Show your Rare/Unusual SureFires - Part 2

[ARA]

Well I have a lot of Surefires but I usually get them to use them, so the only SF I have that is NIP, other than this Z3, is a 6P gift set of which I have two, so I only opened one.

But you're right, I think the Z3 is a rare find, too, so I'm on the fence on this one.
Ah well, we'll see how this one plays out at home

80$ incl. shipping.

Very nice and a steal at that price
Open it and enjoy it, part of the fun IMHO

cheers

 

[archimedes]

.... What did this Z3 go for, BTW?

.... 80$ incl. shipping.

Wow, congrats - nice deal! I think that one is probably worth more than $80 ... plus a (user) Z3 :devil:

 

[Monocrom]

This just arrived here:

A Surefire Z3, not as rare as some of the others in this thread, but it's still BNIP.
I'm still trying to work up the courage to open it

I say open it and enjoy it, or re-sell it.

I never understood the concept behind buying something and never opening it up, never taking it out of the box. It is meant to be used.

 

[Kestrel]

I say open it and enjoy it, or re-sell it.
I never understood the concept behind buying something and never opening it up, never taking it out of the box. It is meant to be used.

If the new lucky owner wasn't in Germany, I would offer to trade my mint Z3 (without packaging) for his NIP Z3 so he could enjoy it. I'm just that nice of a guy.

 

[Monocrom]

Yes, you are a nice guy. I agree. :thumbsup:

But anything can be re-shrink wrapped with just a hair-dryer. How do we know the member in Germany didn't get a length of lead pipe when he bought that box? Honestly, the likelihood of that would be rather tiny. But if that was mine, the small bit of doubt would slowly eat me alive.

 

[Helmut.G]

How do we know the member in Germany didn't get a length of lead pipe when he bought that box?

If he re-sold it to a "collector" who can never open it without destroying the "collector's value", nobody would ever notice the scam

 

[It01Firefox]

If the new lucky owner wasn't in Germany, I would offer to trade my mint Z3 (without packaging) for his NIP Z3 so he could enjoy it. I'm just that nice of a guy.

That's a real nice offer, but now here you make me feel like mine might be more valuable to you, since I could have one without the packaging in just a few seconds ...
Plus this lucky owner gets to travel to the US usually twice a year ...

But anything can be re-shrink wrapped with just a hair-dryer. How do we know the member in Germany didn't get a length of lead pipe when he bought that box?

Well there are two Surefire model number stickers on the shrink-wrap itself, so I guess that it's the real deal.

 

[Toohotruk]

So have you decided to open it or not?

 

[It01Firefox]

So have you decided to open it or not?

It's still sealed.

 

[Monocrom]

It's still sealed.

That poor, poor light.

 

[Rat]

It's still sealed.

Is it a crosshair logo ? How low is the serial number ?
If you cannot answer any of these questions I think you will need to open it :naughty:
I would be willing to buy it from you and open it if you would like

I do not see the point in not opening it as long as you keep the box and light in mint condition thats the main thing.

cheers

 

[Monocrom]

It's sad to think that we have adopted the same practices as toy collectors . . . Leaving dolls and action-figures in the box . . . sitting on a shelf . . . never to be touched . . .

 

[Kestrel]

It's sad to think that we have adopted the same practices as toy collectors . . . Leaving dolls and action-figures in the box . . . sitting on a shelf . . . never to be touched . . .

I do understand where you're coming from, but I would wager that even in the SF collections on CPF, the 'users' & the opened lights vastly outnumber the NIP/unopened collectors lights ~100+ to 1.

I confess that I am very much bit by the 'collector' bug, but checking my SF's, there are 12 'users' (nearly all of which are no longer in production) and 4 mint 'collectors' (all of which are opened and have no associated packaging or materials with them).

 

[Monocrom]

I do understand where you're coming from, but I would wager that even in the SF collections on CPF, the 'users' & the opened lights vastly outnumber the NIP/unopened collectors lights ~100+ to 1.

I confess that I am very much bit by the 'collector' bug, but checking my SF's, there are 12 'users' (nearly all of which are no longer in production) and 4 mint 'collectors' (all of which are opened and have no associated packaging or materials with them).

I might be crazy, but I'd pay more for the users; than one in the box that has seen no use and has no history. To me, it's a lot like collecting military knives. It's not the ones that sat unused in a surplus depot that command a premium. One of the reasons why V-42 daggers command such high premiums is because many didn't make it back from World War II. They were used, lost, had to be left behind, etc. Their use is what contributes to such a high price for collectors.

There's an individual who found an absolutely mint-condition Rolex watch from the first World War. And yes, he is asking a ridiculous amount of money for it. About the same amount of money as a gold and diamond-encrusted Rolex Daytona model. He's gotten a few offers from some collectors. But no where near his asking price. He refuses to budge on the price, and is still to this day holding out for someone who honestly is insane enough to meet his price.

Two things. Rolex started out as a British brand and was nothing more than a caser. Buying stock movements from other companies and putting them in cases which bore the Rolex name. (A lot of relatively new micro bands in existence that do nothing more than the same thing today.) A Rolex from that era wasn't too special. And it contains zero precious metals or stones.

Second thing is, that particular Rolex must have sat unused in someone's drawer or cabinet for nearly 100 years in order to be in that good of shape. No history, no story behind it. if you find the same watch in less than mint condition, but you can document its use in the trenches by an officer or soldier; it's going to be worth more than an absolute mint model that sat in a drawer for about a century.

Hell, I'd pay a huge premium for a SureFire with some documentation that it was carried and used by a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan.

 

[Kestrel]

[...] Hell, I'd pay a huge premium for a SureFire with some documentation that it was carried and used by a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan.

My wife did carry our SureFire L2 in Afghanistan for 6 months before it (and she) got home and started getting chopped up for modification (the light, not her). It even got stolen from her (a pickpocket) and she had to buy it back from a local vendor a week or two later. Does that count?

At any rate, an interesting conversation but unfortunately we seem to have gotten off-topic for the current thread. I can split a number of posts off of this thread if you would like to write a post #1, otherwise perhaps we should end the intermission and get back to the 'Show your SF's' hm?

Thanks Monocrom,

 

[Monocrom]

Sadly, I have to agree with you. Too off topic.

But I'll make that post #1 in the Flashlight collecting sub-forum right now as I believe this would make for an interesting topic of discussion.

Also . . . If that L2 had not been chopped up for modification, yes; I would have asked if perhaps your wife would be willing to part with it.

 

[Kestrel]

I have quoted the above posts for Monocrom's new thread:
What criteria do you use for collecting lights?

Everyone interested in the conversation, please continue there. If I don't receive any objections I will delete the OT posts from this thread after a suitable length of time. While I would prefer simply moving the posts over to the new thread, it does not work well in this case due to post timestamping. I will do my best to move replies to the recent posts into the new thread, but it's easier for everyone to just continue the topic in the new thread.

Thanks and best regards,
Kestrel

 

[E__WOK]

This just arrived here:

A Surefire Z3, not as rare as some of the others in this thread, but it's still BNIP.
I'm still trying to work up the courage to open it

You should at least try to find the original Z3 with the non hex head. But neither of them are rare unless you mean rare by meaning unsealed.

 

[It01Firefox]

Well look what happens when you're bored on a Saturday afternoon

Reverse:

After cleaning up the grip rings:

 

[jamesmtl514]

Very nice!
happy to see it wasn't a piece of pipe.