# COSTCO sells 15 million candle power for...



## Robt (Apr 12, 2006)

At the huge "warehouse" like store "COSTCO" that I go to, I see a 15 million candle power light for $29.95. Never bought one yet. Didn't have a chance to read the box. I was shoppping with my girlfriend and she was in a hurry... Next time i go there, i'm gonna check it out.. 

I wonder if the guys here at the forum know about this huge /heavy duty monstrousity!?!?


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## LowBat (Apr 12, 2006)

I believe you'll find a number of threads on both the Costco 10 and 15 MCP spotlights, including some on modding them. They are a good price, I just can't think of a need for one.


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## Flakey (Apr 12, 2006)

i picked one up for that price. the reason? FUN! duh! not every light needs a use. Its lots of fun to throw that lightsaber beam out there. good fun!


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## igabo (Apr 12, 2006)

Great for turning on streetlights.. or getting in trouble with the police :lolsign:


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## Brighteyez (Apr 12, 2006)

LowBat said:


> They are a good price, I just can't think of a need for one.



I'm pretty much of the same thought. At best, I think I'd be inclined towards replacing the 130W bulb with a 55W if I were to use it anywhere around here.


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## Taylorf (Apr 12, 2006)

I have their 10 and 15 million lights and they are awesome for the price. They arent the easiest to carry around because of their large size but they are still pretty sweet. I pretty much just mess around with them in my back yard.


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## carrot (Apr 12, 2006)

I've got one. It's fun, but not terribly practical for me. Probably the most light you can get for $30, too.


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## ledebuhr1 (Apr 12, 2006)

About 20 minutes ago the Coast Guard helicopter flew over. Im not sure how high they fly but it isnt to high. The 15Mcp light lit the helicopter up. It glowed orange in the sky. Im sure they were wondering what that beam of light was doing shining on them.


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## Brighteyez (Apr 12, 2006)

If they were really wondering, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. They probably just dismissed it as a stupid prank, otherwise you would have had some company visiting soon after the occurance of the event.



ledebuhr1 said:


> About 20 minutes ago the Coast Guard helicopter flew over. Im not sure how high they fly but it isnt to high. The 15Mcp light lit the helicopter up. It glowed orange in the sky. Im sure they were wondering what that beam of light was doing shining on them.


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## 91101 (Apr 13, 2006)

I'm not the the type that usually makes a post like this, but as a pilot what you did by lighting up that aircraft was really ignorant... You're lucky you were not arrested...



ledebuhr1 said:


> About 20 minutes ago the Coast Guard helicopter flew over. Im not sure how high they fly but it isnt to high. The 15Mcp light lit the helicopter up. It glowed orange in the sky. Im sure they were wondering what that beam of light was doing shining on them.


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## Xzn (Apr 14, 2006)

ledebuhr1 said:


> About 20 minutes ago the Coast Guard helicopter flew over. Im not sure how high they fly but it isnt to high. The 15Mcp light lit the helicopter up. It glowed orange in the sky. Im sure they were wondering what that beam of light was doing shining on them.


What you did could be classified as a terrorist act.


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## Lincoln (May 28, 2006)

I live along the Gulf coast, and during hurricanes have found number of times that I wished I had a 15 million candle (or more) power searchlight - relative to house damage, falling trees, downed wires, etc. There's also quite a big gap betwenn the time all the damage is being done and the arrival of police or work crews to open up road and to reestablish power (recently we were out of electricty for almost 2 weeks).


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## Alin10123 (Jun 4, 2006)

ledebuhr1 said:


> About 20 minutes ago the Coast Guard helicopter flew over. Im not sure how high they fly but it isnt to high. The 15Mcp light lit the helicopter up. It glowed orange in the sky. Im sure they were wondering what that beam of light was doing shining on them.



wow! you're lucky you didn't blind the pilots and cause them to loose their night vision. If they get disoriented in a helicopter it could get really dangerous really fast.


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## Zarniwoop (Jul 11, 2006)

I *hated* this light. I bought one of these 15 million candle power lights for $29.95. I took it home, charged it, and when it got dark I took it outside along with my old normal-sized rechargeable spotlight, one I probably bought at Costco a few years ago in the 1-2 million candle power range. I'll take a picture of it when I get home, it's like a gray aluminum body with a hard black plastic handle that forms a pistol grip and also goes up on the "top" of the light so you can carry it under-handed like a lantern... the rear of the light unscrews so you can get to the battery, which I use sometimes to inflate air mattresses in the tent instead of inflating them next to the car, with an pump that alligator-clips to a battery.

Anyway, the beam from my old spotlight is sort of more flat and wide shaped rather than perfectly round, but a very smooth beam and just what you want when you're looking for something. The beam from the 15 million candle power light was round, but horribly full of criss-cross shapes throughout the beam. When I compared the beams side-by-side, I couldn't tell a difference in brightness. I lit up houses, trees, and such as far away as I could. Because of the criss-cross shapes in the beam of the 15 million candle power light, my old smaller spotlight actually lit everything up better.
*Edit:* In this review of Kenshiro's, the "Wide Angle Shots" show the "Costco HID" with the nasty black criss-cross shapes I was talking about... So apparently I wasn't evaluating this light for pure Throw, and probably not at far enough distance to see it out-perform my smaller light. 

