UBB.threads Forums General Militaria Flags, Field Gear, and Miscellaneous Militaria and Regalia Forum 1936 Olympic Bullet Lighter

I purchased this lighter and was wondering if it was real and if so does anyone have info on this lighter? The bottom is stamped R6053 then an eagle with swaz and 36.

Richard

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No info sorry, I like it though.
If its a modern fantasy piece I'd have to give compliments to the faker on this one.

Its got 2 things going for it that most authentic Germanmetal items of that era have - Quality and patina.
The only thing I don't like about it is the eagles head looks a bit duckish, maybe a bad angle.

- most Olympic items had a nice quality even down to the small pins. This is typical Polish tourist item stuff.. For some odd reason they usually put on Olympic or the sports eagle emblem on pieces.. For me no good..

I would have a tough time disagreeing with your conclusion Gaspare, under any circumstances.
These brass Nazi curios must always be regarded with suspicion.
The various, and similar, ciggy cases, ashtrays, uboat compasses and stampers are all well known, mass produced junk.
I am not ready to dismiss them all on a hunch though. There must be some legitimate souvenir pieces from this event.
I don't see the low quality that you do. Outside of a gap in a ring and a possible ducky face on the eagle, looks like a decent piece of work to me.
Also, I searched around a bit looking for something the same or similar, and found nothing.
One would think that if this was made is Estonia, there would be droves of them on ebay [minus the swastika, of course]. Couldn't fine even one, there or anywhere else.

I have had this item for 3 years and have only seen one other that was for sale at the same auction and have done periodic searches for the item over this time with no results. The gap in the picture is because I didn't have the lid screwed on tightly when I took the picture. The eagle does have a slight duck bill but not as bad as in the picture. The item is very well made but hey that's doesn't mean it is not a repo. I have looked at other bullet lighters made from the time frame and this one is like comparing a zippo to a chinese knock off for quality. Hope to get some more feed back.

Richard

Well they were all over the place! 1990 to 1993 was the big boom.
Most, even tourists, have learned when visiting a Eastern European / Baltic country to stay away..
Now after almost 20 years they are a little scarce and have some honest age to them. That's the classic eagle used on those items... Olympic souvenir items no matter how small/insignificant were nicely made.

If you didn't spent a fortune for it, and like it that's all that matters.......

Thanks for the info Gaspare. I have not been collecting long enough to have known this so thanks for the heads up.

Richard

Well, they are as stated fantasy pieces..think about it..1936, souvenir of the Olympics..on a large caliber round, pre-war?

Not very likely..

Every item such as this has to be viewed with suspicion.

Hello Kursk:

The Bullet shape is just a style of lighter that was produced during this time frame. I have seen original plain lighters from the period and they were produced in North America as well. They are a 3 piece construction and have only the shape of a bullet no parts from an acutual cartridge are used.

Richard

Hi..what i mean, is that it is an unlikely souvenir shape for the olympics, real bullet or not..most bullet shaped souvenirs are made to commemorate during a war or just after....there are way too many of these items on the auction circuit in Southern Ontario at the moment..

It's all junk, along with the suicide pill cases, telescopes, u-boot pocket watches,Hitler clocks etc etc..

If it has a Swastika on it, is made of brass and is at an auction, stay away!!!..

Thanks for the heads up as you are correct about the ammount of repo's out there at the local auctions. Almost every badge I have seen lately at local auctions are fake lead castings and are selling for big bucks. Would you mind taking a look at my flag pole standard post for an opinoin? Also what kind of stampings or marks would be on an orginal?

Thanks Richard

I am with Gaspare, IMO this is eastern bloc junk.