Sho's Zippo Lighters Collection

With antismoking forces gaining steam in the United States, Zippo came up in 1995 with a creative way to keep its brand strong. It introduced the ZipLight pocket flashlight, which was simply a traditional lighter casing with a replaceable battery pack inside. Zippo spent $500,000 on a television advertising campaign to launch this new product, one of its largest campaigns ever. The Zippo brand, prematurely declared dead by USA Today in 1989, was clearly alive and well and seemed as ubiquitous as ever. Revenues for 1996 were estimated to have reached a record $150 million. The company was now producing 80,000 lighters a day, and the 300 millionth Zippo lighter rolled off the assembly line that year. One year later, the company opened the Zippo/Case Visitors Center to replace the previous Family Store and Museum. The new visitors center encompassed the Zippo/Case Museum and the Zippo/Case Store and also offered visitors a chance to view repair technicians practicing their craft in the Zi

The 50th Anniversary for Zippo is a big thing. For that, they came out with a special bottom stamp commemorating the exceptional event. Below is a photo of the commemorative stamps. Because it was such a special event, they extended the commemorative stamps for solid brass lighters from 1982 to 1992. Above are some example of the commemorative stamps for solid brass Zippos. Here are some pictures of my 50th year Anniversary Zippo Lighter. I managed to get one of the rarer package, which comes with commemorative Zippo fluid and flint in a gift box. According to what i have found out, these gift boxes were only given to Zippo's employees back then, in 1982.

The 40th Anniversary Zippo Lighter was released in 1972 as an employee issued Zippo as a thankyou gift for their hard work and loyalty.

  Released in 1957, there are 2 known versions of the 25th Anniversary Zippo Lighters. The rarer version, featuring the Zippo wording on the top panel, with the 25th anniversary logo at the bottom panel, while the more common version has both the wordings and logo at the bottom panel. I am lucky to come across both versions in my journey in collecting Zippos.

  In the picture attached below, we have 2 versions of Zippo Lighters released in 1957 for its 25th Anniversary, followed by employee only version 1972 40th anniversary, the more common release solid brass 1982 50th anniversary, Collectible of the Year 1992 60th Anniversary, 1997 65th Anniversary and 2002 Friends of the Century 70th Anniversary. 2007 75th Anniversary, 2012 80th Anniversary and 2017 85th Anniversary Armored case as Limited Editions.

  Over the past years, Zippo has manufactured a few sensational precious metal series lighters. Namely the solid Titanium Zippo lighter (discontinued), the solid Copper Zippo lighter (discontinued), the solid Brass Zippo lighter, the Sterling Silver Zippo lighter, and of course, the solid Gold Zippo lighter. The solid Titanium Zippo was manufactured in the year 2001, with the production halted in year 2006. They retailed for only US$98 initially, but due to the stop in production in year 2006. Solid Titanium Zippo lighters became much sought after, by collectors around the world, causing its price to reach new heights every year, as the number of solid Titanium Zippos decrease in the market. The unique patina formed by the chemical reaction of solid Titanium surface with our human oil over time is what makes it so special. Due to the properties of Titanium, a solid Titanium Zippo lighter weighs only 44grams, compared to a normal chrome plated Zippo lighter at 56.7grams.

  Finally got to own an original Zippo Fluid Dispenser! Special thanks to Alex for sponsoring this rare item. This has been in my wishlist for a long time.

  Below are some letters which Ernie Pyle had written to Zippo regarding Black Crackle Zippos in the warzone. Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) 3 barrel hinge, signifies that this WWII Black Crackle was made in 1943-1945. One of my prized collection, a World War II Black Crackle Zippo which was issued to the crew onboard USS CABOT to commemorate Ernie Pyle's death. He was killed shortly after he disembarked USS CABOT on the 18th April 1945.

  Lucky to come across this mint in box fishing Lossproof Zippo lighter during collecting. Lossproof Zippos were commonly made for outdoor sports, like fishing and hunting. Based on the bottom stamp, it seems that this Zippo was made in the late 1950s.