Groovy retro reel....Can you dig it?

David M · Post by **David M** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:51 am

Post by **john elder** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:33 am

Wow, neat piece! I see you're from Branson..must be from Wayne Newton's garage sale?

fishbugman · Post by **fishbugman** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 12:06 pm

Your reel was made in Japan. I have seen a couple variants, one marked Roddy. For some reason, those retro reels were and are hot in Japan...see how popular the Bronson Invader is.

Is the Andy Warhol painting for sale?

David M · Post by **David M** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 12:38 pm

Danke Schoen John -- Actually the reel was in Wayne's gold plated, monogramed tackle box, underneath a bunch of crystal lures, and hair gel...He He! I bet he could run 90 M.P.H. down the lake in a bass boat, and that hair-do wouldn't budge. David

David M · Post by **David M** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:07 pm

Hello Fishbugman -- Thanks for the info. Actually I put this here for more show, than tell. It doe's like you say have the word "Japan" on the foot. I figured it was distributed by Jorgensen,Compac,Roddy, or the like, but when it comes to what company actually made it, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish! Sure looks like they ripped-off Pfluegers level-wind design though doesn't it. It seems to me, with what little I know, that Japanese retros are heating up here in the good ol' USA as well, and can only hope that this model reaches Invader status someday, but I doubt it will. David

fishbugman · Post by **fishbugman** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:33 pm

Yes David...the levelwind does look like a copy of Pflueger. There was a recent thread on ORCA about the Japanese copies (I can't remember the title). I recently saw another one that looked like a red Nobby. Hey, a good idea is a good idea no matter who made it.

David M · Post by **David M** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 9:36 pm

Fishbugman -- Today is your lucky day because, yes, the painting is for sale. One of Warhol's Marilyn Monroe silkscreens brought 28 million recently, but since I see that your a man with a keen eye for Reel art, I'll sacrifice my one of a kind masterpiece for merely half that (No Paypal). Plus I'll pay S&H, and throw in a real nice frame, OR, you can do what I did, and upload your own favorite retro reel photo to Photobucket.com, then go to edit, and click-on "pop art" under the effects tab. Having a large print made would be a groovtastic way to brighten up a tackle room, or man cave. Personally though, I think mine would look best hanging on your wall. David

David M · Post by **David M** » Sat Feb 06, 2010 2:17 pm

I found this red Nobby knock-off on a Japanese auction site like the reel fishbugman mentioned earlier, with the exact same attributes as my unmarked gold one. This one has the "Olympic" brand, but I still didn't know if they were actually the maker, or if this was just a trade brand...

Then I came across this fishing outfit (That had an all plastic reel inclosed with the same handle/nut as the red one), from about the same time period (early to mid 60's?), and it mentions "Olympic - Ueno Seiko Co. LTD. Tokyo Japan" as a manufacturer of fishing tackle, so maybe this helps solve the puzzle as to who made the unmarked retro reel, I don't know.

David M · Post by **David M** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:45 pm

I knew this reel reminded me of something, and it just came to me...on the 60's TV series "Star Trek", had Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock, for some weird reason gone fishing on some far-out planet, this Sci-Fi looking reel would have been a perfect prop for them, and the USS Enterprise crew to use...don't you think, or am I just crazy. Don't answer that!

I guess I'll try to put the saga of the Wayne Newton bling bling, Andy Warhol, Mr. Spock, Sci-Fi retro reel to sleep now. Come to think of it, you'd be hard pressed to find three guy's less likely to even hold a reel than this bunch, and I'm not quite sure why I got so into this topic, I don't even like Japanese made reels that much. Just goes to show ya! You never know for sure what direction reel collecting might take you in. David

David M · Post by **David M** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:04 pm

The plot thickens, just when I thought I was done with this, I found another retro reel photo on the net that has an oval shaped sticker on the faceplate that says L M Dickson. I still think it was made by Olympic though. David

Update -- Looks like L M Dickson was a trade name, or subsidiary of (TAICo) The American Import Co. 1167 Mission St. San Francisco CA. Turns out they put that name on a wide range of sporting goods including: a fly reel called the "Kentfield" (looks like a green Shakespeare automatic), spinning reel (looks like the maroon Shakespeare 20XX series), spin caster, wooden trout net, baseball glove, fish skinner (looks like the old Townsend roller), 30-06 Rifle (Howa), SXS shotgun made in Spain, and a rifle scope (looks like a Bushnell). There's probably a lot more products with the L M Dickson name, but that's all I could find with a quick search. Sorry for so many posts. David

WW · Post by WW » Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:29 am

I came across this thread while doing a google for Taico. As I suspected, it appears that Taico was an importer and here is another reel that went through them. An odd little multiplying fly reel that retrieves the line over the top of the spool like a baitcaster instead of underneath like a fly reel.