My fathers flashlight collection - HELP!

Hi all,

Apologies if this post is in the wrong place, I have joined the forum for some advice from people in the know.

My father was a big flashlight enthusiast and collector and unfortunately he is critically ill with only a short time left. I'm pretty sure he is also a member of CPF. To help pay for upcoming costs the family are regrettably looking into selling his large collection.

There is approx 50+ touches with lots of spare parts, LEDs, batteries, chargers etc. The bulk of them are Surefire but there are also Novatacs, Sunwaymans, Torch Labs and many more. I know he also custom made some of them.

My question is, can anyone offer any advice on where to go / who to speak to? We are based in Cambridge, UK. We really don't know where to begin and we know he spent thousands over the years on his torches, so we would like to get the best price possible.

Many thanks for your help in advance.

David

Hello cobby, and welcome to CPF.

Sorry about the situation you describe.

To first address the practical details of selling here ... you would need a Supporter Badge to open a sales thread in the WTS forum(s)

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/IconLegend1.html

One challenge of selling highly specialized and/or potentially collectible gear may be correct identification and accurate listings.

CPF does not assist with appraisal or similar. Indeed, discussion of pricing issues is discouraged. Searches of prior sales, and perhaps of auction sites or similar may be helpful.

All items listed for sale must be clearly priced, when listed

Were you wanting to sell all as a single lot, or individually piece-by-piece ? The latter may entail a substantial amount of work, if it is a large collection.

There are numerous CPF members in the UK, and it is possible that may be helpful to you.

By the way, you will need a few moderator approved posts here, before gaining access to the PM system.

If this collection is indeed from someone on CPF, further details regarding this might be useful in identifying rarer items, in some cases.

Hope that is helpful to you....

cobby22,
If you are willing and able to tell us your father's cpf moniker, some other member might have some insight.

Seems like the Torchlab and Surefire models could be scrutinized for possible collector interest. Any custom flashlight might fetch a decent price. As well, there could be other gems. Good luck. Sorry for your circumstances.

We're here if you need us. Over the years we've grown close to each other for some ungodly reason and most of us have never met each other. Blf is also the same and though we have our differences, they are equally able to help and support you and your family. If we have a screen name we could look at posts to the forums over the years and start putting some pieces together for you...

Should be obvious, but please do limit openly posted information to screen name, by the way

Maybe you could post some pictures of the lights. Not for valuation, but for identification. Once you know what the lights are you can do some research into their value. Folks here love the challenge of identifying lights, it would be a fun thread and probably very popular.
P

If you facebook check out the Surefireholics page and pm the admin there. They too can offer insight not only on those SureFire lights.

Sorry to hear about the deal and may God be with you and yours.

Thank you all so much for the replies, it really is very helpful and much appreciated. I'm quite taken back by how kind everyone seems.

It think my Dad's username is 'Cobby', although I have tried logging in and resetting his password with no luck.

We would ideally like to sell the whole lot in one go as I think it would be too much work to try sell them individually, especially the ones we can't identify and have no clue about. I have been in contact with a Surefire supplier here in the U.K and they are willing to sell them individually on eBay for us then split the profits 50:50. I'm not too keen on this as it seems a bit unfair. Selling the whole lot on eBay is an option but we are worried about the true value of them. Maybe if we could identify some of the more valuable ones then selling ourselves on eBay could be an option.

I have taken loads of photos which I was planning on posting, but it wouldn't let my upload from the mobile app. I will hopefully post them later this evening from my laptop for you guys to have a closer look at.

Again, thanks so much for your help.

Hello David,

I'm saddened to read of your father's terminal condition. If he must, may he rest in peace.

Over the last seven years I've accumulated more flashlights than what most would consider normal. Flashaholics, as we like to call ourselves, collect torches for a variety of reasons. I like to think my main reason is the pleasure they've given me.

One of the things that makes CPF a family affair is our common love for all things illuminating. From what you've written, it's obvious your father is a member of our family, sharing a love for that which shines.

If you were my son, I'd hope you'd spend the time and energy needed to learn what I've left you, and by doing so, perhaps gain insight as to why I've spent my time, treasure and energy collecting more flashlights than most consider normal.

You'll be amazed by how many are willing to assist you here at CPF. When you're ready to start, do so by creating a new thread in the General Flashlight Discussion.

~ Chance

Well said, Chance ... :candle:

I think for many of us it will be a pleasant challenge and an honor at the same time if not evaluate, at least, identify your father's collection. In theory, selling torches one by one, you may recover several times more value than selling them as a batch.

