During the 2020 lockdown a little voice in my head said “design your own reel” and so I did just that. I have worked with Stuart Ward, Director of Kingpin reels in Poole, Dorset, England over the last 12 months to design this reel, from concept to the finished article.
Attention to detail was paramount to bring to market this very special Limited Edition reel “The Kingpin Viking Norwegian Special Edition.”
Only ten of these reels will ever be made. No second edition, no replicas, no relaunch, only ten worldwide and that’s it forever. 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.
Why the name? It combines two important parts of my life. The Viking was the first true vintage Centrepin reel I collected nearly 40 years ago. The Norwegian element remembers my family who are from the town of Arendal in the south of Norway. I have many happy memories as a youngster of fishing in the sea from my uncle’s wooden boat for mackerel, and wandering the lakes for pike and perch with Abu tackle bought for me in the harbour shop.
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 payout 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.
Every 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 will ever be built. Numbers, 1, 2, 3, and 7 have already sold leaving only six reels available.
A fabulous reel to use, a piece of art and set to be a future collectable.
Thomas Turner is the sole supplier of these reels. The numbers we have available are; 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 &10.
If you would like a specific number, please contact louise@thomasturner.com before ordering, to ensure that it is available.
