Maglight Solitaire - Why not an LED?

[LEDninja]

The MiniMaglight Pro is 226 lumens single mode.
The MiniMaglight Pro+ is 245 lumens 2 mode.
None of those annoying blinking modes the Chinese manufacturers are so fond of. No funny lithium batteries either. Good old Coppertops.
Under $30.

Mag can compete when they get around to it.

[shelm]

To understand why the Solitaire will never be updated one must understand a few facts about it's origin. It's all here if you look for it. Once you know who designed it and how their lives are different today it all makes perfect sense.

i dont know the story..
any link

[EZO]

With the many appealing AAA lights available today an LED MagLite seems besides the point. It does seem odd that they still offer this obsolete product but they must be selling them to somebody.

I've had a couple of these kicking around in a drawer for years. Recently I pulled one out, cleaned up the contacts and popped in a battery just for fun. Well, it turns out that the ol' incan Solitaire is an excellent bedside light for those times when you don't need or want a higher output. (MagLite rates the Solitaire at 2 lumens) Of course, I have various lights with better low lumen settings and performance that I usually use for this purpose but it's been fun to find a use for one of these old little lights. If you stop to think about all the discussion here at CPF about the desire for low lumen settings and Hi CRI output, the old Solitaire might still be relevant. And the candle mode with the head removed on this light is still an excellent feature that wouldn't be available with an LED......it is a true "candle mode".


P.S. With respect to the OP and a few other posters here, I've taken the liberty of changing the title of this thread to reflect the correct spelling for the name of the company.

[fyrstormer]

To understand why the Solitaire will never be updated one must understand a few facts about it's origin. It's all here if you look for it. Once you know who designed it and how their lives are different today it all makes perfect sense.

I would go so far as to say that before the Solitaire is updated it will more likely be replaced by a totally different design for a 1xAAA LED light with a new name.

Fascinating. What are the secret answers we're all failing to notice?

[fyrstormer]

I've had a couple of these kicking around in a drawer for years. Recently I pulled one out, cleaned up the contacts and popped in a battery just for fun. Well, it turns out that the ol' incan Solitaire is an excellent bedside light for those times when you don't need or want a higher put.

I modded one of my McGizmo Sapphire 25s with a warm Nichia DS (I mean really warm, like a low-voltage incan bulb), and I'm guessing it will run a lot longer than the Solitaire. It's just a shame the Sapphire 25 costs $150 apiece and is the only easily-modded 5mm LED light on the market right now. Everyone else seals up their 1xAAA lights with epoxy, as best I can tell.

[Sub_Umbra]

Fascinating. What are the secret answers we're all failing to notice?

In a nutshell:

Man and woman marry.
Woman designs Solitaire.
Man and woman divorce.
Man eventually modifies and updates all of his light designs that are not legally encumbered.

Tha-tha-tha-that's all, folks!

[WDG]

...they must be selling them to somebody...

Without knowing any actual numbers, it would not surprise me to discover it's sold primarily as a corporate logoed promotional item. That's what mine was, along the my two AAA MiniMags.

[EZO]

WDG, I saw Mag Solitaires offered for sale at the local Walmart yesterday and your post prompted me to do a little searching. They seem to be widely sold on eBay and elsewhere in a range of colors. Surprisingly, the eBay search turned up the previously mentioned LED upgrade kit. I didn't realize those were still available.

[tam17]

Without knowing any actual numbers, it would not surprise me to discover it's sold primarily as a corporate logoed promotional item. That's what mine was, along the my two AAA MiniMags.

Not necessary, they're still exported and sold worldwide. Their price here hit the rock bottom this year (around EUR 6.00 in a B&M store). That calls for a change...

[TheSilverman]

To understand why the Solitaire will never be updated one must understand a few facts about it's origin. It's all here if you look for it. Once you know who designed it and how their lives are different today it all makes perfect sense.

I would go so far as to say that before the Solitaire is updated it will more likely be replaced by a totally different design for a 1xAAA LED light with a new name.

Actually, the new Mag-Lite Solitaire LED was announced a few weeks ago. Same design, same name.

[ragweed]

I have to see it to believe it! If its any good I will pick up a few.

[tam17]

Actually, the new Mag-Lite Solitaire LED was announced a few weeks ago. Same design, same name.

I assume this was Mag's official announcement, or..?

Any links?

