This just in

[Thom]

Just saw this on youtube. Appears to be a mix between glitter, and lava. Something new from LL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UixEslNTwY

[Thom]

I agree %100 itsy bitsy! Bring the damn plant back home, and employ US workers, and make a great product like they used to. Mathmos is made in England, right? They didnt move to China to make em, look how awesome those lamps are!

[Jim]

I think you guys are looking at this solely as lava lamp fanatics, and not considering that Lava Lite is a company that needs to consider its bottom line.  Yes, Mathmos lamps are great, but they are also more than three times as expensive as similar sized lamps made by Lava Lite.  Its not like Lava Lite never priced their lamps at a similar price point as Mathmos.  US made Centuries retailed in the neighborhood of $59.99 back in the mid-90's.  We are guided by our passion for lava lamps, but a business has a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders. 

We can speculate all we want as to why they made a decision to move operations to China.  Bottom line, it most likely came down to the very simple equation of revenues - costs = profits.

Do we really know how healthy the lava lamp business is for Mathmos?  I wouldn't be surprised if they lost money on their lava lamp operations.  This may be why they have expanded their offerings to include all the LED nonsense.  I'm pretty sure the LED stuff isn't being lovingly handmade in Poole.  Its coming from China.  They may be using the LED profits to gloss over their losses from producing lava lamps.  Bless them for that.

Thom said:

I agree %100 itsy bitsy! Bring the damn plant back home, and employ US workers, and make a great product like they used to. Mathmos is made in England, right? They didnt move to China to make em, look how awesome those lamps are!

[Jim]

More, from the old Oozing Goo site.  http://oozinggoo.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b-gb/m-1195315797/

Matt,

Thanks for your email, passion and interest in our products.  I appreciate it.  For the record  and to keep my intellectual property attorneys happy, the official name of the product is the LAVA® brand motion lamp.

Please refer to the product as this in the future.

I am going to answer your questions as best as I can below.

Decisions in business are very difficult to make.

You do the best you can.



Dear Mr. Haggerty,  (CEO of Lavaworld)

I just wanted to bring some things to your attention.  I have been a fan of your product now for over a decade.  What baffles me the most is that 6 years ago on your packaging you put on the back "The American Icon", well how can your current product represent America when it's manufactured in China?  

The product was first made in 1963 in the UK and called the Astro lamp.  Our company brought it to US in May 1965 and started to manufacture in Chicago.  We changed the name to LAVA® and have the built the brand worldwide.

I really have no other way of saying this but ever since you changed your formula which was sometime in 2003, the quality of your product has diminished.  They just don't flow like the American made ones did.

Our formula has changed due to numerous reasons.  One is the products or chemicals are no longer available.  Freon in our glitter lamp is one example.  The substitute costs $10 per lamp just for the liquid.  The formula we use now is actually better in quality then the formula we used in the late 80s and early 90s.


Why would you guys close down your Chicago factory and stop nearly 40 years of production there?

This was not any easy decision.  I worked in the factory in the 70s and 80s and knew the process intimately.

Some extremely large customers stated that we needed to be at a certain price point or they would source the product on their own.  We could not get to the price points if we made in the US.  It costs more to build the products in the US then the price these retailers were willing to pay.  If we did not have these retailers business and continued to manufacture in the US, we would be out of business now.  Unfortunately, the big box stores control the retailing world.  


Please, please if you truly care about your customers move back to American and use the ORIGINAL American formula.  You would make all your lava customers so happy, more happy than just releasing more low quality lamps.  

I do care very much about our customers.  You are essential to our success, growth and survival.  Our quality continues to improve every year in China. We make the best motion lamps and that is why we continue to prosper.  Our current formula is better than many made in Chicago and they are better in quality than the lamps made in the early 90s.  Also, many of the chemicals we used in the mid – late 1990s are no longer available and if so, too expensive as explained above.  If you cannot get the same chemicals, the product would change slightly versus in the past, some better and some not.

