u/Then-Peanut-3039

I finally got around to epoxying the collection of shield pins from some of the different Zelda games onto Armor Zippos. These are all custom-made as Nintendo doesn’t license its images to Zippo. I bought the one chrome one of cartoon Link off of Etsy and I’m a little annoyed because they glued it on slightly crooked. The four white engraved ones are from the eBay seller Storyblazer. I have a few other music related Zippo’s from them as well and they’re all badass.

Anyone else have video game theme lighters?

This was delivered at 3 o’clock in the morning. It’s a pretty neat example for a barrel hinge, and four side engraving. I have six in this category now.

I looked through the “going away soon” Zippos last week and came across this Dragonfruit design. One of my themes is Dragons, so in true dad-joke fashion, I had to get it for my collection of dragon Zippos 😂.
The camping design was the August SMS exclusive limited run of 100. I really need to get a black light to show off the few BL Zippos I have.

I just finished fixing up this beautiful silver plated Ronson Table Lighter. It belonged to the mother of a very close friend of mine. It was on display for the last 50 years so the mechanism was caked with silver polish. I took it apart, cleaned and polished it, and repacked the wadding with a brand new wick. It works great now!

The case is steel black crackle with a five barrel hinge. The hinge does not appear to be repaired. The hinge does have a hollow roll pin. The bottom is illegible, but I can tell it’s the old style base stamp with the block zippo letters. The insert is non magnetic with 16 chimney holes. Comparing it on the glenzippo page the lobe of metal that holds the striking wheel does not match the chrome plated brass inserts. Anyone have any ideas on year?

Thanks

(Edited to attempt to put in paragraphs. It reformatted it the first time and took out all the spacing)
I am finally tackling a fuel evaporation test with as many different insert options as I could find. I want to make this as scientific as possible and would love your feedback before I begin. It often happens that I see someone’s online “experiment” and it will be set up in a way that doesn’t actually give you any conclusive evidence. Too many variables per subject, no control subject, etc.

I have set up what I believe to be a well rounded and complete test. If anyone has input of what I can change to make the results more conclusive, please let me know.

Here is my setup: I have nine street chrome Zippo cases and 10 inserts. Each insert is brand new with a brand new wick, flint, and cotton. All inserts start with the same amount of cotton. I have repacked each insert to snake the wick through the wadding. The inserts are numbered 1-10 ///
Insert 1 is the control set up how Zippo intends:wick, wadding, and felt pad. ///

Insert 2 is the older style metal plug with the hinged access door (I had to remove a small amount of cotton for this to fit)///

Insert 3 is the new style metal insert with the brass fill screw (did not have to remove cotton)///

Insert 4 is the plastic plug designed by eBay seller, “storyblazer.” ///

Insert 5 is the standard setup with the plastic bag method///

Insert 6 is the felt pad removed to add extra cotton with the plastic bag method///

Insert 7 is the “double felt pad” approach. You install the wick, a little cotton, an interior felt pad, more cotton, then the final felt pad (see picture)///

Insert 8 is the double felt pad with the plastic bag method///

Insert 9 is the Chinese plastic plug with the hinged door which comes free with supplies from AliExpress///

Insert 10 is the standard setup just like the control BUT it will be installed in the Zorro 902 which has a gasket between the lid and body of the case. ///

I have two more entries; the two versions of Zorros improved inserts. These have the snuffer cap to seal the wick, and the metal plug with the hinged filling port (like Insert 2). /////

This will have two rounds of testing. The first round I will add the exact same amount of Zippo brand lighter fluid. It will be enough to fill them appropriately 2/3 full. I will then insert the inserts into the cases and mix them up so it’s a blind test. I’ll label the cases A-I for documentation purposes. I will weigh each lighter every day at noon and try to light it. Three tries of the striking wheel is as much as they get. If they don’t light after three strikes then they are done with that part of the experiment. The goal is to see which set up lasts the longest. /////

The second round will test the overall performance of each setup. I will fill each insert to its max capacity. I’ll once again blindly put them in the cases and relabel them so it will be a blind test. I will weigh them every day and attempt to light them. Once again three strikes of the wheel is all they will get before being declared “out of fluid.” This test will show us which set up allows for the longest usage of a Zippo before refilling.

