Zebco SIG

[Clinton]

Hi guys!

How should I go about re-starting the Zebco SIG? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Clinton Beeler

[SWIM JIG]

Clinton, you will have to look in the ORCA mag, also ask our editor Phil White. Another person in Punta Gorda FL. , Dick Braun 24420 Airport Rd.#8 Punta Gorda Fl. 33950 1-941-639-8330 email goes by (THAT ZEBCO-GUY) back in sept 25 2003, we talked about this, however nither he or I done anything. ( As ZEBCO has a rather unique history and is still in business it will make a most interesting group! I doubt if any one person has one of everthing ZEBCO has ever made for sale and most likly not many proto types ever were released. The other thing would be original drawins etc. posibly make coppies? I see zebco as the next (SLEEPERS) in the collecting field. I ahve a few, over 3400 at last count , we buy all of them for parts,and we buy out former centers and dealers of their parts, I would say that Sponskys reel repair in ELMORA Pa has as much or more than our inventory. Bill and I are friends and he is a wonderful person. I belive that if you can get the group started again and use photos of the odd and unusual then the intrest will (explode) A example is the 55s they were a fantastic reel , the old BOMB with the marble size nob for the drag, the 44s we still repair these for the Amish people, the early 33s with brass gears and the change over to steel and pot metal gears. you mentioned the zebco #3, they are a nice reel, Ben wrights book has that history and I have factory pages on those early reels. Those 3s are now worth quite a bit of money. A example of new tec is the HOT SAUCE, a little pricy however it works and They are now going to attempt to get it in bigger containers for us repir shops. Clinton, as the older reels that we see listed end up in serious colections, the (new collectors will be able to have their hay day,Pflugers are (in My oppion about to top out) I few years ago any pfluger would bring $20.00 and up at a flea market now the market is flooded, we get them from $2.00 up and 45.00 if both jewled bearing caps are good. Back to zebco, <they came out with the (LEWS) several years ago and that reel is still a winner! Our Editor Phill still uses them! They will soon be a colectable, hard to find one new in the box under $30.00 Also the early rods , were they made in OKLAHOMA? Who made their line etc? and spools ? this is the history we need, you and your Father have this knowledge! Please share it with the rest of the world and our future collectors, Dont let this large amount of history become lost! I have always been under the thoughts that ZEBO had parts made outside of the plant? also the interesting part is ZECO has and still employes folks to work thus the employes are dedicatd? I am in the ORCA Mag My address is (COL. Milton Lorens 759 Terra Lane Amherst Ohio 44001-1116-07 1-440-988-2251 fax 1-440-985 FISH (3474) emal thanks for your time

[SWIM JIG]

Bad mistake That should have beeb $5.00 not $45.00 for pflugerswith both bearing caps in good shape! Col. M. lorens aka SWIM JIG

[Reel Geezer]

Clinton: To start a SIG you need to talk to ORCA President Andy Foster. The By-Laws put the President in charge of the SIG program. Andy's email address should be on this web site and in the Reel News, or give him a call. The Special Interest Group program has been one of ORCA's few failures. I stopped carrying any information about them in The Reel News because the organizers of the SIG's didn't fulfil their obligations. Ben Wright, with his Open Face Spinning Reel SIG, was the only person who ever created a group that was organized and he supplied information for ORCA. I'm not sure I personally feel the SIG program should be carried on. I think it might be much more valuable to the membership to have you write articles about Zebco, which would certainly help spur interest in Zebco reels. The members would then spur more articles with questions, etc, and the whole thing would probably snowball. ORCA undoubtedly has more members collecting Pflueger reels than any other brand, but there has never been a Pflueger SIG. We also have published more Pflueger information than any other brand name. So you really don't need a SIG unless you have some reason to want to organize one.
Phil
Milt: I'll take all the Lew's Speed Spools (by Shimano, not Zebco) that you can send me in the box for $30. They are already collectible and a NIB one would probably bring $100-150.

[SWIM JIG]

Phil, My zeco 1995factory manual shows LEWS bait casy BB1L thru RBUS4 21 total dif. Reels, plus a SC1 looks like a 33 and a LSS20&30 spinning reel. Plus a big line of Browning. Will check the Shiamano books this week sometime do you have a year? they were made? hey these 17hr days are a wee bit eyestraining! ha ha And you are most likly correct in Articals being done, I still say ZEBCO will be the (NEW SLEEPER!) Most likly NO ONE WILL EVER HAVE one of each model, just too many of them! Got to MUSH , work is calling and then its off to deliver day starts at 05:00 have to be in Toledo at 7:30 am Col. M. Lorens aka SWIm JIG

[clinton_beeler]

Phil,
I think you're right. The SIG sounds like more work than I have time for right now. What is the deadline for articles? I think I'm about ready to start.

Milt,
I had a nice conversation with father yesterday and the subject of the knurling machine came up again. Father is going to contact one of R.D. Hull's model makers anyway and he will probably know exactly what was used. When I find out I'll let you know.

I've been trying all year to ask this guy about the 333 that was listed in the auction notes in the January issue of RN. He was the one who both made and sold that reel. If there is a second one in existence it would be in the hands of the Hull family. It was taken to the ASA show in 1966 and a trademark infringement suit was threatened over the name. When I saw the picture it looked way too much like a 909. I'm fairly certain that the 333 prototype that sold on E-bay was also the prototype for the 909 (they just changed the name/label). The 909 is very significant because it was the first spin-cast reel Zebco made which was not designed by R.D. Hull. It was, in fact, designed by Don Packard who was R.D.'s draftsman of many years. Anyway, this guy will know.

If anyone has all the production Zebco reels NIB it would be Otto. Father said once that he has one of everything NIB.

At its peak Zebco was an assembly plant. A vendor tried to raise his prices
once too often and father "acquired" his factory (on an expense account). That became the "West" plant. That's where the plastic parts were made. Later they added die-casting (spools) and that's also where the line was wound onto the spools. No, I don't think they ever made their own rods.
As an assembly plant Zebco would typically make 32-36,000 reels a day. It was something to watch (which I did many times). About 28,000 of these were 202s. 33 production was about 2500 per day when we moved here and rose to about 4500 at its peak. If I remember correctly the line was Stren monofilament and 8 lb. was a popular weight.

Thank you for your help!
Regards,
Clinton

[Steve]

ORCA established SIGs years ago for the purpose of educating the membership. We hoped that groups of like-minded collectors would exchange ideas on what research they needed to do in their areas of interest and then begin to do it. The Board hoped/expected that each SIG would publish at least an article per year on their research results. As Phil indicated, that hasn't happened.

The role of the SIG chairman is not necessarily to do the research and write the articles. It's more of a "coaching" job, in which he/she helps to identify research topics of interest, contacts SIG members who might be willing to get to libraries, catalog collections and such, coordinates the research, and arranges to share the accumulated knowledge with the rest of ORCA. Sounds good on paper.