Lighters to collect that were used in movies
- Thread starter VonMagnum
- Start date
VonMagnum
Sr Member
The ones I posted are actually mechanical pencil lighters, but probably look like pens at a glance. I haven't seen Tucker since it first came out. Now I'm curious.
Ah, mechanical pencils. Well one shows up in the scene where they take the prototype car on a cargo plane for the promotional tour.
VonMagnum
Sr Member
It's a modified Ronson Mastercase lighter. The switchblade is fake/bolted on (hence the screws at the top).
ed-209
Sr Member
I realize the knife blade is faked for the commercial and, as I mentioned, it appears to be a Ronson Mastercase.
I guess what I'm trying to say is...is that front faceplate a standard front to a particular Ronson or was the entire face just something added on by screwing it on the front of the real faceplate.
I guess what I'm trying to say is...is that front faceplate a standard front to a particular Ronson or was the entire face just something added on by screwing it on the front of the real faceplate.
VonMagnum
Sr Member
I don't recall seeing that front, but then I haven't been looking for Mastercase lighters a lot, lately. It'd be unusual to have stripes down the center since that's usually where they put the monogram plate.
VonMagnum
Sr Member
Evans Acorn Lighter (Mid 1950s... Perhaps 1954 given the OWCC logo)
This one reminds me of the Kecksburg UFO reports of an Acorn-shaped UFO. Ancient Aliens TV Show also tied it to the Nazi "Die Glocke" (The Bell) secret wonder weapon that was rumored to be an anti-gravity ship or possibly even a time machine and bell or acorn shaped. UFOs are an interest of mine so I thought this would be a neat lighter to get even though I'm sure their aims were just an "acorn". This one was silver colored, though so its fits the motif a bit more than some of the painted ones.
The acorn lighter opens and inside is an Evans lighter insert that can be removed for servicing. This one had a stuck flint in it. It was easier to drill it out from below than take the mechanism apart. The Flitz polish didn't do a whole lot for this lighter so I'm not sure what kind of metal it's using despite being silver colored (possibly nickel?). Otherwise, it lit up just fine.
Head on with strange markings...perhaps a country club rather than aliens? Yes, Old Warson Country Club uses that logo to this day....
Facing Left
Facing Right...doesn't seem much different than facing left oddly enough
It opens!
It's on fire! Clearly Alien Tech!
The Old Warson Country Club, which dates back to 1954 in Missouri has a logo that looks oddly familiar.... One wonders if this lighter was to commemorate the founding of it as its own date is right around the same time.
The Kecksburg UFO Monument shows the described 'Acorn' shape from eye witnesses in 1965
Rendering of "Die Glocke" from Popular Mechanics based on surviving blueprint sketches resembling an acorn shape as well
This one reminds me of the Kecksburg UFO reports of an Acorn-shaped UFO. Ancient Aliens TV Show also tied it to the Nazi "Die Glocke" (The Bell) secret wonder weapon that was rumored to be an anti-gravity ship or possibly even a time machine and bell or acorn shaped. UFOs are an interest of mine so I thought this would be a neat lighter to get even though I'm sure their aims were just an "acorn". This one was silver colored, though so its fits the motif a bit more than some of the painted ones.
The acorn lighter opens and inside is an Evans lighter insert that can be removed for servicing. This one had a stuck flint in it. It was easier to drill it out from below than take the mechanism apart. The Flitz polish didn't do a whole lot for this lighter so I'm not sure what kind of metal it's using despite being silver colored (possibly nickel?). Otherwise, it lit up just fine.
Head on with strange markings...perhaps a country club rather than aliens? Yes, Old Warson Country Club uses that logo to this day....
Facing Left
Facing Right...doesn't seem much different than facing left oddly enough
It opens!
It's on fire! Clearly Alien Tech!
The Old Warson Country Club, which dates back to 1954 in Missouri has a logo that looks oddly familiar.... One wonders if this lighter was to commemorate the founding of it as its own date is right around the same time.
