Dan,
Wellcome aboard. While I own (at last count) 38 rods and reels, I have always had a deep fondness fo Shimano Products. My favorite is your FX Series. When I was young and cash was tight, there was always the FX series to fill my fishing needs. The reels are light weight, the one hand trigger cast is very well designed, and the rear drag is easy to adjust and amazeingly smooth for such an inexspenive reel.
I am a board member of a local homeless shelter and also mentor it's clients. I like to take clients out to a local lake where we catch a few bass while discussing their program and the process that they are making. I like to reward my charges for things like good grades, long periods of soberity, etc. With the FX Series still selling today in Sports Authority for $9.99, I can reward these people with your reel and factory rod for under 20 bucks.
I should add that I bought a number of the FX series for personal use for my children when they were very young and particularly rough on equipment. Purchased as disposeable with the idea of getting a single season, I am very impressed that all are still functioning very nicely some of them going on 9 years now. I also own a Custom GT 6000 which has caught more bluefish than I can count and still functions perfectly after over two decades of use.
For these reasons I would ask two things...
First don't ever stop producing the FX Series
Second, Make sure that you keep us informed via this site of your new products. I would be particularly interested in your moderate to high end ultralight and medium spinning reels. Please pass this on to the guys who engineered your FX Series. Thanks for making quality products at very affordable prices.
Best Regards,
MikeV
