Ocean City went from a Major innovator and Quality Fishing Reel Manufacture to a fit all try and keep up with the Jones's and started making cheap low quality Reels that would not last a month of fishing in my opinion and even more so after they were bought out by True Temper. The products that had been meticulously made of Quality material and workmanship went immediately to become second rate crap and it is most evident in the 922 line and I will show the mods they made in quality and production cuts as this thread goes along .
Ocean City started cutting corners BEFORE selling out to True Temper as it evident in some of the End plate mods they did They took a magnificent strong well working reel and just went to hell in a hand basket.
Just to name a few of the short cuts they made ....
They took the removable end bearings off the business end ,put Cheap ass plastic stickers on where fine metal embossed medallions had once been riveted in the side plate,removed the adj. friction system for the level wind allowing you to fine tune your casts or speed the line would move in free spool ,took the spring loaded oilers out and stuffed cotton or some other crap in a hole to oil where grit and saltwater could also enter.Even the internals were cheapened in the use of low quality steels in stead of bronze and or brass
Illustrations to follow soon .
Here is one example of the 922 Model B with Crap Gears
Note
These are not Brass but some sort of cheap alloy that gives the Reel a cheap ass clinky sound when you reel it in
and one is FREAKIN PLASTIC. Which actually MAY have Been an improvement from the Cardboard Gear they used before .
( ADDED info November 30 2023)There were MANY so called updates and modifications over the years NONE WERE IMPROVEMENT'S in my opinion ...lol
PENN was KICKING ASS in the day so I think OCEAN CITY tried to save money and it is pretty obvious to me as I have seen how they did it .
From taking out the Brass and Bronze components and replacing with Stainless, Taking the Wrench off the Handle, Changing the end Bearing's (Several Times), Removing the Tensioner off the side for putting pressure on the Level wind which could be used to set line Drag for Casting different weights, they removed the Spring loaded oil ports to give way to a piece of crap hole in the side with a piece of cotton to soak up lube and hopefully get to the parts needing lubrication along with dirt, water ,sand , and Grit as well . And to put it Mildly !
They Took the Iconic METAL BADGE off the Side Plate and stuck a CHICKEN S.H.I.T little Sticker in place. Apparently they didn't think enough off their product to put a lasting Badge of Honor on it any more .
This Down Grade of Quality and Penny Pinching production cuts was evident in ALL of OCEAN CITY REELS in the day and that with other probable BAD management problems ,equipment upgrades needed, and rising cost of materials and and former employee OTTO HENZE (PENN's DADDY) Building Better and Cheaper Reels, then being bought out by an old line Sword and farm equipment company (TRUE TEMPER) put OCEAN CITY REEL COMPANY in The GRAVE......
