1981 and 1982 Cabela's Lights

Summary: Maglite has done a few licensed lights over the years. They made their first licensed light for Cabela's, a U.S. sporting goods retailer. These Cabela's lights were only produced for a couple years in the early 80s and are now very rare.

In 1981 Mag Instrument had been in business for 2 years. Their sales were slow by today's and the industry's standards. Based on serial numbers they were selling around 100,000 total lights a year. This is far off from the millions of lights they sell currently. I heard one figure at around 10,000,000 a year during the early 2000s and I believe it based on serial numbers. In the early days Mag Instrument's sales team was selling hard and had less hesitation about doing special requests from retailers. The Vari-Beams are another prime example.

In 1981 Maglite sent a salesman to Cabela's in Sidney, Nebraska. For those not familiar, Cabela's is a large national U.S. sporting goods retailer. The salesman pitched the idea to Jim Cabela about partnering with them to create a light to be sold through Cabela's national catalog. Cabela's requested that their name be put on the bezel. Due to copyright concerns Mag Instrument fulfilled the request but also stamped Maglite on the opposite side.

Jim Cabela accepted the salesman's offer and about 1,000 lights were produced for Cabela's. These were produced in 2, 3, 4, and 5 D cells in late 1981 through early 1982.  Most of the lights were 2 and 3 cells so the 4 and 5 cell lights were very few and far between. The business relationship went south very quickly after they were produced and Cabela's pulled the remaining order and the lights from their catalog. They gave most of the rest away to employees and as gifts to visitors of their corporate headquarters. Shown below are the markings on the bezels of these lights.

From what I've been told Cabela's advertised these lights in their catalog. I have a Fall 1981 and Fall 1982 Cabela's catalog, as shown below with my 2D and 5D Cabela's lights. The ads appear to show a a standard Maglite. Note the 7D cell offering in the top, 1981 catalog. 7D cell lights were discontinued in early 1982 and it's why they don't appear in the Fall 1982 catalog. I have a few 7Ds that I've detailed here. The prices are also interesting in that they are the same now as they were then and I've covered Maglite's pricing philosophy in another post. I've been scouring everyone's favorite auction site and elsewhere for a 1981/1982 Cabela's catalog that shows these specific lights but I've not had any luck finding one so far. Cabela's had a master catalog, camping catalog, fishing catalog and a seasonal catalogs for each year so it makes it a little tough. If anyone has a lead on one of these catalogs or even a scanned page of the lights I sure would appreciate it!

I was lucky enough to acquire 2 of these lights over the years. The 5D came from an estate sale of a retired Cabela's executive. It is in pristine condition except it has damage to the finish up by the switch because it had a battery stuck by the switch which had to be removed. It is a ~287,000 serial. The 2D came from an owner in rural California who was the original owner. He remembered purchasing it through Cabela's catalog in the early 1980s. It is a ~386,000 serial.

Both lights have the TM after Maglite on the bezel and the barrels are stamped Patented Made in the U.S.A. which puts them after July of 1981 which is when the Maglite patent was approved. Please see my Quick Dating Guide if you're interested in these features and dating lights. I have only ever seen one other Cabela's light and it's a 2D with a ~187,000 serial. I am only aware of 2 instances of Maglite putting another company's logo on the bezel. The other lights with custom stamping on the bezel were done for another catalog retailer, Assault Systems.

As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.