----------------------------------------------

EDIT: Found something HERE

[dd61999]

See Rule #3 Do not Hot Link images – Norm

[dd61999]

You can read about the divorce in the owners Wikipedia page. It is very interesting including his stepsons new flashlight business that he sued out of existence. They had advance flashlights for its day. I wanted the headlamp

You can see the archived website here for bison flashlights

http://web.archive.org/web/200112162.../Products.html

[tam17]

Here are some of my initial observations regarding the Mag Solitaire LED:

- 37lm is more than enough light for a general close-up work, and maybe even too much for finding a keyhole - I'd be satisfied with floody 25lm and a bit longer runtime, but I'm glad that Mag folks built this light around a moderately driven power LED (most likely XP-C or similar IMO) and not around 5mm LED. Perhaps an easy emitter swap would be possible..?
- UI remains the same (or so it seems) as on the original Soli. It would be a shame if they've given up the "tighten-2-turn-off" feature that some CPF users (incl. myself) wish to have.
- Compared to a competing product, for example Pelican 1910 (39lm, 1AAA single mode), Soli's runtime looks OK (1hr30 vs. 1hr00), which means it has good driver efficiency (hope it's regulated!)
- Focusing ability...? Uhm, be prepared for a ringy beam. Wish they dropped that, but this feature might provide the "candle mode" when the bezel is off.
- Looks like water ingress protection is IPX-4 only. Not a deal breaker for me, with some maintenance that's quite enough for regular EDCing.
- Considering the Mag's worldwide availability, this could be the entry level LED flashlight for many of those "non-enlightened" average users, used to nothing better than incan bulbs and alkaline batteries (hope the Mag folks get the right price!)

Cheers

[Mr Floppy]

most likely XP-C or similar IMO

That would be good. I'd just wonder what the price would be.

The old solitaire was my first torch ever and pretty much got me into the whole flashlight thing back in 1988. I don't know if anything has changed about it since then but this is the first development for 24 years

[Lynx_Arc]

I think the price will be what makes or breaks the solitaire LED version... I am guessing $12.99 myself if they can manage under $10 I think many will buy it.

[Monocrom]

37 lumens . . . That is going to be way too bright for the average non-flashaholic, for keychain duty.

Also, still behind the times regarding the competition. I'll stick with my "classic" Fenix L0D Rebel 80.

[wjf2000]

Maglite refuses to give knowledgable consumers what they want. A tail cap switch on the 2aa models, orange peel reflectors for better beam quality, a light with a cr123 form factor, a real tactical light, a light that produces over 250 lumens, the list goes on. Most of the new rechargeable flashlight take lithium-ion packs and all are led. Maybe in 2020 the new led magcharger with a lithium-ion battery pack will be released along with a led solitaire.

[M@elstrom]

still behind the times regarding the competition. I'll stick with my "classic" Fenix L0D Rebel 80.

37 Lumens is still better than a kick in the pants and certainly more than the 15 Lumens offered by the aftermarket incandescent upgrade kit, why can't people give Maglight credit for at least moving forward into the LED realm and trying to offer a small (efficient) all round lighting solution?


Try and remember when 37 Lumens was what people used to get from an incandescent 2D Maglight

[Monocrom]

Credit for moving forward? The guy in charge sat on his laurels for close to 40 years. And then often tried to sue all of his competitors out of business. A few of the lawsuits were legit. Many were beyond frivolous. Clearly the competition realized that they have to spend a great deal on attorney fees if they hoped to make a profit in this industry. It's only because of all the competitors who couldn't be sued out of existence that M@glite even bothered with upgrades just a couple of years ago.

I can't think of another company that has managed to sell the very same products, made exactly the same way, for almost 40 years while turning a profit. And, having owned more M@glites than any other brand of flashlight (except SureFire) I can honestly say that I found the M@glites I've owned over the years to be no where remotely as good as my first full-sized disposable flashlight. My orange 2D, GE model with a black plastic bezel lasted me far longer than any of my M@glites. 12 years of trouble-free service. And, the beam quality from its dimpled, plastic reflector, was considerably better than the various full-sized M@glites I've owned.

