Hardy Reel

[Piers Hugh Smith]

I have a House of Hardy Marquis #6 reeland I was wondering if anyone can tell me wether it is worth anything as an antique or collectors item as I currently have no use for it

 

[Windy]

Quite worthless I am afraid*, but if it is genuinely of no use to you I will take it off your hands for a fiver or so if you pay the post.......

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* BFWL

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('Big Fat Welsh Lie.....)

Worth a bob or two, depends on age and condition. If its a 1920's signed original in near perfect nick its obviously worth one hell of a lot more than a 1980's version with a few dozen well used scratches.

More a specialist auction market jobbie, not Fleabay, and a proper valuation needed from them that as knows, rather than them as thinks they knows....

 

[Windy]

Quick bit of googling finds quite a lot of variation in prices second hand, £175 / £200 odd for Salmon sized Marquises, down to only £75 - 80 for some of the 6 / 7 weight modern ones.

You describe yours as having 'House of Hardy' on it, which I think indicates it to be a modern reel, as that affected self-referential piece of marketing genius styling is a recent abomination that the marque's Calvinist Hibernian originators would have regarded with appropriate disgust.....

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Hells Bells Windy, what are you trying to say?

The Hardy Marquis was one of the first reels to have an exposed drum for finger control, along with the Orvis CFO (a Marquis re-branding)and the good old Intrepid Rimfly. The Orvis reels were of course made by Hardys in Alnwick.

The exposeddrum on the spool was put there due to the nagging by **** Walker. Prior to this, fly reels had caged construction where it was impossible to put finger pressure on a running fish.

The Marquis reels are fine examples of English craftsmanship and I wish I had not sold my Orvis years ago.

 

[Windy]

Simply that anything with the dreadful marketing slogan 'House of Hardy' inscribed upon it as if it were some ghastly Frenchified fashion house instead of the straightforward, honest and original 'Hardys Bros, Alnwick Ltd' and indicates / suggests that it is an item less than 20 years old and therefore unlikely to be of an age or vintage to get into the more valuable end of the market.

Unless it is some special limited edition or it has a rare as hens teeth unusual one off feature of interest to a collector.

By way of benchmark a brand new Marquis size 9# (Salmon sizes re-introduced this year in response to populare request apparently) is £199 going up to £250 for a size 11#.

I have found a number of Marquises in auction results from what seems to be a range of £75 - 95 for trout reels, £125 - 150 for Salmon reels, so assuming it is in 'good ordinary serviceable' condition appropriate to its age I would suspect that its second hand value lies in the former of those two price ranges. Specialist dealers have a number of second hand ones in virtually unused condition going at around £125 - £165, and if they are selling at that then you're going to have a hard job to persuade them to buy at much more than half of retail.....

 

[Windy]

See

No 7# on Fleabay

including three spare spools, up to a £ton after 16 bids from people willing to put money where mouth is and auction still has a day and a half to go to the end, so maybe I'm being overly pessimistic about value.

Tho on the other hand fleabay will generally get you a better price than a dealer / conventional auction will pay, so I suspect I may not be that far out.

If its not got something super rare or special about it then I'd bung it on fleabay - take some good pics and risk a low reserve if you're feeling brave to keep the listing fees down and then let the market do its bit.

 

[Piers Hugh Smith]

Sorry guys

Having had a closer look it does not say House of Hardy on it but Hardy Bros. Alnwick ltd.

 

[Windy]

That is the way Hardys used to style themselves 20+ years ago before deciding to be 'House of....' in an attempt to 'work the brand' to sell a range of 'lifestyle' goods in addition to fishing equipment. All very 80's. It worked a bit, but competition for Louis Vuitton they never were. [Edit]Come to think of it, did they get bought out by LVMH ?[/Edit]


So your reel is likely to be older than most Maquises, but how old I wouldn't know, nor whether this has any significant effect upon value. Back to basics, give Hardys a ring and quote the serial number at them.... they know their own kit best, should have some idea of what its worth.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

By the way, Hardys have re-introduced the Marquis and Orvis have done the same thing with the CFO.

But both are made in China.

 

[Wolfman Woody]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA) wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

By the way, Hardys have re-introduced the Marquis and Orvis have done the same thing with the CFO.

But both are made in China.</blockquote>

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Anyone see the Chinese F1 Gran Prix last week?

They gave Lewis Hamilton his trophy, made in China, of course .........

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And the bottom fell off!

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Sums up a lot of Chinese manufacture.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Oh I don't know, I am sitting behind a whole load of computer hardware, all made in China, it seems to work OK.

Most of my fishing rods are made in China and that includes my range of Greys fly rods which are superb. I have two Shakespeare Pfleuger Trion fly reels which are excellent and made in China.

All Hardy fly rods are now made in China by the way.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Oh and I have a pair of Nikon Binoculars that are absolutely superb.

Made in China.

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