Vintage reel sold for..............

[flyster]

Wow unbelievable price!! Are these reels worth that much?????? Birdcage mybe? Anyone would like to buy the reel in my avatar?? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0884999990

[Jimbo Roberts]

When you get into antique fishing equipment you start wading in a very deep pool.
And by deep I mean expensive. I have several friends who fish bamboo and fiberglass and own very little that is not 50 years old. If it's old and English they are especially interrested in those reels. One such expert is Ron McAlpin and he looks for and repairs old reels and flyrods. He's on a bunch of forums. I don't know about that Pflueger being worth $500, maybe half as much for an early model in good shape, unless it was a prototype and has documentation to go along with it. I think they are just fishing the price. The market is strongest for this kind of equipment over in Japan.

Jimbo

[Flatsix]

The pricing on vintage stuff only makes sense to those that want vintage gear.

Example: I see an add for flyrods on Craiglist. The add originated in my home town so I thought that I'd contact the seller. I asked what they had and I got a response that they were selling a couple of flyrods and I was given the names of the rods. I looked them up online and found that they were going anywhere between $2,500 - $3,500.00. I called back and asked what they wanted and they were looking for close to market price.

Here's what I'm thinking. I'm not real graceful and I spend a good part of my fishing day tripping over rocks and half way killing myself. If I fell and snapped one of my Sage rods I'd be temporarily bummed out. I'd only be bummed out until Sage sent me a replacement then I'd be happy again.

If I fell and snapped a $3,500.00 heirloom flyrod, I think that I'd lose my mind.

So what is the good of a $3,500.00 rod without a warranty. IMO, You'd be a fool to fish with it. It's like having an unlicensed Ferrari in the garage without insurance.

[briansII]

I'm by no means an expert, or even very knowledgeable on "vintage" Medalists, but that seems to be WAY more than I would spend for that reel. As Jimbo said, there's no documentation of it being any factory prototype. The description even mentions the drag could have been modified "by a skilled amateur". Good chance the buyer knows a lot more about this than I do, but that statement alone would spook me off of the reel. I guess that old saying about finding the right buyer rings true..........or maybe it was a sucker born every minute?

My last ebay purchase was a older Hardy. I bid a tad more than I normally would, bit it was in excellent condition, spare spool, zippered pouch, original boxes, and had the factory paper work. I don't think I got a bargain, but I wanted that reel.

briansII

[Artin]

Yea, well..... I am in complete agreement with you fellas. Too vintage. For collectors it is fine and worth the money. For me, unless I can buy it for less than half the retail value, I just would not even be able to get my self to buy. At least if I don't want it anymore I can sell it off and have some money left over to buy something else.

Just my opinion.
Although I do think that some of these vintage fishing tackle are pretty nice mantle decors...

Artin

[Jimbo Roberts]

Here's a couple of links to forums covering period flyfishing equipment.....
http://clarksclassicflyrodforum.yuku.com/
http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/
Ask questions about equipment and bulldog1935, Ron McAlpin will likely chime in with an answer.
He is very knowledgable about almost any classic reel or rod.

Jimbo