I have a question regarding the gold Big Game ABU's. Were some made in Sweden before production was moved to China? I had assumed all the Gold Big Game reels were made in China, but I recently saw one NIB that says "Made in Sweden" instead of "Made in China" or "Assembled in Sweden".
Just curious about the chain of events regarding those reels.:huh:

(insert sound of crickets here......) Wow! The silence is deafening.:behead: Must have been something I said 'cause I took a shower last month.:huh:

No idea, but this site has lots of abu history - http://www.realsreels.com/reels/ambassadeur/default.htm

Thanks FS. I'll have to explore that site this evening.

Big BO - I thought the Golds were made in China too. Though if it says Made in Sweden, consider yourself lucky ;)

Here's what I know.

Yes, the gold colored Abu Big games (7000 and 7000HSN) were orginally made in Sweden. About 5-6 years ago (est.), Abu moved production of its 7000 line to Asia (possibly, various locations ).

Abu still makes the 6500 size in Sweden b/c they use robotics (machines) in the manufacturing process. The 7000 size, however, are assembled by hand and, therefore, it's more cost efficient to have them made in Asia than in Sweden.

I hope this helps.

I was under the impression that all the 7000,9000,10,000 gold ABUs were made in China. Some were assembled in Sweden but made in Taiwan(?). Now all are made in china as far as I know.

Thanks guys. I was under the same impression MAC. The box was clearly marked "Made in Sweden" on a gold 7000 HSN Big Game. Must have been a short production run.

I was under the impression that all the 7000,9000,10,000 gold ABUs were made in China. Some were assembled in Sweden but made in Taiwan(?). Now all are made in china as far as I know.

Correct.

The Swedish Goverment had strict standards and made ABU take the "Made in Sweden" off the reel and change it to "Assembled in Sweden".

That makes sense Mike. Then the one I saw was more than likely "Assembled in Sweden" vs. the "Made in Sweden" claim on the box.
BTW; the reel itself was not stamped "Made in Sweden" which is what prompted my question to begin with. Other than the model designation and such, there are no markings to tipoff as to where it was made.
Thanks everyone. That pretty much answers my question.:tooth:

I bought a BG 7001 HS on fleabay from a sporting goods outfit in Edinburgh. The box is marked "Made in Sweden", the reel had a sticker on it's foot "Made in Sweden". Comparing it to a Taiwanese reel I found it identical down to the smallest detail including the color of the grease. So far the reel seems good. Casting performance was improved by upgrading the spool bearings to abec 7 from Hatteras Outfitters. Abec 7 seems to be the only upgrade available for the original spool bearings which have blue plastic shields/seals which contact the inner race and slow them down. Also no way to remove the shields/seals for maintenance without destroying them.
Bottom line, Swedish reel=Taiwanese reel, if you want to improve casting, upgrade the bearings.

There's an Abu expert on another website who maintains that the latter-year original black BG 7000 reels were only "assembled" in Sweden from Taiwanese-made parts, even tho "Made in Sweden" is etched on the plates. According to him, the dead-giveaway things to look for are pointed, rather than squared, ends of the star drag wheel, and red grease in the drive which you'll see when you remove the handle and star drag.

There's something else about how the "G" in Game intersects another letter, but I'll be damned if I can remember what it was :D

All good points and there's a lot of merit in what were all saying. I still think the first generation of 7000HS and HSN reels were "Made In Sweden", just like some of the older generation 7000s were before manufacturing was moved to different locations in Asia. In fact, I remember seeing them for sale on a Pure Fishing web-site and they had them on clearance around the time that the next generation of Asian made (Assembled in Sweden or made in Taiwan) 7000HS and HSNs were introduced.

Regarding the Italic script on the black "Big Game Collection" reels. Yep, that's changed too.

At the end of the day, it probably doesn't make a bit of difference where the reels are made so long as the reels meet the high quality Abu specifications.