I understand the position your in, but I would really like an explanation on why you guys stopped manufacturing in Chicago?  

Economics is the main reason we moved to Asia.  I would love to, but an assembly line and the costs associated with it for the small batches (5,000 lamps) we would have to make a 32 oz lamp sell for $50 - $60 retail and according to our in depth marketing research and all the other variables, we would lose money. You also need to have enough business to keep the factory busy all 12 months.  If not, you lose the knowledge and experience of the production crew. Given the cost of gas, etc. people will not spend this kind of money and retailers will not take the risk. I have production equipment and space to make them, but the demand is not enough to support these price points for limited production.

Why you guys took all your popular models off of production such as the CENTURY, MIDNIGHT (YOUR BEST SELLER), ELEK-TRICK ect,.. The 52 oz lamps aka Century or 100 model are available at Spencer®.  Just like any other products, different colors, sizes, etc. change.  This is part of a product life cycle.  If the demand wanes, we move onto another style, size, color, etc.  It is again an economic decision.  Why are 32oz sizes (your best seller) no longer made anymore. We did not even make these lamps until the 1990s.  The 52 oz was the original.  The 32 oz is just a different size. The 20 oz allows us to hit the price points the retailers want.   We also have the grande and colossus sizes that are really large.  

Please go back to the way you were in the 90s.

I wish we could.  911 changed the world forever and sent the economy into a tailspin.  I am not sure if I will ever see this type of economic growth again in my lifetime.  The current mortgage and housing industry crisis are constant reminders that the world has significant and numerous economic problems.


That was truly your best decade.  Thank you so much for your time and understanding.

Matt, I have honestly answered these questions as best I could.  I have given deep and deliberate thought to running my business and making sure it survives these difficult economic times.  We always strive to make the best possible products.  IN the 90s, the traditional motion lamps were 98%+ of our business, now it is around 70%.  The world has changed and we need to change to grow, survive and prosper.  Tim Haggerty

[Tim]

Very interesting. Thanks for adding that to the discussion Jim! But what a shame. Well like so many other things and products now they are not the same as they used to be.

Jim said:

More, from the old Oozing Goo site.  http://oozinggoo.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b-gb/m-1195315797/

Matt,

Thanks for your email, passion and interest in our products.  I appreciate it.  For the record  and to keep my intellectual property attorneys happy, the official name of the product is the LAVA® brand motion lamp.

Please refer to the product as this in the future.

I am going to answer your questions as best as I can below.

Decisions in business are very difficult to make.

You do the best you can.



Dear Mr. Haggerty,  (CEO of Lavaworld)

I just wanted to bring some things to your attention.  I have been a fan of your product now for over a decade.  What baffles me the most is that 6 years ago on your packaging you put on the back "The American Icon", well how can your current product represent America when it's manufactured in China?  

The product was first made in 1963 in the UK and called the Astro lamp.  Our company brought it to US in May 1965 and started to manufacture in Chicago.  We changed the name to LAVA® and have the built the brand worldwide.

I really have no other way of saying this but ever since you changed your formula which was sometime in 2003, the quality of your product has diminished.  They just don't flow like the American made ones did.

Our formula has changed due to numerous reasons.  One is the products or chemicals are no longer available.  Freon in our glitter lamp is one example.  The substitute costs $10 per lamp just for the liquid.  The formula we use now is actually better in quality then the formula we used in the late 80s and early 90s.


Why would you guys close down your Chicago factory and stop nearly 40 years of production there?

This was not any easy decision.  I worked in the factory in the 70s and 80s and knew the process intimately.

Some extremely large customers stated that we needed to be at a certain price point or they would source the product on their own.  We could not get to the price points if we made in the US.  It costs more to build the products in the US then the price these retailers were willing to pay.  If we did not have these retailers business and continued to manufacture in the US, we would be out of business now.  Unfortunately, the big box stores control the retailing world.  


Please, please if you truly care about your customers move back to American and use the ORIGINAL American formula.  You would make all your lava customers so happy, more happy than just releasing more low quality lamps.  

