So, onto some of the rare Maglites I have in my collection. The first one is not a D cell like I mainly collect but is a pretty interesting light. It's an AAA Mini Maglite. Maglite has done several special editions over the years but ones from early on are very rare. After 1995 or so Mag Instrument's business picked up in a huge way and special edition lights could be found for all sorts of companies and organizations.
The AAA Mini Maglite was introduced in 1988 and shown here is the first generation. Unlike the AA Mini Maglites the AAAs never had a stamped bezel instead opting for a laser etched one due to lower production cost and the advancement of that technology at the time. This light also lacks the later Panther logo which wasn't put on Mini Maglites until 1996 and it also has the "stacked" Mag Instrument Ontario, CA text. New lights have a single line text.
Tony Maglica was a well known Republican supporter and when George HW Bush gave his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican convention he made reference to community service organizations in the US being 1,000 points of light for those in need. He made this reference again at his Inaugural speech too. George Bush also ran on a platform of supporting American manufacturing and jobs. As such, Tony Maglica had the idea to give away AAA Mini Maglites at the DC Inauguration as a show of support for the incoming administration and to market American made Maglites. As per Mag Instrument's web site 40,000 were produced. However, due to their age they are increasingly rare today.
These lights differ from most standard AAA Mini Maglites in that they do not have a lanyard hole in the tail cap. This was done on AAA Mini Maglites on the first run in 1988 up to about mid 1989 because the manufacturing process was still being developed. This can be seen in the last picture below. Some heads have been swapped onto other Mini Maglite bodies and tail caps that are lost have been replaced so this is an important note for those seeking an original light.
These lights came in a clear plastic display box with the standard Maglite horizon logo. This logo was used form 1985 until 1992. There were special inserts used as shown below. They also came with AAA batteries so most that were put back in the package or never removed have had the batteries leak over time and the light is not be easily fixed once this happens. I suspect most lights were tossed. This had the batteries removed by the previous owner prior to storage so I was pretty lucky. The previous owner also attended the inauguration and received the light there.
AA versions were also produced as giveaways for George W. Bush's inaugurations in 2001 and 2005. I have a 2001 inauguration light that I've detailed here and a 2005 inauguration light I've detailed here.
Anyway, enjoy the pics:
I should also note that when President Bush visited the Maglite Factory in December of 1991 gold plated brass Mini Maglites were given away to members of President Bush's staff and select factory workers. As far as I can tell these were the standard gold plated brass Mini Maglites and did not bear any special markings. A photo from that visit is shown below.
As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.
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