Costco Luxeon 2AA flashlights

Went to the Bakersfield, CA Costco today and found these http://www.msnusers.com/flashlightcollection . They are "Costco" brand 1 Watt Luxeon low-dome flashlights. 2 lights and 4 AAs for $27.59!/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/clap.gif Aluminum body (with a bead-blast finish or silver paint; haven't figured it out yet), clicky tail switch, fraen? optics behind a plastic lens, runs on 2 AAs. The lights are 6 1/2" long, 1 9/32" across the bezel, and 15/16" thick on the body tube. There are O-rings on the bezel and tailcap, and lanyards are included. As you can see the beam (10" diameter at 3 feet) is pretty smooth and very white; just about equal to my Pelican M6 LED. The bezel unscrews easily and modifications look to be easy too. The quality seems to equal or better the Dorcy products I have. Costco part number is 662244.
Regards,
Kirk

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif Now if I only had a Costco around? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

-Mike

That is a Bargain for two lux lights and batteries

damn nice find

I purchased 2 sets of these.
Light #1 Cat urine green, dim and lousy beam shape. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Light #2 Cat urine green, fairly bright, so-so beam shape. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Light #3 Yellow to warm color, better brightness, nice beam shape(big hotspot) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Light #4 JACKPOT! White,Very bright, great beamshape in fact this light rivals both of my Inova T3's! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

They are, IMHO, funky looking but built nice and at that price 1 out of 4 that rivals a T3 ain't bad.

Beamhead,
When I picked mine up I was thinking about the Luxeon lottery, too. I guess I lucked out. Both of mine are equally white and bright.

Just spoke with my local store...it's going to be 1 1/2 weeks till they arrive in Anchorage.

Great price, looks like a good light for the price! Heck if you win the "Luxeon Lottery" - it sounds even better!!

I just think back to those first released CMG 2-AA Reactors...uuggggghhh!

I've never heard of a Costco store. Is there a website I might be able to get them from...

Costco is a chain of membership warehouse type stores. They do have a web site (costco.com), but much of what's available in their stores, isn't sold on the site - including these luxeon lights. Even if they were available, you'd have to be a member to order from them.

[ QUOTE ]
KDOG3 said:
I've never heard of a Costco store. Is there a website I might be able to get them from...

[/ QUOTE ]

That deal makes me want to move to Texas where I can find a Costco.

They're not the best looking LS lights but you can't beat the price!

The Costco by Clackamas Town Center has the 2AA Luxeon lights.

That body style is not familiar, so I wonder who is manufacturing these for Costco. Are they made in China? Are they using a star, or a bare emitter? We want details man!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I'm curious.

So who's going to figure out what regulation circuit they're using. Newbie? They've got to have some kind of electronic regulation if they're only using 2 AA's.

I can't pick any up until after Thanksgiving when I get home (if they have them in Ft. Worth). No matter how you cut it, this is a GREAT DEAL!!! Go Costco!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

LEDmodMan,
They are made in China. The package has only Costco identification on them, not like a lot of Costco's packaging where they stick 2 things like the Dorcy lights in one pack and the package says something like "Packed for Costco by Diversified Packaging" or something like that. They have the bare emitter (I had to go to lumileds.com to check out the difference). The emitter is mounted to a screwed-in hunk of aluminum? that has 2 dimples for snap-ring type pliers. The tailcap also has a plastic ring with notches in it to unscrew the switch assembly. These things look to be very easy to dis-assemble and modify or repair.
Kirk

Hmmm... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

I checked with some local Denver and Fort Worth area Costco stores, and all 7 I called have them on order. All stores say that they show 168 units coming in between tomorrow and the beginning of December. Nobody could confirm if these are a seasonal item or will become a regular stock item. I say, knowing Costco, get them while you can and ask questions/make returns if necessary later.

I am of the opinion that since Costco went through the trouble of sourcing these lights and developing their own packaging, they may just stay around a while. But you never know, so get them while you can!
Kirk

I live in Seattle near where Costco has its corporate headquarters. Some things to consider when buying any product from them:

(1) They have a reputation of getting only quality products so you know that they have done their homework when selecting a product to sell.

(2) They have a very good reputation for taking back products that go kaput or which are not satisfactory to their clients. For example, I recently purchased a Sony DVD player from them. This product comes with a 1 year parts, 90 day labor warranty. Most stores try to sell you can extended warrently. Because Costco does not sell such warranties, I asked what my options were in case the DVD player went bad. The guy said that I could probably go for a year and then return the product for a full refund. That's generous!

My point is that the product will be good and Costco won't give you a hard time if fails to live up to your expection.

The downsides of Costco are:

(1) There are many products for which they do not maintain a regular inventory. If an item looks good you better buy it because it might not be around in a month or so.

(2) Like the other big discount stores Costco makes your shopping experience an unpleasent one (long lines, very little assistance....) In exchange for the great discounts on their products they want you to load up your shopping cart with products.

I'm going to check out the local Costco store tonight to see if they have this flashlight. It is only two freeway exists from my home so it's not a big deal getting there.

That's for sure. I purchased a Casio "Atomic/Solar" watch from them that died after a year's use. Got a credit no questions asked and I didn't even have a the receipt (it was on file in their computer). The price had increased by $10 since the original purchase, and they credited the higher amount!.

Sorry for the thread hijack...


[ QUOTE ]
SwitchK said:
My point is that the product will be good and Costco won't give you a hard time if fails to live up to your expection.


[/ QUOTE ]

Correction: These flashlights use "complete" Luxeon stars, not just the emitter as I stated earlier. I took a closer look last night and noticed the distinctive "snowflake" shaped heatsink hiding down in the recess the Luxeon sits in. Since I don't mod my lights, is this a good or bad thing?
Kirk

Is there any circuitry or are they direct drive? The CMG Reactor II was a 2AA direct drive and was pretty much useless on anything other than disposable lithiums. However, IMHO, the Reactor II is a pretty darn good light, with long runtime, on lithiums. If the Costco Lux is direct drive, then I assume it will have the same strenghts and weaknesses of the Reactor II.