Japanese Spinners Fjord and Olympic Atlantis 2800

[Skip]

I tend to prefer American made stuff but I'm a sucker for old reels in nice shape. I recently acquired two nice old Japanese spinners that appear to be unused.

One is marked Fjord and the other Olympic Atlantis 2800.

Any information on these reels would be appreciated.

Here are some pics.

[john elder]

“Mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery”. I suspect that if they are like other Japanese copies I have had, they work well and would certainly outlast the plastic “disposable” reels sold now.

[Teal]

Fjord is an American trade name for a company on the West Coast who's name escapes me right now.

Olympic was an innovative Japanese reel maker best known for first popularizing the skirted spool spinning reel. Several pro anglers I know (of very big reputation) were sponsored by American reel makers in the 1970s and 1980s and used their sponsored reels on camera; the second the camera went off, they switched to Olympics. The Olympic OM-40 is one of the finest light spinning reels I ever used. These were not cheap imports, but precursors of the high end Japanese reels we see so often today.

[Harry Verdurchi]

Seems like a Japanese company in the 30's started making many different names in Reels (copies and their own ) which eventually evolved to include Fjord,Dolphin.Compac,Olympic, and a Gob of others which as I recall and definitely a Maybe is now Daiwa .

[Midway Tommy D]

It's a tangled web they weaved in the early days manufacturing and naming fishing reels over there Japan. Open yours up and show us their innards, Skip. Sometimes that tells a lot about the origin. Many are basically the same reels with different sideplate names and/or emblems. Most were cheaply made with standard pot metal gearing, but some were higher quality worm gear designs.

Seems like a Japanese company in the 30's started making many different names in Reels (copies and their own ) which eventually evolved to include Fjord,Dolphin.Compac,Olympic, and a Gob of others which as I recall and definitely a Maybe is now Daiwa .

I pretty sure you're referencing Ueno Seiko Co., Ltd. You can see some history and evolution timelines over here.

[Skip]

It's a tangled web they weaved in the early days manufacturing and naming fishing reels over there Japan. Open yours up and show us their innards, Skip. Sometimes that tells a lot about the origin. Many are basically the same reels with different sideplate names and/or emblems. Most were cheaply made with standard pot metal gearing, but some were higher quality worm gear designs.

Seems like a Japanese company in the 30's started making many different names in Reels (copies and their own ) which eventually evolved to include Fjord,Dolphin.Compac,Olympic, and a Gob of others which as I recall and definitely a Maybe is now Daiwa .

I pretty sure you're referencing Ueno Seiko Co., Ltd. You can see some history and evolution timelines over here.

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Looks like brass pinions and cast crowns.

**

[Midway Tommy D]

Looks like brass pinions and cast crowns.

Those look pretty standard for most of the Japanese made reels during that time frame, i.e. '60s & '70s.

[arley]

What John the Elder said.

[Skip]

Looks like brass pinions and cast crowns.

Those look pretty standard for most of the Japanese made reels during that time frame, i.e. '60s & '70s.

Interesting difference in the gears, though. the Fjord has an angle cut pinion and straight crown teeth. And the crown gear teeth are actually diamond-shaped, fatter in the middle than on the ends. Meanwhile the Olympic has straight cut teeth on the pinion and angle cut teeth on the crown, conventional in shape.

I too agree with John Elder, these are solid reels and run smooth.