The Kingpin Viking Norwegian Special Edition reel No1 of 10 centrepin

This is No. 1 of only ten Kingpin Viking Norwegian reels ever to be made. No second editions, no replicas, no relaunch, only ten worldwide and that’s it forever. Designed by John Stephenson and created by Stuart Ward of Kingpin in 2019-20, they went on sale in 2020, selling out at £800 each. No1 was kept back, it’s here for sale now.
The reel was featured in Classic Angling magazine and was a blog feature and video here on the Thomas Turner Website, you will find both on the home page under Blogs. These are all hand-built, even down to the individual screws and components. Many other reels on the market use ‘off the shelf’ general purpose screws, including so-called ‘hand-made’ reels! See how the spokes of the spool are concave in the middle? This is the same on every plane giving the reel a completely bridged design which makes it five times stronger than anything else available.
The reel had to be a piece of art as well as functional. The scratch-proof individual colour green anodised backplate has been skilfully engraved (not just laser etched) with a Viking Longship, the most iconic image of Norway reflecting its Viking history. Backfilled with silver and hand-finished, the reel is truly stunning. Special green marbled handles were commissioned to complement the backplate finish.
Built to a diameter of 4.75”, the larger drum barrel increases line recovery and pay-out over the smaller reels. The Viking Norwegian is ideally suited to handling larger high-speed species such as steelhead, barbel, pike, and even salmon. The rounded front rim of the contrasting silver drum provides fingertip braking whilst the check clicker lever is positioned UK style. Space-age alloy keeps the drum weight to almost nothing yet retains the strength of any other full-face reel. Of course, it spins with a breath of wind!
Each reel is individually numbered inside the backplate, which can be seen through the dished drum spokes. The reel comes with a hand-signed test certificate from Kingpin with the matching numbers. A Kingpin neoprene case will protect the reel both on and off your rod. A special key is included to remove the drum nut, and finally, it comes in a black outer box.
Remember, only ten of these reels were ever built, this is No1
A fabulous reel to use, a piece of art and set to be a future collectable.