Isn't this one in better condition and cheaper?
Lighters to collect that were used in movies
- Thread starter VonMagnum
- Start date
VonMagnum
Sr Member
Yes, that is nicer in tortoise color (black with brown-ish swirls). I made two offers (last $200 instead of $225) and it was auto-rejected both times. I'm sorry, but if they won't consider offers, they need to turn the darn feature off! All it does is tick me off. Now I don't want to buy it period.
I had offers turned on, on one of my buy it now auctions, and I saw two offers refused that I didn't refuse. It turns out that it defaults to turning down offers automatically if they are below a certain percentage of your buy it now price. The auto refusal can be adjusted or turned off. But it is on by default.
VonMagnum
Sr Member
Yeah, but I offered $200 out of $225. There's no not much point after that. I messaged him about it too and no response. The heck on him.
That tells me that his is set at 10%. So, it would reject anything under $202.50. You could message him with a lower offer. Maybe he doesn't know it's set to 10%.
VonMagnum
Sr Member
I messaged him. No response. Clearly, he doesn't want anything less than $225 or he'd put put an offer. $200 is too high as it is and there's tax and shipping to tack on. At $200 it'd be close to $225 as it is. $250 is getting into the ridiculous territory, IMO given the book price. Its paint is intact, but it's far from new looking. I'd sooner repaint the one I just finished.
I saw someone whining on eBay forums before about people offering less than what they ask. When they say $18, they mean $18 not a penny less! They admitted they had no idea how to prevent the Make Offer button from appearing (apparently it was a default) so they just set the minimum amount to $18 and then they got complaints like mine about their offers all being auto rejected and why on earth is the offer button there if they won't entertain any offers? Someone then explained to them how to set it.
But a vintage lighter is more nebulous in value than stationary so who knows. 85% of people who have that button do at least consider offers, but some of them don't bother setting minimums and have the same attitude (again from that thread). 'I hate lowball offers! I just ignore all offers since I can't get rid of the button!'
After hundreds of purchases, I've found some sellers are simply arseholes. No response to messages is a good sign of that. I don't want to deal with arseholes period. I've gotten burned a couple of times on eBay with broken crap they purposely hid and you can't always count on eBay to make it right.
Honestly, I don't even know why I'm collecting these in the first place. I started with movie prop display lighters only, but I liked some of the Dunhill lighters and wanted more designs. After discovering I had a knack for repairing Ronson lighters and how many neat models they put out, somehow I started collecting them like Pokémon. Gotta catch 'em all! Yeah, I still feel stupid as selling items is not something I enjoy, right up there with going to work on a nice day.
Honestly, sometimes I regret buying all these lighters. But then I regret buying my house, taking this job I have and choosing the major I took in college. It all comes down to being unhappy in general. Throw in the hallucinations and I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone if not Hell.
Everyone lives in a Prison of their own making.
I didn't get much love when I posted the final episode of the cartoon, "Dungeons and Dragons". In this final episode, it is revealed that many of the people in the Realm are there against their will, and then final episode frees them from their prison. It was a cool wrap up of the series and it was a fan-made episode that didn't air during the regular season. The episode was story boarded but never animated. This fan had the episode animated so there would be a final episode.
I didn't get much love when I posted the final episode of the cartoon, "Dungeons and Dragons". In this final episode, it is revealed that many of the people in the Realm are there against their will, and then final episode frees them from their prison. It was a cool wrap up of the series and it was a fan-made episode that didn't air during the regular season. The episode was story boarded but never animated. This fan had the episode animated so there would be a final episode.
VonMagnum
Sr Member
Yeah, I hate when shows get canceled without resolving the whole point of the story (Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe are two examples).
