Collecting ABU: Specifically, The
realsreels.com Collection
Enjoy here, possibly one of the more complete collections of A.B.Urfabriken
fishing equipment in Australia, hopefully one of the premier collections in
the world in time.
It comprises both
outsourced items, prototypes as well as normal "in-house" factory produced items
from the early 1940's to the classic 1980's period when ABU went offshore to
Asian creation for varying amounts of production.
This was the case for
all lure production and incidentally also was the time when many considered
these lures not worthy of collection. I can vouch for the fact that they fished
just as well and in some cases , great innovations were made but still the the
mystique of Swedish craftsmen making the items on the banks of the Morrum River
at Svangsta was lost.
Examples of the of the
post 80's Swedish production targeted at Japanese buyers were the Morrum casting
and Suvaren spinning series of reels well as some beautifully finished and
responsive carbon/graphite rods.
It has been a labour of
love to accumulate this collection over 45+ years, starting very modestly with
just lures, eventually leading to my very definitive and wide ranging room full
of ABU items grouped and classified and shared via my website. ABU themselves
started their Museum in the late 70's at Svangsta Sweden, with Henning Karlsson's tireless
efforts to merge machinery, rods, reels and lures into a living history in the
first old ABU factory building. I wish I had this amount of space ,
instead of my single spare room in my house. My collection here shows my passion
for, and dedication to displaying and documenting for future generations in a
more domestic space.
I am most frequently
e-mailed about ABU reel values. I am a collector and so do not set myself up as
an expert in valuations. This is not so important to me as I never sell reels. I
guess it is important if I have a double to trade/swap in order to effect a fair
deal for both parties. I can certainly advise what I have paid and what I seen
reels change hands for in the past. Prices vary over time, which i have found
generally to be increasing over the last decade, though I am reliably informed
that prices were higher 2 decades ago. Obviously we must compare apples with
apples, and items need to be similarly matched , whether bare reels in
good/excellent condition or Mint in a box with all accessories.
Some collectors will
look only at pristine MIB items whereas my view is that some items are only ever
seen in lesser condition or one may not be able to afford to collect items which
command the highest prices. I personally will always see value in collecting an
item in what ever condition if it is rare and generally unavailable. Who would
not want an an extremely rare ABU tournament cater combo rod and reel, quite
possibly used by a world champion, as i believe only 40 of these were ever
created by the ABU factory specifically for Swedish Tournament casters like Ake
Dahlberg? One day, I may find one and add it to my collection.
As to a more
exact
valuation of this collection, I need to create some perspective here.
Obviously Post Offices around the world are very happy with my large sums
expended on 2500 items and perhaps 700 discrete parcels traversing the world
over the years. Generally items such as they have to be scoured from overseas,
and Australia whilst an early adopter of selling ABU from the 40's, still
is at the end of the world!
In the case of very
complete collections, the whole can be seen as being worth more than the sum of
its parts, even taking into account postage, because of the discipline involved
in sourcing, amassing, collating and displaying (physically in cabinets and
virtually on the website) Some items could be conservatively valued at 4 figures.
My most expensive purchase was A$1800 for a MIB, very complete original 1963
Ambassadeur 5000 C Delux, my rarest boxed Record 2000 with Yellow spacers was
heavily subsidized and still others like the ABU/Garcia Admirals were a miracle
to acquire and at the other end of the scale many lures may be just A$5.00,
although one cost over $300 . ABU collecting has something for everyone!
The collection would
encompass 2500 + items , grouped broadly into 10 or so major categories, ranging
from bulky or long items to minute spare parts. I sheer numerical terms, there
are
1000+ ABU Lures ( MinB, MonC, prototypes, used
and my own unique 24 kt gilded collection of metal lures)
300 + ABU reels
(of all nine types) 150+ Ambassaeurs, 60+ Spinning, 30+ Records, Abumatic 30+,
500 Series 10, Fly 10, IGFA 7, Pimpel 5, Mooching 2, 10 other Swedish reels from
Companies put to the sword by ABU, as well as the classic Ambassadeur copy
reel from Japan.
