Don't forget John worked in the trade so would have been buying privately from estates and other individuals. He was not buying retail!
Paul, thinking back about 15yrs I can remember being after an adcock stanton reel myself, I wanted a minter and preferably boxed. To get one in that Kind'a nick back then would have cost you between 80 and 130 or possibly more depending on who was after the reel at the same time...bidding wars!
Even buying privately you could expect to pay the lower ebay price or just below it if you where lucky. Once ebay became well known everyone quickly became familiar with the values of such things and even buying privately people where less likely to give you a genuine steal.
At the end of the day if John says he could get them for such low prices then I don't doubt that "he could", obviously he has some good contacts. As I said though on the open market or even amongst good friends I think you would have been very fortunate to aquire one for 30 to 40 quid
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By the way Paul i'm looking forward to watching Johns future videos and especially regarding the subject of centrepins reels as most of my fishing is done with a pin.