Mitchell Reel Forum

Greetings Mitchell Mates,
I was wondering if any of the Mates have been able to locate any ads for the Mitchell 300A series? Attached below are the only ones I have ever seen but there may be others out there. Any others you might have and be willing the share?
Kind Regards,
Bill

Hi Bill,
Great to be back in the MRM and to see you here too!!

I have a few 300A advertisements that you may find interesting. As you likely know the Garcia Mitchell 300A was first advertised in the Garcia Fishing Annual for 1978 which is the first advertisement you provided. Here are a couple of others:
The below is from the 1978 Garcia Fishing Tackle Catalog Supplement Flyer The below is from the 1979 Garcia Fishing Annual The below is from a 1980 French Browning Mitchell Catalog And lastly the below is from the 1984 Browning Mitchell Catalog Hope this helps

Kind Regards,
Chris

Hey Bill,

I have 12 pages of ads for the Mitchell 300A reel, too many to post here. These are scanned originals from years 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and the last one is from 1987. Is there any that you're looking for or would you like all of them? I can email these to you if you want, or post up to 4 images of your choosing. Let me know my friend...

Here's the one from 1987, one that's maybe hard to find...


I think between you, Chris and me, we might have all of them?

Kind Regards, Wallace

That's very interesting Chris and Bill, your illustrations are of a 300A that I have never seen!

Every 300A I've seen here in the UK has had the 'three piece bail arm' as in Wallace's first image.

They don't even appear to have a gasket to the side cover.

Is anything known about this? Did the first 300A just have the new gears? Was it a US release only?

I'm told the new gears were known as 'M8' Gear...I think Martin Stone told me this...does that sound familiar?

Hi Bailarm,
I don't collect any of the raised letter Mitchells, only the earlier engraved/stamped Mitchells of all models. I do know that the advent of the 300A was with the new "M8" gearing which was supposedly smoother (Obviously they never spun a 1953/54 Mitchell (300) ) and it had a silent anti-reverse, vice the old "ratchet" sound of the earlier models.....Which I happen to like by the way! I was under the impression that all of the M8 Gearing reels had a gasket to allow clearance for the slightly thicker gear train and I believe the earlier versions had a black gasket (which we may just not be able to see in these ads) and that later changed to a red gasket. I'm really not certain but perhaps another Mate with intimate knowledge of these later reels will clarify.

Kind Regards,
Chris

Thanks Chris, good thought on the gasket colour, I heard early ones were black too.

I've serviced a few when I did it as a business and I'm sure you are right...no gasket - no fit!

I will go through my later Milbro advertising later to see what I can find. I may have missed adverts for that reel, but I know I've never held one.

Chris and Wallace,
Thanks so much for posting the Mitchell 300A ads.
I feel like Mitchell ads are about the only things we have today to give us a clue as to what Mitchell was thinking, even though many of them were done by distributors.
So happy to see these and they are a great help to me.

Knobby,
The photos in the ads do not show clearly the gaskets and 5 piece bails but they are there.
All of the 300A reels have the M8 gears and they were released worldwide.

Chris and Knobby,
All of the Mitchell 300A reels have a gasket. The first version had a red gasket and one of the second versions had a black gasket which was changed to red later on as Wallace points out in his book. By the way Wallace's book: The Mitchell Classic 300 Spinning Reel, has the finest write up on Mitchell 300A reels I have seen anywhere.

Kind Regards,
Bill

Hello Bill,
I had not seen this discussion, at the time it started I was on vacation at the sea.
I have two reels that you might be interested in, a garcia 300 and a garcia 300A made 30 days apart.
The first has the SN G234408 (08/22/1977) and the second G2645209 (09/21/1977).
So one of the last 300 and one of the first 300A.
The "G" of the first was struck backwards (see photo).
The second has the unreinforced foot and a red border on the rotating head
I also have an identical garcia 300A with the SN G318611 (14/11/1977) in its box with the yellow insert. Its peculiarity compared to the following boxes is that the "A" on the insert is small and is superscript.
If you are interested I can put the pictures on this discussion.
Best regards,
Christian

Hi Bill, here's a few that you might need?