They even promised Atlantis would get SG-1 movies to finish it up (when in reality they just didn't want to pay the actors increased asking rates for more seasons), but then they brought in soap opera writers for Stargate Universe (instead of sci-fi writers) who didn't get the hang of the show until the second season, but by then most of the viewing audience had left and it was already canceled despite getting much better than season one (IMO Atlantis was somewhat the same way when it started. It got better in Season 2 as well, but SG-1 was still running to keep overall interest going. This drove the studio to the conclusion Stargate wasn't popular enough anymore to bother with the Atlantis movies and so we Stargate fans got doubly screwed over. If they had introduced Universe while Atlantis still had a couple of seasons left, it probably would have survived.
Anyway, I used to watch D&D as a kid. My brother and I had just gotten the RPG a year or two before so we were excited. It wasn't much like the game (reminded me more of Zork II), but just getting canceled sucked. I saw a storyboard like cartoon thing on YouTube years ago about how it would have ended if they had let them make the final episode. I don't recall the everyone being imprisoned theme offhand, but clearly the ride was rigged to take them there in the first place so it makes sense. Is this fan episode an actual final cartoon or the storyboard with reading the script lines thing I already saw?
D&D Final Episode
Click the link. It is the FULL ANIMATED final episode. It also fills in the blanks of the storyboard, so that it wraps up more plot lines than the version before.
[The voices are a bit off, since it is Fan made]
Click the link. It is the FULL ANIMATED final episode. It also fills in the blanks of the storyboard, so that it wraps up more plot lines than the version before.
[The voices are a bit off, since it is Fan made]
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VonMagnum
Sr Member
Very impressive. It looks just like the show to me. I haven't watched it in a while so any voice changes went unnoticed.
Too bad I can't find the key out of this prison....
VonMagnum
Sr Member
3 lighters came in today.... I didn't have time to look at them before work.
Original Ronson Regal unused, Ronson Cadet Adonis (replace one I had to use on the Cadet Table lighter to get it working) and unused Ronson Rover pocket lighter.
In worse news, think I might have a CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) leak from my brain. My Covid bout is long over, but I've had this clear watery fluid constantly making me blow my nose (sometimes slightly stretchy if I don't blow it for a long while, but like water if I blow it often) and I've been getting a lot of headaches lately. Sometimes there's some blood in it. I just love my life. I felt like something was dive bombing my brain last night when I tried to sleep (squirrels turning on me or sleep paralysis mixing with it falling asleep?). Maybe the leak is a connection. Just what I wanted to do on my week off is see a doctor instead of going to Niagara On The Lake or the Great Serpent Mound, LA Rosa's pizza in Cincinnati and Noble Romans pizza in Indianapolis (hadn't decided which).
Original Ronson Regal unused, Ronson Cadet Adonis (replace one I had to use on the Cadet Table lighter to get it working) and unused Ronson Rover pocket lighter.
In worse news, think I might have a CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) leak from my brain. My Covid bout is long over, but I've had this clear watery fluid constantly making me blow my nose (sometimes slightly stretchy if I don't blow it for a long while, but like water if I blow it often) and I've been getting a lot of headaches lately. Sometimes there's some blood in it. I just love my life. I felt like something was dive bombing my brain last night when I tried to sleep (squirrels turning on me or sleep paralysis mixing with it falling asleep?). Maybe the leak is a connection. Just what I wanted to do on my week off is see a doctor instead of going to Niagara On The Lake or the Great Serpent Mound, LA Rosa's pizza in Cincinnati and Noble Romans pizza in Indianapolis (hadn't decided which).
VonMagnum
Sr Member
On with the show....
Ronson Regal Table Lighter (1936)- (Original More Rare Model)
This one was unused (still had string on wick area) and in perfect body condition. That doesn't mean it didn't have a frozen flint in it because it did. That's because Ronson lighters shipped with a flint in them already and if you just stuck it on the shelf, well, it expands and locks up the lighter. Fortunately, when they're this old, they just fall apart when shoved with screwdriver, but to do that you have to take the mechanism apart on top, something I can almost do in my sleep after all this time.
The previous one I showed was a "white gold" paint version and had a little bit of paint coming (extremely common on the white gold painted Ronson lighters, even when unused). This one is in in Silver with a clear protective layer to keep it from tarnishing. Most, once used manage to tarnish (coating comes off somewhere with use). But in unused condition, it looks like it just came off the assembly line despite being 88 years old as of this writing. Although, looking closer, there's a bit of the protective material off on side facing to the right near the snuffer. It must have rubbed against something.
