It's been a while since I've posted so I figured I'd show a brand new collectible Maglite that was just released. I'm sure it will be a future classic since it celebrates a very important 40 year long production milestone for Maglite. It's hard to believe that Maglites have been around for 40 years. In fact I have several 40 year old Maglites that still work extremely well and a use a 1980, 39 year old 2D Maglite almost everyday.
I got my 40th Anniversary Maglite on 10/22 which is a heck of a coincidence too because that's the anniversary of my engagement to my wife. This is my first time trying one of the new ML300Ls and I will say I think I'm a firm believer in modding an old Maglite vs. buying a new one. I don't plan on using this light I just plan on displaying it with the rest of my collection. The digital switch would take some getting used to for me. The modes are very useful though as they provide for a lot of different brightness levels and some crazy high run times. The reflector is Mag's standard smooth deep reflector which has a ton of throw. The beam pattern is about the same as the older lights and could benefit for a stippled, orange peel, reflector to smooth out many of the imperfections although I don't know of any after market reflectors for the ML300L lights. The tint is also very cool but that may not bother some folks. I know I prefer 3000K to 4000K and this is a 6000K tint.
Anyway, here she is. I'm guessing these are numbered the same as the other ML300Ls and if so 400,000 units isn't many. I'm not sure if it's because these just came out or if they're not selling all that well. All in all Mag boxed her up pretty nice and I didn't get any special packaging but I did get two stickers though.
I also thought it would be cool to show this light next to an original 1979 light to see how far these lights have come in 40 years but also how similar they really are. For those not familiar the 1979 lights had a larger switch button, a lower focus grip, and a lot of other small variations from later lights. This 1979 3D has the Maglite logo stamped much farther up on the bezel than normal too. The 2019 light has none of these "quality control issues". It is perfectly manufactured inside and out. The focus on the 2019 is a quarter twist from spot to flood whereas the old lights take about three or so full twists to accomplish the same effect.
I will say that the switch appears tiny to me and I really much prefer the solid click of the older style mechanical switches vs. the light press of the new electrical switch. The older switches were extremely reliable but I'm guessing Mag switched due to the driver and modes used on the LED as well as less wear due to the removal of the mechanical parts.
These lights were offered for sale as a special promotion through Maglite's mailing list. The web landing page on Mag's site can be seen below with a cost and brief description of the light. There's also a countdown timer that sets a time limit to order the light. However, it just resets at zero or if the page is refreshed so there was no actual time limit on placing an order. These are still available for sale as of the posting date.
Overall the light is very solid. I don't know that I'd pay $100+ for it as anything other than a collectible. A standard issue ML300L can be had for $35. Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to making more posts about Mag's future collectible lights and some stragglers I still have from my collection.
As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.
