Kitty, no disrespect, please don't dredge up old threads for people complaining about Cabelas or Penn product without fully disclosing where you work.
As for discussion regarding sales and product from a commercial entity, like Penn, we do have a policy regarding "Commercial self promotion", there is none.
Now if you would like to particpate, in a customer oriented, non-sales driven manner, or better yet, just talk fishin', please jump right in
As for Penn, they no longer have a very appealing product with the possible exception of some of the "International" class gear. Most of the love for Penn these days as for legacy products no longer made, or fostered by the current ownership.
Penn could have easily made a "Van Staal" class real at a more than competitive price, instead they turned out a bunch of crap (with a few exceptions).
Penn could easily made solid, dependable gear, but they took the cheap and easy way out. Maybe economics prevented them from making a superior product, but there is no question - they no longer make a superior product.