170 Light Tackle Casting reel; Model 170

[sdlehr]

Please post your questions about the chronological history of this reel, or your reel, in this post.

[Penn Chronology]

This is one of the toughest model to add to a Penn collection. The Model 170 was plain and boring. That caused it to sell for a short time and not sell well in that time. Funny thing about bad sales and boredom, it makes for a Hot Collectible because the model winds up being scarce and hard to find in a collector market seventy years down the road from it production times.

Look for Model 170 at garage sales and flea markets. It is the kind of reels that get thrown in bucket and forgotten about.

Scan from the 1939 catalog;

Last seen in the 1941 catalog. The black sheep of the Light Tackle reels, this reel offers very little in features.

The head plate is stippled;

The tail plate is a picture plate;

The stand on a Model 170 is open and should be stamped with the line test and capacity in order to be correct for the model. All I have seen have this stand;


So keep your eyes open for the Model 170, it is a Penn prize.

[sdlehr]

And no sooner did you write this than I owned one! A deal on the auction site! A bargain for this reel. Picture is from Ebay, I'll have it next week! I'll post more pics next week.

[Penn Chronology]

Congrats on the 170. Funny when this happens.

[Tightlines667]

Nice work Sid!

I had my eye on one that ended up slippimg by me.

[sdlehr]

I finally got around to working with my 170 and have taken some photos (which is what I do). Mike's green book says that the '39 and '40 models should sell for about the same thing, the '41 model could be worth about $50 more. That means that someone can tell the difference between them. I cannot. I'm interested in how to date this reel, and what that date might be. I posted yesterday about my Anglesea 47, also produced between '39 and '41, and mentioned I would be surprised if anyone could tell the difference between the years. I would have said the same about this model if I hadn't seen that info in Mike's green book. Here she is, in all her glory








So what are the differences between the '39, '40 and '41 production years? Anyone?

Thanks.
Sid

[Shark Hunter]

Sid,
I'm getting Jealous. You better hold onto that one. Its a Trophy!

[sdlehr]

Thanks Daron. I'll be selling some of my reels on eBay soon (the first is actually already listed). Not this one. Or the Anglesea I posted yesterday. I've become more discriminating in my collecting taste, and some that I bought long ago are not to be mine much longer. That will raise funds to buy more of what I want, and satisfy my wife's desire that I thin out the herd. We're moving soon, the fewer reels I have to pack and move, the better. Of 90 or so reels in my collection, I probably am only attached to less than half. Some will be easy to part with. Those will be the ones I will start with.

Sid

[Tightlines667]

Nice score there Sid!

I am not quite sure how to tell the difference.  Mike's book states that these small reels had stippled headplates in 1940, and the no. 08 catalog clearly shows this to be the case.  I am not sure about the 1939 model though, I suspect all models for all years had this feature.  I know the name changed in 1941 from "Light Tackle Casting Reel" to "Universal Free Spool".

Also, I think your reel should have a spool with a drilled arbor.

I don't think these small reels ever had the old model logo (which, for instance changes in the Coronado, and others, in the 1940).

Seems like the handle knobs and counterweight stayed the same throughout their 3 year production period too.

Maybe Mike has an answer for you?

I did just recieve my favorite catalog... a number 08, ca. 1940.. in the mail today.

[Penn Chronology]

Mike's green book says that the '39 and '40 models should sell for about the same thing, the '41 model could be worth about $50 more.

Actually, the Green book drops the top price of a 1941 Model 170. Don't know why that happened. All Model 170's that I have ever seen are the same except for handle knob color variations. The spools should be drilled according to the catalogs; but, the catalog probably used the same drawing from 1939 to 1941. I own two Model 170's, one has the same color knob as Sid's reel and the other has a dark brown knob. One of mine has the drilled spool and the other has the non-numbered spool with the line tie off pin.
                  The longer you collect Penn reels, the more you learn that hard fast specific build styles are variable rather than exact.

[milne]

Hi all,  An old thread, but I am pleased to see some information on this particular reel.
     I have just purchased a 170, certainly not mint, but It should arrive in the next 4-5 days,
So I will add a photo of it here.


Regards
Col

[Maxed Out]

Looking forward to your pictures

Ted

[milne]

This one arrived today, hope the photo shows it up ok.

Col

[milne]

Ok, they didn't come out to bad.
I don't know too much about this reel, apart from what I've read above.
It will just sit there at the minute, as my first project is stripping down the Shultz Ambrose trade reel.


Col

[Penn Chronology]

This one arrived today, hope the photo shows it up ok.

The photos are great. Glad to see the pinned spool. The catalogs show a drilled spool; but, I have seen them both ways.