Not sure if this qualifies as a “Great” question but it’s definitely a question that has a factual answer.
Was this lighter [described below] a real zippo?
Real or not, does anyone know where I could obtain another one. [My searches on google have been fruitless]
I’m trying to track down a replacement for a lighter that was stolen a few years back in Guam. So far I’ve had no luck searching on the net. Part of the problem is, that while it was marked as a zippo I have no idea whether it was genuine or not. Frankly I don’t care, the thing was gorgeous.
Wish I had a picture but I’ll have to do the best I can.
It was a small silver zippo style lighter with a turquoise gecko on the front. What set it apart was that the gecko was incased in a little 3-D [not a visual trick but an actual little wire mesh built onto the front] silver cage. The gecko itself was set back into the lighter a bit and the cage extended a bit past the surface.
I remember it being marked as part of a “signature series” though I haven’t found any such thing on the web. Actually, I found zippo “signature” series but nothing like this.
Also it was part of a numbered series. This one was numbered #71 I think. As I said, not sure if it was a genuine article but I don’t care. I just trying to track down another one. Think it cost about 135 at the time [tourist shop] and I haven’t been able to get back there so see if they have anything similiar as it was a Typhoon evac from Okinawa.
P.S. When in Guam touring strip clubs/drinking heavily with your aircrew, leave your gorgeous new lighters at the hotel.
Thanks, any information would be greatly appreaciated.
Yeah, I take a look anytime I pass a store that sells lighters but so far no luck. I wouldn’t call myself a hard-core collector by any means but I tend to pick them up here and there whenever I find one that appeals to me [So far the collection is at about 16 zippos and about 22 other lighters].
My trouble is trying to find a lighter in that particular style. I fell in love with it the moment I found it in Guam but I’ve never seen one like it since. Also, I’ve been thinking it might not have been a “signature” series but instead a “limited.” And so the search continues.
I have a genuine chrome plated brass Zippo dated 1948.
It was a special order with a “Green Cross For Safety,” compqny logo, Safety Award and 1948 date on the body, my name on the flip top.
All genuine zippos have “Zippo” stamped into the bottom of the main case.
Your may have been customed engraved as a tourist trinket or whatever explanation you like to believe may have been the case. Perhaps another doper may have or has seen one similar to yours.
Yes, unfortunately after countless hours of searching the net [including zippo.com but thank you for the suggestions] I’ve been forced to consider that this was an artistan [sp?] created/modified zippo. I couldn’t care less if it was a genuine zippo or not but if it wasartistancreated Ithink I’m going to have a very tough time hunting down a similiar one. Whomever made it went way past engraving though;inset gecko, projecting cage… just gorgeous. The thing was a work of genius.
Who knows, maybe if I make it back to guam [store at the Micronesia Mall, can’t recall the name] they might know.
Doh, just thought about what I wrote. I bought the thing in Guam. That means it may very well have been an overseas version and from what I’ve seen they’re can get pretty elaborate in Japan so it could be that. Now I just have to find a way to search navigate overseas zippo designs. Dart zippo and their yearly ‘lineups.’
Does anyone know if there is a site somewhere that lists every zippo design in the last ten years from say… all over the world? Or at least Asia?
Did the artwork appear to be Zippo factory original? I used to work at a Zippo retail dealer and it wasn’t uncommon for someone to come to the store and pick up a half a dozen plain Zippos that they paint/decorate themselves and give as gifts. If they were very good, I guess someone might sell personalized Zippos, too.
Yes it definitely appeared to be a manufactured product. It was fairly elaborate and the added molding went far beyond doing some etching and soldering a little cage onto the front.
That’s not to say it couldn’t have been an artistan product with zippo markings added to the bottom but if so, I suspect they practically made the thing from scratch.
At the time it was stolen I was mostly just pissed off at the expense and hassle of finding a new one. I just wish I had known then how hard it would be to track another one down. Currently, I’ve been searching through Japanese zippo websites [not easy when you can’t read Japanese] and it’s added to my suspicion that it was a zippo licensed overseas model given that the Japanese models seem to tend towards far more elaborate modlings then the standard US varients.