Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

ORCA Online Forum - Feel free to talk or ask about ALL kinds of old tackle here, with an emphasis on old reels!
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Chinook1
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Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

Post by Chinook1 »

ORCA members...

I have been a member of ORCA and NFLCC for several years ..and noticed since Ben Wright's passing...that the unloved category of Vintage Spinning Reels has been mostly absent (except for some Sergio Di Marco articles).
I, along with several other Vintage Spinning Reel Collectors have started a Facebook page..called ironically enough "Vintage Spinning Reel Collectors".

If you love Spinning Reels, were a Ben Wright fan, have written about them, have an extensive collection (or not) we would like you to join our group.

One of our missions is to increase the amount of young collectors and frankly get them to collect like many of us have done. Facebook is where the youngsters are...so that is why we are trying this out.

If interested look up our group on Facebook, answer the questions asked of you to gain entrance. One question asks who invited you. Please use my name Steve Tallman or use ORCA.

Thank you for your consideration.
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Midway Tommy D
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Re: Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

Post by Midway Tommy D »

Spinning reel discussion is truly lacking on ORCA nowadays. :(

I sure wish your get together was on a web page or forum, Steve. Especially since I don't/won't do FB.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

Tom DeLong, NE
ORCA Member - 2027
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Steve
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Re: Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

Post by Steve »

Howzabout that? Things have slowly changed in the last twenty years. I felt compelled to write this in an op-ed about that long ago:
"A number of ORCAns have expressed concern recently that the club has been heading in the wrong direction for the last year or so. The major concern is that the membership and, by extension, the Board of Directors have forsaken any interest in "older" reels and have begun to overemphasize the collecting of spinning reels. Some of these members do not feel that relatively new, mass-produced spinning reels deserve the overwhelming attention that they believe the club has lavished on them recently. Some of them point to our last year's association with DACA, presumably a hotbed of spinning-reel enthusiasm, as evidence of this misguided attention."

And the proposed solution:
"My response to the members who are despairing of "too [few] spinning reel articles" is to point out that articles in The Reel News don't appear out of thin air. They are written by collectors who have a deep interest in their collecting targets and who have exerted the energy to do a little research and to share their results with us...
If you're still awake, you may have noticed that this little essay...is...a plea for more of you ORCAns to get more actively involved with the club. It's unfair to judge a club solely on the basis of its latest swap meet or the most recent issues of its magazine. If you have reel information to share, WRITE AN ARTICLE."

IMHO, there are already a lot of FB pages where folks are plastering spinning reel pics daily. I haven't seen very much info posted about the reels in most cases, tho...maybe a line or two of Id, dates, value. If the info is as poor as the info posted on many other FB pages that feature conventional older reels, I worry about what collectors are "learning." The exceptions are some pages on specific makers. But FB is packed with collecting "experts" who continue to label every GS/HR reel they see as a Van Hoff. ORCA has a lot of members who specialize in spinning reels, so maybe it's just time to ask them to share more of their knowledge in print.

Steve Vernon
ORCA Honorary member

Book: ANTIQUE FISHING REELS, 2nd Ed.
Websites:
Antique Fishing Reels
Kopf reels
Hendrick reels

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
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Brian F.
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Re: Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

Post by Brian F. »

......articles in The Reel News don't appear out of thin air.
Or anywhere else, for that matter. Put your research out there wherever you like but it seems risky to put it on a FB reel page or any social media page that may very well be here today, gone tomorrow. Private web pages were the best examples as members who put their own together, pages of years of work, disappeared with their deaths or illness. I know all reel collectors are not into ORCA but it is willing to help anyone and everyone that is willing to help themselves who write articles and even books on "things they wanted to see more of". Book publishing is as accessible now more than ever and Whitefish Press (Dr Todd, an ORCA member) has put out tons of references over the last ten years.
Aloha
Brian F.
_________

ORCA Member 1997
Got a spare reel stamped "Pflueger" or a Montague Imperial?
"Caution, objects in reel view mirror are older than they appear."
Chinook1
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Re: Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

Post by Chinook1 »

