What is special obout the 200a?

[wagondude]

Darren, do you have a store or shop somewhere? I work in Lenexa and would love to stop by sometime to check out more of your work. I like the stuff I have seen posted on the forum.

[Darren]

Thanks Bill. I work out of the house so not much to see. I do have a web site setup that you can take a look at.
www.victorygraphix.com

Darren

[alex k]

so today i saw a 200a at an antiqie shop dated 1963 . they were asking $45 . it was in very good condition .
is this a good price for admission to the club or a little high ?

[KCStudly]

The real dedicated hunters and pickers will tell you that the good ones are still out there for less than $15 or $20. They may be willing to spend some time, many hours hunting and rubbing and polishing and painting things up, tweaking and tuning to get a fine piece.

I look at it a little differently. If it is in great shape, will make you happy, serves a purpose, and still cost less than a modern brand new lantern, then what is it worth to you?

My turd cost me nothing (yard sale find gift from a friend), then I overspent and splurged $34 on a genie stripe frosted globe to make it original (rather than a $10 clear replacement).

I spent less than the 90 bucks that a new 2 mantle would have cost, but more than the recommended $15 entry fee. I only have the one lantern (...so far), and I have only spent about an hour or two getting it presentable and working.

How far do you want to go? What is your hobby budget for time, do you want to spend it getting up early every weekend to go hunting for that diamond in the rough (before the other guy gets it), and and how careful do you need to be with your money?

Only you can answer these questions.

Is it worth it? I say yes, do it.

[wagondude]

If you were looking for that specific date, that would be an ok price. If your not picky about the date, you can do better. Unless your in a hurry to join the gang, that is.

[alex k]

thanks for sharing your knowlage .
i'm new to the white gas lantern world , but love my 425 stove.
have a real rough 228 , a nice looking 275 turd , and i guess my red amg single mantle can be the 200a 's fun loving uncle ( like me )
do a lot of yard saling so will be keping the eyes open

[campmaster-k]

If you are only going to have a few lanterns then finding really nice ones and paying more is no problem. If you are going to hunt Coleman stuff on a regular basis then its just more fun as a hobby if you can get them cheaply.

[Kody]

I have a fabulous lantern. It has a beautiful blue colored tank and is so quick and easy to light up. The fuel is quite cheap over here and can be obtained at almost any service station as well as most camping stores. I think my original lantern was made in Sweden but it disappeared a long time ago and I had to buy another one exactly the same as before. The instructions stated to always use Luminating Pressurized Gas as the best fuel for it. A tip I was given a long time ago to protect the mantles when traveling from being damaged or shaken to bits was to spray the mantel with a cheap hair spray lacquer. This stuff set hard but still flexible and prevented the mantel from disintergrating when traveling. When you need the light, simply ignite the mantle and the hair spray will burn off leaving the mantel in first class condition. They are still a very popular lantern over here as parts are always available.

Kody