Ripping people off with fake NYCTA lanterns

Published on: December 20th, 2010 | Last updated: October 16, 2016 | Written by: Bad Guy Joe

---

This is amazing. Some company is selling what some claim are NYCTA lanterns for the ridiculous price of $150. The only thing is they look very little like actual NYC MTA safety lanterns.

Here is what they are selling: Note the rubber handle and non-MTA logo.

Now here is a real MTA lantern (photo provided by one of our trackworker friends). Note the plastic handle, and embossed ‘NYCTA’ lettering along the side.

These lanterns are not sold to the public (though you can occasionally find them on ebay, craigslist, etc).

See that lantern on the far right – it’s the type that contractors use, which is the same model as the one this company is selling, only it has no weird logo on it.

The lantern these guys are selling can be found online for a mere 50 bucks. I guess that logo on there warrants a huge mark up? That’s like taking a honda, sticking a ferrari-esque logo on it, and selling it for 3 times the price to unsuspecting consumers who don’t know better.

Hey I’m all for people making money, but consumer deception is lame.

Gizmodo says you can look like a real MTA engineer with one of these fake lanterns. Uhm… No. If you really want to look like an MTA employee, this is the gear you need:

And if you want a real original set of MTA work lanterns, you’ll have to contact the infamous Caveman and make a seriously good offer, though really, I don’t think money can buy these.

I’m going to drop the same knowledge my first boss ever gave me: ‘Don’t take any wooden nickels‘. If it ain’t real it’s nonsense.

(Thanks to The Don, MW, Axe and Caveman for much of the fodder in this post)

Comments

NOTE: It sometimes takes a short while for comments to be approved - unfortunately there's a lot of spam comments that come in. I absolutely love when y'all share personal stories of friends relatives etc who worked in these places. It really helps capture what these places were like before they closed up shop.

If you're feeling salty, argumentative comments completely devoid of facts (supply links to support your argument) will not be published. Got a case to state? come with the details.

One response to “Ripping people off with fake NYCTA lanterns”

1. Nirmal Singh says:

   May 2, 2018 at 11:22 PM

   I recently acquired one of the ‘actual’ used lanterns myself. Love it. That being said, i have seen workers with the rubber handled versions. They r always orange as well, and I’ve seen the workers carry them in bunches. (Several different colours in one hand or resting on the platform.) I’ve seen them in queens. This is what made me originally curious about them, the rubber handled versions are kinda funny. I like them. They dud not have the logo of course. That’s pure marketing. The rubber handled contractor lanterns are made by starlite. I forget what company makes the other ones. As far as i know, you have to be in a related industry to get them unless as you said, they are on eBay Craigslist etc

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.