Steve-

I completely agree with your assertion that the Spinning Reel Collectors really have the answer in their own hands. They need to write articles.
Ok...that premise I agree with. Let me be the devil's advocate...and pose "write articles to whom?" Sergio Di Marco (who is the Secretary of Antipes) has written several articles (beautifully written I might add)...to which only a handful if people replied. Which begs the question? Where are the Spinning Reel Collectors? I suggest that only a small amount of them are actually ORCA members.
So....going back to my original point. Where are you going to find young collectors. Facebook and Social Media is the answer. I am old, but can navigate the social media landscape....because that is where I want to focus my energy. Motivating more young people into our hobby. Facebook is just the vehicle. I will tell you that in the short time our group has been in existence (started December 3rd, 2022) I have seen more one of kind, rare and unusual Spinning Reels than I ever thought possible. Picture Ben Wright's books, Marco Malavasi's books, Bernard Caminade, Silvano Baraldi's and Daniel Skupien books all in one group with PICTURES and history and sometimes videos. Again...the group we have is small and limited, but there are some groups that have thousands of members. Mostly..younger folk. My point..is there are more than one way to "skin a cat".

Steve Tallman
Last edited by kyreels on Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: quote fix
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Brian F.
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Re: Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

Post by Brian F. »

Here's something I got recently:
I’m quite familiar with ORCA though I have never joined. I deal with such a small niche of spinning reels that I just haven’t ever joined. To be honest I usually get some of my friends to look up information for me on the ORCA website particularly schematics. One of these days I intend to join but just haven’t. If I was into collecting early conventional reels ORCA would be the finest source of information that exists. Glad to know an eBay seller is a member of ORCA!
So ORCA resources are benefitting more than members but if everyone waits for someone else to see stuff published...... :D

To the other point of reaching "younger" collectors, it's relative. The social media world puts Facebook users in the "older" age groups. The younger people moved on when their parents and grandparents started using FB 😅 We don't have an Instagram or Twitter account but those are clearly the younger crowd. We try to reach people by being present or participate in other platforms. We get a lot of referrals showing up from "old" websites and forums like Clark's flyrod forum. Gads I'm feeling old!
Aloha
Brian F.
_________

ORCA Member 1997
Got a spare reel stamped "Pflueger" or a Montague Imperial?
"Caution, objects in reel view mirror are older than they appear."
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kyreels
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Re: Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

Post by kyreels »

ORCA will continue to ramp up our presence on Facebook. We are actively soliciting a moderator/manager for that purpose. If anyone is interested in leading this, please contact me.

ORCA appreciates and supports all types of reels. Fixed spool reels and revolving spool reels. All types of reels are contained in our library and reel news archives. There is no bias from the association viewpoint. There may be more authors of one category or another. Spinning reel enthusiasts should submit more articles on their preferred medium and platform (print or post).

Many ORCA members like them all! I have a pretty good tournament spinning reel collection, but am a novice really at that.

ORCA seems to have done something right in our cataloging of spinning reels in our library. We get many many inquires from the public at large over our extensive spinning reel schematics.
Matt Wickham
Collector of Casting Weights, KY Reels and KY Tackle
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Midway Tommy D
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Re: Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

Post by Midway Tommy D »

It disappoints me that an actual ORCA member would use their library access privilege to grab information to pass on to a non paying individual. 😒 I've been asked many times and alway refused. I always suggest they join.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

Tom DeLong, NE
ORCA Member - 2027
Richard Lodge
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Re: Vintage Spinning Reel Lovers

Post by Richard Lodge »

Steve Tallman contacted me about his spinning reel Facebook group and I'm glad I joined it. Although I've fished off and on with spinning reels since I was a kid, I don't know a lot about this very varied area of reels. I appreciate seeing photos and reading about the many makers and many variations on a theme, when it comes to spinning reels. And yes, I second what Steve Vernon and Brian Funai have written about the need for more people to write about more kinds of reels. I welcome any and all suggestions, I encourage folks who might not see themselves as writers but who have done research and have real knowledge (and photos --- we love to see photos of reels!) to share in The Reel News and online. I look forward to articles that I'm sure will come from folks who are active on Steve's FB page and from all spinning reel aficionados out there.
Thanks!
Richard Lodge
Editor of The Reel News
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