The odd thing is this was advertised (rightly) that it's almost impossible to find to begin with (took me 5 years to locate one), let alone in unused condition. Oddly, enough, another one in excellent condition (not new, but already fixed up and polished) just appeared from another seller on eBay for the same asking price. I offered less and unlike the seller above, they took it. It's not "unused" anymore, however. I have to have photos of these lit (one to prove they work and two because I'm unlikely to light most of them ever again and won't have to as I can just look at the photo, but after removing hundreds of flints, it's easy enough to fire one up with some Ronsonol and a flint).
Click for larger view/slideshow:
Ronson Regal Table Lighter (1936)- (Original More Rare Model)
This one was unused (still had string on wick area) and in perfect body condition. That doesn't mean it didn't have a frozen flint in it because it did. That's because Ronson lighters shipped with a flint in them already and if you just stuck it on the shelf, well, it expands and locks up the lighter. Fortunately, when they're this old, they just fall apart when shoved with screwdriver, but to do that you have to take the mechanism apart on top, something I can almost do in my sleep after all this time.
The previous one I showed was a "white gold" paint version and had a little bit of paint coming (extremely common on the white gold painted Ronson lighters, even when unused). This one is in in Silver with a clear protective layer to keep it from tarnishing. Most, once used manage to tarnish (coating comes off somewhere with use). But in unused condition, it looks like it just came off the assembly line despite being 88 years old as of this writing. Although, looking closer, there's a bit of the protective material off on side facing to the right near the snuffer. It must have rubbed against something.
The odd thing is this was advertised (rightly) that it's almost impossible to find to begin with (took me 5 years to locate one), let alone in unused condition. Oddly, enough, another one in excellent condition (not new, but already fixed up and polished) just appeared from another seller on eBay for the same asking price. I offered less and unlike the seller above, they took it. It's not "unused" anymore, however. I have to have photos of these lit (one to prove they work and two because I'm unlikely to light most of them ever again and won't have to as I can just look at the photo, but after removing hundreds of flints, it's easy enough to fire one up with some Ronsonol and a flint).
Click for larger view/slideshow:
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VonMagnum
Sr Member
Ronson Cadet Adonis Pocket Lighter (1959)
A very good site (www.toledo-bend.us) claims this lighter isn't in the book and it's probably from the 1960s. I don't know why it says that there. It most certainly is in the book and it's from 1959, made by Ronson's England division. There's a table lighter version that had various portraits on the porcelain body that the insert of this lighter fits into as well. In fact, I sacrificed one of these (and never showed it AFAIK) to make that one fully functional since its insert was kaput. This one had a brand new looking lighter insert so I swapped it out into the table lighter body and put its lighter insert into this one's body (which is still better than the old body). They both work fine. The one simply has less surface marks around the lighter cap area.
Table Lighter Version for comparison (there was more than one picture design, however) and this is the older photo with the old insert:
A very good site (www.toledo-bend.us) claims this lighter isn't in the book and it's probably from the 1960s. I don't know why it says that there. It most certainly is in the book and it's from 1959, made by Ronson's England division. There's a table lighter version that had various portraits on the porcelain body that the insert of this lighter fits into as well. In fact, I sacrificed one of these (and never showed it AFAIK) to make that one fully functional since its insert was kaput. This one had a brand new looking lighter insert so I swapped it out into the table lighter body and put its lighter insert into this one's body (which is still better than the old body). They both work fine. The one simply has less surface marks around the lighter cap area.
Table Lighter Version for comparison (there was more than one picture design, however) and this is the older photo with the old insert:
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VonMagnum
Sr Member
Ronson Rover Pocket Lighter (1966)
As you can see, not all Ronson lighters made after the early 1950s were butane gas lighters. They did also maintain a few wick based models, still. This one also has an insert that fits into a table lighter version body (still looking for one in good enough condition worth paying $50-60 the current ones want or for less). You can see the picture of a table one on the booklet. The design resembles the lighter body from the gas line in style, however.
