canesterdf:
I am a big fan of the Retro that lived a short life from the late 1990’s into the early 2000’s which is AFTER the Tom Morgan era.
Winston rolled them in house as a tribute to the much earlier Stalkers. They featured a solid color medium brown blank and white spigot ferrules and came in a red rod sock with an embroidered Winston label sewn on and a white rod tube with a Winston logo and a gold screw cap.
They were offered in the following configurations (I own all but the 5’6” 2pc 3wt & the 7’6” 3pc 3wt
):
5’0” 2pc 3wt
5’6” 2pc 3wt
6’6” 3pc 3wt
7’0” 3pc 3wt
7’0” 3pc 4wt
7’6” 3pc 3wt
7’6” 3pc 4wt
8’0” 3pc 4wt
When first released, they had the standard Winston cigar grip and the standard Winston nickel- silver, screw-lock/downlocking reelseat with a cocobolo insert and the Winston logo engraved on the bottom of the butt-cap. This was soon replaced by a brightly polished or chrome plated reelseat with thinner and lighter metal, also screw-lock/downlocking over cocobolo with NO Winston logo on the butt-cap.
However as this was in the era of the Winston of old, you could pretty much get any reelseat you wanted on it. I’ve seen quite a few with nickel-silver cork cap & ring and wood insert cap & ring reelseats. You could also get a custom grip if you desired as I've seen a few of those too.
As far as value goes, they went for around $425 when they were current. I’ve seen people asking stupid money for them, but I would venture to guess it would be relatively easy to get around $500+.
If you have one with the standard Winston nickel silver, screw-lock/downlocking reelseat with a cocobolo insert & logo, I’d keep it that way as those reelseats are WAY nicer than the later thin metal versions.
Also, if you have one of the later thin metal reelseat versions, you might want to check the butt-cap. On almost every Retro I own, the cap came loose so I had to re-glue it.
Like ibookje said, there is a lot of other information on the board if you search regarding opinions on certain rods and preferred lines & reels.
Enjoy your Retro!