well i stumbled across an Abu Garcia ambassaduer 5500 c3 reel at my grandmothers, the packaging is still in good shape and the reel has never been used. it appears to be pre 93 because there is a coupon inside of it that expired in 93, i wont sell it but i cant help to be curios

Well, if the coupon expired in '93 the reel was probably made in '91 or '92. If that's the case it's not worth any more than any other used 5500C3. I know you said it was unused, but once it leaves the store I consider it "used".

They run about $90 brand new at BPS and $75 for a brand new one on Ebay, so you're probably looking at $50-60 or so.

I'd hang on to either way but the cash value is well under the actual usage value... as stated above the cash value is probably $50 or so but the older C3's were much better performers than the newer ones.

If you have a need for the reel, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.  (but it probably needs a trip to ReelMech first, since it's been sitting for close to 20 years)