I even remember the night I bought that flashlight. I needed to inspect my car for damage from a small fender bender that was my fault earlier in the day. I stopped at the outskirts of my neighborhood, parked, and went to a late-night convenience store I remembered being nearby. Asked the clerk for the best flashlight they sold. He held up an orange GE model that he told me had served him well on a nightly basis. He then pointed to a barrel that was full of them. $1.99 without batteries. I bought one, bought a couple of D-cells, and headed back to my car to check the damage that night.

12 years later, I finally disposed of that disposable flashlight. 12 years . . . Not one of my M@glites came close to being as good, yes even quality-wise, as that $1.99 GE flashlight. Best two bucks I've ever spent in my life. 12 years of reliable service. Once again, none of my M@glites (past or present) were even remotely as good as that GE disposable I bought all those years ago.

But okay, I'll give M@glite credit for actually opening up their R&D department since sealing the doors and apparently bricking over them for almost 40 years.

[watchcollector1968]

Maglite refuses to give knowledgable consumers what they want. A tail cap switch on the 2aa models, orange peel reflectors for better beam quality, a light with a cr123 form factor, a real tactical light, a light that produces over 250 lumens, the list goes on. Most of the new rechargeable flashlight take lithium-ion packs and all are led. Maybe in 2020 the new led magcharger with a lithium-ion battery pack will be released along with a led solitaire.

Like this?



Your images are too large and have been replaced with links
See Rule #3 If you post an image in your post, please downsize the image to no larger than 800 x 800 pixels. - Norm

[cheech_sp]

I look forward to comparing the new Solitaire to my ITP A3.

[~Deicide~]

Any idea when we will see these available in stores?

[tam17]

Any idea when we will see these available in stores?

Xmas 2012 (optimistic) to June 2013 (realistic). Ignore official statements to avoid anger and frustration

[dd61999]

They stated next month. The military is what's delaying the release

[TheSilverman]

Maglite refuses to give knowledgable consumers what they want. A tail cap switch on the 2aa models, orange peel reflectors for better beam quality, a light with a cr123 form factor, a real tactical light, a light that produces over 250 lumens, the list goes on...

This simply isn't their target market.
And where would the avg American go to buy cr123 batteries?

[Monocrom]

This simply isn't their target market.
And where would the avg American go to buy cr123 batteries?

Brick & Mortar chain Pharmacies . . . At about $9 for a single CR123 cell.

They're definitely available if you need them right away. But I agree with you that the average person couldn't care less about what a knowledgeable consumer wants. Average consumer just wants something cheap, reliable, runs off common alkaline batteries, and with an easy as pie U.I.

[dd61999]

.......I agree with you that the average person couldn't care less about what a knowledgeable consumer wants. Average consumer just wants something cheap, reliable, runs off common alkaline batteries, and with an easy as pie U.I.

Exactly...not to offend CPF'rs.....but flashlights are a commodity. Most people who are looking for a decent flashlight (maybe not by cpf standards) will just grab a maglite...the reason why maglite succeeds.

Think of all the lights that have come and go on CPF and even the regular retailers shelves at Walmart,target,home depot,etc......maglite has outlasted all of them (with the exception of those cheap $2 plastic lights)

Maglite strategy is the right one for mass appeal wether we agree or not

[Lynx_Arc]

Exactly...not to offend CPF'rs.....but flashlights are a commodity. Most people who are looking for a decent flashlight (maybe not by cpf standards) will just grab a maglite...the reason why maglite succeeds.

Think of all the lights that have come and go on CPF and even the regular retailers shelves at Walmart,target,home depot,etc......maglite has outlasted all of them (with the exception of those cheap $2 plastic lights)

Maglite strategy is the right one for mass appeal wether we agree or not

I think mag is feeling the pinch now as they used to dominate stores with their offerings now you can go to most stores and instead of seeing 12 pegs full of their lights in several models, colors etc you may see 2-3 pegs of them and LED on at least half of those. I figure the sales of solitaire lights have reached a point that they cannot keep a plant making them full time any more at the price they want for them in the stores nobody is buying a $6 incan light when a $1-$3 LED lights blows it away in output and runtime and many people have realized it after they get suckered into buying a solitaire then get a keychain light and compare.
As I have said the price is what will determine how popular the solitaire is. As the LED mini mag came out at over 2.5x the price of the incan models and is still normally priced around $20 vs less than $10 for the incan we backtrack a $6 solitaire to $12-$15 range for an LED version. If they would do as dorcy did with their 1AAA LED everyone would have a solitaire at $7 I probably would.