I've been collecting since 2010 and I ran across what I believe is the oldest new in box (NIB) Maglite that is owned outside of Mag Instrument. Before I ran into this light I'd actually never seen a NIB light this old. So, what is it? It's a 6D light from 1979 serial 60001056 so it is the 1,056th 6D Maglite off of the production line. It is the third lowest serial D cell I've ever seen. The other 2 are a ~900 serial 4D I own and a ~400 serial 2D. Maglite ran a contest a while back to find the oldest Maglite and this light was not entered but the lowest D cell serials were in the 3,000 range. I've seen various other D cell Maglites in the 1,000 or so range but I've never seen any other lights lower than serial #1,000.
I've also heard of C cells with lower serials but C cells didn't start until 1981 so any D cell that's stamped "Paten Pending", which this one is, is going to be older. In fact Mag Instrument had produced something like 100,000 of most lights before the C cells even started. It's pretty common knowledge that Mag Instrument and its employees will retain low and interesting serial numbers. Mag Instrument owns serial 1 of each light with only a couple exceptions. A few years ago serial numbers 1 and 2 of a few C cell models came up for sale on a large auction site. Unfortunately I didn't purchase it but from what I hear they were sold by an ex-Mag Instrument employee.
Other than the low serial what makes this light so interesting? Well for starters it has all of the features of other 1979 lights covered here. However the light has some interesting differences even from those lights. For starters the focus grip is even lower and most knurling, including the focus grip, appears to be much finer. Please find a pic below with the 6D on the left and a standard 1979 lightly used light on the right. compared to a standard 1979 light. I have several NIB 1980 and later lights and the grip feels much different. This grip is much sharper. It feels much better but was likely dulled later due to wear it would produce on holsters for the policemen it was designed for. It could also be that the tooling itself dulled as production went on.
The package is also very interesting too. In Maglite's very early days there was a lot to do and only 2 full time folks to do it, Tony Maglica and Don Keller. As such the first packages went out without any kind of snazzy logos. What's also interesting is price which is hand written and is $29.40. This is $105 in 2017 which was a large sum of money for a flashlight. I've covered some of Maglite's pricing model in my post about the gold lights I have.
This light helped me complete a set of Maglite chipboard (display) boxes. In 1985 Maglite also started offering hang (clam shell) packages. The chipboard boxes are less expensive to produce but the hang packages are much favored by retail stores. The chipboard boxes were primarily used to ship to bulk customers like police departments and industrial suppliers as well as for mail order catalogs. Shown below is my full collection of chipboard boxes and below it is a description of each.
Top to bottom they are:
1979
One of the first ones off the production line. No printing aside from ML-6 model number on end. This is the only 1979 box I know of.
1980 to 1984
These boxes added the early rounded Maglite logo as well as the model number on end. These still pop up for sale once in a while.
1985 to 1991
These were clear so buyers could more easily see the light. They aged poorly. Both the glue and plastic became very brittle over time. Maglite used their "horizon" logo during this time.
1992 to 2002
These used the current logo and again went back to grey cardboard. They had a printed picture of the light on the side instead of being clear.
2003 to current
In 2003 Maglite switched to blue but otherwise they remained similar to the 1992 to 2002 style.
What do you do with a NIB Maglite you think is one of the oldest? If you're a flashaholic you take it apart! Even though this light was NIB the light had been removed from the packaging before but never used. It has some minor scratches here and there so I wasn't too worried about taking it apart. Shown below are the innards of the light. The switch is very early and different in appearance than any other I've seen although it functions and looks exactly the same on the inside. The reflector also has a red base plastic instead of blue like the new ones and is completely chromed instead of just the inside surface.
This is all likely because Maglite was in the process of either bringing parts production in house or standardizing their suppliers depending on the part. When most manufacturers start out they bring their sketches to large machine shops and production facilities and have small batches of components made to test production and quality of the components. Along the line improvements and efficiencies are found to help lower costs and improve quality. Maglite is no different and this early light is a good example of that.
The switch cover is also unique too. It is the larger style found on 1979 lights but is the only example I've seen that has the original circlip intact. Because these covers lacked the flat flange to old the cover in like the newer seals they used a circlip to apply outward pressure on the switch for a better fit. The whole system didn't work and by 1980 they were gone in favor of the current style switch cover. Shown below is the circlip hiding inside the switch cover.
There's one more interesting thing to note about this light. The instruction sheet, like other early packaging makes reference to a large head model. Shown below is the parts list which shows a breakout of the parts needed for a large head. I've covered this topic, here. As far as I know this planned model was never produced mainly because since the light focused it's beam into a spot or flood it wasn't needed. I just think it's a neat insight into how the product we all know today was still evolving. The instruction sheet was very brittle and has mostly fallen apart but is shown below in it's entirety. I've also covered package inserts here.
I did not grab a pic but I could not resist trying the light out. I put in 6 D cells and the light did not light. I was pretty disappointed because Maglites have a legendary reputation for durability. I changed the bulb with a brand new Krypton one and the light did work! The old bulbs are under a vacuum inside the glass so that the filament won't burn. I think over the last 38 years the vacuum likely depleted and the bulb was no good. I didn't try the spare and I put the original bulb back in the light before adding it to my collection.
Like most lights I enjoy getting a good backstory with the light. This light is no different and the story I got is that a tradesman purchased a few of these lights in California in 1979 for his business. Because the flashlights he had in the past were so unreliable he purchased a few so that he would always have one that worked. As time went on he, or his employees, used most of them. This one was forgotten about in the back of the shop until recently. Most folks would probably not know what a light like this is worth or even how historical it is so it went for a fairly low price on a large auction site.
In general 1979 lights are not expensive and there is no way to prove this light is the oldest and even if I could it's tough to determine what it's worth because it's one of a kind. Because different models were produced first they could have a higher serial and still be older. The 3D was the first light Maglite produced so a 2,000 serial 3D could be older. If anyone has a light they think is older please let me know and I would be happy to post it or give my humble opinion. Thanks for reading guys!!!
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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