mathmos telstar now available in the u.s.

[Arne]

on facebook it sais they are now in stock and shipping. the first 500 will have some sort of numbered certificate.

[Mattmos]

Mathmos UK doesn't have to charge US more money for their lamps because of what happened in 1776.  LOL

[Aladdin 2 Lava]

I hear ya too Jim, only ever bought one Astro and two globes direct from "Dorset" ...£30 and around is about my limit !

[Aladdin 2 Lava]

My christal drop earings are here somehere betty...
Mattmos said:

Mathmos UK doesn't have to charge US more money for their lamps because of what happened in 1776.  LOL

My

[Johnny]

i think the problem is youve been buying cheap lamps, cheap quality for years and want everything cheap LOL as for taken so long to set up in the u.s is probly down to lava world or what ever they trade as now, as for the price increase does seem strange but then, i spose theres import tax and the new light bulbs ( u.s ) to be bought to work in the bases, and the plugs, maybe redesign on packaging as mathmos cant use the words lava lamp as lava world dont like that LOL ive never worked out why a telstar bottle costs the same as a astro bottle when a astro has more contents in it LOL

[Erin]

Yes and no. Many of us a pay a lot for our lamps. I've bought several USED Lava Lites for over $65, so it would be nothing for me to pay $100 for a nice, new Mathmos. In fact, I've imported a few from Electric Planet as well as bought one privately to the tune of $100. So, for me, I'm willing to pay good money for a good lamp.

But I've watched Mathmos over the past two years and their product line, customer service and presence have been dwindling. Not something that inspires confidence in their customer base. I watch their Facebook page (both US and UK) and I've watched so many posts go unanswered. We were told (BY THEM) that we'd have Mathmos in the US over a year ago. And despite question after question after question, we were IGNORED. No response. Nada. When they did manage to cough up a response, it was vague. 

They released their US site months ago, with "Coming Soon" on the Astro and Astrobaby. Why would you release a site when you can't buy a companies' signature lamp? And after all that waiting, those lamps were yanked with no explanation. And now, this week, a very meager "Telstars are now shipping". NO picture, no link. Nothing. Their last post was over a month ago. People got tired of waiting. You can only tease people for so long. 

So, in the case of this site and its members, many of us pay GOOD money for quality lamps (and already own a handful of Mathmos). Lamp price aside, nothing in their efforts have inspired even the tiniest bit of excitement in me for quite some time. I understand why many hold Mathmos to be the holy grail of lamps, but if you've been watching, something strange is afoot there, and sadly, people just don't want to acknowledge it. 

Johnny said:

i think the problem is youve been buying cheap lamps, cheap quality for years and want everything cheap LOL as for taken so long to set up in the u.s is probly down to lava world or what ever they trade as now, as for the price increase does seem strange but then, i spose theres import tax and the new light bulbs ( u.s ) to be bought to work in the bases, and the plugs, maybe redesign on packaging as mathmos cant use the words lava lamp as lava world dont like that LOL ive never worked out why a telstar bottle costs the same as a astro bottle when a astro has more contents in it LOL

[Jennifer]

Wait a minute... Mathmos lamps use different light bulbs? Ah crap!

[Jim]

I disagree Johnny.  Most of us clamoring for Mathmos have done so based on quality, price be damned.  Most of the collectors on this site don't waste their money on current Lava Lite offerings, but rather turn to the secondary market to acquire US made lava. 

What irks me is the price discrepancy between a Mathmos lamp sold in the US versus one sold in the UK.  We can speculate all we want about the reasons but I suppose its up to Mathmos on whether they want to be transparent on this.  UK bulb price versus US bulb price - would seem to be a wash to me.  Ditto on the socket and the rest of the electrical components. 

In terms of pricing though, it all comes to how you subjectively view it.

Priced so low you question the quality - Lava Lite in a nutshell

Priced so that you feel you are getting a good value

Priced right where you expect it to be priced

Priced more than you would expect, but not enough to discourage purchase

Priced so high you feel like you are getting gouged

As I mentioned, I have no issue paying UK prices for a Mathmos and in fact, expect it.  US made lava lamps were on this price course and had manufacturing been kept in the states, I would have fully expected a Century or Aristocrat to be priced similar to an Astro.

The rub is this - for the same amount of money, a UK collector can essentially purchase 4 Telstars whereas I can only purchase 3. 

