dmathieu
Lifetime VIP Donor
NOS ? Mint Flash Ball
- Thread starter dmathieu
- Start date
tsquale
Lifetime VIP Donor
ex416
Member
congrats Dan. i was wondering who bought it. if i hadn't seen it listed for sale i would have said you must have cranked up that time machine of yours again.
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August Arborists
Member
solid_snake
Member
you know i could have gotten it before you.......i saw it as it was listed on Ebay.........but have my hands full of projects at the moment! Very nice though!
Lt.214
Lifetime VIP Donor
Great light Dan!
When your elves in the tree get a spare minute, see if they can make me one of the those!!! Any color will do!!!
Great grab!!
Chris
When your elves in the tree get a spare minute, see if they can make me one of the those!!! Any color will do!!!
Great grab!!
Chris
Liberty703
Member
emtanderson51
Member
Very nice acquisition, Dan! I've only seen a few of the Flashballs. This one looks to be in remarkable shape.
Fireball
Member
Abacus
Member
I have one of those as well. I thought it was an older version with the tall flasher rather than the short stubby one. The hood and red plug are great!
dmathieu
Lifetime VIP Donor
Both the original and second version Flash Balls used the tall flashers. The original version's flasher was marked by a Federal sticker.
Liberty703 said:
One of the first FBFs I ever saw was on the dash of a fully-loaded Superior/Chevy Type II ambulance. The truck had the usual front/rear/side tunnel lights and a pair of CP25 speakers over the cab, plus it had five Federal 175 hill light beacons up on the high top. I gues the Flash Ball was for people who couldn't see the other lights or hear the siren! :yes:
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Nice looking light, but the Flashball is incredibly boring, and I still can't figure out why they put it in the teardrop housing - a housing which was intended for a rotating light!
JohnMarcson
Administrator
Blaine B. said:
Which is exactly why they are more rare and to some of us more interesting than fireballs....
Absolutely. If I found one at a reasonable price I would definitely add it to my collection, as I have quite a number of teardrop lights as it is.
But rotating, oscillating, and other "wiggling" light patterns are the most visually satisfying for me, at least in terms of emergency equipment.
But rotating, oscillating, and other "wiggling" light patterns are the most visually satisfying for me, at least in terms of emergency equipment.
JohnMarcson said:
Not only that, John, but they came out during Federal's more "progressive" days when they went all out to produce products to please their customers. Remember, all the beacons that Federal produced aside from the 14s and 184s were variations of the original 17 that came out in1948. To please customers or to meet ever-increasing state and/or local regulations, Federal began producing variations of the 17 beginning with the 173 and the 174 and culminating with the 175 and 176. Along with that came split color domes, clear domes with colored sealed beams, the now-famous "California" light that featured a single steady-burn red sealed beam mounted in the front of the beacon skirt. And there were all the different mounting options, too. And don't forget my favorite: the Jr. Beacon Ray with all its mounting options, along with clear domes and colored magnifying lenses. They were introduced in 1958 at $65 and remained at that price (not counting extra-cost options) for many years.
So producing the FBF Flashball as a variation of the original Fireball is no great surprise. And it came at a lower cost. The FB-1 Fireball sold for $45 with the FBF Flashball at $22.50. Don't think you'll find them for that anymore!
dmathieu
Lifetime VIP Donor