Grande Lava Lamps are no longer being produced... email from lava light

[Jon]

I ordered my first grande not too long ago and due to it being cloudy i was issued another, and 3rd which was thankfully clear..  amazon said i could keep the other 2 and issued me a refund.. i lucked out big time.

But i as well and some of you have noticed the current grandes out have been out of stock everywhere except a few retailers, and amazon.  They are out of stock on their own website, and like 3 days ago the custom ones are gone as well.

I decided to email Lava light 2 few days ago asking if they are discontinued and i got a response.  They told me the current Grande Lamps were discontinued.  And there is no word if they will bring them back. 

This makes sense because the Lamps i got were all dated last year July of 2017.  Im not sure if there are newer ones out there, but all 3 of mine were made almost a year ago.  If they are now out of stock then there must have a huge over supply and i guess now they are finally going away.. 

Just thought id let you guys know.  Im not sure if they are just stopping production for a new line of Grandes and different colors, or if they finally got fed up with the cloudy lamps being returned constantly.  Im sure this really hurts their bottom line with 2-3-4-5 lamps being returned by people all the time.

I also wonder if this reason to discontinue them has anything to do with the 100 watt light bulbs..  Those Bulbs arent allowed to be sold in the United States anymore.  Only utility bulbs for fridges and microwaves and so forth which is why you can still find 20-40w bulbs.   Every hardware store ive been too doesnt have incandescent bulbs or even CFL's hell wall mart only sells LEDS now.  Even the 100w bulbs on Lava lights website are sold out

[Ian]

Spencer’s has the 100 watt bulbs for the Grande still available on their website, I just checked right now.

[Ian]

Also just checked the lava lamp website right now, and they have the purple/yellow and the custom grandes available, but not the blue/yellow or pink/purple. The blue/yellow and pink/purple say out of stock, but the other 2 options will still let me add to cart.. the light bulbs are also available on both spencer’s And lavalite’s website? Sorry, not trying to disprove you or anything but I’m curious as to where you’re getting your info? I didn’t try to purchase, which is maybe where the issue comes up, but it will let me add all of those items to my cart....

[Ian]

Also the issue of the bulbs being “illegal to sell” sounds like total BS.. this was discussed before awhile ago, but was never true.. I heard and read that they’re just being phased out at hardware stores for energy efficient lighting, but not illegal. That was definitely a rumor. 100 watt bulbs that fit the grande lamps haven’t been available to be purchased at hardware or home stores since around 2007 or 2008. But the fact that these bulbs are still available to purchase on 2 different websites is very curious, if they’re now illegal.

[Ian]

I mean maybe the bulbs aren’t illegal, but if they’re not allowed to be sold in the US, they would be taken off of every website that sells them in the US... just saying.

[kero48]

I find this interesting as when news was circulating that lava lamp was bought just recently my first post on this forum was that I would assume that Grande's would eventually be discontinued as they were incurring too much expenses to keep replacing the bottles that were cloudy I guess my hunch was right

[Michael]

Sad news, indeed. I wonder if they intend to overhaul and streamline the entire production line. Lifespan, despite its flaws did introduce a couple interesting lines (brightsource, Royale, etc.). Perhaphs Schylling is banking on the nostalgia factor that would allow them to produce less. Hopefully this doesn't impact their exclusive lines in Spencer's and other retailers. I'd hate to see the product lines to return to the very bare and basic running model Haggerty initially re-introduced once they had set up shop manufacturing in China. 

[Jon]

well this is what i was told they arent being made anymore..  I dunno if its really ttue or not though.

but a bulb on spencers doesnt mean anything.   Maybe they doscontinued it for awhile to fix production or something or have no idea.  But thsts what the lava light email told me.

Also read the U.S law pertaining to incandescent bulbs.. All of them are not to be produced or sold except for overstoxk in the u.s Exceot for low wattage utility bulbs..  can you explain why not store has incandescents except the 20-40w bulbs... unless youre store is sitting on old stock still

[Ian]

Interesting. I guess they are trying to phase out incandescent bulbs? What are we all gonna do?? :(

 According to wikipedia, there are numerous bulbs exempt from the policy including appliance bulbs and specialty bulbs up to 100 watts. So maybe there isn't anything to worry about, yet... but it does look like they are trying to phase incandescent bulbs out. As far as the grande bulbs go, I haven't seen them in stores anywhere except online for at least 10 years. I'm pretty sure I saw 60 watt incandescent bulbs at Home Depot the other day, but maybe it just is overstock.

There was a dry spell on grande bulbs some years ago where nobody had them, even online, and it lasted for at least a few years.. When they finally came back in stock, I think around 5 years ago or so, I ordered like 7 of them so I wouldn't have to worry. Thankfully they last a long time, as I have only had to use 1 out of the 7 so far.

To be honest, I wouldn't be too upset about them phasing out the grande lamps. All 3 that I own have stopped working or gotten cloudy, so I definitely won't be wasting my money on another one anytime soon unless production is moved back to the US and/or the quality returns. Which we all know is never going to happen.. It would be smart for them to phase the grandes out, since so many are returned due to quality issues. They probably lose more money than they make on them.

I think if lava lite wants to keep selling their lamps, they are gonna have to get a little more creative than just shrink-wrapped bases and spray-painted colored globes. They're cool and all, but it's gotten pretty stale and boring again. When are they gonna start making unique ones, like the starship, wizard, century, etc. They had a good thing going with the Royale but stopped making them :( I think it was their best flowing Chinese lamp. Doesn't overheat, has nice stretchy flow, is crystal clear, and plenty of lava inside. I feel like if they made more colors than the boring standard blue/yellow, they might have sold more of them. Anyways, it was a step in the right direction IMO but I think they need to keep pushing the boundaries a little with their products. The heritage lineup was another good step, but they made them so exclusive and expensive that nobody really bought them, except for true collectors, until they started showing up in Ross and Tuesday Morning for cheap. The quality issues make people not want to buy them online, because there's a 50/50 chance that it's gonna be a dud, and then you have to go through the process of shipping it back and waiting for a new one, with the same chance for a dud. Especially when it comes to the more expensive lamps.

[Mr MaGoo]

Come on over Mathmos!

[Jon]

Yea the 3 grandes i got two just do big blobs.  The clear one i got thankfully it has long snake like stretches and reminds me of my 70s century lamps that snake.

I dont really like the big blobs the other two do..  And they came cloudy.. but that wasnt too hard to fix.. by just draining it and refilling eith distilled water.. i didnt have to add anything else.. Odd thing is they flowed the same on distilled water as they did with their loudy fluid.. So i dont think surfectant does anything for flow.. I added a tablespoon of surfectant and no changes.. except it diesnt stick on top anymore.

So it must all be in the wax production.. 

So they still allow certain 100w bulbs ? Interesting i thought it was onmy 20-40w utility bulbs..  I know CFLs are phazed out as well due to mercury.. tbh they should never have even made cfls.. toxic bulbs to save a few watts on power.

 

[kero48]

Well if they are indeed doing away with grandes, any who wants one get some from walmart as walmart has their own stock that ships form their facilities, not lava lamp.

I have 4 grandes, I think I am good and one completely empty perfect grande should I want to gookit or make it glitter

[Jason]

Amen Brother!

Mr MaGoo said:

Come on over Mathmos!