US. Any serious collector or lava buff can attest to that. Customers will vote with their dollars, and reviews all around the internet will attest to the product being sub-par.

I truly do wish you and Lava Lite the best of luck. It would be such a tragedy to see the lava lamp market disappear, but I fear it might be on its way out already.

[Erin]

Also, it appears they have deleted my link (with YouTube video) and comment from their Facebook page.

[Erin]

I got another email from her. It's clear I've touched a nerve, as I can tell the tone of her email was a little snippy. Oh well. :(

[Autumn]

Don't tease. Post a copy of it.


Erin said:

I got another email from her. It's clear I've touched a nerve, as I can tell the tone of her email was a little snippy. Oh well. :(

[Erin]

Here it is:

 

Thanks for the feedback. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my job at Lava Lite, it’s that you can’t please everyone! We try our best however, and freely admit we aren’t perfect. Regarding our Facebook page, its really not the place for product reviews. We appreciate your opinion, but 10 negative comments from the same person is really not the goal of our Facebook page. I am sure the folks at Oozing Goo would love some Lava Lite bashing though.

Thanks again and if you change your mind about another lamp, please let me know.

 

******
Worth noting, all of you who saw my post know I didn't post ten negative comments. I was polite!