It's possible I got a lemon 15-million light. Maybe others can comment on whether their beam is smooth or criss-crossed with black lines. I took it back the next day for a prompt refund. I have to say, given the size of the thing, even if it WAS better than my "normal" sized flashlight, I can't imagine devoting trunk space in my car to that huge monster.

After looking at Kenshiro's review pics, I can see where the 15-million light is better at NOT lighting up things close to you (flood), so if you're really only trying to spot things very far away it probably lives up to the task. My reason for owning a spotlight is to find something if it gets lost or to see something farther away than flashlights will reach, so I probably prefer a more floody light. If you're considering the 15-million light, make sure the size of it and the type of light it puts out actually meets your requirements.


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## Brighteyez (Jul 13, 2006)

Looks like Costco is closing out this light. Saw it at our local Costco, the one that appears to be the central dumping point for discontinued items, for $24.95 with the ill fated * on the rack tag indicating that the item will not be restocked.


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## Canuke (Jul 15, 2006)

Brighteyez said:


> Looks like Costco is closing out this light. Saw it at our local Costco, the one that appears to be the central dumping point for discontinued items, for $24.95 with the ill fated * on the rack tag indicating that the item will not be restocked.



I just got one two days ago at full price (in Westlake Village CA). Oh well, instead of complaining about my timing over five bucks, I should be glad I grabbed one at all now!


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## Brighteyez (Jul 17, 2006)

Items that are closed out or discontinued in one market doesn't always get discontinued in other markets. I have found some of the products that our local Costco stores stopped carrying years ago in Costco stores in other parts of the country. Perhaps those lights are not being discontinued in your area, or they're just a little slow in marking them down? 



Canuke said:


> I just got one two days ago at full price (in Westlake Village CA). Oh well, instead of complaining about my timing over five bucks, I should be glad I grabbed one at all now!


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## Canuke (Jul 18, 2006)

Brighteyez said:


> Items that are closed out or discontinued in one market doesn't always get discontinued in other markets. I have found some of the products that our local Costco stores stopped carrying years ago in Costco stores in other parts of the country. Perhaps those lights are not being discontinued in your area, or they're just a little slow in marking them down?



I just found out that the Fry's near me (Canoga Park and Burbank) are closing out their "Hummer" spotlights for $19.90; these are the 10 MCP Thors, rebranded. That's because they are about to bring in the Hummer rebranded 15MCP units (at about $50-60). They must be selling enough to be worth it, so you are probably right.


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## sizzlechest (Jul 26, 2006)

Come on! These lights are incredible for $30!! I once saw a thread on this forum of a member who owns like 12 of them- makes for a great photo seeing all of them lightin' up the sky! 

Very impractical, but funny and a must-have none the less.


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## NewBie (Jul 27, 2006)

My collection has grown since this time, but here you go...







Streetlight bottom left:





With a little bit of circuitry, the output can be impresive, giving you 2 to 3 times more light:


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## sizzlechest (Jul 27, 2006)

NewBie said:


> My collection has grown since this time, but here you go...
> 
> 
> 
> ...




THAT'S IT!!!!! I love those photos!!!!! Nice collection!!!!


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## BigusLightus (Jul 27, 2006)

Yesterday they had one opened and I saw a 12volt 7ah sealed lead acid battery inside. As Zarniwoop mentioned above the battery alone can have many uses! Worth the $30 IMHO.


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## 700club (Jul 27, 2006)

Are the Costco Spotlights HID?


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## bexteck (Jul 27, 2006)

700club said:


> Are the Costco Spotlights HID?




There are several models sold by Costco and other companies. The ones marked as 10 and 15 million candlepower are not HID, but the even larger one which has come to be called the "Costco HID" is HID. I don't know if there is an advertised candlepower rating for it, but have been told that if it were rated on the same scale as the 10 and 15 million, it would be somewhere around 30 million.

The non HID lights are the ones selling for $20-$40
the HID version sells for something like $120


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## 700club (Jul 27, 2006)

Thanks for the info. 

The Costco HID is no longer available from Costco but is available through Harbor Freight for around $120.


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## mossyoak (Jul 28, 2006)

sams club has the 15million Cp spots for $22.18 it has a high and low plus a three 5mm led light on top of it for low light and saving the batteries.


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## TorchEnvy (Jul 28, 2006)

igabo said:


> Great for turning on streetlights.. or getting in trouble with the police



Do you mean turning _off_ streetlights? We used to do that in high school. A little shot to the photocell on the north side of the light fixture and suddenly it thinks it's morning for several minutes.


