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Well the late 70s and into the 80s was the death of alot of American made rods and reels, we simply couldn't compete price wise with what the Koreans and Japanese were producing. Large volume companies like Conolon, Fenwick and Silaflex just closed up the shop and went overseas like everybody else. The Koreans and Japanese fell into the same position as soon as the Chinese began making quality tackle for less.
I can remember buying a couple of closeout Fenwick Techna AV fly rods around 2000 as well, from Korea I believe, very high tech stuff, but hay, what did it cost them to make them. Sure they are lifetime garanteed, but for a rod that when it was introduced costing nearly $900 and later to fall to less than $600, how much did it actually cost to produce in Korea and ship to America. Like I say I picked up a couple at the closeout fished them too, good rods, but and frankly not better than anybody elses premium rod at the time. I have a couple of made in America "best quality" Fly Logic rods that are very close in looks that cast just as well for less than half the cost of those high priced import Fenwicks even at the deeply discounted closeout prices.
Same holds true for Fly Logics "Best Quality" fly reels, made in Idaho, they are as good as anything Orvis is bringing in from where ever and most of the rest with IMHO the exception of Hardy. They seem to have been able to relate to their Korean Factory people that copying their premium reels means they have to be identical in every way to the English made ones.
There is nothing wrong with tackle being made overseas at a lower cost as long as the quality is there, IMHO, one of my all time favorite Reels is the Japanese made Marryat. I would say, with much of the high end stuff that Fenwick has been bringing in, its overpriced, definately not Walmart material, but not worth the premium prices they were asking either.
The German made reel was way over designed, could have been made for alot less Im sure. The Korean assembled reel could have been a winner but was just late in the offering. The last one, is definately not bad but again priced out of the Walmart range, more into the "Big Five Sporting Goods" type operations. As such its not exactly a collectable or anything to get excited about. Might be in 30 or 40 years though when its discovered again.
Richard