Hammerhead tobi123 Wiring completely stuffed

[Garry Wong]

Guys,
i bought a brand new Hammerhead tobi 123 last month and finnally manage to hooked the only GT on my last trip on that lure.(only 5kg baby model)
i notice after that the lure action is slightly change and the lure often sink. after the finishing the day and inspection the lure carefully i found that the wiring is completely stuffed/completely losed and it spins 360 degree very easily.
being a premium quality/price lure, i really expect the best out of it and does not expect this sort of thing to happen(altough i still understand this can happend to any lures)
upon getting in contact with the seller in US i was advised that there is nothing he can do nor he believe hammer head will hounour it as a warranty as there are no such thing after the lure is used.
maybe some of you guys have simmilar experience here

[Mark Harris]

I was with Garry when he caught that little fish, and was stunned to see the Hammerhead wiring ruined - very loose and free-spinning 360 degrees. The lure was brand new. Sort of thing you expect from a very cheap lure but not a Hammerhead.

[Angus Hulme]

Garry, if you don't want the lure and have no further use for it, you are welcome to send it to me! 

From my experience, it seems to be quite easy for lure wiring to get stretched a bit, especially when the lure is very long. And obviously, the thinner the gauge of wire used , the easier it is to stretch and distort while under stress.

I reckon Chris Young will be the man to ask about this issue, his Fullscales have the best wiring I've seen on a GT lure.

[Brandon Khoo]

Garry, unfortunately that is fairly common with Hammerheads as well as a couple of other premium Japanese lures which i will decline to name.

[marinco koj]

This just tells me not to buy hammerheads, thanks for the info Garry

[Mark Harris]

Brandon, I am not a big Hammerhead user and have thankfully never experienced that problem. When I handled Garry's Tobi after that small fish I could not believe how damaged the wiring was.

Nobody wants to vilify products, but I actually think it is appropriate for you (and others) to name expensive lures with which you have experienced quality problems first hand.

[Brandon Khoo]

Suffice to say that among the GT lure makers in Japan, a number of them inexplicably choose to use a very fine gauge of wire. I have never come upon a lure that uses a fine gauge of wire that is resilient in this regard.

[Chris Leong]

This begets a question, are we paying too high of a price for products that are in actual fact, inferior in quality but overlooked because of the hype surrounding its name? If the high price we pay for a premium lure is because of the fact that extensive R&D time have been put into making the lure and placing it on the market, why are we hearing and seeing such incident happening? That should have been retified during the R&D and not when we, as consumers, have to pay a premium price and thereafter, find out that the structure of the lure does not command this premium price tag. Does price equals quality or big name equal high price demand? Knowing that, is the market profit margin that the lure makers are asking for thier products a little over the board?

Thats said, i am not bashing lure makers that has a premium price tag on them, they should be given if deserved. How would you feel if one day, you realise that the guides on a premium GT rod is not Fuji made but some china copied guides but still command that high primium price because of the name on the rod?

[Mark Harris]

I guess I have always struggled to understand a bit why folks fill their bags with $100+ lures when mid-price alternatives (eg Heru and Adhek) do the job very nicely. Using the latter certainly makes the pain of loss or breakage easier to bear.

[Chris Leong]

Well Mark,

I guess if the price tag on the lure justify itself due to the amount of work done on it and the quality of it, it should be ok. But how does one define hand make lures?

[Garry Wong]

guys,
thanks for the respond.
i think i am now back to mid to low price tag lure. after testing so many lures in $20-100 price tag, i can say some of the low priced lures perform as good as the high end lures, minus the built quality but its all been compensate on the price tag, 1 high end lure can buy 3 or 4 of that cheapo.
now i'll try to somehow get this lure fixed by the local lure makers.
the thing that pi**ed me off a bit is when i get told that no warranty after the lures been used, why dont just say no warranty at all. if the lures stuffed even before been used then you decide yourself weather you get what you paid for, for what so called premium quality.

[Chris Leong]

Garry,

Where are you located? I might be able to help fixed the wiring.

[Gareth Branicki]

i am in full agreement with Mark's earlier post on this topic in regard to those japanese brands which  command a high price and use thin wire some ppl like me who are just beginning and trying to build up a decent collection and have yet to go on a number of trips its hard to know what your buying is worth  the price so far i have stuck to nomad and adhek and a couple of fullscale lures and 2 second hand carpenters  I have been looking at craft bait and would be over the moon to get my hands on a SS glans  doubt i will ever get a brand new seafrog  but with all 3 i have mentioned how good the wiring is a big factor.
 When i went popping in the musdam I wish i had taken some of the  nomad poppers i had and my tuna rods but decided against it the one day out it was the stickbaits that got hammered both were supplied and were being tested according to our guide . My gt was only 25kg it destroyed the stickbait as in half was missing and the rest looked like driftwood the fish was connected just by the wiring alone as the top part of the lure  had been ripped out, without the wiring i would have gone back empty handed on the other hand the lure was runied by just one fish . 

[Ken Best]

The solution is....

Full Scale and Orion lures!! Both are near on indestructable, unless you cast them into a rock

Both companies have a great reputation and the owners are gentlemen!!

[Brandon Khoo]

Chris, I think that is a harsh generalisation and I certainly think that it is unfortunate if this turns into a Hammerhead bashing post. Firstly, Hammerhead lures are proven beyond question in this sport. I too am frustrated by the number I have that have had their wire stretched over the years but let's not forget one thing - they work and they work very well indeed. Anyone who has fished in this sport for some time has been through periods of seemingly endless casting whereby they would happily sacrifice one lure simply to hook a damn fish!!        I suppose the issue is for the consumer to know that.

Outside of Craftbait, Orion and Fullscale, I have had the wiring compromised on every brand of lure I have used extensively at some point or another. Some are of course stronger than others. You only need to look at the gauge and wiring on a Carpenter to know it is well-made but they're not indestructible (check out Chris Tan's report from his trip to NC).

One of the reasons why the Japanese manufacturers use a lighter gauge of wire is because most of them use humano pine which is a very light wood. Using a heavier gauge of wire could compromise the way the lure floats and sinks.

This begets a question, are we paying too high of a price for products that are in actual fact, inferior in quality but overlooked because of the hype surrounding its name? If the high price we pay for a premium lure is because of the fact that extensive R&D time have been put into making the lure and placing it on the market, why are we hearing and seeing such incident happening? That should have been retified during the R&D and not when we, as consumers, have to pay a premium price and thereafter, find out that the structure of the lure does not command this premium price tag. Does price equals quality or big name equal high price demand? Knowing that, is the market profit margin that the lure makers are asking for thier products a little over the board?

Thats said, i am not bashing lure makers that has a premium price tag on them, they should be given if deserved. How would you feel if one day, you realise that the guides on a premium GT rod is not Fuji made but some china copied guides but still command that high primium price because of the name on the rod?