I have noticed a lot of Langley reels on ebay exploring this new addiction of fishing tackle collecting.
I know absolutely nothing about Langley reels other than they were made in San Diego post WWII. The bait casting reels have a certain visual appeal and seem to look like they are of respectable quality. However the prices they sell for are so low they are intriging.
Even I can afford them, which is tempting.
What is the general consensus about Langley reels?
Are they overall excellent, good, fair or poor quality?
Who were they designed to compete against?
Are they an under appreciated reel company in the collectors world?
Thanks in advance for anyone who may wish to weigh in on the topic.
Best regards,
Tree
Langley reels, Quality? Market segment? Competitors.
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Jim Schottenham
- Super Board Poster
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- Location: Upstate NY
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Great reels
Hi Tree,
I think you'll find that several ORCA members have great information on Langley reels. In fact, at this past years ORCA National, a few members gave a great seminar on Langley reels:
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif? ... %20006.jpg
That's Colby Sorrels holding some Langley display items.
You might want to contact member Alan Baracco - he has a wealth of Langley reel info. Myself, I like the Langley Target model, a great reel to fish and cast!
Glad to have you here on Reel Talk!
Jim
I think you'll find that several ORCA members have great information on Langley reels. In fact, at this past years ORCA National, a few members gave a great seminar on Langley reels:
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif? ... %20006.jpg
That's Colby Sorrels holding some Langley display items.
You might want to contact member Alan Baracco - he has a wealth of Langley reel info. Myself, I like the Langley Target model, a great reel to fish and cast!
Glad to have you here on Reel Talk!
Jim
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Alan Baracco
- Advanced Board Poster
- Posts: 327
- Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2004 1:52 pm
- Location: Shingle Springs CA
Dr. Tree,
There are indeed many Langley reels (and other products) on Ebay. Langley began selling fly reels and a baitcaster (Streamlite) in 1945, added their first spinning reel in 1953 (Model R810) and had a well diversified line of baitcasters and spinners until 1962, when Brunswick bought Langley's fishing tackle division and incorporated it into their Zebco line. Langley was a high production company for most of their products (the De-Liar scale must have been in nearly every angler's tackle in the 1950s), which would put production in the millions!
I began a series of articles on Langley in the REEL NEWS a couple of years ago, see them for reference. While Langley reels are of high quality (no bias on my part) in high volume, reels in what I would consider collector quality (9/9 or mint in the box) can be hard to find. Many of the reels have an alumilite (anodized) finish that wears and marks easily.
A rare lefthanded Streamlite went for $1225 on Ebay awhile back, a leftie Lurecast made over $600 and some of the spinning reels have been bid up to the $150-200 range. Buy quality pieces and they are not what I would consider cheap.
Please do jump into collecting Langley, several ORCA members have excellent collections, including what I consider two of the best Langley baitcaster collections in existence, both residing in the great state of Texas. We got to see them first hand at the 2005 annual meeting at Columbia Lakes, along with their somewhat eccentric owners!
Give me an email (it is in the members directory) if I can help answer specific Langley questions, or drop by the house and I will show you all 14 versions of the Streamlite!
Cheers,
Alan
There are indeed many Langley reels (and other products) on Ebay. Langley began selling fly reels and a baitcaster (Streamlite) in 1945, added their first spinning reel in 1953 (Model R810) and had a well diversified line of baitcasters and spinners until 1962, when Brunswick bought Langley's fishing tackle division and incorporated it into their Zebco line. Langley was a high production company for most of their products (the De-Liar scale must have been in nearly every angler's tackle in the 1950s), which would put production in the millions!
I began a series of articles on Langley in the REEL NEWS a couple of years ago, see them for reference. While Langley reels are of high quality (no bias on my part) in high volume, reels in what I would consider collector quality (9/9 or mint in the box) can be hard to find. Many of the reels have an alumilite (anodized) finish that wears and marks easily.
A rare lefthanded Streamlite went for $1225 on Ebay awhile back, a leftie Lurecast made over $600 and some of the spinning reels have been bid up to the $150-200 range. Buy quality pieces and they are not what I would consider cheap.
Please do jump into collecting Langley, several ORCA members have excellent collections, including what I consider two of the best Langley baitcaster collections in existence, both residing in the great state of Texas. We got to see them first hand at the 2005 annual meeting at Columbia Lakes, along with their somewhat eccentric owners!
Give me an email (it is in the members directory) if I can help answer specific Langley questions, or drop by the house and I will show you all 14 versions of the Streamlite!
Cheers,
Alan
Thanks guys for the info.
Alan...did you say 14 varieties of the Streamlite?
I like the looks of the streamlite, but I don't know if I can stand that there are 14 varieties. Can a fellow be happy with just 1?
There is one question you gentlemen have not commented on and that deals with who Langley's was attempting to compete with.
Did they try to go up against Shakespeare, Southbend, Pfluger, ?
Were they attempting to be step higher?
My main focus will be Bristol reels & Horton equipment, but darn if those langley reels don't look nice.
Alan...did you say 14 varieties of the Streamlite?
I like the looks of the streamlite, but I don't know if I can stand that there are 14 varieties. Can a fellow be happy with just 1?
There is one question you gentlemen have not commented on and that deals with who Langley's was attempting to compete with.
Did they try to go up against Shakespeare, Southbend, Pfluger, ?
Were they attempting to be step higher?
My main focus will be Bristol reels & Horton equipment, but darn if those langley reels don't look nice.
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clinton_beeler
- Advanced Board Poster
- Posts: 291
- Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 2:32 pm
- Location: Tulsa , Oklahoma
Hi Tree,
When Brunswick (Zebco) bought Langley it was to get into the spinning reel market. If I remember correctly the 310 and 330 were made under the Zebco name until '68 or '69 and the spinners were dropped in '73.
The levelwinds had an anodized finish which looks great until it gets scratched at which point it's pretty much impossible to fix so reels in mint condition are very hard to find indeed.
Also, the left handed reels were a special-order only item and represented only about one percent of total production so finding one of those mint...
Langley competed with everyone in the US levelwind and spinning reel markets just like everyone else.
Regards,
Clinton
When Brunswick (Zebco) bought Langley it was to get into the spinning reel market. If I remember correctly the 310 and 330 were made under the Zebco name until '68 or '69 and the spinners were dropped in '73.
The levelwinds had an anodized finish which looks great until it gets scratched at which point it's pretty much impossible to fix so reels in mint condition are very hard to find indeed.
Also, the left handed reels were a special-order only item and represented only about one percent of total production so finding one of those mint...
Langley competed with everyone in the US levelwind and spinning reel markets just like everyone else.
Regards,
Clinton