Daiwa

Daiwa was founded in Japan by engineer Yoshio Matsui, starting as Matsui Manufacturing in 1955 and becoming Daiwa in 1958. Its reels from the 1970s are now a value corner of the vintage market. The Millionaire round baitcasters, which collector histories date to 1975, were Daiwa's answer to the Ambassadeur: round, star-drag reels with a level wind and centrifugal brake, sold in a family of models including the 5H, 6H, 3H, 5HS and the Millionaire II. The Silver Series spinning reels of the 1970s, topped by the heavy 7000C, became cult reels for surf and big-fish spinning. Early reels were made in Japan, and some later production moved to Korea. Vintage Daiwas usually sell for well under the price of comparable Swedish Ambassadeurs or Penns, and spare parts for popular models such as the 7000C still turn up regularly, so a tired reel is often fixable. Check model markings carefully, because both the Millionaire and Silver Series families include many similar-looking versions.