I have always liked the very early Maglites from 1979 to 1986 the best. They really show how Maglite was still developing and refining their timeless design. The newest addition to my collection is one of these lights. There's not much I get in the way of surprises any more but this one sure was. Finishes on the early 1979 to 1986 lights are very tough to come by. Up until I found this one I didn't think early C cells had any finish options other than Vari-Beams even though blue is listed on early package inserts. Finally after ~10 years of collecting I ran across an early C cell finish! It's not listed on any of the early package inserts. This light is a 3C, 38,410 serial which puts it at about 1982. It has the early stamped TM bezel and the barrel is stamped "Patented Made in U.S.A.". For those interested in these differences throughout the years please see my C Cell Quick Dating Guide.
The other big surprise on this light is the extended tail cap. C cells in this range are only supposed to have the flat end cap as shown on the Vari-Beam on the right below. Even later C cells have a different style extended end cap which is shown on the left below. So it's not like this one has an end cap that was swapped with a later light. The knurling matches the knurling on flat end caps from around that time so I don't believe it's from another light either.
Through my contacts from the early days at Mag I am pretty sure this is an early prototype or trial run extended cap. This was likely done to test the tooling required to produce this end cap and to test the marketability of it. A handful of these were likely produced as a test run and then sent to retailers once the quality was determined to be acceptable. That makes sense because the prior owner lived in Michigan and he was the original owner who remembered purchasing it off the shelf at a sporting goods store locally in the early 1980s. I also believe this because I know this to be the case with some other lights as well. I have an early Camo finish that was a test run as well as some oddball finishes from 1979 too. Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed!
As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.
