Welcome, sid!

[alantani]

remember the first rule in the army - never volunteer for anything!  please welcomed our newest moderator, sid!!!!!

I don't know if there is a better place for this post.

I know this is a reel repair/maintenance site primarily, but secondarily we are all things reels, and tertiarily(? is that a word?) we are all things fishing. There are a lot of Penn enthusiasts here, and, dare I say, a few collectors as well. I'm proposing a new discussion board primarily for information pertaining to dating vintage Penn reels. This is information that isn't easy to find the way it is currently scattered about the site. For me it would be nice to have a resource where one could go to find information about chronological changes that came out with each reel or reel family as they evolved over the years. IF this gets set up right it could end up being a valuable reference source for a lot of people.

So, first, is there interest? I'll put out my name to moderate if a moderator is needed. I don't have a command of the information; so if Ray or Mike or Ted or John are interested in moderating I'd be fine with that (that is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, it's just the guys that come to mind first). After a few years it might be possible for someone who just bought a Penn Long Beach with a particular type of side plate and handle, clicker, etc. to go to a Long Beach discussion and find the criteria for that reel to date it's production to a relatively narrow time frame. It's possible that I'm way out in left field and this isn't feasible. That would be something I'd want to know now. I think maybe flow diagrams would be a good way to organize the information; one flow diagram for each reel model. If you're not familiar with flow diagrams I can provide an example.

If there were a way to separate out each model, so that we can have cumulative contributions to chronological information for each model, with multiple contributors, well, that would be a valuable resource for many collectors such as myself that are just starting out and need help.

I think some discussion ought to occur about whether we should try to do this, as well as what might be the best way to set this up. Likely there will be a bit of trial and error involved. This is something that is an obstacle for me at times; I get a reel and I know it's a vintage model and I want to know when it was produced, and for now the only way I have to get that information is to read for hours and hours hoping I find the information I am looking for or post pics and description and ask others for help. I find this information confusing, because what may be true for one family of reels may be totally different for another. I know there is a lot of ambiguous information out there for a lot of reels.

So I'm hoping to open up a discussion regarding the last paragraph and what people think about trying to develop this sooner to help keep AT.com on the cutting edge of reel husbandry!

What does everyone think? I'm especially interested in the folks that know a lot about this - would you like your own section to be able to help the rest of us to understand what you do and how you do it? And would it be nice for someone to be able to come to this section in a few years and run through a flow diagram and be able to date the chronological age of their reel?

Please let me know what you think of this idea...

Sid

[Bill B]

Congrats Sid

[Tiddlerbasher]

Congratulations Sid

[bigggfish]

welcome sid, great idea!

[Long Enuff]

Welcome Sid!  What a great idea.  I actually was looking for something like this a few weeks ago when I was trying to put dates on some of the 114H production changes.  I started a spread sheet for some of them, never could pin a date on when the side plates changed from maroon to red.  Please feel free to correct anything below.  

1963 -1964 Black side plate 114H limited production            
            
1964 Maroon side plate, external drag access            
            
1985 internal drag access, marroon color             
            
?  Red color change            
            
1994 Half frame design, same screw pattern, red color            
            
2001 full frame design, screw pattern change, red color            
            
2008,  H2 Chinese models   

Bill         

[STRIPER LOU]

Welcome Sid, excellent idea!
.............Lou

[foakes]

Excellent choice, Alan!

Sid,

Passion is the mortar that holds bricks together -- thus buildings are constructed.

Great idea.

Plus, it was either make Sid a Moderator -- or the way he was going -- he was going to start his own website anyway!

Best,

Fred

[Bryan Young]

Sid.  Sid?  Where did Sid go?  🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

😱😱😱😱😱 Alan, did you scare Sid off by making him a Moderator?  😱😱😱😱😱

🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣. I bet he's fishing. 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣

😂😂😂😂😂Kinda reminds me of Fred. Make him a moderate and he takes off for a few right after that. 😂😂😂😂😂

[sdlehr]

Thanks for the welcome, guys. I'm going to need a lot of help from a lot of you; I do not have a command of the information about to be revealed on this board (but my desire to have that command is what gave me the idea for this board). Before we get to business it would be good to set up some kind of structure so we get off to a good start. A lot of this information is presented chronologically in Mike Caccioppo's books; if you haven't already received your copy both are available from Whitefish Press, and I believe also directly available from Mike, who is a member here. Since a lot of the information is already available in one form, I'd like to propose that we take a different approach and organize by reel. Maybe the subject line of each post should be the reel and model number (for easy reference at a later date). Then, for instance, if I buy a Sea Ford 250-yard reel I should be able to browse all the posts under Sea Ford 250-yard and read what others have said about that model and how it changed over the years.

In the end there will be multiple posts with the same or similar titles for the same reel; that can't be helped. But it's still a decent way to organize this information in a useful way (I think).

So I'm interested in hearing others' ideas about what I've written above - do you think it will work? Is there a better way?

I'm honored and humbled to be asked to do this. Even though I volunteered.... If anyone with better understanding of this information wishes to be moderator I'm happy to give it up. I want the information that is about to be presented here; I don't need to be the one moderating it.

So, please let me know what you think about all of this. And away we go!.... for now the title subject should be the reel and model # in question unless we decide on something else.

Sid

[sdlehr]

I'm here, Bryan We were typing at the same time. No fishing this morning; I've been under the weather the past few days.... a GI bug... had to work two days with abdominal cramps and what often comes along with it. I slept in this morning. I think I'm on the mend.

Sid

[foakes]

Sid.  Sid?  Where did Sid go?  🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

😱😱😱😱😱 Alan, did you scare Sid off by making him a Moderator?  😱😱😱😱😱

🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣. I bet he's fishing. 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣

😂😂😂😂😂Kinda reminds me of Fred. Make him a moderate and he takes off for a few right after that. 😂😂😂😂😂

Right you are, Bryan --

And I am taking off for another 30 days in about 3 weeks!

Fortunately, there will be wi-fi coverage in most of the places we will be staying at -- so you will not be rid of me that easily.

Besides, Alan asked me to keep an eye on you...because it is more than a full time job for just one guy.

Best,

Fred

[Shark Hunter]

Congratulations Sid!
There is no giving up now Pal. Its all on your shoulders!
I think you are the right Man for the Job.

[bluefish69]

All the best with this little project. This could end up being a full time job.

Mike

[Cortez_Conversions]

Congrats!

[Bryan Young]

Hahaha. Congratulations buddy.