Are these Vietnam Zippos legit?

[Rrotz]

I can get 60 pieces. Do they look like worn reproductions?

10 years in the Outback and out of focus with new products...bear with me.

[georgeib]

Are there any pics of the insides?

[Det-Sog]

I'm sure they are real Zippos. Well, maybe. As for being from the 60s and 70s conflict and owned by American Servicemen... I'd say less than a 1% chance.

There is a MASSIVE fraud reproduction going on for 'Nam stuff as well as old Soviet occupation Cold War stuff. 95% of the real stuff has already been sucked up. UNLESS this is a reputable dealer (not Ebay)... Don't walk away, run away.

[sgtrock82]

Id run from that pile. They look varied but I think there are way too many of them that look similarly patinaed, like they were aged in batches with slightly different techniques then jumbled together.

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[SteyrAUG]

If they are in Vietnam, they are guaranteed not original.

After winning the war, communist vietnam went through so many hardships and privations that virtually everything was repurposed. So all those uniforms, patches and other "war relics" are complete reproductions.

[Rrotz]

We backed out the deal but I have access to Nam surplus, stores in Saigon that sell legit, unique items.

10 years in the Outback and out of focus with new products...bear with me.

[SteyrAUG]

We backed out the deal but I have access to Nam surplus, stores in Saigon that sell legit, unique items.

10 years in the Outback and out of focus with new products...bear with me.

If they are in Saigon they are "legit, unique" items in the sense that they were locally manufactured recently. There is a cottage industry of "war reproductions" for tourists and internet sales. When their economy tanked everything that could be sold was sold, anything that could be made into something else, was made into something else.

The only way to guarantee an item is original is if somebody who was there during the war, left Vietnam with that item. Guaranteed anything made out of metal (zippos, belt buckles, etc) was 100% melted down and made into something else.

Now that Vietnam has tourism, lots of money to be made if you buy bulk zippos, engrave them and bury them in the dirt for a year. They also knock out dog tags by the thousands with the names of dead US servicemen so tourist will feel guilty and buy them and mail them to family members of the deceased. Quite often these dog tags will have a bullet hole in them to prove they are legit.

Don't give these parasites any money.

[Rrotz]

I know the real thing from the junk when I see, smell and feel it. I brought back 10 ALICE H harness, frames and large sacks. I've lived there a few years and seen a few things.

10 years in the Outback and out of focus with new products...bear with me.