As promised, here is a link to some photos of my Dad's collection:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oi17qpvxacqprrh/AAAB5s5B-pKVSLSTx21HGs5Da?dl=0

Hopefully the dropbox link works, I was having trouble uploading directly to this thread.

I know it's almost impossible to accurately identify and value them just by the photos, but I would appreciate any thoughts on a ballpark figure and if there are any stand-out torches that I should set aside to try and sell individually. I am also considering keeping a select few for myself and my kids for future memories of their granddad.

If any more photos are required (such as the backs of the Surefires) then I am more than happy to add them to the album.

Many thanks and good luck!

Chauncey Gardiner said:

Hello David,

I'm saddened to read of your father's terminal condition. If he must, may he rest in peace.

Over the last seven years I've accumulated more flashlights than what most would consider normal. Flashaholics, as we like to call ourselves, collect torches for a variety of reasons. I like to think my main reason is the pleasure they've given me.

One of the things that makes CPF a family affair is our common love for all things illuminating. From what you've written, it's obvious your father is a member of our family, sharing a love for that which shines.

If you were my son, I'd hope you'd spend the time and energy needed to learn what I've left you, and by doing so, perhaps gain insight as to why I've spent my time, treasure and energy collecting more flashlights than most consider normal.

You'll be amazed by how many are willing to assist you here at CPF. When you're ready to start, do so by creating a new thread in the General Flashlight Discussion.

~ Chance

Click to expand...

Thank you for your kind words Chance, you've got me thinking now.....

Moving this to General for discussion of flashlight ID.

BTW, that is a freakin awesome collection. You probably have conservatively $5k worth of lights there. With a little time everything there can be ID'd pretty easily. I see plenty of SF, some Novatacs, Moddoo and Torchlab, Fenix, Muyshondt. Lots of good stuff in there! Your dad has a collection anyone here would be honored to call their own!

I couldn't find a cobby but a longtime member named cobb. Does this seem like your Dad if you read some past posts?

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/member.php?6250-cobb

Good L@@kin' Out NBP.

You too CG. When my pop passed my family wanted to get ca$h asap for all his goodies. I grabbed the lions share of the real valuable stuff... the how to books, the written details of his vast collections, the amazing stories of what, why and when... and the best treasure was the knowledge he bestowed on me.

If possible find out what a few of your pops most favorite were (and why) while you are attempting to obtain some euros for those medical bills.

Can we send you PMs with offers? I have a few picked out that I already want. Will pay for shipping to the US.

HUGE +1 to what Chance posted.

Very sad to read this David, thoughts with you and your family at this terrible time. Your Dad has amazing taste, those pics show many many WOW lights.

A quick look over and add up would guess a very minimum of £3000, more closer to £4000 and that is putting most of the C2's around just £100. The black ones are quite rare, depending on serial No can change things drastically. Lower serial No's=more value, there are many experts here who can advise regarding body/head designs and which are the rarest.

I would certainly keep a good few as the value will only go up. Whats is worth £150 (just example) today may be an easy £300 in 10yrs. Maybe grab a few random lights, be it 1 a day or when you get time. Have a google or ask here on info specific to that make/model. Have a little read up, the thought, reason for that design etc. A quick example would be the thinner body surefire(z2) to aid grip when used with a pistol. I can make out 16650 cells in the plastic case. These looking at the wrap will be protected and charged to 4.2v on a dedicated charger(he will have). The lights in 4 JPG can run on this cell.

Now it could get a little more complicated if your Dad has purchased drop ins for these lights. Drop ins are the light engine part, undo the head from the body and inside will be the drop in(or p60 part). LED/reflector/driver part that sits inside. There of course are the standard surefire bulbs and LED options which came later on. Also there are malkoff drop ins with many options (LED/ colour temp so neutral 4000k etc). These themselves are very sort after for their life time warranty , bullet proof reliability .

After a little research and maybe some pics to help out the experts here, maybe take some specific lights and use .................even a nighttime walk with the kids telling them about granddads lights and how the special forces would pick that model .

It may even open up a new adventure for you or/and the kids, possibly another common interest for you all to share. Only thoughts, a new/different adventure could be around every corner and your Dad helping light the way.

We are a big family here , your welcome to be a part of it

We need to work out some way of getting you an independent valuation if you decide to sell the lights.
There's one that I'd walk a mile in tight shoes to buy, especially as it's in the UK. I could offer you what I'd pay for it, but how do you know that it's fair?
Please don't put them on Ebay as some of the less well known ones will not fetch their worth.
Hopefully the assembled brains here can work out solution.
P