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## interscape (Jul 28, 2006)

Brighteyez said:


> If they were really wondering, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. They probably just dismissed it as a stupid prank, otherwise you would have had some company visiting soon after the occurance of the event.


 
It is amazing how a $29 flash light or a bird can be a threat to millions of dollars of military machinery.

ETA: You would have had a chance to see what a LEO/ military LEO uses for a flashlight. And handcuffs for that matter.


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## Ra (Jul 29, 2006)

Newbie,

I measured the CP output of the "unmodified" version of this light using calibrated equipment: about 400,000 beam CP.

If you indeed managed to get up to three times more light out of them, given the fact the filament does not change in size, you will have well over 1 million cp's per light: I count 14 of them: so all those beams together indeed would give about 15 million CP's !

Great beams-shot BTW...

Ra.


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## NeedMoreLight (Jul 30, 2006)

A store here sells the light under two names and colors. But one light has a bulb with a black tip, and the other is all clear. Anyone know the difference between the bulbs?


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## NewBie (Aug 7, 2006)

Ra said:


> Newbie,
> 
> I measured the CP output of the "unmodified" version of this light using calibrated equipment: about 400,000 beam CP.
> 
> ...




Which light is that in your icon, and what is the CP on it?


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## Ra (Aug 7, 2006)

Hi NewBie,

The monster on my avatar is Maxablaster..

for details: go to "Homemade/modified lights":"Not just another thormod"

Regards,

Ra.


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## accr (Aug 7, 2006)

Hi ! I have a question for those that bought the light already...

I know it comes with both the AC charger and the car charger, but does it allow you to power ON the light while charging?

I saw another VERY similar model at a website but with 8 or 10 LEDs around the hood of the light, does the costco one have the LEDs ?

I'm kinda thinking of refunding a 2million spotlight I just bought for $13 canadian, for the costco 15m....or should I just keep both ??


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## Brighteyez (Aug 8, 2006)

You should probably check your local Costco to see if they carry this product first. Costcos in Canada carry different merchandise than their counterparts in the States. And stores in the U.S. tend to vary in the products they carry depending upon the demographics of the area that the store is located in.



accr said:


> I saw another VERY similar model at a website but with 8 or 10 LEDs around the hood of the light, does the costco one have the LEDs ?
> 
> I'm kinda thinking of refunding a 2million spotlight I just bought for $13 canadian, for the costco 15m....or should I just keep both ??


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## Robt (Aug 24, 2006)

Hey Newbie, those pics of the 15 million candles at night time is totally AWESOME! The light says 15 million but how does one know if that's true (????) The only ones i ever see are either 500,000 candle power, or 1 or 2 million. I find it hard to believe that there is a FIFTEEN CANDLE POWER MONSTER on the market.. reply back here please.


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## LGCubana (Sep 11, 2006)

I don't believe that the Thor Cyclops is being discontinued by Costco. As my local store has a full pallet of them @ $29.95 each.


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## Brighteyez (Sep 11, 2006)

Costco store carry different inventory depending upon their location. The light that you're referring to was clearanced out of our local stores a couple of months ago at $24.95. They may indeed be continued to be carried at other Costco stores. I was in a Costco store in Montana recently and found items that had been discontinued by our local stores years ago (I was almost tempted to get some of them and ship them home, but common sense prevailed.  )



LGCubana said:


> I don't believe that the Thor Cyclops is being discontinued by Costco. As my local store has a full pallet of them @ $29.95 each.


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## choppers (Sep 12, 2006)

thanks for the information......next time I am at costco I will look.....thanks again


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## bitslammer (Sep 14, 2006)

Hello all,
I'm new here and I'm glad to see that:

A: I'm not crazy for never being able to walk out of a store without a 50% chance of buying some type of light device.

-OR-

B: I am crazy...but not at all alone in this madness.
​I grabbed one of these monsters as soon as I saw it at Costco more as a joke. I do professional fireworks as a hobby for these guys http://www.rozzifireworks.com/ and a good light is a must before, during and especially AFTER a show. I was always the joker with the 5MCP light so I couldn't resist the urge. It also makes a wonderful light to see what critters are tearing up the garden at night. I was hoping one day to night blind a deer so badly they'd run into a tree as they flee with a mouthful of my garden.

I've got a load of old Maglites, 8" fluorescents, various bicycle lights and recently got into the LED craze. I've even started usign 120V AC LED bulbs around the house for low light applications. My newest toy is the Inova 24/7 because I thought it would make a great emergency light if I ever break down on the motorcycle and it's nice and small.

Well off tothe mod forum. I'm always game for trying to mod something.


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## LGCubana (Sep 17, 2006)

I have absolutely no idea what I would do with one. Since I live in a well populated area. But Costco has reduced the price to $24.95

So now I own one as well.

Has the bulb's tip always been frosted/coated ? I vaguely remember them having completely clear bulbs, when I 1st saw the Cyclops last year.


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## bitslammer (Sep 17, 2006)

Mine which was purchased early 2006 has the frosted tip bulb.


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