This one was unused and still in the original box. They must have misplaced or threw out the refill body (it'd likely be empty after all these years). There are a few for sale that have it, but I wasn't paying an extra $20-40 for an empty plastic refill body. I'm not crazy about hanging onto the box, but it seems like a good idea.
I'm glad I didn't have to do any work on the mechanism because it's using some kind of rivet-like pin to hold it together I'd never be able to get a part to replace it with (thankfully its flint just fell out, but it could probably be drilled out from below without having to remove the mechanism since it's a straight shot).
Click for larger view/slideshow:
As you can see, not all Ronson lighters made after the early 1950s were butane gas lighters. They did also maintain a few wick based models, still. This one also has an insert that fits into a table lighter version body (still looking for one in good enough condition worth paying $50-60 the current ones want or for less). You can see the picture of a table one on the booklet. The design resembles the lighter body from the gas line in style, however.
This one was unused and still in the original box. They must have misplaced or threw out the refill body (it'd likely be empty after all these years). There are a few for sale that have it, but I wasn't paying an extra $20-40 for an empty plastic refill body. I'm not crazy about hanging onto the box, but it seems like a good idea.
I'm glad I didn't have to do any work on the mechanism because it's using some kind of rivet-like pin to hold it together I'd never be able to get a part to replace it with (thankfully its flint just fell out, but it could probably be drilled out from below without having to remove the mechanism since it's a straight shot).
Click for larger view/slideshow:
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I found a Bronica Savanna in good condition but in spite of fueling it up, its flame is very tiny and weak. The wick was quite short, so I bought a longer wick that seems of the same construction, to no improvement. This was a random cheap wick but it looks identical. Any ideas? Is there a premium wick I should get?
VonMagnum
Sr Member
I mostly use IMCO wicks off eBay (metal needle makes them easier to insert in many lighters), but I've got several different sized wicks from a guy in Britain that sells them and sometimes gives me a pack free with butane gas valve purchases.
This lighter appears to be similar in style to a Zippo internally. It should be easy to change, at least. Is the wick raised up high enough (at least to the top of the wind guard is a good idea)? Is it snaked through the cotton packing properly? Is there enough packing to absorb a good amount of lighter fluid? A photo wouldn't hurt to consider.
VonMagnum
Sr Member
Coffee good. Coffee bad. Coffee good. Coffee bad. Am I the only one sick of this type of "news" article?
No wonder no one trusts science on more important things when you get this wishy washy junk nonsense published endlessly.
Yes, folks, the world's gonna end if I don't stop burning butane and Ronsonol in my lighter tests! Polar bears are dying because of Ronsonol! Oh the cruel cruel world!!
Oh well. Smoke 'em if you got' em!
(Soviet Era imitation of IMCO Gunlite 6900 from a seller in the Ukraine)
No wonder no one trusts science on more important things when you get this wishy washy junk nonsense published endlessly.
Yes, folks, the world's gonna end if I don't stop burning butane and Ronsonol in my lighter tests! Polar bears are dying because of Ronsonol! Oh the cruel cruel world!!
Oh well. Smoke 'em if you got' em!
(Soviet Era imitation of IMCO Gunlite 6900 from a seller in the Ukraine)
The IMCO wicks look "fluffier" than what I have. I think it's substantially synthetic. That may be the issue. I'll get some IMCO cotton ones and try that, thanks!
VonMagnum
Sr Member
I just hit the big 50. Ugh. The "senior" part of senior member looks differently to me now. To be 25 again...
I repainted the lines on the Rondette table lighter with a paint pen. The problem is that it's not as black as the spray paint so from certain angles or bright light, it's obvious. I can't win.
I repainted the lines on the Rondette table lighter with a paint pen. The problem is that it's not as black as the spray paint so from certain angles or bright light, it's obvious. I can't win.
