1994 Remember Sarajevo Mini Maglites

Summary: The "Remember Sarajevo" Mini Maglites were produced for use in the closing ceremony of the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics and were intended to raise awareness of a growing military conflict in Tony Maglica's home country. They are one of five lights Maglite has produced as giveaways for historical events.

Mag Instrument has only produced a handful of "giveaway" or donation lights. These are special lights that are laser etched as part of a donation or promotion. These lights are highly sought after by collectors because of their rarity and history. I've detailed the George HW Bush and 2001 George W. Bush and 2005 George W Bush Inaugural Mini Maglites and the 9/11 3Ds. There is a 5th that I've been searching for and it is the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics "Remember Sarajevo" Mini Maglite.

In 1994 the Winter Olympics were hosted in Lillehammer, Norway. That year's Olympic games were fairly typical as far as the competitions go. However, at the end of the games there was a special closing ceremony that offered remembrance and hope for the site of the 1984 Winter Games, Sarajevo, Bosnia. Sarajevo was a booming town when it hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics but around 1992 it was be-seiged as part of the Bosnian conflict. Thousand of civilians were killed, displaced, and the city's infrastructure was bombed during the siege. The siege lasted almost 3 years, the longest in the history of modern warfare.

So why would Maglite produce lights for a Winter Olympics and conflict half way around the globe? Well, Tony Maglica was born in New York City but was raised in Croatia. At the time Croatia and Bosnia as well as handful of other states were all part of the former communist Yugoslavia. Tony loved his homeland but detested the communist government. He moved back to California near the end of his youth and started Mag Instrument. In the democracy of the U.S. his business flourished and he supplied flashlights to the world.

As the 1994 Winter Olympics was drawing to a close Maglite sent 40,000 AA Mini Maglites inscribed "1994 Lillehammer Olympics" and " Remember Sarajevo" to the closing ceremony as shown below. The lights were used during a the closing speech where a speaker offered hope for Sarajevo.

Like the George W Bush lights 40,000 were produced. So, why are they so rare today? Like other giveaway lights they came with batteries and like many other Maglites the batteries were not taken out before storage which destroyed the lights when the batteries leaked. Also, because all of the lights were sent to Norway they very rarely show up on the second hand US market. I see about 1 every year or 2 for sale and they never fetch more than $50 or so likely because most collectors don't know the history of them.

What's also interesting is that the head has TM after the panther logo. As per my Mini Maglite Dating Guide this is because the lights were produced in 1994 but the panther logo registered trademark wasn't approved until 1996.

UPDATE: I received a picture of a 2C "Remember Sarajevo" Maglite from a reader in Norway so I wanted to post it along with some info. This is basically an up sized version of the AA "Remember Sarajevo" Mini Maglite. It is one of the few lights displayed on my blog that I don't own. From what I can gather these appear to have been made for VIPs attending the Lillehammer event and were likely made in only very small numbers. I would love to be able to purchase one eventually so if you have one or know where I might be able find one please don't hesitate to send me an e-mail. My contact info is at the right.

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