The Kecksburg UFO Monument shows the described 'Acorn' shape from eye witnesses in 1965
Rendering of "Die Glocke" from Popular Mechanics based on surviving blueprint sketches resembling an acorn shape as well
VonMagnum
Sr Member
To go with the Country Club Lighter..... A Golf Ball Lighter!
Ronson Bogey Golf Ball Lighter (1930)
This is still a work in progress as the lighter had a chip in it that I'm going to attempt a repair with Steel-Stik by JBWeld in a couple of days or so. So far, I've installed a new wick (missing) and packing and given it two coats of Flitz polish and took the photos. Given its matte nickel finish under what used to be white paint that didn't want to easily polish to a mirror shine (shown after two coats), I'm thinking of just restoring its original white paint job instead as most of the examples I've seen online look terrible with the paint partly on or off. The best examples removed it all and polished it. One painted theirs with obvious gold spray paint and then said a 1986 price guide said it was worth over $1000. That's news to me. The current guide I have from 2015 states $125-200 in excellent condition. The ship is right where the little point on the side of the lighter goes to lock it into place. I've seen several damaged in that area so it must be a weak spot. It's a very heavy little lighter so it might just chip if you dropped it, for example.
I got this one for less of an offer, stating the things that needed done from the chipped metal to a new wick and polish (despite one going for $125 recently with TWO chips on either side). I saw a polished one sell a couple of months ago for $300, but that was from a shill bidder type seller so he probably bought his own lighter given how many examples I see of him bidding against no one but himself (him and one other are 90% of the shilling problem for eBay lighter sales and I avoid both sellers if I can help it unless I get a reasonable deal).
Almost looks like a golf ball trapped in a metal cage like those motorcycles run in....
Call me Chip
Golf ball on fire! Golf ball on fire!
Ronson Bogey Golf Ball Lighter (1930)
This is still a work in progress as the lighter had a chip in it that I'm going to attempt a repair with Steel-Stik by JBWeld in a couple of days or so. So far, I've installed a new wick (missing) and packing and given it two coats of Flitz polish and took the photos. Given its matte nickel finish under what used to be white paint that didn't want to easily polish to a mirror shine (shown after two coats), I'm thinking of just restoring its original white paint job instead as most of the examples I've seen online look terrible with the paint partly on or off. The best examples removed it all and polished it. One painted theirs with obvious gold spray paint and then said a 1986 price guide said it was worth over $1000. That's news to me. The current guide I have from 2015 states $125-200 in excellent condition. The ship is right where the little point on the side of the lighter goes to lock it into place. I've seen several damaged in that area so it must be a weak spot. It's a very heavy little lighter so it might just chip if you dropped it, for example.
I got this one for less of an offer, stating the things that needed done from the chipped metal to a new wick and polish (despite one going for $125 recently with TWO chips on either side). I saw a polished one sell a couple of months ago for $300, but that was from a shill bidder type seller so he probably bought his own lighter given how many examples I see of him bidding against no one but himself (him and one other are 90% of the shilling problem for eBay lighter sales and I avoid both sellers if I can help it unless I get a reasonable deal).
Almost looks like a golf ball trapped in a metal cage like those motorcycles run in....
Call me Chip
Golf ball on fire! Golf ball on fire!
VonMagnum
Sr Member
IMCO 6600 Junior Chesterfield Logo (1955+)
I got this lighter with a certain lot of lighters including ones that needed repairs (to get a certain other lighter). I took a look at this one today. The top felt like it was grinding something and didn't open easily. I lubricated the hinge with some WD40 and it moved easier, but something still felt wrong. Inserting a flint would get a spark, but it didn't snap open like my other ones. I did a side-by-side inspection with another 6600 I had (with blue and yellow pattern on outside) and I finally noticed that there's two little arms that attach to this plate around the spark wheel (there's an open eyelet there on either side) that are connected to another spring near the bottom of the inside of the lighter to help pull the lid open and resist shutting it and they weren't attached on this one. In fact, the little part that reaches out to go in the holes was missing on both sides.
