{"product_id":"roddymatic-902-spinning-reel-by-roddy-black-cast-body-with-applied-copper-fish-badge-full-bail-and-original-crank","title":"Roddymatic 902 Spinning Reel by Roddy, Black Cast Body with Applied Copper Fish Badge, Full Bail and Original Crank","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA heavy black spinning reel carrying a small copper fish on its flank.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe badge is the thing you notice. Set into a recess in the body is an applied plaque cut in the outline of a fish — a copper-toned ground with the fish drawn in bright silver over it, lettered RODDYMATIC 902 along its body with a registered trademark mark, and by RODDY beneath.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe body is cast and sculpted rather than plain: faceted flanks sweeping down to a ridged base, a stem rising to carry the spool, and a flat foot for the rod seat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe spool is a shallow black cup with a moulded conical cap, and there is olive line still wound on it. A heavy chromed wire full bail arcs right over the top.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe crank is a straight arm finishing in a long black knob, mounted on a round sideplate held by three screws, and there is a knurled black cap at the back of the housing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eRoddymatic was a model line rather than a one-off, and the numbers document it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReels marked Roddymatic turn up across a run of catalogued models — the 601, the 810-A, the 820-A, this 902, the 925-RL — which is the signature of a proper product line sold through American tackle counters, not a single novelty. Surviving examples of the series are consistently found marked as Japanese-made.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat combination is the ordinary history of mid-century American spinning tackle. The fixed-spool reel arrived from Europe after the war and became the thing every angler wanted; Japanese factories built to American specification at a price the European makers could not match, and American brands put their own names on the results. A great many people caught their first fish on a reel exactly like this one.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe badge is worth a second look on its own terms. A recessed plaque, cut to a fish silhouette, in two contrasting metal finishes, with the model number worked into the lettering — that is a piece of applied industrial design, and it cost the manufacturer real money on a reel sold at a working man's price.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe only mark on the reel is that badge. There is no date, no serial number and no country of origin visible on any surface, and no date is claimed for it. It is offered as what it can be shown to be: a Roddymatic 902 spinning reel by Roddy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eOpen-face spinning reel, black finish over cast metal\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eDimensions\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eApproximately 7 in across the crank, 5 in tall\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eConstruction\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCast and faceted body on a stem with a flat mounting foot; shallow spool with a moulded conical cap; heavy chromed wire full bail; straight crank arm with a long black knob on a three-screw round sideplate; knurled cap to the rear of the housing\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBadge\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eApplied fish-shaped plaque set into a recess in the body — copper-toned ground with a bright fish outline, lettered RODDYMATIC 902 with a registered trademark mark, and by RODDY\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eThe badge only. No date, serial number or country of origin visible on any surface. Offered unattributed beyond the badge, and no date is claimed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eGood and complete. The crank is present and turns, the bail is intact and swings, and the spool and its cap are both there. The badge is undamaged with all lettering crisp and fully legible. The black finish is chipped and worn through to bare metal along the rim of the spool, on the high edges of the body and along the crank arm, with scattered scuffing and a small white paint fleck on the body. The old line remains on the spool. No cracks, no missing parts, no repairs. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fish on the side is why this one sells, and there is no point pretending otherwise.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlmost every reel of this era wears a printed name or a stamped number. This one wears a little metal fish, cut to shape, in two colours, with the model number written along its body. It is a small piece of deliberate design on an object that did not need any, and it is what makes people pick it up.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe shape underneath it earns the attention too. A faceted cast body on a stem, a chromed wire bail sweeping right over the top, a long black crank running off one side — it reads as a machine from across a room, which is exactly what you want from an object on a shelf.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe black and chrome go anywhere. Against wood, against a painted wall, among books, in a bookcase with brass and leather, it introduces no colour and no pattern and simply sits there being a good shape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe wear is the right kind. Paint gone through to bright metal on every edge a hand touched, and intact everywhere else. That is an object somebody used for years, and it is the difference between a real thing and a decorated one.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt belongs with the rest of it — a rod on a wall, a creel, a landing net, a tackle tin, a lake photograph. In a cabin, a den, a boathouse or a boy's room, a reel like this does more work than its price suggests.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA note on care. Strip the old line off before storing it. Line left wound and under tension for decades stiffens and can press a groove into the spool lip.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA drop of light reel oil on the crank shaft and the bail pivot is all the lubrication it wants. Heavy grease makes a cold reel drag.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeave the finish alone. Do not touch up the chipped paint and do not polish the badge — the contrast between the copper ground and the bright fish is what makes it read, and polish will flatten it to one tone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKeep it dry. The finish is already open to bare metal in places, and damp is what takes a reel from worn to pitted.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48048742662249,"sku":"VE-0777","price":85.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/6C9A86FE-8F8F-414D-B703-17A41365BAB3_58556e0d-1f96-4ef6-8bbe-dfb4c7c0fb31.jpg?v=1789323233","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/roddymatic-902-spinning-reel-by-roddy-black-cast-body-with-applied-copper-fish-badge-full-bail-and-original-crank","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}