Picked up a luxor spinner at a flea market this weekend. I don't know much about them. This one is large, greyish, with holes in the top of the spool. Bail-less, but I imagine it was done aftermarket. Says luxor pezon michel on the side, has a b on it (model?)... a little screw cap is on one side of the spool, not sure if it is for oiling. I can't post a pic at the moment, but looks like this one I found on fleabay. Prices seem to be extremely all over the place... Anyway just curious what ya'll know...

Luxor, Crack all pretty much the same. Luxor was a great reel. My old deceased partner Gil Gliottone used Luxors for 50 years.

The Van Staals were modeled after the Luxor and Crack reels. Luxor and Crack were loud, slow (like a winch. something like a 3:1 ratio), but very dependable. I've used one a couple times in the past. Here's one I recently resurrected.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/bospa/luxor3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/bospa/luxor1.jpg

I have a Crack 100 and a Crack 300. These reels are like old work horses. The 300 has the strongest drag system of any spinning reel. It is one washer and you cannot believe how strong it is.
I still use both reels occasionally.

last year I found and sold a few case lots of Crack 300 reels brand new in the boxes $60 each. they did not last long I kept a few for myself.

great little reel

I have both a Luxor (in pieces) and a Crack. Both 300s. I'm in a very distinct minority of people who don't like them.

The gear train is a winch. You can't take that away from the reels. And the drag is good (Penn 6-60 washers also fit).

But there's a downside.

The screws are like butter. The side plate screwheads strip very easily and the shafts are brittle and can break off. One of the many services that The Surfcaster offers is broken screw removal.

The anti-reverse dog is also held in place with a soft screw. I had a situation where the handle spun on the cast and the line caught on the manual pick-up. The screw holding the dog in place snapped.

The stock line rollers groove easily. Many people replaced them with a Penn 704 roller. The Surfcaster also has hardened rollers for sale.

The Surfcaster is the only source for parts. I don't know their current policy, but when Bill P owned The Surfcaster, he wouldn't sell you any part, regardless of how cheap or minor. You had to ship the reel to him, at your expense, for him to install the part. He did pay return shipping.

As you can see, the drag knob is just a big wing nut. 20# mono can easily get tangled under it on a windy night. It would probably be a living nightmare with braid or Fireline (I would think that the reels wouldn't be "braid friendly" in any event).

They were used heavily on LI back in the day, and you could get anywhere from $150-$200 for one that was in good condition. That ended when the Van Staals hit the market. Used Cracks and Luxors flooded the market and the resale value went down.

They were a good reel in their time. There are better choices now. I would take a Mitchell 388 or 488 with manual pick-up over a Luxor anytime, if you wanted to "go retro".

Thanks for the replies