Maker of this narrow spool tournament reel?

[Mike N]

I picked up these two small narrow spool reels from Ron G on a trip to FL a couple of summers ago. The reel with the black casting line is marked Talbot Star but the very similar reel with the cork arbor and butterflied foot is unmarked.

Could the unmarked reel possibly also have been made by Talbot for a tournament competitor? Thoughts?

[RonG]

The mystery about the "T" stamp on the bottom of an unmarked narrow spool reel Mike posted about 6 years ago may have been solved. A recently found narrow spool "Talbot Meteor" reel by Richardson Rod & Reel also has the same "T' stamping (except 2 of them this time). See photos below. The "T" appears to be the same font and size. I think we all originally figured the reel Mike had was a Talbot reel, but there was no precedence. Is this new reel finding give it provenance as being a Talbot reel. I think so.

[Midway Tommy D]

Sure looks like mystery solved & case closed to me.

[Mike N]

Ron Gast has an incredible memory when it comes to antique tackle. He emailed this morning with a photo of the “T” stamp on his newly-acquired Talbot tournament reel and recalled that he had sold me an unmarked reel with a similar stamp when I visited him in Florida 6-7 years ago.

It took a while to jog my memory (I had since passed my reel along to Talbot collector and former NFLCC President Randy Anderson of Oklahoma), but when I looked at old photos they were a spot-on match. Great sleuthing, Ron, and thanks for sharing that information.

Mike N.