I do care very much about our customers.  You are essential to our success, growth and survival.  Our quality continues to improve every year in China. We make the best motion lamps and that is why we continue to prosper.  Our current formula is better than many made in Chicago and they are better in quality than the lamps made in the early 90s.  Also, many of the chemicals we used in the mid – late 1990s are no longer available and if so, too expensive as explained above.  If you cannot get the same chemicals, the product would change slightly versus in the past, some better and some not.

I understand the position your in, but I would really like an explanation on why you guys stopped manufacturing in Chicago?  

Economics is the main reason we moved to Asia.  I would love to, but an assembly line and the costs associated with it for the small batches (5,000 lamps) we would have to make a 32 oz lamp sell for $50 - $60 retail and according to our in depth marketing research and all the other variables, we would lose money. You also need to have enough business to keep the factory busy all 12 months.  If not, you lose the knowledge and experience of the production crew. Given the cost of gas, etc. people will not spend this kind of money and retailers will not take the risk. I have production equipment and space to make them, but the demand is not enough to support these price points for limited production.

Why you guys took all your popular models off of production such as the CENTURY, MIDNIGHT (YOUR BEST SELLER), ELEK-TRICK ect,.. The 52 oz lamps aka Century or 100 model are available at Spencer®.  Just like any other products, different colors, sizes, etc. change.  This is part of a product life cycle.  If the demand wanes, we move onto another style, size, color, etc.  It is again an economic decision.  Why are 32oz sizes (your best seller) no longer made anymore. We did not even make these lamps until the 1990s.  The 52 oz was the original.  The 32 oz is just a different size. The 20 oz allows us to hit the price points the retailers want.   We also have the grande and colossus sizes that are really large.  

Please go back to the way you were in the 90s.

I wish we could.  911 changed the world forever and sent the economy into a tailspin.  I am not sure if I will ever see this type of economic growth again in my lifetime.  The current mortgage and housing industry crisis are constant reminders that the world has significant and numerous economic problems.


That was truly your best decade.  Thank you so much for your time and understanding.

Matt, I have honestly answered these questions as best I could.  I have given deep and deliberate thought to running my business and making sure it survives these difficult economic times.  We always strive to make the best possible products.  IN the 90s, the traditional motion lamps were 98%+ of our business, now it is around 70%.  The world has changed and we need to change to grow, survive and prosper.  Tim Haggerty

[Tim]

I also wanted add this... The CEO Tim Haggerty said "That the formula they use now is better in quality then the formula they used in the early 90's". WHAT? REALLY? I don't get that at all but it is his company so I guess he would know. But i'm not convinced. I do also realize that this is from 2007. I have many lamps from the early 90's and they are great of course.

Tim said:

Very interesting. Thanks for adding that to the discussion Jim! But what a shame. Well like so many other things and products now they are not the same as they used to be.

Jim said:

More, from the old Oozing Goo site.  http://oozinggoo.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b-gb/m-1195315797/

Matt,

Thanks for your email, passion and interest in our products.  I appreciate it.  For the record  and to keep my intellectual property attorneys happy, the official name of the product is the LAVA® brand motion lamp.

Please refer to the product as this in the future.

I am going to answer your questions as best as I can below.

Decisions in business are very difficult to make.

You do the best you can.



Dear Mr. Haggerty,  (CEO of Lavaworld)

I just wanted to bring some things to your attention.  I have been a fan of your product now for over a decade.  What baffles me the most is that 6 years ago on your packaging you put on the back "The American Icon", well how can your current product represent America when it's manufactured in China?  

The product was first made in 1963 in the UK and called the Astro lamp.  Our company brought it to US in May 1965 and started to manufacture in Chicago.  We changed the name to LAVA® and have the built the brand worldwide.

I really have no other way of saying this but ever since you changed your formula which was sometime in 2003, the quality of your product has diminished.  They just don't flow like the American made ones did.