I tried a little surgery with diagonal pliers to make a 90 degree bend at the top of the arms to try and create a new hook to put through the eyelets. It worked unbelievably well on both sides and I reconnected the arms by putting the new 90 degree metal bends into the eyelet holes and it now works 100% again with full spring pressure in both directions. Lovely. The Chesterfield logo on this 6600 goes well with the Chesterfield 6800 Streamline and Chesterfield Continental lighters I have already too. The latter is from Hellraiser III as Terry Farrell's character Joey's father's lighter she kept. Instant junk lighter to perhaps $25-60 value (all over the place online for used ones and new old stock).
I got this lighter with a certain lot of lighters including ones that needed repairs (to get a certain other lighter). I took a look at this one today. The top felt like it was grinding something and didn't open easily. I lubricated the hinge with some WD40 and it moved easier, but something still felt wrong. Inserting a flint would get a spark, but it didn't snap open like my other ones. I did a side-by-side inspection with another 6600 I had (with blue and yellow pattern on outside) and I finally noticed that there's two little arms that attach to this plate around the spark wheel (there's an open eyelet there on either side) that are connected to another spring near the bottom of the inside of the lighter to help pull the lid open and resist shutting it and they weren't attached on this one. In fact, the little part that reaches out to go in the holes was missing on both sides.
I tried a little surgery with diagonal pliers to make a 90 degree bend at the top of the arms to try and create a new hook to put through the eyelets. It worked unbelievably well on both sides and I reconnected the arms by putting the new 90 degree metal bends into the eyelet holes and it now works 100% again with full spring pressure in both directions. Lovely. The Chesterfield logo on this 6600 goes well with the Chesterfield 6800 Streamline and Chesterfield Continental lighters I have already too. The latter is from Hellraiser III as Terry Farrell's character Joey's father's lighter she kept. Instant junk lighter to perhaps $25-60 value (all over the place online for used ones and new old stock).
VonMagnum
Sr Member
Ronson Bogey Lighter (1930) - Restored
It might need a bit more white paint here and there (some anomalies show up on the photos that I cannot see looking at the actual lighter in terms of less than bright white paint, which is clear in the cabinet shot where it looks more like it does to the eye. It's not perfect, but I've never seen one in this condition on the Internet either so....
Click these for larger slideshow:
Updated Cabinet Partial Top Shelf (notice how much more perfect the lighter looks in this lighting/distance)
(Notice I also got a gold dry marker and tried some gold stripes on the Evans table lighter just behind it to the left)
It might need a bit more white paint here and there (some anomalies show up on the photos that I cannot see looking at the actual lighter in terms of less than bright white paint, which is clear in the cabinet shot where it looks more like it does to the eye. It's not perfect, but I've never seen one in this condition on the Internet either so....
Click these for larger slideshow:
Updated Cabinet Partial Top Shelf (notice how much more perfect the lighter looks in this lighting/distance)
(Notice I also got a gold dry marker and tried some gold stripes on the Evans table lighter just behind it to the left)
MCINTOSH275
Well-Known Member
¡¡¡What an impressive collection...!!!
joberg
Legendary Member
VonMagnum
Sr Member
That's less than half of it.
VonMagnum
Sr Member
Ronson Minton Lighter (Floral Version) (1962)
This is the 3rd lighter in the Ronson Minton set from the early 1960s using a wick lighter with the Adonis mechanism insert. They were only made in England. I could not get anyone on the eBay UK site to send on to the USA. But I dealt with a lovely lady on Etsy before named Eloise (her store is SoigneKitsch there) from England who I thought might be interested in making a bit of profit buying it for me and reselling it to me, which she was extremely helpful in doing. Despite watching the coronation at the time, she logged right on and bought it almost immediately. Thanks to her for helping me complete my set.
The lighter is in excellent condition in terms of the porcelain and the chrome, but it had a nasty stuck fuel cap (which I was able to remove by super heating it with another lighter for 30 seconds and then turning it as this sometimes will melt/soften the rubber o-ring that has turned into a substance resembling cement. Sometimes, it works and sometimes it doesn't. I got lucky. She said it had a stuck flint, but it turns out it was a gear out of place keeping it from moving. Re-installing it didn't work (the spark wheel would not turn. I've had this happen a few times and I'm never quite sure what the issue is, but a worn gear is my best guess. Fortunately, I had recently bought a cheap floral lighter for someone at work, but it didn't work out because the fuel cap was stuck solid and I ended up having to drill it out and it ruined the threads. But the spark wheel and gears worked on it so I just moved them over to this one and instant sparks. I then fueled it up and it's working fine now.
