Reviews of specific carving products by those who've used them.
#90757
Last year Dryersheet did a glowing review for the colored tealights from 100Candles.com. In the past, I've always used the Howler pumpkin lights but since I can no longer find them I placed an order for the triple LED submersible tealights.
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After using them this past Halloween I feel they're superior to the Howler lights in almost every way. They're cheaper per light, smaller, brighter, and waterproof. Howler lights were typically ~$4-$5 per light. These tealights come in packs of 10 and were $15 making them $1.50 each. They also have tealights that aren't waterproof for less money. Rainy Halloweens have ruined more than a few of my Howler lights ,but with these being waterproof, that is no longer an isssue. They're also much smaller than my previous lights, being about the size of a quarter.
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What I really like about them though is that they're very bright and light my foamies very well. In these pics the tealights are on the left while the Howler lights are on the right. The tealights are just as red and blue as the Howlers but my camera doesn't make it look that way. (Maybe because of the brightness)?
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To top it off, when I received my order, the company threw in 16 free batteries and a couple of LED flashlight keychains. The only unknown for me is the battery life. I ran them on Halloween night for about 4-5 hours and they were still very bright but a couple began to dim. I'm not sure that I'd get another 4-5 hours out of them. They take 2 CR2032 batteries apiece which are the larger flat disc type batteries. Their prices seem comparable to that of AAA batteries on Amazon. Thanks for taking a look and feel free to ask any questions! Here's a couple more pics of my pumpkins lit by the tealights.
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#90764
I looked at buying some of these but they don't make it easy for international buyers. For a start - they want paid by international money order or have the payment wired - neither of which is cheap or easy. :?
#90765
matspud wrote:I looked at buying some of these but they don't make it easy for international buyers. For a start - they want paid by international money order or have the payment wired - neither of which is cheap or easy. :?
Well that's a real shame!! :thumbsdown:
#91133
Great review and example photos, Killed by Death. Thanks for the info. Cheaper, smaller, brighter, and waterproof... sounds like a winner. I'll have to check these out also. The only concern (as you mentioned) could be battery life and cost.

A very quick search on Amazon brought me to a 10-pack of Energizer CR2032 3 Volt Lithium Coin Batteries for $5.25. If each LED light takes 2 batteries, that means you can power up one of these LED lights for $1.05.

Compared to the Howler pumpkin lights which take 3 AAA batteries. A quick search for AAA batteries of the same brand brought me to an 20-pack for $12.00. So to light an LED that takes 3 AAAs, the cost would be $1.80.

Obviously the cost of batteries can vary wildly by brand, technology, vendor and bulk quantity ordered. But yeah, generally the "coin" batteries would be on par or maybe cheaper in cost. As long as they last as long. That's the test I suppose. 4-5 hours might be just enough time for a Halloween night display, but some people might need them to run longer.

Maybe I'll get some of these, some Howlers, and a few other brands... load them up with fresh batteries of the same brand, and let them run in front of a time lapse camera to see who wins the longevity and value award.
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#91200
Ohh my! I'll clearly need some of these bad boys! Been looking for a decent Howler replacement for years, that had a color change feature of course.

Great review! Brighter, smaller, and more cost effective! Seems like a green light for me on this one! Thanks for sharing.
#91448
I bought a bunch of these in various colors and tested them out prior to putting my foam pumpkins in the attic...have to say they look fantastic. Bright light, great colors, waterproof and cheap. I think I bought 30+ and will phase out some of the bulky battery sucking old ones. Plus so much easier to pop them out and turn off. Highly recommend.
#92207
Nice review and photos. I used to use clip lights which were great as long as I had a power source, but as my display grew, I moved on to Tap Lights. Those were great, but I went through batteries like crazy, and were much too "blue". I wrapped them in yellow tissue paper which helped, but the battery thing was still a problem, and I was searching for an alternative when I stumbled on this review and the earlier one by Dryersheet.

So, I took a chance and ordered 20 of these exact same submersible lights. 10 amber and 10 warm white. I just opened the package and I have to say that I love the tiny size, and just one of them is plenty to light up a foam pumpkin. They even threw in 8 replacement batteries as a bonus! I am 100% satisfied, and will probably order more in other colors. Thanks for a great review.

ETA - After staring at these for a while as the sun went down, I think I like the warm white best. I like to carve both sides of my foamies (lining the inside with yellow or orange tissue so you can't see through) and the warm white gives both sides a nice glow ( on cut outs). The Amber is nice, but not quite as bright, IMHO, but does well with single-side carves. FWIW.
#92539
The best replacement for Howler around if I say so myself. I'll be buying more for sure.
#92676
These lights are absolutely fantastic! Very bright also. I also highly recommend them if your looking for a solid color light. It's pretty tough to top these, and for the price you just can't beat 'em!

Excellent review!!