Interesting SF 6P Discovery

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NOTE: Pictures posted in post #6.



So I went to Fry's in San Jose tonight with the intention of buying a mouse for my computer. I looked at their flashlight aisle and came across something very interesting, if not very unusual. Sitting on the shelf was a "Laser Products" SF 6P, as in the one with a rounded head! The head looks just like the one from this thread:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?237757

The rest of the body was the "newer" version, unfortunately. It was stored in one of those transparent anti-theft plastic boxes. The light itself had no original packaging, and it was literally just rolling around in there. The bezel has two very tiny dings, so it was obviously a returned item at one point or another. The "newer" body had signs of wear on it, as in the ano was slightly worn on sharp edges, etc. The head itself had no worn anodizing. The bulb was incandescent.

Now before I go any further, many thoughts were going through my head. How did it get there, and why? How could it have been sitting around that long in the San Jose Fry's? Why does it have an old head mated to a newer body?? Did a CPFer get to it and return the light at some point?!?:duh2:

Anyways, there was a catch, a big one. The price tag was listed as a brand new SF 6P LED, at $89. Obviously this was incorrect, so I politely explained the following three points to a Fry's employee why this particular item should be discounted:

1. The item had no packaging
2. Item was not brand new. It showed signs of physical wear, therefore it was a returned and used item
3. It was not an LED as advertised

After I mentioned the last point, the employee tried to convince me that it was actually an LED, LOL! Long story short, I only got a 10% discount after talking to the manager.:ironic:

After shelling out $90 (10% discount + 9.75% CA Tax), I went back to my car to check the 6P out. I examined it and found there were two decent scratches on the Lexan lens. Nothing major, but in combination with the two dings it's kind of a bummer. Considering how old it is and given these circumstances though, I would still consider it pretty minty. I unscrewed the head and the bulb says "Laser Products P60". Very cool! The batteries expire on 01-2015, so they were manufactured in 01-2005.


As many probably already know I was on a SF boycott due to certain legal actions they took a few years ago. I made an exception this one time, as this was waaay too interesting, strange and unusual to pass up. The story in of itself is great!

How funny, I almost bought that very one last week. I saw it sitting in the square alarm box. I passed because I figured someone exchanged it for a new one since Fry's hasn't carried the Surefire brand very long.

JB

Hmmmm, Waiting for pics

IIRC Fry's has been carrying SF's for about 2-3 years now... but that's just the thing! Why would they have a 20+ year old product sitting around there???

Will upload pics. I'm on dial-up so it'll take me a while.

Sounds like return abuse to me.

People will buy new toner cartridges, put the old/spent ones in the new box, then return the new box for a refund. The guy at the return desk doesn't know to check the weight on the cartridge and they put it back in stock. It goes round and round through the store's system until its finally clearanced out.

In this case, someone bought a brand new 6PL. After removing the new bezel and new P60L (LED), they replaced them with a a vintage bezel and vintage P60 (incan), put them back in the package and returned the mixed light to the store for a full refund. The guy at the return counter doesn't know any better and it gets routed back to the peg. Way easier than shop lifting.

I was in a place similar to Home Depot and saw the wrong (cheaper) bulb in a Maglite package on the peg. Someone had bought a xenon and return a krypton. Brought it up to someone and they took it into the back. Came back the next week and it was again on the peg.

Here are the pics. The little marks on the bezel are pieces of dust.




The head-on bezel shots never come out right. The scratches on the lens are very small, and it's very difficult to capture them on camera.



Note the tiny ding on the bezel, it's in the red circle. The other ding is really small so I couldn't capture it. At this angle you can also see some of the ano wearing on the body's criss-cross knurling. In contrast the head's knurling is still very pretty and minty:



It says 01-2015 on the batteries








These pics took an hour to edit, upload and post!!! I seriously need to get Cable/DSL.

What's special about this SF 6P that you spend $90 for it?:thinking:

Lexan?! Bummer you didn't even get glass.

Yeah, I've worked in retail and people return all kinds of crazy stuff. Some guy probably bought a new 6P or something and then brought his old one back and convinced Fry's employees it was his new one - why would they know better?

It was worth it just for the bezel though...the "ribbed" old-school bezel are hard to come by. You should be able to sell it on the MP for twice the price of a current Z44, and make some of your money back.

Will the bulb fetch anything? If not it's still cool as a collector's piece.

You can get by with selling the Laser Product bulbs for about $2 more than the SF one's. I know I, for one, like having the old school bulbs for my old school lights.

Is it possible this bezel is even more old school because the lens is Lexan and not Pyrex?

I have a SF D3 that I bought NIB in (IIRC) 2001. This light has the old school bezel with a lexan lens, and new body with lock-out tailcap. The writing on the tailcap reads: "Laser Products Fountain Valley, CA SURE-FIRE." If your tailcap has the same writing as my D3, you may have a light that dates back to around 2001. However, the logo on my D3s body is the word "Sure Fire" with the old crosshair marking in between the words. I don't know when Surefire stopped using this marking for the "circular" one found on your light.

Bezel evolution goes something like this:




Pyrex lenses can't bend/flex, required for snap in installation

Sadly I think this is a buy, swap and return. Someone bought the newer SF LED and swapped out their old round head and LP P60 for the LED then returned it. Given that most people, even at fry's, dont know their products as well as they say they do, will not notice a small change like that.

Dudemar, did you happen to return it back to Fry's? I was just at the Brokaw location and saw another round bezel in the same square security box with no original packaging. How funny is that?

JB

Elumen8, I bought that light last week! Rattling around, loose, in one of their alarm boxes. It's not dudemar's:
It looks just like the one in dudemar's photo, except the label on the body says simply "SUREFIRE 6P" on one flat, and on the other, "SUREFIRE 6P" with the subscript A027820 on the lower right, where the US Patent is on his.
It's just as dudemar described, except no scratches on the lens or dings on the bezel. There is a little wear on the body, where it looks like it has been in a weapon mount, but not used much. Lens feels like Pyrex, and looks to be threaded in.
It has (2) SF batteries which expire 2015, and a Laser Products P60 module.
It was marked as a 6P LED for $89. In the last couple months I have seen NIB 6P LED's at Sunnyvale and Hamilton Fry's, so I had no reason to doubt it.
They knocked 10% off since it was missing the original packaging. I returned a 2-month-old Pelican PM6 incan (3320) that gave up the ghost, so I basically spent $60 on it.
I tested operation when I picked it up, but didn't look at the light engine, or actually use it until last night. Thought the beam looked awfully yellow and ringy for an LED!!!
I should be mad that they ripped me off, but I doubt they had any idea that it wasn't an LED model. Plus, I figure I'd get a drop-in for it at some point either way - this way I have the cool, old-school module as a conversation piece, or for indoor use.
As-is, it's nearly as bright as my Maratac AAA on high, but with much more throw and better tint than that awesome little backup.
Seems slightly brighter, throwy-er, and less ringy than the Pelican was, but I'm (obviously) unable to compare side-by-side.
Shockingly bright for what it is - I don't see how other incan's from that era could hold a candle to this torch. And, unless you're a flash-a-holic (like us), it's really all you're likely to need.
Can't compete with my EagleTac P20C2 or (kinda flaky) Tiablo A7, but feels slightly better in hand than either.
A kinda cool little find, I think. It'll become my standard walk-the-dog-at-night light.
Now to locate an M61...

TJS