SuperWetBlanket

There isn't much paint around the hooks section, it's translucent from what i am seeing. Do you have a standard color one with their glossy paint finish? This is the one that has the most severe chipping from the 4 Pointers i have.

If they don't use 34mm spools or have the true zero adjuster, i won't even pay attention to it coming out. Daiwa needs to learn.

If you stick to low end and noname reels, sure there's plenty of plastic reels. I don't use that crap. All my reels have a metal frame and handle side plate. Other than Aldebaran mgl, which i had no idea used a garbage plastic side plate.

Almost 8oz for a low profile, all around reel isn't a lot? First time i hear of this. The OG zillion was always considered as a heavy tank, and this is almost the same weight. It's great for a heavy powered rod for flipping, frogging and such, because it'll balance your setup, but nobody in their right mind would choose it for jerkbaits, etc. For today standards, a reel that is 8oz is a lot. If you're used to low end reels, then sure, it's the norm in most cases, but if you're mostly using higher end stuff, that is not a light reel. So no, i would never consider it as competition, not even close (unless you're looking for a heavier reel to balance out your rod of course). And the OG Alphas.

The last part has always been like that. They prep your parcel before you pay. You have a week to pay for it, and then it's shipped. Duty fees aren't paid, so you might have to pay them on delivery, which i hear never happens in the US, but in Canada we pay them 95% of the time.

Fedex was the cheapest to the US? That's crazy. To Canada, the cheapest shipping was like $5.

Fedex, UPS and DHL are way too expensive. No reason to use any of these couriers.

I just ordered almost $300cad of parts from them, and used registered airmail. Your whole package isn't fully ensured, but it's cheap to ship. If you're ordering something that is like $50 or under, there's an untracked shipping option that is even cheaper, and that's what i usually use for cheap stuff.

Was in the same boat, and went back to braid with a fluoro leader in a few months. Anything over 10lb fluro doesn't feel smooth, and there's no reason to deal with something that isn't smooth when with braid, even 50lb is a smooth caster.

I'd buy from PLAT instead. Its much cheaper than ordering from the US. https://www.plat.co.jp/shop/catalog/optionparts/language/en/manufacturers/4/

I would make it as direct competition to the zillion. As is, Shimano has nothing to compete with it. Some might say the Bantam, but the Bantam weights a ton, so i would never say that it's competing with the Zil. Made in Japan, meta frame and handle side plate, weights between 6 and 6.5oz, and sold for about the same price as a zillion. That's what i'd try to achieve.

My problem is not that its coming off, but how severe it is from literally under 5 fish. That is not something i've ever seen. Your two baits have probably cought 100+ fish to be in that state. I too have multiple baits that look rough, but that's because i have em for years, and cought hundreds or even thousands of fish over the years.

This is just from a couple of fish Went on their site, and i am not even seeing a contact button🤢 https://www.luckycraft.com/luckycrafthome/

Will they send a replacement or something?

Only have had the experience with Pointer SP and Sammy 105. Both have the weakest paint imaginable. After having bought them, i saw Made in Japan on the package, and was surprised that they're still made there, but they've certainly skipped on the paint quality.

So not sure what's going here. I haven't purchased anything from LC for like 7-9y because other brands like Jackall and Megabass offer pretty much the same stuff, but in many cases better. I always liked LC so decided to grab 4 pointer SP's and a sammy 105 because they were 50% off. Within two smallies and a 100g walleye, the paint on the sides is shreaded. I thought it was hook rash, but it was kinda extreme for a brand new lure. I put another pointer, and within 4-5 smallies, the lure is also full of chipped paint on the sides, and deep scratches. Put another pointer, and the same thing happened. What the hell is going on, is this just me, or this is their standard nowadays? I have some OG luckycraft squarebills from the early 2000s, and their paint is like a tank. Literally cought hundreds of fish on one of the babybass colors, and there's barely anything that has chipped, while these newer lures flake and scratches significantly faster than any other brands, including cheapo aliexpress lures. I swear $5 spary cans from Walmart would last longer🥱

I have been saying this for years, the Chronarch is the most neglected reel from Shimano. This thing has been using the same frame for how long now? Like 10+ years? Ridiculous, especially because the frame wasn't even that good to begin with, AND a full plastic reel.

I have the 5pc version in MH. Super strong rods with a crazy backbone, but not exactly well balanced, and are tip heavy. Love mine for striper.

Unless you want to buy an USDM product, why even bother buying anything in NA? I literally forgot the last time i bought anything expensive outside of Japan lol.

The Met "feeling" tighter is because of it's construction, not because all its parts being tighter fitted than the zillion. A few weeks ago i made a thread on here saying how Daiwa should steal the coresolid design from Shimano. This is what makes the reel feel tighter, especially under heavy load. It's a superior way of construction because there are less moving parts. The only thing that breaks in on a zillion is the grease, which lowers the drag, and increases how free it is to turn the handle.

I have a hard time believing this because Shimano doesn't pay attention to the lateral movement of the handle. I don't have enough experience with the newest conquests and antares, but every single other shimano baitcaster i've ever had or tried, they all had lateral vibration of the handle. Like ALL OF THEM. Not only that, but there's even backplay of the handle (hold the spool, and turn the handle backwards, you'll see what i mean), and this hasn't improved in the last 20 years plus. A thing that doesn't exist from Daiwa.

Broken in in what way? Even from factory, the Met comes with a ton of side to side (lateral) movement of the handle, while the zillion has none. So when it comes to the Met, there's nothing to break in, it comes loose from factory.

I own the new 24 met dc since Winter this year and the Zillion since a few months they came out in 2021. I am trying real hard to understand what one could find bulky in a small compact reel that fits in your hand like an agg? Between the two reels, i do prefer the Met frame, but it has nothing to do with comfort but the looks and the coresolid construction. I don't know how a stock Zillion is because i have upgraded mine to 12BB as soon as i got it, and swapped to custom spools, but after doing so, the zillion was at least as smooth as the Met dc, and considering that i have used it a ton since 2021, and that the gears as still perfectly silent and at least 85% as smooth as new, there's zero chance of this happening with the micro module inside the Met.

Spool bearings might be dry. Put some oil in both bearings.

Wouldn't say that it's too much, but the Zillion HD would've been better for the job, though.