Bantam1 wrote:OK I knew this was coming...
First of all the reels are built on the same line by the same workers with the same tooling. Where the lack of quality that comes into the US version reels is something I don't see.
I have already stated why there is a lack of left handed reels in our market. The average US anglers reels a conventional reel with their right hand. Certain areas (Northwest and northern CA) like to be different.
Its not just Cali, its out here in the midwest and all over the country to. I simply will not buy a right hand baitcaster because I am right handed, cast with my strong arm, and reel in with my left. Old schoolers were forced to use what really should be called a left hand retrieve long ago so they can adapt but for young guns like me we just simply refuse to. Some of your guys products interest me but im very picky as are many and if the exact reel I want dont come in a lefty im getting an alternative from say Daiwa that does. There's no possible way you guys can comprehend completely how much business you have and will continue to lose due to this. Some Daiwas I buy because thats what I want but I have baught a Daiwa due to a lack of a left hand retrieve on models you guys offer when they first come out. You know the market is there, wether you think its small is irrelevant because its still there. How can you possibly lose money? Once you guys get the left production line running you simply just make less "lefty" reels and supply them by a more on demand basis instead of mass production like your rightys. Just a thought.
The Scorpion/Shaula rods are very expensive and we are not looking at that rod market at this time. As most of you know Loomis is a part of us and they will offer the high end rods. Competing against ourselves is pointless.
Before I post a response to this paragraph it is necessary I say this to you GLoomis freaks- I know GLoomis are great rods. GLX rods are some of the finest performing sticks on the market, I know. Ive owned them so dont take what im about to say in a bad way. Now to the point- GLoomis doesnt appeal to me any more. The performance is great yes, but so much more makes a rod to me. I sold off more then a couple GLX sticks and an IMX stick to make room for new JDM rods im buying one by one. I look at the complete package. Now if you guys wont bring your JDM marketed rods I mentioned you have nothing to compete with Daiwas Steez rods to us enthusiast anglers when talking about the US Market only. If the market wasnt there Daiwa wouldnt have braught those rods here. Daiwa did what im sort of doing/saying to you now. They listened to their customers and saw they wanted the Type R tuneing is a flagship reel so what did they do when their customers asked that? They made the Steez reel with the Type R tuneing. We wanted it also to be light, what did they do? They made it come in at 5.5 ozs. We wanted enthusiast quality sticks, what did they do? They released their Steez line up of rods that can come in at 500 dollars (give or take depending on model). They only released a couple Steez sticks to us. Do you still think the market isnt there? Daiwas releasing even more Steez models to us because they know the markets there and they're selling like hot cakes.
If we did bring all the SIC models here then where would you go to buy the different colored reels?
We'd just import them like we already do now.
. And, if you guys did bring the reels to wed buy them where ever you guys sold them at. When your talking about selling to this enthusiast market you must know we will go to any length to get them, many of us already have stuff imported every month! An idea I could give you is to release a model in the US with its standard color and if you are willing to give us that color option/special tuning (what ever you would give us in a product) you could make it a special order type deal through your authorized Shimano retailers. Dont worry about advertising them too much us enthusiasts stay on top of stuff every single day just waiting to buy 1, 2, or 10 reels like these at a time. Here's some more food for thought.. many, many, people think well these guys are wealthy well off people buying this stuff and were catering to the rich mostly. This can be and probably is the case but only partially. I am an average income American (if that) and I still strive for the absolute finest in quality. I buy things slow and let them build up over the years instead of buying alot. I (and this same enthusiast market) prefer extreme quality like these products were talking about over your regular stuff any day. For the rest of my life I will be fishing (im 24) and for the rest of my life this is how I will buy all of my tackle atleast 90% of the time. Bantam, think of this to. Im sure you know of Megabass, correct? Well they came and opened up shop in America with this same quality rod and reel offerings years ago. If there wasnt the market in America they wouldnt still be here and growing strong. Another example is just baits, look what Lucky Craft did when they came to America. Look at how big the market is for those baits. These baits dont interest us enthusiasts like they do the average angler. We still love their baits but get our better JDM baits imported still. Trust me, when the average angler buys these baits and they seen a beautiful state-of-the-art Shimano Scorpion rod just calling their name out loud from all the "normal" every day rods they're going to want to buy them. Buy them just like they're buying the Steez. Form must always follow function though but with a company like Shimano I (and im sure all of us) have no worrys about that what-so-ever.
