Reel King set complete

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54bullseye
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Reel King set complete

Post by 54bullseye »

I bought my first Reel King reel a "20-30" size at 4am one winter morning off eBay for $100 buy it now. I wasn't familiar with them so I asked ORCA member Brian Purrone who was a wealth of knowledge on reels he said ya I have seen one and I own it !! Brian's was an 80 size and the 80 I now own. Then talking to Ed Pritchard he said he had a tri fold Reel King pamphlet and he sent me pics that I copied for info on the reels. So now I needed a 50 size to complete the set. The 50 was the hardiest find for me. I then found a 50 size "cutaway reel" and was thrilled to get it. The cutaway reel sat on display for years at Bob Kleiser's Sport Shop in West Palm Beach, Florida a I have a letter of provenance from Bob Kleiser's son. So now I just needed the 50 size normal reel to finish the set. Well finally found one from another ORCA member who was thinning his herd as John Elder would say Lol !! So finally complete and to me that is the fun part of collecting reels trying to get the whole set lucklily there was only 3 sizes !!! 20 size from maine, 50 size from California, 80 size from Oregon and the cutaway from Florida.

These reels were designed by Mr. Fred Grieten of Fin-Nor fame late in his life and were only produced for a couple short years by the SOMACO Co. Greer, S.C. I won't say they are rare but certainly uncommon I only know of a few other collectors that own them. I also have know idea just how many were made so if anyone out there has any information on them I hope you will share it. Thanks for looking and enjoy my mediocre pictures. John Taylor











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RonG
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Re: Reel King set complete

Post by RonG »

Hey John, those are really nice reels. I hadn't heard of them before, so thanks for sharing. The cutaway reel is very interesting.
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kyreels
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Re: Reel King set complete

Post by kyreels »

Very nice collection, and thanks for sharing the photos and the history you have. It will definitely be a nice resource for future collectors.
Matt Wickham
Collector of Casting Weights, KY Reels and KY Tackle
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Mike N
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Re: Reel King set complete

Post by Mike N »

Awesome collection. Congrats.

Mike N.
Mike N.
ORCA Founder, 1990
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