Did this wax/liquid combination exist? (Mathmos Telstar)

[Fernando Nicotera]

Today i've found and bought an old telstar from the 90's for 50 euros. The lamp looked good and I tought the price was good, too, so i've decided to buy it.

The seller told me it was bought as a Green Wax / Clear Liquid, but I don't know if this is the case or the liquid simply faded out due to sunlight. So I was wondering, is there a place to check to know which lamp was sold with which liquid/wax combination? Also i was wondering if this was a good deal or not...

[Johnny]

It be pretty hard to tell if it is genuine clear/green, ive looked back to the 1990's uk and doesnt show up in any of the promotional sales lists for u.k, But could be possible for non uk sales, OR it was originaly Blue/ Green or someones refilled made the colour combination up.  I know mathmos ( if you knew someone in the factory ) would do the odd special bottle for ya back in the day.

[Fernando Nicotera]

So no clear liquid green wax... Really strange. The seller tells me that the lamp has been kept in the dark and used 30 times in 30 Years... Idk if she bought in uk, but i am in italy.  How much is a lamp like this worth?

Johnny said:

It be pretty hard to tell if it is genuine clear/green, ive looked back to the 1990's uk and doesnt show up in any of the promotional sales lists for u.k, But could be possible for non uk sales, OR it was originaly Blue/ Green or someones refilled made the colour combination up.  I know mathmos ( if you knew someone in the factory ) would do the odd special bottle for ya back in the day.

[Johnny]

So the bottle is around 30 years old? i wouldnt expect it to keep clear for long a bottle being that age the wax will begin to deteriorate and id expect the fluid to go a milky colour.  as for good deal if it was a early telstar base where the legs bolt onto the base then worth it   

[Fernando Nicotera]

Yes, the lamp was bought in 92-93 but used rarely. I'll attach some pictures so maybe you can tell me if it is good or not             Telstar.jpg
telstar%20base.jpg
Johnny said:

So the bottle is around 30 years old? i wouldnt expect it to keep clear for long a bottle being that age the wax will begin to deteriorate and id expect the fluid to go a milky colour.  as for good deal if it was a early telstar base where the legs bolt onto the base then worth it   

[lampfancy]

Looking at the photo of the base, the legs seem to be the later 'clip' type fixings, whereas I think the early lamps had a sort of hexagonal bolt, so I wonder if the seller may be a bit off on the age of the lamp, as for the colours - strongly suspect it was simply a green/ blue on which the liquid has faded.

Does it have an embossed logo on the base/leg? If so, again that might point to it a being a later example.

[Fernando Nicotera]

Yes it does have mathmos logo on a leg and on the cap. The woman who sold it to me, who is 77, said it was bought in that period not by her, but by her husband. During what period has this lamp been produced then?

lampfancy said:

Does it have the Mathmos logo on the base/ cap?

Looking at the photo of the base, the legs seem to be the later 'clip' type fixings, whereas I think the early lamps had a sort of hexagonal bolt, so I wonder if the seller may be a bit off on the age of the lamp, as for the colours - strongly suspect it was simply a green/ blue on which the liquid has faded.

[Fernando Nicotera]

Are those codes on the stickers useful to know the date of production?

[lampfancy]

Suspect mid-late 1990s.


Also note the later style Logo on this lamp, whereas the early Mathmos logo looked like this

[Fernando Nicotera]

Uhm interesting...

How much is  a lamp from that period worth?

I'll attach the sticker on the cap, too.TelstarSticker.jpg

lampfancy said:

Suspect mid-late 1990s.


Also note the later style Logo on this lamp, whereas the early Mathmos logo looked like this

[Fernando Nicotera]

Looking around in the forum i've found that they produced astrobabies in clear/green, and it is an uncommon colour. Since the astrobaby bottle is the same size and compatible with telstar, couldn't it be possible that they indeed produce some clear/green ones too? The section about the telstar on the forum is not complete, so i couldn't check there. I've also seen people on this forum saying they produced clear orange bottles too.

[lampfancy]

Some Mid-90s Mathmos product brochures showing Telstar colour options here and here  - clear/orange is listed, and blue/green, but no clear/green option by the looks of it.

[Johnny]

Its possible. astro baby and telstar were the same formula i know for fact they did send special colours out to stores for promotional purpose i can remember seeing a Astro with light grey wax back in the early 2000's yet never listed in catalogues, also a pale Pink as well.

Personaly if your bottle is clear and flow enjoy it, :-)