Come down to So-Cal and I'll show you how well the US model reels perform. I bet my Calais 100A will smoke anything in your arsenal
I like you. Ive used that reel, its a nice quality reel but it just didnt interest me enough to buy it. Im not a pro-product type of a guy so I dont want you thinking that. Im pro-performance, ill buy any products as long as it meets and performs to my standards
. Id put my Steez 103HL against it, its 3ozs lighter and is the finest performing mainstream market reel I own:D . You know what product of Shimanos I went crazy for? Your Chronarch 51MG! This is one of the best reels you guys have ever produced and remains a favorite of mine til this day. I have to pick up another one because I sold it quite awhile ago (which I regret).
To be blunt you guys are beating a dead horse. The SIC reels will NEVER come to the US. The rods will also NEVER come to the US. If you still believe that the SIC products are better quality then I don't know what to tell you. I work for Shimano and I have met the engineers, I have repaired reels, fished with everything and seen the product development in action. Why would you not trust what I have to say? Oh that's right EVERYONE is an expert on the internet 
Trust me when I say our products are the same if not better. Yes some of the models come with oiled bearing instead of greased bearings. Other than that our reels are built for our market. Not everyone that buys a low profile baitcast reels fishes for largemouth bass. We have to take all of this into consideration when bringing in products to our market.
Oh comon now.. we are enthusiasts. We will buy what we feel is the best on the market. You need to have an open mind if you plan to really give the competition more trouble. This very paragraph of yours saying how we'll never see the rods or reels is just another reason why I dont buy as much Shimano as I do Daiwa and other products although I favor no one company only products from many companys. Your right dont listen to us(the customer), were beating a dead horse, im only one consumer that shares the same opinions of many so I guess were not that important. This is exactly what a lot of us really dislike about Shimano. You dont listen to your customers. You hear them, hearing and listening is two completely different things. You think you know it all and that your better then me (your customer) and your not period. By that last statement I mean you act like you know what I and a lot of us want but you dont. Shimano has trouble just putting SIC guides on there American rods. You dont know everything and if you dont care to listen to us customers demands maybe Shimano needs someone else who does. Your products are also not better then a lot of other companies offerings.
Some of your reels are for me and in my opinion. But your guys US marketed sticks
deffinatly are not. There's way more sensitive, more balanced, better handleing, sticks with looks to kill that blow your guys rods here away. Your Crucial line up right now is considered by a lot of us as beater sticks, meaning sticks that are decent that we use and not care about what happens to. Good Luck, Shimano will need it if they dont listen to their customers. . . .
. Dont take this disrespectfully either as I meant nothing disrespectful in anything I said, but I do feel you went a little too far with your last paragraph and to be honest its stuff like that thats pushing not only me, but others as well away from Shimano products. I dont care that you know the engineers and that you know what goes into Shimano products I care about real world results and buy what gives me the best, as do most of us. A lot of the products you use are Shimano, you couldnt possibly have used as much as some of us have on here in terms of both US market sticks and JDM marketed.So many of us must be so stupid wasteing our time and money buying Shimano Japan products, paying for shipping, getting them imported just to have a lesser quality product then we can pick up at any Bass Pro Shops etc. The Japanese must not know what their buying as anglers either since they settle for a lesser Shimano product in Japan and dont import our US offered Shimano products. According to you, this last statement would be correct. Shimano America wont be seeing my business as a consumer as much as Shimano Japan will until they shape it up. Since you said "NEVER", I guess Shimano America will never get any money from me. But again what do I know im just a customer.
