1981 to 2003 5C and 6C Lights

Summary: 5C and 6C lights are very desirable among collectors now but like most C cells they were slow sellers when they were originally produced. They were made from 1981 to 2003.

5C and 6C cell lights are pretty well sought after by a lot of collectors although they were never popular until after they were discontinued. There are rarer, more interesting lights but for some reason collectors gravitate towards large cell discontinued lights. Maglite at one time made up to a 7C cell light. The 7Cs can sell for upwards of $200 but 5 and 6Cs don't usually fetch that much. They can be found from $40 or $50 all the way up to $100 for an older light in better shape. Here's my 5 and 6 C cell collection. Many of them are new in box, NIB, from the various Maglite package generations which I'll detail below. The 6C in the middle has a very rare ASP Baton end cap.

Like all other C cell lights production started in 1981. Unlike 7Cs though production continued much longer and many more were produced even though they sold only marginally better. It should be noted that C cell sales were slow altogether compared to D cells. Maglite dropped 7Cs in 1989 because they were only moving around 4,000 units a year. Maglite continued to produce 5Cs and 6Cs until 2003 when C cells were modernized, almost 10 years after D cells.

The last 6C serials are around 620,000 and are from 2003. The last 20,000 or so were produced as the modernized "Letter Serials" before they were discontinued. 5Cs sold even poorer and the final serials were around 550,000. This translates into about 22,000 units per year. Maglites most popular model, the 3D, sold almost 4,000,000 units a year during the late 90s and most other D cells sold around 1,000,000 units per year so these lights were far less popular. I have heard that when Maglite moves less than 10,000 units per year a light is almost guaranteed to be discontinued.

Shown below is a final run, modernized, 5C light. They are easily distinguished because they have the C in front of the serial.(see pic below with old vs. new.) They also have the newer style switch with the retaining clip instead of the retaining ring and the o-ring on the barrel instead of in the head.

Most of these lights came from a now defunct distributor from California who did business  with Maglite since their early days. I was able to purchase a small cache of 5Cs, a 6C and a few recently discontinued 4Cs along with a fair amount of service center parts.

2 of my newer 6Cs came from a fellow collector who bought them from a hardware store that had them sitting around and wasn't able to sell them. A lot of finds happen like this at small local retailers. These retailers will sometimes not realize what inventory has been sitting for 15+ years so there is a better chance for this kind of find than at a big box retailer. One is in a chipboard, cardboard box, the other is in a plastic clam shell package. Both are marked 1996 and are only about 700 units apart. The serials are 60560337 and 60561061.

I also have a NIB 6C from 1988. The plastic display boxes don't hold up too well because they get brittle but this one is in pretty good shape. The bezel is stamped instead of laser etched and lacks the Panther logo so it's easier to tell that it's older. I have a C Cell Quick Dating Guide for those who are interested in the differences throughout the years. The light is in perfect condition and was purchased as new old stock from a hardware store as well. It was found at a different store than the ones above.

I found a small lot of 5Cs a year or so ago but aside from that 5Cs are usually tougher to come by than 6Cs. I hardly ever see 5Cs up for sale. I don't think a lot of folks know these are discontinued. The 5C on top is from my NIB find. The 5C in the middle is personalized and was carried by a Massachusetts police officer. The well used Panther light above it came from a yard sale of a local plumber who recently converted to LED. The bottom modernized 5C is from the find I detailed above and has become a regular user for me.

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