Some months ago, I was given a Valor packaway stove, NIB, never ever been lit. Every night, that stove stared at me,,,,I stared back,,,,to light or not to light; if I lit it,,,,not NIB anymore.

I lit the stove today.

I'm now thinking about not polishing the stoves I have, they are old (on the whole) and perhaps will look better if they are allowed to show their age.

comments fellow stovies???

Rik

Land of song, Wales

Rik,
I am right there with you in lighting a stove. I drag mine all over creation and use them all. I can't light them when I am in that box underground!
As far as polish goes. I like the look of shinny brass. It allows the workmanship and design of the stove to show. I see some of them as working art. I like flitz the best for polishing http://www.flitz.com
As far as diminishing the value of the stove I find this to be a small community with prices that change daily up or down. There doesn't seem to be any reason for the radical price difference in some auctions. For this reason I don't see any of them as an investment. I buy them for the fun of using them and catching the other hiker, camper or fisherman's eye.

Chuck

Well, i'v got a Vapalux M1 sitting on the self staring at me. It's a militery lamp, but it's never been lit. At the moment, it's sitting there with a coat of WD40 to stop any corrosion. The hood is mint with only one small chip, no rust anywhere, and even the burner is polished.

I want to put it inside a small fishtank, fill it with oil, and seal it, so it's preserved forever like all thoes dead animals in jars in museams. At least it won't rust then.

Am i beginning to sound like a phsychopath?

I realise these thing was made to be used. I probably have too many lights and stoves, because It will take me another life time to light all of them.
I have a few that has never been lit.
You should see the expresion on peoples face when I say there is a stove in this sealed box that has never seen the light of day since the factory sealed it.
Some think I am crazy, others just wants to open it and light it. Most of them think it is great to have it this way.
People see an Optimus light on display, that I got off Ross, and wants it because it has never been lit.
I got a Hipolito No 1 the the other week. It is new but not with the box. Should I sell it or keep it, is the question. I would only sell it to a collector that would appreciate it. Not to some one that only wants one stove for use and knows nothing about them. I have seen where these stoves end up when they want a new pump leather, simply because they don't know any thing about them.
Albert

Handi Albert

I had this Phoebus 625 NIB that just sat there on a shelf for a while. One day I went on a tour with the boat. All lamps there are Kero. Split-second decision. Didn't regret it one bit. It's meant to be used.
Took the spare burner with me, though - just to be sure...

In my case the issue arose after 15-20 stoves, when I'd gotten a couple of NIBs; since then I've gotten several and have become a "collector", which I suppose means I've got many more stoves than I could possibly need to use, and I buy them out of the usual obsessive aesthetic/sentimental interest of the collector.
Since I have so many more than I need to use, or could rationally use for the purpose of cooking, the only reason to light many of them would be...just to light them. Lighting them just to light them isn't something I'm motivated to do.
I don't look on the collecting as an investment in the financial sense. I suppose someday with careful timing I could make a few hundred dollars, perhaps a grand, at the very most, with resales, and even then it would be chancy. So investment doesn't enter into it in that sense at all.
But I expect to give nice ones to kids and grandkids, and would expect them to light them to amaze and confound their friends. I've already given 8Rs, 123s, and 71s as "stocking stuffers" at Christmas.
As an obsession, classic stoves is pretty reasonable and cheap, over all. So my wife raises her eyebrows but utters no complaints!