Chasing Christmas lights

[MSTieScott]

About ten years ago, I found a string of Christmas lights that perfectly matched the chase lights seen on so many game shows -- all white bulbs, a two-on two-off pattern, they consistently chased in only one direction... plus they even had a dial for variable speed.

Well, time has passed, and they don't work so well anymore. For the past couple of years, I've tried to find an identical set, but all I can find are the newer types that display various patterns that chase at inconsistent speeds and directions. Has anybody recently encountered any commercial Christmas lights that mimic the chase pattern traditionally found on game shows?

[pentellit]

Just a suggestion; You might try contacting the set designer or art director of a show that uses those lights.  Often these people are unsung heroes of production and would welcome someone's interest in their craft and artistry.  Just a thought....

[ClockGameJohn]

I don't proclaim to be a Christmas light connoisseur or even related to Clark Griswold, however doing some searching online I was able to find a few items that might match what you're looking for.

http://www.americansale.com/Products/150-M...ts__202893.aspx

("Two light chasing" is one of the patterns and all white bulbs are available)

It would appear to be a $20.38(ish) gamble to buy them and have them shipped to California.

[thewhammy_2000]

That takes me back to around that time as well. We just got some icicle lights that were all white and placed it over our fireplace. I played with the dial and I had the recollection of the chasing lights from the clip of the first bonus round of Chain Reaction's premiere. For years, I would think back to TPIR's doors whenever I see chasing Christmas lights. A few years ago I brought a set of multicolored lights and frequently used the chase mode. I have it up all year because on some nights I imagine myself at a disco (or the set of Soul Train) with the lights on other modes.

Fun times whenever they're on.

[MSTieScott]

Update:

While wandering through random stores, I found myself inside a Lowe's and realized that they had Christmas decorations. I found a 140-bulb chasing set from a brand called "Holiday Living" that had the same style of speed controller that my old lights had. The set perfectly matched all of the features of classic game show lights -- except I could only find sets in which the lights either alternated red and clear bulbs or alternated red, green, and clear bulbs.

So now it becomes a question of how desperately I want this -- if I'm willing to buy a string of the alternating red and clear bulbs and a cheap string of steady-on clear bulbs and then manually replace all of the red bulbs. I may have to visit Lowe's again on December 26.

[catnap1972]

[quote name=\'MSTieScott\' post=\'231449\' date=\'Nov 30 2009, 10:25 PM\']So now it becomes a question of how desperately I want this -- if I'm willing to buy a string of the alternating red and clear bulbs and a cheap string of steady-on clear bulbs and then manually replace all of the red bulbs. I may have to visit Lowe's again on December 26.[/quote]

Lowes starts unloading their Christmas stuff well before Christmas (week or two before I think). At least that's what happened last year.

[Mr. Armadillo]

Yeah, they have to get all that stuff out of the stores sooner than they used to, so they can make room for next year's Christmas section.