Not something you see every day. From what I can tell it's basically a late-production 2062 with dark charcoal/metallic black paint and a different emblem. I also haven't seen the pushbutton spool release on any Royal Maroons. Just arrived in the mail today, along with another Pflueger 551 that I'll post in the Pflueger chat.
Quick release spool mechanism
I now have 2...the 2nd one just arrived via USPS today and it's even nicer than the first one. Now I need to find rods for them and put em to their intended use.
Nice. What kinda gears are inside and how does the spool shaft attach/oscillate?
These are real similar to the 2062 Royal Maroon internally except for the quick release spool. I think of them as Shakespeare's last gasp at US production.
Quote from: CincyDavid on August 30, 2025, 06:21:47 PMThese are real similar to the 2062 Royal Maroon internally except for the quick release spool. I think of them as Shakespeare's last gasp at US production.
That they were, they were sold exclusively by KMart, Shakespeare's last US made hurrah.
Quote from: Midway Tommy on August 31, 2025, 01:52:53 AMQuote from: CincyDavid on August 30, 2025, 06:21:47 PMThese are real similar to the 2062 Royal Maroon internally except for the quick release spool. I think of them as Shakespeare's last gasp at US production.
That they were, they were sold exclusively by KMart, Shakespeare's last US made hurrah.
I wonder if there is any advertising out there for these reels when they were on the market. I've seen ads for the older reels, just not the President II line.
I have a 3rd 2810 on the way, rougher looking than the other 2 but if nothing else it can be a parts reel...if it turns out to run well, just ugly, I'll fish it...we shall see.
Glad I have a parts reel coming, the really nice looking one has an issue...the button for the quick release spool insert that is supposed to be spring loaded is NOT and there is an obstruction of some sort where it doesn't want to engage the shaft properly. In the interim I put the best parts on the best looking reel, which is also the freest spinning, and when the really ugly one shows up I'll take the best of the 2 remaining reels, make one good one. If it comes to it I may steal a shaft and spool off a 2062 and try to make a non-quick release 2062/2810 Frankenreel.
The latest one is a parts reel, or it may become the Frankenreel with a mishmash of 2062 and 2810 parts. I stole the quick release insert off of it so I now have 2 working 2810s, waxed both of them, looking good.
Stole a shaft from a decrepit 2062 parts reel, along with some anti-reverse parts, to fix the newest, worst 2810. They work just fine as it turns out. Bail spring is apparently broken, so I'll steal that from the 2062 and I should have 3 working, pretty decent looking 2810s, 2 with quick release spool, one without.
Success. If there is one thing in this world that irritates me it's bail springs. The newest 2810 had a broken spring so I used one from my 2062 parts reel. I kicked and cussed it but finally got it changed out. I now have 3 sweet-running 2810DE's, the ones on the end have the quick-release, the center one has a 2062-style set up and a bag of 2062 spare bits and pieces for another day.
I now have 4 2810 President II reels...Found this one cheap locally, not the prettiest thing in the world but we'll dig into it this evening and do some cleaning.
David it appears to have a metal spool
& no plastic under .Would you say its better than a 2062 ?
Quote from: jgp12000 on February 05, 2026, 04:14:08 PMDavid it appears to have a metal spool
& no plastic under .Would you say its better than a 2062 ?
I might argue that it's worse...you have the worst simplification/cheaping out of a late production 2062 AND an unusual quick release insert that would be hard to find if it ever broke. It's a normal 2062 spool, the quick release insert is a separate piece. Why on earth Shakespeare decided to add the quick release as they are eliminating US production is a mystery to me.
They are pretty reels though!
The degradation of the Royal Maroon line down through the Presidents is pretty darn obvious if one looks closely. I think they sold themselves out even prior to moving production to Asia. :(
Quote from: Midway Tommy on February 05, 2026, 09:51:44 PMThe degradation of the Royal Maroon line down through the Presidents is pretty darn obvious if one looks closely. I think they sold themselves out even prior to moving production to Asia. :(
agreed Tommy. I think the Presidents are a great color and the side emblem is pretty elaborate, BUT when you compare it to a 2065 or an early 2062 the changes are not great. That seems to be the nature of business though, they exist to create shareholder value and if that means a new Volvo doesn't run for 500k miles anymore, so be it.