Mitchell Reel Forum

Thats an incredible find . Such a low serial number. Well spotted .
John

Nice to see old articles like this Bill , thanks for sharing it
.
John

Schrack wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2023 1:53 pm After looking a photo, one question are they solid or have a small hole.
If their is a hole that is how your line is started.
I would guess very early.

I wouldn't say holes . They don't go anywhere , it is just a recess . Actually quite handy for hiding the knot when you attach line .

Dear John, I agree that it is good to see this reel make a decent price as it indicates that the hobby is back in good health. Prices have been subdued over the last 10 years or so but the last 3 sales I know of have been at what I consider to be realistic prices. This is good for the hobby as real...

Bailarm wrote: ↑Tue Apr 18, 2023 5:19 am Extraordinary price! £1247.23 Which would currently be $ 1,544.44

That's six times what I thought they were worth.

One sold in the USA last year for I think it was $2300

John

Anyone looking for a nice MK1 reel could check with Ebay France. Listing number 256039426600 is for a nice reel being offered by a leading French collector. It's well worth a look. I was pleased to see his reel go for such a good price . It looks a far more complete reel than mine . I did try to bi...

Bailarm wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 3:02 pm Great collection John. The two in the middle were probably being assembled at the same time! How great that they are all in such good condition.

Thanks Nobby
Really pleased to have this group .

John

Ok so really it should say possibly born on the same day , there are no guarantee each pair was made on the same day as each other , but I would like to think so. I would be interested to know if anyone has a Pair that are consecutive serial numbers ? Pairs left to right ; 1878455 C43207 345741 1878...

Hi Jeff
Did you use the dating information on this site ? If so it only applies to the larger egg shaped Mitchell reels like the 300 & 410 .
The 308 & 408 are dated diffently . The serial from your reel should equalte to around 1970 I think .

Kind regards .
John

Dear John, Your spool seems to have a flat base and release knob with flattish top so I think it is early and originated with a late MK1 or a MK2 reel. I can't see a spacer. As you say, the notch was used inconsistently and was eventually phased out, so it couldn't have been regarded as important. ...

Dear John, The notches are not something I had ever considered, but your query prompted me to look through what I have here. I am no wiser!! I have several of the first spools which incorporate a spacer, and none of these are notched. This made me wonder if the notch was to indicate that a spacer w...

That's new to me. Never knew spools had notches in them. Maybe Wallace's book explains it. Kim :text-coolphotos: Thanks Kim I have other spools with the single notch , but this one is new to me as well , I have not seen one with both a single notch and double notch on the opposite side . I dont hav...

Hi Chaps Would anyone be able to share knowledge on the "notches " in some spools ? I'm probably the only one without a clear vision on this but I had imagined the recesses might be for hiding knots . What sort of timeframe would we expect to see these range from ? Many thanks John https:/...

Looks a nice reel

Nice detailed images Bill , thanks.

Nice looking and interesting reel . The clones often fall down in the internals .

HI Bill
Best wishes to you & all the other Mitchell Mates .
I hope you all have a wonderful festive season .
John

Hi Mates I wanted to share a mini review of " The Early Years Of The Michell Fishing Reel " by Rolands Babulis I found it incredibly interesting reading through Rolands book , It often amazes and delights me that Mitchell collectors and dare I say It Experts are willing to share their weal...

Most here know I'm into saving Mitchell UL reels. Some time ago I made the mistake of posting a restore, not knowing restore was back to orgnial. So I actually only save crusty old reels, repair and paint. I have a friend that does do restores (on a lot of different reels), but has a love for Mitch...

Dear John, The signature rod which Edward sold was one of mine !! He's sold most of my cane rods. I'm in my seventies so it's time to let some things go. I will be looking at early Mitchells next. Yes, email me and I might be able to help you and Paul on the book front. Regards, Rolands. Hi Roland ...

Thanks for the replies chaps .
Seems like the fair traded boxes were pretty short lived and US only then .
Many thanks
John

I have to say, that I would dearly love to own some these wonderful Mitchell books; there is a rare one on the lineage of the auto bail models too which I would love to own, but yes, too expensive for me. Not that I would hesitate to pay the price if I had the personal funds. I love reading referen...

Dear John, The email is a mystery. I used an address for you from memory and as neither was returned to me I assumed you received them. Let's put it behind us. All collectors have to prioritise when it comes to making buying decisions. I agree that most Mitchell books are far too expensive, but the...

My first line was jocular, note the exclamation marks. I have been the subject of hostility for several years hence my remarks. You clearly copied my post before I edited it. You will note that the final paragraph was removed because I thought you might take it the wrong way. A new collector can be...

I believe it has to do with commodities between 2 countries' when traded. You can't gouge me but at the same time want to buy my stuff cheaply. Kim Also, I think fair traded boxes were intended for North America distribution. Thanks Kim , very interesting . The Fair Traded reel is a "B" s...

You are welcome to have a dig at me !! this has been going on for over 5 years, so I am used to it. The words prototype, test and pilot are in common usage and there are dictionary definitions. A prototype would not be made in large numbers and sold to the public. As a serious collector I own and h...

