Reviews of specific carving products by those who've used them.
#64272
Since many will no doubt be asking this year, here's what seems to be the current status of colored LED pumpkin lights. First a little history lesson.

There once was a company called Howler Brands, which sold a product called the "Amazing Rainbow Pumpkin Light." The first one had an orange plastic casing, and ahh... it was a thing of innovation.

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Eventually a cheaper version (with fewer color modes) was released, and remaining stock of the original was dubbed the "Deluxe Amazing Rainbow Pumpkin Light." New lights were released in following years, like the "Super Strobing Pumpkin Light" and the "Traditional Pumpkin Light."

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The Howler Brands name would eventually dissolve, and the product line shifted to Innovative Brands. The LED pumpkin lights maintained the same plastic casing and function, but now were branded with new packaging and the name "Jack O' Lights." With variations labeled as "Color Changing," "White Strobing" and "Yellow Flickering."

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Returning to present day... currently the LED pumpkin lights are distributed by Fun World. Some name changes again! Now they are called the "Pumpkin Lite" with the variations known as "Color Changing," "Yellow Flickering" and "Lightning Strobe." Here they are:

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You may still find Fun World's LED pumpkin lights with the name "Jack O' Light" on them (or maybe even in alternate packaging, depending on the store in which you find them). But most on the market should be the same thing. If you find them for sale locally, let us know where you spotted them. Maybe we can make a list of chains that carry this product line.

If a realistic candle flicker or a lightning flash strobe are your thing, you should be pleased with those two varieties of the Pumpkin Lite. I'm a fan of both, with the realistic candle flicker being my usual favorite.

But personally, I'm disappointed with the action of the Color Changing Pumpkin Lite. I long for the days of the "Deluxe Rainbow Light" which would allow you to morph through all the possible colors (at 2 variable speeds) or hold steady on a specific color of your choice.

Sadly, the current generation of Color Changing lights only have one mode, which cycles all colors. And worse, the colors don't fade gracefully into each other like they used to. Now each color turns off completely before the next one lights, which leaves your pumpkin temporarily dark between colors. You can see a demonstration of the effect in this video.

The 3 pumpkin light varieties mentioned above are the tried and true variations many of us are familiar with, but it seems that Fun World has a few other "pumpkin lites" in their lineup. The design of these devices is fairly different, so I'm guessing they acquired the rights to these inventions from a source other than the Howler roots.

But for your consideration, we have the "Red Blinking Pumpkin Lite" (I like the color choice, although these use no-so-common small batteries) and "Talking Pumpkin Lite" (an arguably unnecessary add-on).

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If anyone uses any of the above mentioned lighting options that Fun World is selling this year, I welcome your reviews.
User avatar
By zombombie
#64273
Nice write up boss! I usually stick to candles here as the lights I've found in the UK that are similar to those shown are off pretty poor quality. I'm going to see about using my own LEDs this year so I can have a bit of colour variation :)

Time to get in the lab for some experimentation methinks...
Last edited by zombombie on Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By ghostface
#64283
Last year I bought this cheap LED light at the Dollar Store and it was a VERY poor quality. I might have to try these Pumpkin Lite's this year. :)
#66038
They have Howler brand lights at my local Hobby Lobby. I bought one and it does everything. Has all the color locks, color change fast and slow, strobe, and traditional candle flicker.