Was JIP a driving force why the Revo took off so well?

[fishingandfords]

the original STEEZ review is why I bought one but If I bought something g every time TT writes a review I would be broke. I never jumped on the revo bandwagon but I have used a few and I wasn't overly impressed

[Johnny A]

It was a couple factors. Daiwa stopped manufacturing the TD-X, which was a reasonably priced, well performing piece of equipment, the Revo STX was in the same price range and configuration. That was one factor.
Factor 2, who were the big name pros sponsored by Abu in 2005/6 when the Revo was released? That's top tier, upper echelon pros using the Revo. The answer would be, maybe Skeet Reese. Most of the other Abu guys were using Abu round reels. Hank Parker and Larry Nixon were round reels guys. Katsutaka Imae was using the Revo in Japan. The Revo was actually a grassroots success story.
Number 3? A lot of Abu old timers weren't too thrilled with Abu products after the 90's. I, personally, was one of them. Speaking for myself, I was hesitant to try it out but once I started using it, I was impressed.

[dragon1]

Good points Johnny, thanks for sharing.

I do recall Larry advertising and noting (in a Bassmaster Mag sometime back) that he used the Tournament Pro LP a bit.

[Bass Junkie]

Boyd Duckett winning the Classic using Premiers helped.

[capt1fish]

All great points. I worked in a major fishing tackle shop in the south SF bay area and sold a lot of tackle spanning years. However back in 2006 I was fresh out of the retail scene when the Revo made its introduction. Back then, Shimano dominated mainstream reel sales at the stores I worked at while in high school and college. Daiwa was a distant second. (For the sake of discussion, I define "mainstream" as regional tournament anglers, weekend club level anglers and weekend warriors.)

As Johnny A stated, the success of the REVO was pure grassroots. I agree with that. Sure, Pure Fishing had major marketing campaigns filled with print, television, promotions, sponsorships, etc with this new LP baitcaster. But market perception was Abu Garcia wasn't considered a mainstream major player then. They couldn't bring a successful reel to market that could compete with the TDX, Chronarch A or Curado sale for sale.

Thus back to my original post. JIP's review introduced a reel that was a true game changer. To further my point, it is of my opinion that traditionally Zander and Cal review products from the top tier manufactures. JIP reviews the lesser brands. Just do a search in the archieves. And in 2006, Abu was the lesser brand. His review ushed marketing points such as "lbs of drag" so commonly thrown around today. His review actually gave me pause and persuaded me to purchase a STX instead of another tried and true Shimano line. The rest is history.

[dragon1]

I fished a pre-production model in 2006, a few months before the 1st Gen SX and STX were released for public consumption.

I wrote in sincerity that on a different forum, that IMO; the Revo would be Abu's most successful LP of all time, and would change the face of market share control by other brands...esp. Shimano and Daiwa.

I was laughed at by many at the time, but hey, who really knew this much success would have come of it?

[The Doc]

Are we forgeting about the Torno reels? Never really liked them, but they were "low" profile Abu reels.... As far as the OP, who knows.... trends start and end somewhere. I love my Revo's. They just work for me and I've had almost no issues with them so far. I still fish my Gen I SX (it's a bit touchy, but it still works great) Others have had the opposite findings as I have. As a matter of fact, the only Revo that I have returned so far has been my MGX! I don't know why but the thumb bar doesn't like to re engage all the way when you crank the handle....

[dragon1]

Are we forgeting about the Torno reels? Never really liked them, but they were "low" profile Abu reels.... As far as the OP, who knows.... trends start and end somewhere. I love my Revo's. They just work for me and I've had almost no issues with them so far. I still fish my Gen I SX (it's a bit touchy, but it still works great) Others have had the opposite findings as I have. As a matter of fact, the only Revo that I have returned so far has been my MGX! I don't know why but the thumb bar doesn't like to re engage all the way when you crank the handle....

I believe the Torno reels evolved into the Tournament Pro LP series.