Who collects vintage reels? Do you still use them? 

 

The reason I ask is because I was given a Shimano Bantam 1000AG Tournament reel. I was told it was vintage/classic.  I've done some research and this was a reel that was released in the early 80s (80-83). Do you still have one? Do you use it? How good were they?  I thought this would be a cool topic to talk about while we soak a worm.  

I collect and build Vintage reels. Your Shimano was a good reel back in the day, and it's still a reel that you can enjoy today. I mostly use Vintage Ambassadeurs,but I have a couple of Old Daiwas,and Shimanos. They're not as fancy as the newer reels,but they still catch fish.

That's a decent reel. My dad had one when I was a kid. It's still useful. I just finally retired my first BC reel, a 1983 Daiwa Magforce.

I like to fish with vintage reels also. Mostly Ambassadeurs but I also have an old Daiwa Millionare 5H, a Shakespeare 1980 President II, a Ryobi AD4000V  and a couple of late '80s Shimanos that all get occasional use. They're not in the starting lineup, but I break them out a couple times a year just for fun. 

 

Tom

I bought some old Shimano Bantams a while back, the 10xSG was my favorite, and while they were very nice reels in their day, they don't hold a candle to the reels that are available now and with parts availability a problem, I would consider any vintage Shimano that I own to be a shelf queen.

I still use two Shimano Magnumlite Plus 2000's with that fighting drag lever on them I bought back in the 80's. They are still my favorite reels for small top water lures. I have four others but they have discontinued a part needed for them.