Our formula has changed due to numerous reasons.  One is the products or chemicals are no longer available.  Freon in our glitter lamp is one example.  The substitute costs $10 per lamp just for the liquid.  The formula we use now is actually better in quality then the formula we used in the late 80s and early 90s.


Why would you guys close down your Chicago factory and stop nearly 40 years of production there?

This was not any easy decision.  I worked in the factory in the 70s and 80s and knew the process intimately.

Some extremely large customers stated that we needed to be at a certain price point or they would source the product on their own.  We could not get to the price points if we made in the US.  It costs more to build the products in the US then the price these retailers were willing to pay.  If we did not have these retailers business and continued to manufacture in the US, we would be out of business now.  Unfortunately, the big box stores control the retailing world.  


Please, please if you truly care about your customers move back to American and use the ORIGINAL American formula.  You would make all your lava customers so happy, more happy than just releasing more low quality lamps.  

I do care very much about our customers.  You are essential to our success, growth and survival.  Our quality continues to improve every year in China. We make the best motion lamps and that is why we continue to prosper.  Our current formula is better than many made in Chicago and they are better in quality than the lamps made in the early 90s.  Also, many of the chemicals we used in the mid – late 1990s are no longer available and if so, too expensive as explained above.  If you cannot get the same chemicals, the product would change slightly versus in the past, some better and some not.

I understand the position your in, but I would really like an explanation on why you guys stopped manufacturing in Chicago?  

Economics is the main reason we moved to Asia.  I would love to, but an assembly line and the costs associated with it for the small batches (5,000 lamps) we would have to make a 32 oz lamp sell for $50 - $60 retail and according to our in depth marketing research and all the other variables, we would lose money. You also need to have enough business to keep the factory busy all 12 months.  If not, you lose the knowledge and experience of the production crew. Given the cost of gas, etc. people will not spend this kind of money and retailers will not take the risk. I have production equipment and space to make them, but the demand is not enough to support these price points for limited production.

Why you guys took all your popular models off of production such as the CENTURY, MIDNIGHT (YOUR BEST SELLER), ELEK-TRICK ect,.. The 52 oz lamps aka Century or 100 model are available at Spencer®.  Just like any other products, different colors, sizes, etc. change.  This is part of a product life cycle.  If the demand wanes, we move onto another style, size, color, etc.  It is again an economic decision.  Why are 32oz sizes (your best seller) no longer made anymore. We did not even make these lamps until the 1990s.  The 52 oz was the original.  The 32 oz is just a different size. The 20 oz allows us to hit the price points the retailers want.   We also have the grande and colossus sizes that are really large.  

Please go back to the way you were in the 90s.

I wish we could.  911 changed the world forever and sent the economy into a tailspin.  I am not sure if I will ever see this type of economic growth again in my lifetime.  The current mortgage and housing industry crisis are constant reminders that the world has significant and numerous economic problems.


That was truly your best decade.  Thank you so much for your time and understanding.

Matt, I have honestly answered these questions as best I could.  I have given deep and deliberate thought to running my business and making sure it survives these difficult economic times.  We always strive to make the best possible products.  IN the 90s, the traditional motion lamps were 98%+ of our business, now it is around 70%.  The world has changed and we need to change to grow, survive and prosper.  Tim Haggerty

[Jim]

Ummm, yea to his stance on better quality.  He's just toeing the company line and being an advocate for his company.  He's delirious if he actually believes that the quality is better than the early 90's formula.  The least he could have done was be obtuse and say something along the lines, "our testing indicates that there is seemingly little to no change in our formula quality compared to what it was in the early 90's".  At least he wouldn't have been a straight-faced liar. 

Tim said:

I also wanted add this... The CEO Tim Haggerty said "That the formula they use now is better in quality then the formula they used in the early 90's". WHAT? REALLY? I don't get that at all but it is his company so I guess he would know. But i'm not convinced. I do also realize that this is from 2007. I have many lamps from the early 90's and they are great of course.