Johnny said:

i think the problem is youve been buying cheap lamps, cheap quality for years and want everything cheap LOL as for taken so long to set up in the u.s is probly down to lava world or what ever they trade as now, as for the price increase does seem strange but then, i spose theres import tax and the new light bulbs ( u.s ) to be bought to work in the bases, and the plugs, maybe redesign on packaging as mathmos cant use the words lava lamp as lava world dont like that LOL ive never worked out why a telstar bottle costs the same as a astro bottle when a astro has more contents in it LOL

[Johnny]

seems there setting up all over the world via the different flags shown on the u.k, which states "lava lamp" but on the u.s just says "lamp" so reckon lava world but there boot in on the worlds lava lamp, maybe mathmos cant sell direct astro / astro baby due to the design shape, i think its most likely down to legal issues and patents unfortunately not just a case of opening up a store and hey presto.  i reckon alot of money has been invested in getting it set up, i hope it works :-) on the u.s page it shows telstar with white wax but not on the u.k HMMMMMM not fair lol

 http://www.mathmos.us/telstar-rocket-lamp-p-5685.html

[Erin]

Those flags have been on their site for a long time. And there was a Mathmos US page for a long time that did nothing but say "Coming soon". I'm talking MONTHS here. I don't think they can sell anything in the US that has the same shape as Lava Lite, but that's nothing new. If WE know that, Mathmos should know that. 

And I disagree about the website. You should never launch a website that's not complete, and that's what Mathmos did, a few times over, with the US site. A quick glance back through some threads here will show you they've been poking around a long time. 

A lot of money might have been invested in getting it set up, but dang, nothing about their process makes any of us want to buy one of their lamps now. Their lackluster marketing (though once very cool) seems to be... just gone. 

If you click on all the little flags across the top of their UK page, they are almost all liked to the EU page. So no, they are not selling up all over the world. 

Johnny said:

seems there setting up all over the world via the different flags shown on the u.k, which states "lava lamp" but on the u.s just says "lamp" so reckon lava world but there boot in on the worlds lava lamp, maybe mathmos cant sell direct astro / astro baby due to the design shape, i think its most likely down to legal issues and patents unfortunately not just a case of opening up a store and hey presto.  i reckon alot of money has been invested in getting it set up, i hope it works :-) on the u.s page it shows telstar with white wax but not on the u.k HMMMMMM not fair lol

 http://www.mathmos.us/telstar-rocket-lamp-p-5685.html

[Metallica Man Trevor]

It is spendy. I got a fluidium for the same price there asking for the teleastar

[Aladdin 2 Lava]

Alas I fear this is true, maybe you guys in the US can help us out in our eleventh hour...again !

Erin said:

Yes and no. Many of us a pay a lot for our lamps. I've bought several USED Lava Lites for over $65, so it would be nothing for me to pay $100 for a nice, new Mathmos. In fact, I've imported a few from Electric Planet as well as bought one privately to the tune of $100. So, for me, I'm willing to pay good money for a good lamp.

But I've watched Mathmos over the past two years and their product line, customer service and presence have been dwindling. Not something that inspires confidence in their customer base. I watch their Facebook page (both US and UK) and I've watched so many posts go unanswered. We were told (BY THEM) that we'd have Mathmos in the US over a year ago. And despite question after question after question, we were IGNORED. No response. Nada. When they did manage to cough up a response, it was vague. 

They released their US site months ago, with "Coming Soon" on the Astro and Astrobaby. Why would you release a site when you can't buy a companies' signature lamp? And after all that waiting, those lamps were yanked with no explanation. And now, this week, a very meager "Telstars are now shipping". NO picture, no link. Nothing. Their last post was over a month ago. People got tired of waiting. You can only tease people for so long. 

So, in the case of this site and its members, many of us pay GOOD money for quality lamps (and already own a handful of Mathmos). Lamp price aside, nothing in their efforts have inspired even the tiniest bit of excitement in me for quite some time. I understand why many hold Mathmos to be the holy grail of lamps, but if you've been watching, something strange is afoot there, and sadly, people just don't want to acknowledge it. 

Johnny said:

i think the problem is youve been buying cheap lamps, cheap quality for years and want everything cheap LOL as for taken so long to set up in the u.s is probly down to lava world or what ever they trade as now, as for the price increase does seem strange but then, i spose theres import tax and the new light bulbs ( u.s ) to be bought to work in the bases, and the plugs, maybe redesign on packaging as mathmos cant use the words lava lamp as lava world dont like that LOL ive never worked out why a telstar bottle costs the same as a astro bottle when a astro has more contents in it LOL

[Keith]

The whole Mathmos thing has gotten very boring :/