And more...

And lastly...

Simplex wrote: ↑Sat Sep 11, 2021 3:48 pm Hello Bill,
I had not seen this discussion, at the time it started I was on vacation at the sea.
I have two reels that you might be interested in, a garcia 300 and a garcia 300A made 30 days apart.
The first has the SN G234408 (08/22/1977) and the second G2645209 (09/21/1977).
So one of the last 300 and one of the first 300A.
The "G" of the first was struck backwards (see photo).
The second has the unreinforced foot and a red border on the rotating head
I also have an identical garcia 300A with the SN G318611 (14/11/1977) in its box with the yellow insert. Its peculiarity compared to the following boxes is that the "A" on the insert is small and is superscript.
If you are interested I can put the pictures on this discussion.
Best regards,
Christian300 ET 300A 1 mois.jpg

Christian,
Thank you so much for your very informative post.
Your experienced and sharp eye has captured important evidence of the dates when the change from the classic Mitchell 300 to the new Mitchell 300A reels occurred, outside the US. I would be curious to see if the reel mounting stem on your 300A pictured, is reinforced or not, as it was not here in the US on the double red band 300A reels. I believe your 300A pictured is the only one I have seen without a roller line guide, but I have very little knowledge of what was happening outside the US.

Kind Regards,
Bill

Wallace,
Great to hear from you. Thanks so much for these additional images. They are of immense help to me in my study of the 300A reels.

Would you agree that it is somewhat curious that Mitchell Sports provided almost no advertisements for the 300A reels here in the U.S.? Perhaps I have overlooked them. I wonder, have you or anyone else for that matter, ever seen 300A advertisements for the US market from anyone besides Garcia or Browning, meaning Mitchell Sports?

Thanks again.

Kind Regards,
Bill

Hello Bill,
Attached a photo on which we can see the evolution of the models:
last 300 garcia and three first 300A.
I specify that these are reels and for three of their box sold in France, the only ones I can talk about.
From left to right :
1: 300 garcia in box, insert yellow with text written in English on two lines in box
2: 300A garcia in box, yellow insert with text written in English on two lines; Box with "New" indication, the "A" is small and in superscript, probably insert old with the "A" added. Reel with red stripe and same pick-up bail as the 300
3: Reel with black and silver stripe, same pick-up bail as the 300.
I don't have the box, for the photo I put it on a 330A box with roughly the same serial number (H030601)
4: 300A garcia yellow insert with text written in English on three lines; Box with indication "A" larger and to the right. Reinforced foot reel with pick-up bail of the same type as the first 810s.
Hope this can help.
Best regards,
Christian

Christian,
Thank you so much for your post.
Your post reminds me of an important lesson I have learned and that is that it is not safe to assume that all Mitchell reels were the same that were sold in different country's.
Of course, your wonderful photo evokes many questions from me so I will try and focus on just a few.

Regarding Your Reels:
1) Reel #G318611-is the spool painted white and made from an aluminum alloy? Does this reel have a red seal (gasket)?
2) Reel #H151105-Does this reel have a red seal (gasket)?
3) Reel #H340912-Does this reel have a red seal (gasket)? Is the spool made of plastic or aluminum alloy?
4) Do any of these 300A reels have the new M8 gears?
5) Did any of the reels come with a blue arbor except as shown?
6) Did any of the reels come with two spools of different capacity?

Questions about the Boxes:
1) Which boxes came with a blue cardboard liner?
Thanks again,
Kind Regards,
Bill

Hello Bill
Below are my answers
1) white painted spool on aluminum alloy - red seal
2) red seal, the only one I have with a black seal is a 301A garcia # H163? 04 bought from Ebay USA many years ago
3) aluminum alloy spool with red seal
4) M8 ?, I don't know how to number the reels or gears so I don't know, It's not with the silent system
5) It is the only one with this spool reducer
6 The # G318611…. Comes with two spools
l must not forget that these are reels bought at a flea market and which have fished, they are as I bought them

