Just read over on the other forum that mag lite is switching to bi-pin bulbs. The thread is under Incan flashlights. Will post up pics later on.
Edit: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?339285-Mag-changed-their-incan-bulb!
Edit: So am I the only one wondering about a heatsink to fit around the tower that allows you to power the led by sticking the wires in the bi-pin holder. :)
Saw some 4D’s with these the other day at walmart but I thought they were the regular Xenon bulbs. Weird.
scaru, you know we may post links here? :P
EDIT: A link would be good. Here’s the Link.
I'm aware. I just wanted to post it up and was going to post link later sorry. 
I just went and looked at my 4D that I bought a month ago. Saving it for this winter, but I looked and it's Bi-pin. Apparently all the new incandescent Maglites are going to Bi-Pin. maglite magnum star II is what they are calling it.
They are even going to offer a replacement for all maglite incans, to switch to Bi-pin bulbs.
How do you get the replacement?
Hmmmm . I wonder if these can be successfully overdriven ...
Were are the ROP bulbs available?
Why do people still buy these Maglights? I remember when they were as good as you could get back in the 1980s but they just seem like relics now.
I was ovrf at my buddy’s house and he just bought his son a new 2D cell mag. I hadn’t used one of the larger ones in a while so I turned it on and was shocked at how crappy the beam was. A weak sickly yellow beam with rings and dark spots. I have 1AAA lights that have better beams and produce more light.
So considering what we can get now, why do people still buy them? Are they just for modding?
Mainly for modding but also you can change out the batteries for lions to get a higher voltage and then replace the bulb with a more powerful one.
For the same reason people still think Elvis is going to come back. 
Mostly for modding.
For me, it's because I still prefer the look and feel of a Maglite over any of the Chinese lights I have tried and because there are so many ways to mod one. Yes, you can buy all kinds of lights that beat the Maglite, no doubt.
Old School would be a good way to put it. Why do people still like old muscle cars when there's so much new technology that will beat any oldie out there. Same for Harleys, which have been beaten by Japanese bikes for years as far as handling and speed. It's a look, a feel, something that can't be defined. Either you like it or you don't.
It's nothing more than personal preference.
I tried the 4D bi-pin bulb with 5 Alkaline D cells and it worked fine, but 6D cells made it insta-flash, so it can be mildly modded.
I don't think the retrofit kits are actually out yet. I wrote to Maglite to see when they would be out. Waiting for a reply.
I think it's a T1-3/4 bi-pin bulb, but I still have to measure the posts.
Wow actual incan talk on BLF!!… thats a first.
I like bi-pin mags… FWIW the $urefire M6 guardian uses an 1185 lamp as its foundation and I always considered the MAG-1185 with an OP reflector like a poor-mans SF-M6. The beam patterns are very similar.
These new BP-mags however don’t interest me much. Knowing mag, they most likely use cheap plastic that will melt with the hotter bi-pin lamps commonly used on these forums.
Sounds just like another LED-pedestal mount DIY. I have never been a fan of these designs. I know a lot of high$$$ modders are doing excellent work with them in MAGs, $urefire E series and M6 but to me it always looks like a kind of compromise… placing the LED on top of a pedestal to put it into the focal point of an incan designed reflector. I’d much rather put my $$ into a thermal design that seats the LED onto a solid foundation and use a reflector designed for that focal point…. IMHO of course.