Sadly Shimano made some rather unpleasant plastic reels last year...my local tackle shop was knocking them out at around £13, I think..and he doesn't do anything cheap! At the moment he doesn't want to deal with them anymore, though I don't know why. I had heard they are laying staff off..hard to believe isn't it? I suppose every manufacturer want's a full share of the market and is tempted to do low-end stuff.
I think it just weakens the brand image, .... but what do I know?
For sheer numbers made, even though they went 'under' in 1987, it has to be the Mitchell. What other reel can you service yourself, or for that matter, still get all the bits for? Most of the modern stuff, clever as it is, can't be stripped safely and the bits won't be avaiable if it's more than a couple of years old.
Between Mike Traynor and Jims Reel Shop, there isn't a part that I haven't been able to get....and some of my Mitchells are older than me !
I know they can sound a little strange, but even that is fixable with correct shimming and a little work on a few components.
For me it is the Mitchell 300 and its numerous variants.
(Then there's the little 408 with those Gleason gears
)