Forgive what may be a mundane question for many .

When do we see " Fair Traded" appear on Boxes and what are the origins of its use ?

Many Thanks in advance

Kind regards
John

Perhaps some Mitchell collectors have their own particular understanding of what a prototype is, but if so it is rather confusing for the rest of us. I believe that the red handled MK3 in Mr. Carney's book has number 1 in the housing. The earliest reel I have seen with such a number is a MK2.3 with...

Some interesting info on this thread :

https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/forum/vi ... 87d3#p1062

he pitch angle could be altered fairly easily, but I can't imagine why. Some suggestions have included making it a better angle for spinning rods with large eyes further up towards the butt section of a rod and aiding distance casting . It would seem fixed spool reels started to be used in tourname...

A group of us looked into these changes a couple of years back. The stem was increased in length from roughly 2 - 2.25 inches on some MK3 reels shortly before serial numbers were introduced : probably late 1951.The change was introduced gradually as moulds were renewed, so both lengths were used si...

Rockape wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 7:36 pm Wow! John, you have a good eye!

Thanks Paul
I was looking at changes to the foot or stem that may have been made to combat early foot failures .
John

Hi Mates The image below shows 7 early Egg shaped mitchells , from left to right these are in date order as they appeared . Third from the right is the "B " serial Mitchel . Looking at the image we clearly see the angle of the reel in relation to the rod changes , most noticeable if you fo...

Rockape wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 9:40 am Having a few issues with trying post photos, please bear with me.

It also has a very small 'V' stamp on the foot.

Cracking reel that one Paul

John

Ted Lanham wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 12:45 am Mates,

In all my years of being into Mitchells, I've never seen this over a spool. My question is was this made for this , or is it someone's innovation.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

That's an interesting one Ted .

Yes, for my sins. The book is 180 pages with 450 photos and illustrations. Limited to 25 copies, some of which are already sold. Inevitably the book has needed regular revision as new information has come to light. That said, I have no plans to print any more. Ah , I wondered if that was you , hope...

There is a lot of pleasure to be had from collecting and studying early Mitchell reels and I envy those new to the hobby : you have a lot of fun ahead of you. I would just mention that the third edition of "The Early Years Of The Mitchell Fishing Reel" is now available in limited quantity...

The first spools are easily identified. The clicker gear has 24 teeth as opposed to 20 on later spools. The first spools were too short and a spacer ring had to be incorporated. Collectors need to classify reels for the purpose of identifying rarity, desirability and value. The easiest way is to gr...

Just how many firsts are out there? About 50 I think. An interesting question Nobby. When I posted an image of my first with some seconds on a facebook group I received in invite to a european based Reel collecting group that had a bent towards early Mitchells . There were quite a few familiar name...

Bailarm wrote: ↑Thu Oct 20, 2022 8:53 am Like you John, I associate the 'upside down' Mitchell 301 with an earlier year and the yellow and black 'rocker' Garcia sticker with 1955 and a 6 digit serial number.

Thanks Nobby , it does seem quite curious .

John

Rockape wrote: ↑Sun Oct 16, 2022 6:57 pm Just grabed these quick shots of the back of the rotor, and the locating holes are just visible, see pic:

Oh thats brilliant Paul , many thanks for doing that .
Very noticeable indeed .
John

It is my understanding that there was some talk during those days of slightly loose bail arms, and that the loop type was better? Did Mitchell introduce the loop wire to correct the 'inferior' early one, and therefore offer a replacement (any service bulletins on this I wonder). Who knows, but it d...

Hi John, I already have a shot of the rotor (see below). To be honest, because the rotor had the suspected alloy gear with the thin brass insert, and everything about the body and rotor (paint finish etc) suggested to me that they were original to each other, I wondered if that part had been change...

I just found this thread and I remember watching the auction, congrats on winning it John. One thing that has me puzzled though, is the bail arm spring type in your 1st version. This is the same type as in my recently acquired 2nd version, but I see Wallace's has the v shaped spring. Does anyone he...

There may be other ways to identify boxes. If you look at the front of the boxes in the pictures, they are not all the same. Different printing blotched out letters or numbers mean different years of release. For instance, the 1st pictures here has a price on the box of $32.50. My picture has it at...

I forgot to add: The 2nd version has a 1st version spool (I'm guessing this is quite normal?). Ok, I'm off now to open up a delivery of lowly Intrepids (am I allowed to say that word here :D ) . Cheers! I'm not an expert like some of the chaps here , but yes it would not be unusual to see a 1st spo...

Hi Paul
Very good of you to share those excellent images of your new 2nd & 3rd . They really were nice clean reels with some very nice foundry marks etc
John

Presumably there are other means of identifying boxes , like construction and wording etc ? We dont have the Garcia labels on early Mitchell boses in the UK .

John

John, One other question regarding your reel. Do you see any evidence of the orange colored primer on either the rotor, housing, or cover plate? I can't see any from the photo. As you probably know the primer started with the 2nd version reels and carried on with the 3rd version reels. Some reels h...

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