I always stumble across Zippo lighters from the Vietnam war and WWII on ebay, just curious if anyone collects 'em?

I've collected them in the past. But caveat emptor when it comes to engraved lighters.

 

RC

I collect only Vietnam war lighters....not all are Zippos. I've only purchased a few off ebay, a few at shows.......but most have come from the vets.

"If you have more than one, you're a Zippo collector ! ( I have only 5 of special personal significance, but I smoke a pack of Marlboros daily, so I use a " beater" that I can drop on the concrete, and not feel horrified if it gets scratched & dented

I have been collecting zippos for 10 years or more. I have around 50 or so. 3 of them are WW2 black crackle. The rest are various zippos from the 40s to the 70s. They seem to be fairly easy to find at yard sales & auctions. I can never pass one up when it's under $10 at a sale!!

I collect only Vietnam war lighters....not all are Zippos.

 

Absolutely! So many of the lighters actually carried were of cheaper non-US manufacture. Penguin, Konwal, and other Japanese makes.

I have a large collection of Navy salvage, tug, rescue, servron etc lighters.

 

Not only Zippo brand, but also Penguin, Vulcan, Prince Rocky, etc.

 

Belt buckles, ashtrays, desk sets, mementos and other items too.

 

I've also never smoked a day in my life, truly a nasty and disgusting habit.....

 

 

I collect them when I run across them. Here are some of mine.

 

Chris

 

Those are some very nice lighters gents.

 

RC

A couple more,

 

 

Here's another tease of what I have handy.....

 

There's another 10 full cases of these packed away

WOW Salvage Sailor.......Impressive! I only have a fraction of your collection volume.

Just picked this up.It's not a Zippo,but a Venus.A novelty piece from Vietnam war era Korea.Sellers' pics.

I started thinking that these styles of lighters were cool after I seen Mr. Kowalski's lighter!

Nice collections,

 

I have been collecting Zippos for over 25 years, i enjoy buying older and modern EGA, USMC, Iwo Jima, Nose Art, and B-17 Bomber and Airborne Zippos.

 

 

I have some interesting Zippos and they are not all lighters! It's too late tonight to take pictures but I'll try to post them tomorrow. Somebody may be interested in taking them off my hands! Danny

Caveat Emptor on many of the "Vietnam" lighters. The local repro artists produced so many of them in the 1990's (mostly for Japanese collectors) that the Vietnamese actually had to import additional lighters from the US. I had a buyer in Hong Kong who would take every one I could find, working or broken, if they had 1960's date stamps on them.

Caveat Emptor on many of the "Vietnam" lighters. The local repro artists produced so many of them in the 1990's (mostly for Japanese collectors) that the Vietnamese actually had to import additional lighters from the US. I had a buyer in Hong Kong who would take every one I could find, working or broken, if they had 1960's date stamps on them.

 

Absolutely. If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.

I picked this up at an estate sale. It was the only thing in the place worth buying. And what a buy....

 

These were made in very limited numbers. Even the folks at Zippo are not exactly sure but they believe it was less than 900. They were produced shortly after the death of Ernie Pyle and given out primarily to the crew of the Escort carrier on which Pyle spent several weeks before his tragic death. I hunted around but could only find a few other examples for sale and they were in worse condition. Flying Tigers Antiques had one listed for 3500 USD and again mine was in better condition.

 

 

When I found it, it was upside down and at first I just thought it was a nice WW2 black crackle Zippo. When I turned it over and I knew I had something. A quick application of the great and powerful Google and I about fell over. Its like the Holy Grail of Zippo's Couldn't buy it fast enough.

For the Vietnam era lighter and Zippo collectors out there, Bob Hudson has some very nice ones in the FS section right now.

I have just started to focus on collecting vintage military Zippos I will post my newly formed collection next week when they arrive. If you guys have any you would like to sell let me know.

I've sporadically collected Zippos for about 40 years, mostly WWII to present, military and law enforcement ones. The only Zippo ones from Vietnam I have are my own (3 of them) and some -- perhaps 8 or 9 --.I have bought directly from veterans that were buddies of mine ... usually because they stopped smoking.

 

Having seen so many, many VN lighter fakes out there, I have gotten to the point where I only buy from people I know well. To help me build the historical background of these lighters, if the vet is willing, I keep a copy of his DD-214 with the lighter.

 

One exception and what I consider to be my best Vietnam Zippo 'score' was a lighter I found at a flea market in West Palm Beach about twenty years ago: it was a "compliments of" lighter from SVN's President Thieu, with his full name, both printed and in signature form engraved on the lighter and with a small brass seal of the Republic of Vietnam. The date code was 1968 (3 upright slashes on each side of the word Zippo).

 

The seller got it from her Mom (a Vietnam vet nurse), who was given it by Thieu, and she wanted $100 for it. It wasn't really my collecting interest area, since it wasn't a US military unit one, but it was kinda cool and I made a deal with her that if she didn't sell it that day or the next, Sunday; I would come back the following weekend and we'd negotiate. I went back the next Saturday and we agreed on a price of $50. Stupidly (I like to think because I was on vacation) I did not get her mother's name, unit, or service dates. Still, I now value that lighter. I think I paid her a fair price for that long-ago time, especially given that the junk that was being sold at that flea market wasn't going to attract too many buyers with $100 to pay for a lighter. Naturally, my wife was convinced that I got hosed. (Ah, the life of a collector!)

 

Although I smoke an occasional cigar I have switched out the original Zippo insert from the primary Zippo lighter I use with a Thunderbird butane insert. (Yep, I saved the original insert.)

Here are some WW2 lighters. These were posted earlier but we're from photobucket.

 

Chris

I picked this up at an estate sale. It was the only thing in the place worth buying. And what a buy....

 

These were made in very limited numbers. Even the folks at Zippo are not exactly sure but they believe it was less than 900. They were produced shortly after the death of Ernie Pyle and given out primarily to the crew of the Escort carrier on which Pyle spent several weeks before his tragic death. I hunted around but could only find a few other examples for sale and they were in worse condition. Flying Tigers Antiques had one listed for 3500 USD and again mine was in better condition.

 

 

When I found it, it was upside down and at first I just thought it was a nice WW2 black crackle Zippo. When I turned it over and I knew I had something. A quick application of the great and powerful Google and I about fell over. Its like the Holy Grail of Zippo's Couldn't buy it fast enough.

 

I just stumbled across this post. All I can say is WOW! When you say Holy Grail of Zippos, you are correct! I'd give just about anything for a Ernie Pyle Zippo...

Absolutely stunning example...They just don't get any better than yours!

I am collecting war Zippo as well. I was very lucky some time ago to find a "Ernie Pyle":

 

 

The lighter belonged to Robert F von Gillern, a Navy pilot on the USS Cabot

 

Rolf