Why Don’t Manufacturer’s Make Reels Like These Anymore??

[foakes]

That is the question —- but we all know the answer...

Mostly graphite or plastic reels are cheaper and easier to mass produce.

And the earlier reels are missing one thing that most modern reels have —- built-in obsolescence.  Better to sell another reel every couple of years —- than to sell one that lasts a lifetime.

For example, as I was going through a few reels today that did not sell at the last sale —- this little Martin Miracle-Magic 500, Made in the USA —- caught my attention. All metal except the thumb control and the crank knob.  Took it apart to see the guts —- and it is impressive.  Everything heavy duty, machined, not pressed or riveted together.  Went ahead and serviced it completely —- it operates smoothly and perfectly.

Best Regards, Fred

[Keta]

It is all about profit.

[Dominick]

It is all about profit.

It's more complicated than that.  When you break it down it is about survival.  Dominick

[Keta]

Without profit survival is impossible.

[Gfish]

I just serviced an Abumatic 120 spincaster, probably from the '60's. Very well made, but not simple. Kind of a bear to reassemble.
 I like stuff from Martin, they seemed to specialize in simple.

[slosh]

I just serviced an Abumatic 120 spincaster, probably from the '60's. Very well made, but not simple. Kind of a bear to reassemble.
 I like stuff from Martin, they seemed to specialize in simple.

Plastic button broke on my abumatic on my second casting attempt. Replacement costs more than I paid for the reel, and is still old plastic.
The big old Shakespeare spincast reels I have of the era aren't as refined but man are they stout. Sounds like the Martin is cut from the same cloth.
My wife got me an old Ted Williams spincast reel, probably the best looking spincast of all time in my opinion. Pretty sure its a Shakespeare, it's rock solid too.

[drumbum]

started in 1913.

[CincyDavid]

To be fair, look at Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. There was a time that you could buy a Mercedes or Volvo, and with some reasonable level of maintenance, rack up 500k miles. Those days are over. Now you lease them for 3 years and dump em before the warranty runs out because they are pieces of jewelry, with finicky electronics that are devilishly costly to repair.

I was half-heartedly looking for a "last car" for myself to last 20 years and however many miles, I'm not sure such a thing exists anymore.

[Keta]

My wife replaced her' 85 Volvo with a '04 one and it is a POS.  Transmission, electoral issues, cam seal shot at less than 100,000 miles, hoses crumbling and the ball joints on  suspension need to be replaced.

My 2000 F-250 with 388,000 ough plus mile on it is still solid.  I did have to have the transmission rebuilt at 280,000 miles, the glow plugs and injectors replaced and my injector control module quit 600 miles from home and 3 miles from Alan's house
The truck shows signs of heavy use but it starts and runs and I get 19 mpg on the highway with the 7.3 diesel.

[jgp12000]

Are Range Rovers any good? Watching a show in England,it seems to be a lot of them or maybe just a sponsor.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Are Range Rovers any good? Watching a show in England,it seems to be a lot of them or maybe just a sponsor.

You can pick up a used one for decently cheap, which suggests to me that they're expensive to maintain.