The plugs may be just as good as the plastic bag, but you can get more fluid in with the bag method because the plug takes up space in the insert because it replaces the felt pad. The felt pad can hold fluid. /////

well friends, is this a solid foundation, or do I need to add things? I’m out of new street chrome Zippos but will figure something out if I absolutely have to add another type of setup or two. Thanks for your feedback!

I’ve been trying to calm the F down with buying lighters and have been good for the most part. Today I found these five that I absolutely had to have. When trying to log them into my TorchVault app I cannot find the model or description of two of them. I shared close up pictures of each. Google image search said the skull made by fairies might be from the European market. Does anyone have any info on them? Thanks!

I had the honor of officiating my best friend from childhood‘s wedding today. He and his wife got me a leather Zippo holster (sheath ?) and engraved a message and my name into it. They said they have a personalized Zippo coming but it didn’t get here in time. I can’t wait to see that too! I didn’t know they made a tumbler brass armor, so I don’t even have this one in my collection! I was very touched.

Has anyone found a way to remove the damage from the stupid orange security sticker? I have found using Flitz polish works on the matte paint models but this makes me nervous. On the polished metal models I use Mothers or Flitz but I have ruined one because the cloth had a piece of debris on it and it scratched.

I’ve had other scrimshaws that were even worse than this was so I peeled off the plastic part and polished them and you can’t even tell they were scrimshaws. Would this be worth more plain and polished, or as is?

This is the last of the three 1968s I received in a lot purchase. I think it’s interesting that Sunoco paid to have these engraved outside of the factory as opposed to ordering them direct.

I just finished cleaning up this 1968 engine turned polish chrome engraved “DICK.” it came out quite nice.

This one seems pretty special. It is a 1968 Brushed Chrome (well worn) and says “10TH ENGR BN ADM PLATOON” “KITZINGEN GERMANY” in the front. The back says: “PAUL BOSSERT JUNE 67-JUNE 69.”

I got this one last week in a lot purchase so pad about $10 for it.

***edit I think I found it: Zippo Lighter 2001 Choice Special Edition: American Flag, Heavy Plate on HPC
I also learned you can search eBay with your camera!****

I’m trying to add this used October 2001 To my TorchVault app but can’t find its name and model number. There is a current version with this design but it’s just printed on. This is a badge/emblem/plaque (is there a correct word for this?)that is affixed onto the case.
I saw a post where someone shared this model two years ago but they deleted their account.

Does anyone have this one in the box who could show me the sticker on the back?

Did one of you receive the wrong July 3rd collectible at the museum? A guy on the Zippo Addicts facebook group just posted he received two of the drummers instead of one of each.

Let me know and I can reach out to him.

I was lucky enough to find this mint-in-box General Electric slim made in October 1992 on Facebook marketplace today for under $10. It is engraved and painted. I’m very excited, but I hate these old plastic boxes. They are a pain to show in the Zippo racks with the new boxes. I think I have another GE Zippo around here somewhere but everything‘s packed up in boxes currently.

I ordered a custom Zelda Zippo from the seller “storyblazer” on eBay and they included two storage inserts and a custom insert plug that they designed. These storage inserts allow you to close the lid tightly and keep zippo-sized things in the zippo case of your choosing. I put two AAA batteries in to show something in it for the picture. I will give the insert plug a go at some point and compare it against: no insert, the Chinese plastic insert, the metal Chinese insert, the new style metal Chinese insert, and the plastic bag method. I still need to get the new style Chinese insert though.

I ordered this one eBay from the seller “storyblazer” it’s very well done and I am very happy with it. It’s engraved to the brass so I am excited to see how this one ages. I am about to do a separate post so this bit doesn’t get lost, but they also gave me two storage inserts and an insert plug of their own design.