Lemax Isle of Doom Lighthouse repair

[@joosh8324]

Any ideas for fixing the cave eyes are not lighting up and fogger not working? Thanks so much. 🥰

[@cruikshank]

Question lucky for us my mother in law bought a lot of Spooky town at after season close out prices around 2003 - 2010. We found in the closet a brand new Isle of Doom 2004 animated / fog version. Unopened box. Looking through the box display window we were dismayed to see lots of yellowed / transparent glue holding the pier to the base and other areas. We know from the many Brand New unopened pieces we have that LeMax’s China Factory quality control was poor, or they were so intricate they didn’t survive shipping. Is the globs of glue a common issue? We haven’t tried it yet, we are afraid to open the box. But I won’t attempt to sell without a thorough testing. Thanks for any feedback you can provide. Laurie & Dave in PA. BTW our NOS pieces with major issues are Dry Gulch Saloon. Gunslinger doesn’t come out the Saloon doors. Candy Thief (2) the center is off center and the running dog & kid get pinched off and stop running. Witches Coven (2) I ran intermittently under batteries and great under power pack. The other doesn’t spin at all. Blood 🩸 Bank was DOA until I found a broken solder connection in the Volume / Power Switch. Fixed that, runs 100% and Frankenstein’s Lab 🧪 I think was a store display put back in box wrong. The spring that Dr Frankenstein stands on is stretched out and the crank handle that Igor turns is missing the small piece that goes in Igore’s hands. Everything else works 100%. Looking at the build quality vs the awesome ideas I would rather pay more up front and get a Toyota / Honda build quality instead of an early Hundyai / Fiat build quality. IMHO.

[@VillagesAndMore]

Hey there, Thank you so much for your message. First off im very sorry to hear your having a tough go with some of your houses. There is alot to cover with your question and its more then I can lay out in one message. However I will try to hit some bullet points to help if I can. Starting at the top, you mentioned the collection was purchased from 2003-2010. There were a LOT of great now classic Lemax houses that came out in that time. So before selling I would recommend looking them up to kinda get a idea of the value of your collection. My guess is theres some gold mine pieces in there some where. I don't have any pics or videos of your collection so this answer is based on just your message above. Okay so the Isle of Doom, the 2004 model is worth more then normal just because of the fog alone. As for the yellow glue everywhere. Its hard to comment on it with out seeing it. But it sounds like to me that its been sitting for a really REALLY long time, and over time of hot/cold/moving, sitting ect things like that can start to happen. Now its abnormal to have glues every where as you mentioned. But the yellowing sounds like its just been sitting for along time . But again, without seeing it, it can be hard to say forsure. Do you know if it was exposed to alot of dramatic temp changes? or excessive sun threw a window or anything like that? As for the others, it sounds like they might be able to be repaired back to working order. I know some folks my self included buy broken spooky town to use as parts or fix to display and enjoy . Overall, some of the things you mentioned were common issues over the history but it sounds to me like your experiencing them little more then normal. There has been some years that build Quilty has been better then others. Like the 2021 stuff has been really strong quality builds. But at the same point its no secret that there has been some quality issues over the years forsure. All that being said theres sooo many great very collectible houses from those early years off lemax. So I would say its worth taking a look at your collection even the broken ones and with a little research you may be surprised on what you have. Thanks so much for your message. I think you brought up some great points and opportunity, and maybe I can make video that goes deeper in to this subject in the future. lemax has a really amazing history, an there collections have brought so much joy to so many. Thanks again, feel free to reach out anytime! :)

[@Martina1192]

Hi, I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I have a few questions. Just bought a Lemax Fisherman’s Cove Lighthouse and even though it seems everything is fine, the light doesn’t work when I plug it in. I don’t see a way to open it up and see what’s wrong. Do you know how to fix it? Is there a way to open the top or do you actually have to break it to open it (like in your video where the top is broken in the beginning)? Thanks! :)

[@VillagesAndMore]

Hello, Thank you for your question. So I personally have not had a chance to own or work on that house yet. However Mabie can trouble shoot alittle bit. When you plug it in, does the light rotate around like it’s supposed to even tho it’s burnt out? That can help narrow down some potential fix. Thank you!:)

[@Martina1192]

No, it doesn’t move or rotate at all. It has original cords and all look in excellent condition.

[@VillagesAndMore]

@@Martina1192 okay, sounds like it would need to be opened up. It could be something simple like a broken solder joint or disconnected wire or something a little deeper like a motor has gone bad. But without opening it up there’s no way to know for sure. Sorry I didn’t have a clearer answer for you:/ These houses tend to have to be opened most of the time. Everything is packed away inside. Side note, there’s always a slight chance the wire is damaged in the top section where the light is as it would have to run up the tower. If it’s not broken, a volt meter would be the next step to see if your getting power up there. Hope this helps get your started. Please feel free to ask me questions along the way:) Thank you!