I have the full Minton set in the bottom of my display cabinet at the moment (the floral design rather matches the serving plate it's sitting on rather well, I think so I put it in the center):
I was watching an episode of Hogan's Heroes (S05E08 The Big Picture) and Klink picked up a table lighter and used it to burn the photo a German officer was blackmailing him with at the end of the episode (after Hogan and company recovered it from a hotel). It was hard to see the whole lighter, but I'm pretty sure it was a Ronson Senator lighter, not unlike the one in back right corner of the serving plate above.
Edit: I watched a different episode at random in Season 2 and I don't think it's a Senator. It might be a Spartan as it seemed to reflect a lot. If it is, it's a decade too new. Sitting on his desk at yet a different angle, it looked like something non-Ronson, but that could have been a reflection. I'll keep an eye out in other episodes when I see them. It'd make more sense for it to be a German or an Austrian lighter, but it sure has the shape of a Ronson table lighter.
Hmmm, a search for Klink's desk shows this picture. Definitely not a Ronson, after all.....
Another angle....
This is the 3rd lighter in the Ronson Minton set from the early 1960s using a wick lighter with the Adonis mechanism insert. They were only made in England. I could not get anyone on the eBay UK site to send on to the USA. But I dealt with a lovely lady on Etsy before named Eloise (her store is SoigneKitsch there) from England who I thought might be interested in making a bit of profit buying it for me and reselling it to me, which she was extremely helpful in doing. Despite watching the coronation at the time, she logged right on and bought it almost immediately. Thanks to her for helping me complete my set.
The lighter is in excellent condition in terms of the porcelain and the chrome, but it had a nasty stuck fuel cap (which I was able to remove by super heating it with another lighter for 30 seconds and then turning it as this sometimes will melt/soften the rubber o-ring that has turned into a substance resembling cement. Sometimes, it works and sometimes it doesn't. I got lucky. She said it had a stuck flint, but it turns out it was a gear out of place keeping it from moving. Re-installing it didn't work (the spark wheel would not turn. I've had this happen a few times and I'm never quite sure what the issue is, but a worn gear is my best guess. Fortunately, I had recently bought a cheap floral lighter for someone at work, but it didn't work out because the fuel cap was stuck solid and I ended up having to drill it out and it ruined the threads. But the spark wheel and gears worked on it so I just moved them over to this one and instant sparks. I then fueled it up and it's working fine now.
I have the full Minton set in the bottom of my display cabinet at the moment (the floral design rather matches the serving plate it's sitting on rather well, I think so I put it in the center):
I was watching an episode of Hogan's Heroes (S05E08 The Big Picture) and Klink picked up a table lighter and used it to burn the photo a German officer was blackmailing him with at the end of the episode (after Hogan and company recovered it from a hotel). It was hard to see the whole lighter, but I'm pretty sure it was a Ronson Senator lighter, not unlike the one in back right corner of the serving plate above.
Edit: I watched a different episode at random in Season 2 and I don't think it's a Senator. It might be a Spartan as it seemed to reflect a lot. If it is, it's a decade too new. Sitting on his desk at yet a different angle, it looked like something non-Ronson, but that could have been a reflection. I'll keep an eye out in other episodes when I see them. It'd make more sense for it to be a German or an Austrian lighter, but it sure has the shape of a Ronson table lighter.
Hmmm, a search for Klink's desk shows this picture. Definitely not a Ronson, after all.....
Another angle....
Last edited:
VonMagnum
Sr Member
I wonder if two lighters were used in Hogan's Heroes. The bottom picture above clearly has 3 chrome layers (looks like a Ronson Spartan to me), but the one above it clearly has two and a different lever mechanism.... I watched a couple of more episodes and it looked like a Spartan in those ones. Perplexing.... It might have been easier to tell in the HDNet HD version of the show, which I haven't seen since (like 15 years ago).
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