All quite correct Luke - as captivating as Alan's reviews are, extensive field use is what will determine any reel's success or failure.
On the top 5 lists thing, I am wondering whether Alan just might have (for once) become wrapped up in the emotions of his own disappointment with certain factors of the 2013 Stella. If he did, that would be understandable. Objectively, I am truly struggling to see how the 2013 Stella can be a worse reel than "some others" on that list!
I guess many of us were a bit surprised about the fairly rapid appearance of a new Stella when the 2008 was such a fine model. There is nothing too unusual about that though when you look at other consumer industries - model replacement is the way with so much of modern-day commerce, no matter how good the preceding model may have been.
It's obvious that Alan is a very skilled and articulate person in this respect.
I'd take it for what it's worth and don't claim that the sky is falling like a few comments I disappointingly read above. You know what Ian and Trevor - don't buy it?
I'd rather see reviews after a season or 2 of heavy GT and Bluefin fishing. Then I'd be able to associate more valuable data that actually relates to how it realistically performs in the field.
The Top 5 is a list based on scores - based only on his appraisal.
It doesn't reflect the opinion, performance and popularity amongst top-end reels according to the man on the street. Something to put into perspective!