100 + Catalogs (N&N
1952 to 2010) All English Tight Lines (missing 1956, 57, 56, 58, 61, 63)
and 9 foreign language Catalogs (missing French, Spanish, Russian and Polish)
100 + Miscellaneous
Items (jewellry, pins, awards, cloth badges,, Trophies, crockery, clothing,
Record and ABU scales, Record whetstone
35 + Rods (steel, solid
fibre glass, hollow glass, carbon fibre) Missing a split cane and Boron rod.
10 + dedicated ABU
books
10+ ABU posters
Many, 1000 + spare
parts numbered from # 100 to # 12 000)
10 assorted gaffs and
landing nets
A mudmap of my ABU room
Everything is contained
in just a 10 sq metre room , utilizing more than 30 sq metres of wall area ,
or rather should I say about 27 cubic metres. As more items are acquired and
need to be accomodated, the layout is adapted to suit. The ceiling is utilized
for rods and a suspended fishing net is used to hold empty reel boxes. The
topmost section of all 4 walls is used as a frieze to display front covers
of all my ABU Napp och Nytt catalogs from 1952 up to current 2010 issue with
room for the upcoming decade. After 2020, I'm in trouble! The English Tight
Lines catalogs are stored in a conventional easy to access book shelf as they
are constantly used to source answers to questions fielded by e-mail queries
from around the world. Starting from the mirrored cupboard (which sport large
posters), as one enters the room, we see the spinning reel collection atop
the workbench and spare parts drawers. On the other side of the doorway, we see
the 6 shelf acrylic trapezoidal CDL cupboard. Immediately left, we see the fly
reel collection and carded flys in an acrylic case. Moving further left, we see
a low 2 pac painted cupboard with 3 large drawers holding boxed individual
lures, boxed Must Set multiple lure boxes and with the lowest holding a variety
of accessories such as spare spools, badges and doubles to my collection. Above
this we have the ABU travelling salesman's Pimpel Case and the acrylic case
containing Record reels and the 500 series reels. Next left is a large timber
cabinet which houses on lower level, the Tight Lines catalogs, ABU books and
schematic collection; the second level the Abumatic reels and topmost level, the
IGFA Game reels. Atop this I have 7 different combos set up, ranging from Record
Pimple, Record Steel cost and casting reel, Record Ambassadeur 5000 and
baitcasting rod, Abumatic and speedlock rod, Sueica rod and 501, Cardinal 3 and
spinning rod and lastly the Delta 5 Fly reel and matching rod. The arguably most
beautiful reel, the $3000 + Ambassadeur 5500 CDL BASS is beyond my means.
Like wise magnificent Simon Shimomura replicas commanding huge sums in the 4
figure range have not been collected. I decided to go original rather than a
re-construction for my biggest acquisition.
With such a diverse
collection, costing over A$50 000 in the last decade, it could be worth
twice this amount given the time to collect and cost to display, not to mention
inflation and difficulty of finding and replacing such items or the desire
to own, by a well-heeled corporate or private identity with a
similar ABU passion. Providence or evidence of significant prior
ownership, affects the worth of an item such as my two pocket knives owned by
owners Gote Borgstom and his son Lennart Borgstrom. Similarly prototype
items with the same ownership are beyond value. However , this is only academic
as I intend to hold this growing collection for posterity and have no
intention of selling. Hopefully when I fall off the perch (in a long time) , my
youngest son Declan will continue with this collection. If this was to ever
change due to illness, hard times , notification will be here rather than well
known auction sites.
ABU collecting is the most
wonderful of hobbies, but be warned, balance, tolerance and patience are needed
in full measure, in order for it to avoid it becoming an obsession to the point
of it becoming larger than life itself! When fishing is forgotten or avoided, in
preference to organizing one's collection, this must be taken as an indicator of
a collecting addiction and a collector needing help.
I will happily assist anyone
who feels the need to get back to their fishing and in the process divest
themselves of their ABU! ;<)
Tight Lines
Wayne