Newell Upgrades to Penn Reels

[Farmer Mike]

General opinion question for the members.

Are the Newell upgrades (Base, Base clamp, Braces and Spool) still a valuable upgrade to make or are there more advanced upgrades people are doing now that make the Newell upgrades obsolete.

I don't think they are well recognized / appreciated here on the East coast.

Some how I have accumulated about 10-12 : "fully Newelled" Penn reels. I have them listed on EBAY but very little interest. I give them a clean and lube, update to HT100 drags if necessary. Cottage business I can keep myself busy when I am not farming.

Listing them about $150 which would cover parts labor, reel value, 13% selling fees, 25% taxes (self employment and income).  They way I figure it it is about 40-45% cost to sell on Ebay as a business.  Another discussion for another time.

More importantly has the Newell upgrade lost their value? Am I expecting too much value out of these work horses.  Too "Old School" for the younger guys?

Reels include 113, 140, 146 ,145, 100, 500, 501 multiples of several.

What is the going rate for these reel for a person to person sale?

Thanks
 

[nelz]

Several factors go into pricing a reel. Condition is a big one.

[Swami805]

They make a older penn better but it's still an older penn. Very few newell parts have much value, maybe a 349H spool (the narrow ones) will still bring a good price.  To get an idea of what you could expect price wise check the sold listings on ebay

[Gfish]

Wow. Never knew it cost that much to do business on da-Bay.
Which upgrades doda 100 got on it.

[Ron Jones]

I am the outlier in this (as in many things,) in that Newelled Penns are my favorite. I'm not certain about value, as I cobble mine together from here and there on the cheap. I don't have a 146, I bet it spins for days. My favorites are the intermediate wides, the Tuna (3/0) and Marlin (4/0) special. The most effective for today's fishing are probably the narrows: YTS, 501, 100, 146, 180, although the Albacore Special holds a special place in a bunch of people's hearts around here.

Porthos has a 27 monofil (same size as a 180,) that has a Tiburon frame and all the fixins, and it kills yellowtail dead. I have a Newelled 180 that will do the same, and a 501 that loves deep water black rockfish.

The Man

[Squidder Bidder]

I think the problem here business-wise is that there are very good reels on the market made for braid and which retail for about a hundred dollars more than your asking price.

The Avet SXJ, for example, is a great little all aluminum American made lever drag reel made for braid with a stated maximum drag of 20 lbs (understanding that this is not practical to fish regularly at 20lbs). It's regularly priced at about $248.00 shipping included, with manufacturer led sales from time to time. I recently got one on sale from tackledirect for just over $200 shipping included. I previously rebuilt a pair of Squidders at the 146 width with all custom and upgraded parts and new beauty rings, which probably altogether cost more than a new Avet each. But I have nostalgia for the old American made Penns and like to play with taking things apart and putting them back together, as do my brother and cousin I fish with so it's fun for me to do this sort of thing and show off the finished product.

So my guess is that restored or upgraded reels fall into a dead zone in the market - nostalgia seeking tinkerers probably want the original reels or parts in good condition, which they'll upgrade and restore themselves, while someone just looking for a good reel has some good options in new reels on the market with which you probably can't compete price-wise given the advantages the retailers have at scale and with shipping, no ebay seller fee, etc.

I'd also guess that parting out old reels (at least those that aren't very rare) is more remunerative than selling complete restored and upgraded reels. Someone who tinkers with them might be looking for a Newell base or bars or whatever to complete his own project, but not a complete reel.