2006 3AA LED Mini Maglites

Summary: Maglite briefly produced an LED 3AA Mini Maglite when they first brought LEDs to the market. These were the only 3 cell Mini Maglite they produced and as LEDs improved they were dropped and are very rare and collectible today.

Up until this post all of my previous posts have been about classic, incandescent, Maglites. Well I guess some of the first generation LED lights are starting to become classics as well and I've had a few inquiries about an unusual LED light that Maglite produced when they first started selling LED lights, the 3AA Mini Maglite.

Most folks know about the ever popular AA Mini Maglites. They started in 1984 and I did an earlier post about their beginnings and about the differences between the generations. Maglite started selling LED lights around 2003 and I have not covered any of them on my blog. As far as I know there isn't a collector market for any of them except the odd 3AA Mini Maglite. Before I go any further I should post a few pics.

As you can see the lights are quite a bit larger than a 2AA Mini Maglite and you could kind of say that defeats the purpose of the Mini Maglite because it has always been intended to be a compact, portable light. I believe the reason why this was done is because the first generation LED emitters were not very efficient. They required quite a few volts to produce a desirable amount of light and the run times were not very long. Folks I know that have used this light have told me that the run times were less than an hour whereas a new 50 lumen LED light on 2AAs will run for 3 to 4 hours. I believe once the second generation of LEDs came around in 2007 or so that these light were then discontinued.

Shown below are beam shots compared to a 2AA Incan Mini Maglite. The LED is on the left and the Incan is on the right. The tree is about 20 feet away or so. The LED Mini Mag is much brighter than the Incan. It is easy to see why folks preferred the LEDs even if initial run time and tint weren't the best.

As with most Maglites, collectors tend to gravitate towards large cell lights that were not popular during their initial production run. This is evident with the 7Ds, 7Cs, and 5 & 6Cs. Like those lights these 3AAs do go for a god dollar on auction sites and forums. The going rate for one new in box, NIB, is anywhere from $50 to $100 depending on the finish.

I don't have a ton of info on these 3AAs. I think they were produced from 2003 to 2006. The serial number on my black one is in the 1,000,000 range and the blue one is in the 850,000 range which makes me think there were a lot of them produced. Like most other lights though I think many were stored with the batteries in them and then tossed when they leaked which is why they seldom come up for sale today. I have seen them in the standard finishes, black, blue, red, and silver. If anyone happens to have any production ranges or any additional information on them please contact me, my e-mail address is on 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.

2005 President Bush Inaugural AA Mini Maglites

Summary: These are one of the five Maglite "giveaway" lights and were produced for the 2005 Inauguration of George W Bush. There were 40,000 given away to those in attendance. They have special laser etching commemorating the event.

I've previously detailed all the rest of the official Maglite "giveaway" lights. These were lights that were made in large quantities for special, historical events and then given away for free by Mag Instrument. There were only 5 total and 3 of them were for inaugurations of President George HW Bush and George W Bush. The complete list is as follows:

1989 President George HW Bush Inauguration AAA Mini Maglites
1994 Lillehammer Olympics AA Mini Maglites
2001 President George W Bush Inauguration AA Mini Maglites
2001 9/11 Donation 3D Lights

Maglite has produced many custom laser etched lights through their special order program but these were all for orders placed by companies and the like. None of these were produced for Maglite for significant historical events. Maglite has also produced some other small quantity giveaway lights like for the opening of President Reagan's library opening and as giveaways at small events. However most of these were produced in quantities less than 100 which makes them especially rare or non-existent today. The 5 "giveaway" lights above were produced in quantities of the thousands or more and are generally regarded by collectors as being the 5 official Maglite "giveaway" lights and are well sought after over other laser etched lights.

I've been hunting for a 2005 President Bush Inaugural light for a long time and I'm not sure why but they are tougher to find than either the 1989 or 2001 Inaugural lights. 40,000 copies of each were supposedly produced but I almost never see the 2005 ones for sale. I was able to trade one of my rare Ferrari lights for this one with another collector. I often trade if I come across something I really like as I have a ton of lights and some duplicates. It's also sometimes the only way to get a unique light from another collector.

So, what is it? Well, if you've been reading my blog you'll know that Tony Maglica, the founder of Maglite, is a staunch republican. As such, he's created giveaway lights for the inaugurations of President George HW Bush and President George W Bush. Tony is extremely patriotic having come from almost nothing in Croatia to making a fortune selling the most popular and for a long time the most premium flashlight in America. He's also been very dedicated to American manufacturing and jobs, refusing to send his production outside the U.S. I imagine he wanted to give a little back to the country, and his political party of choice, by producing these giveaway lights.

A 2001 George W Bush Inaugural light is also shown above with this 2005 light. The 2005 lights aren't as unique as the 2001 lights because unlike those they have knurling on the barrel. I like the 2001 lights better because the inscription is more readable and they really look a lot cooler with the smooth barrel. I'm guessing they were probably given the knurling to differentiate them from the 2001 lights. Aside from the laser etching they are a standard blue AA Mini Maglite. I do not believe they were delivered with batteries or packaging unlike the 1989 lights. This was likely done to keep cost down and because so many of the 1989 lights were ruined when their owners left them with batteries for a long period of time after the inauguration.

With this light I am finally able to complete my Maglite "giveaway" collection. Shown below are all 5 of these lights together. These really are an interesting piece of Maglite and American History. I know it's a little after the 4th but I hope I'm not too late with this patriotic grouping of Maglites.

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