Boxed 300A's have a blue cardboard liner inside
I have two 330 A with the same boxes which these same parts SN 318611 (I made a mistake writing the number on the phot Also attached in addition to those of Wallace, some photos of 300A from Mitchell magazines from 1979 to 1988
Best regards,
Christian

1979 1980 1981, idem 82 1983

1983 and 1984 1986 1987 1988

Simplex wrote: ↑Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:54 pm Hello Bill
Below are my answers
1) white painted spool on aluminum alloy - red seal
2) red seal, the only one I have with a black seal is a 301A garcia # H163? 04 bought from Ebay USA many years ago
3) aluminum alloy spool with red seal
4) M8 ?, I don't know how to number the reels or gears so I don't know, It's not with the silent system
5) It is the only one with this spool reducer
6 The # G318611…. Comes with two spools
l must not forget that these are reels bought at a flea market and which have fished, they are as I bought them

Boxed 300A's have a blue cardboard liner inside
I have two 330 A with the same boxes which these same parts
P1250124.JPG
SN 318611 (I made a mistake writing the number on the phot
P1250126.JPG

Also attached in addition to those of Wallace, some photos of 300A from Mitchell magazines from 1979 to 1988
Best regards,
Christian

Christian,
Thank you so much for your reply and new photos.
Your responses are of great help in documenting what happened in France concerning the 300A series. Besides Wallace, I have not been able to find this type of information anywhere, with maybe one or two exceptions. You are probably not surprised to know that there were many differences between the 300A reels sold in France to those sold in the U.S., which is quite interesting to me.

I would like to mention that your photograph (P1250124.JPG ) of the double red band reel (#G318611) inside it's box, is unique to me. The photo, which shows a blue cardboard liner and a separate blue cardboard holder for a spool case is new for a 300A box. The only time I have seen this blue cardboard spool holder, was when Ted found the unique 9th Version Mitchell 300 reel. I am not saying there have not been others like this, only that I have not seen any, and I am glad it has been documented here at the MRM.
Kind Regards,
Bill

Christian,
Thank you for posting the previous 8 new images with dates.
I would really love to know:
-What was the source for each image? (e.g.: Magazine Advertisement or Catalog)
-Who was the publisher (distributor) for each image? (e.g.: Garcia, Browning, Mitchell Sports)
Thank you so much for your time and trouble.
Kind Regards,
Bill

Hello Bill,

Below is the origin of the photos of the 300A advertisements,
Seven are from the annual Mitchell catalogs and one from leaflets published by CAP for Mitchell

1979: only marked Mitchell with the round blue and silver logo
1980: Mitchell with writing made up of dots. Mitchell SA Thiez Cluses as address. White frame for seller's stamp. For the USA: Browning Morgan Utah
1981: same but without Mitchell SA Thiez Cluses. As part of MOTILLON (major fishing store in Paris) presents the Mitchell 1981 range
1982: Mitchell with writing made up of dots. Mitchell SA Thiez as an address. For the USA: Browning Morgan Utah
1983: Mitchell in normal writing with Mitchell Sport Thiez Cluses as address. For the USA: Browning Morgan Utah
1983-1984: two small CAP leaflets marked Mitchell on the cover
1986: reduced number of pages catalog "Mitchell the accomplice of fishermen", Michell SA Thiez Cluses with above Exclusive distributor France: La Canne à Pêche SA
1987: catalog reduced in number of pages, Michell SA Thiez Cluses with above Exclusive distributor France: La Canne à Pêche SA.
1988: same as 1987 but marked "Printed in Belgium"

Regarding the boxes, the one which shows a blue cardboard liner and a separate blue cardboard holder for a spool case, this system is identical to the one in the box of a 300 # F071103 with warranty dated 07/16/1976. This box, unmarked garcia, with a green insert and was intended exclusively for the French market. The two parts at the same time are rare to find, I think that many users have deleted the part which was used to fix the reel because it is impractical. The two 330As I have in the box each have some of these parts but not both at the same time.

You write "Thank you so much for your time and trouble", retired I have all my time to do what I do and moreover it forces my old memory to work, and by seeking information I rediscover things that I forgot, I am reclassifying my documents etc,
Best regards,
Christian