Old Pal Intrepids
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 5:23 pm
Hi all.
I'm not sure how well known this is to Intrepid reel collectors, and I may have been the last to hear about it, but some time ago whilst looking at overseas (outside of the UK) vintage reel auctions to see what was available, I saw what appeared to be an Intrepid New De Luxe in the US, with a different paint job and name.
So this fired up my curiosity, and I found that probably from around 1966 for maybe for only a couple of years, Ken Morritt had been exporting some models to the States to be distributed under the Old Pal name, which was a subsidiary of the Woodstream Corporation in Lititz, Pennsylvania, which by coincidence is where I got some reels from.
Old Pal distributed several models with a cat theme, some were really well built Italian models (Zangi?) with the big cat names like Lynx, Cheetah, Cougar, Jaguar etc. and a couple of closed face cats from Japan (I think?), all with the same metallic blue rotor and matt black body finish.
The Intrepids were the Tomcat 25 (Black Prince and Boyo), the Reelcat 30 (I think this was a Prince Regent, as I have only ever seen a description of one on an old US auction site) and the Bobcat 35, which could be a lucky dip for the purchaser, between a New De Luxe or an Extra (these had the first if the 'new' Intrepid specs, although no red plastic parts).
When Gladding became involved, these reels plus some other models were distributed by Horrocks Ibbottson (HI) and came with UK specs and names, except for the Super Twin, which was renamed Challenger for the US market (thanks again Stingray for that info).
Here are a couple of my Old Pal Intrepids (my Bobcat is missing its square Old Pal Bobcat 35 label, so I have included a shot of one from an auction site). These reels are relatively rare, but the Tomcat is the most often seen of the three.
I'm not sure how well known this is to Intrepid reel collectors, and I may have been the last to hear about it, but some time ago whilst looking at overseas (outside of the UK) vintage reel auctions to see what was available, I saw what appeared to be an Intrepid New De Luxe in the US, with a different paint job and name.
So this fired up my curiosity, and I found that probably from around 1966 for maybe for only a couple of years, Ken Morritt had been exporting some models to the States to be distributed under the Old Pal name, which was a subsidiary of the Woodstream Corporation in Lititz, Pennsylvania, which by coincidence is where I got some reels from.
Old Pal distributed several models with a cat theme, some were really well built Italian models (Zangi?) with the big cat names like Lynx, Cheetah, Cougar, Jaguar etc. and a couple of closed face cats from Japan (I think?), all with the same metallic blue rotor and matt black body finish.
The Intrepids were the Tomcat 25 (Black Prince and Boyo), the Reelcat 30 (I think this was a Prince Regent, as I have only ever seen a description of one on an old US auction site) and the Bobcat 35, which could be a lucky dip for the purchaser, between a New De Luxe or an Extra (these had the first if the 'new' Intrepid specs, although no red plastic parts).
When Gladding became involved, these reels plus some other models were distributed by Horrocks Ibbottson (HI) and came with UK specs and names, except for the Super Twin, which was renamed Challenger for the US market (thanks again Stingray for that info).
Here are a couple of my Old Pal Intrepids (my Bobcat is missing its square Old Pal Bobcat 35 label, so I have included a shot of one from an auction site). These reels are relatively rare, but the Tomcat is the most often seen of the three.
